Love is like a bad winter cold It strikes at the young and the old It’s not something for which they can inoculate There is no cure for those who participate So even if you feel like you have the flu Love is just something you must go through
;)
And if left unattended, this is how it ends.. marriage.
Our first year of wedded bliss Then a second year united Another year notched up Yet one more year in concert Another year together One more year in partnership Another year with you A year of dull and sunny weather The ninth year still bonded Another year together One more year of companionship Another year of just us two A year of sad and happy days Fourteen years now coupled Another year together One more year of friendship Another year chalked up A mixed year of good and bad Nineteen years now joined Another year together One more year of togetherness Another year on the sentence A year of nag and nag and nag Twenty four long bloody years Another year together What did I do to deserve this? The punishment didn’t fit the crime Not even the great train robbers Had to serve this much time
Just when I thought "Introduction to wine making" was exotic enough a module to be taken in uni.. hahaha
They are supposed to be cathedrals of higher learning. In recent years,colleges have revamped their course structure to pave the way for some unusual courses to be incorporated into the curriculum. While some of them may have dregs of intellectual inquiry, others are downright bizarre.We take a look at some courses which may make you wonder if that beer pong championship your son enrolled in is not such a bad thing after all.
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The Unbearable Whiteness Of Barbie
A mandatory course for some freshmen at Occidental College, ‘The Unbearable Whiteness of Barbie-Race and Popular Culture in the United States” tries to explore ways in which “scientific racism has been put to use in the making of Barbie.” Elizabeth Chin, the instructor of this course warns students that the course itself is no child’s play. With assigned readings ranging from Sandra Kisneros to Karl Marx, the course incorporates some pretty hardcore academic content. Nevertheless, a course on race which describes the whiteness of Barbie as unbearable seems incredibly unscientific. Wonder if this course was offered when a certain gentlemen named Barack Obama was roaming the corridors of this West Coast institution.
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The Theology of Eating
Since such an important aspect of everyday living must have theological implications, Loyola college decided that the inextricable link between God and eating was to be explored. Students are taught the ‘complex religious aspects associated with eating’, exploring the texts to expound the intricacies of etiquette in a canonical context. The evolution debate may not have been decided, but common sense predicts problems for those who do not eat a balanced diet. However, if free servings are part of the deal,it may help all those poor souls dissect (food) theology.
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Stupidity
Occidental college makes another appearance on the list, this time for the accommodation of stupidity. Of course, the word refers the name of the course rather than a quality possessed by its students. The course itself uses works of Friedrich Nietzsche and Gilles Deleuze among others to clarify that ’stupidity is neither ignorance nor organicity, but rather, a corollary of knowing and an element of normalcy, the double of intelligence rather than its opposite’. Only those who indulge in it must know.
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The Joy of Garbage
No matter how useless Garbage sounds, Virginia Matzek of Santa Clara University will try to change your impression of it. A ’science class for non science-majors’, the Joy of Garbage is apparently a ’serious class where students are required to do research and learn how to work with data’. Among the questions asked are “What is the difference between ‘garbage’ ,’discard’ and ‘waste’?” and “What could be a better title for the course?” ‘The Joy of Wasting time’,perhaps?
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The Art of Sin and the Sin of Art
The Rhode Island School of Design attracts aspiring artists and designers from around the country but it is inconceivable to think that some of them might want to ‘lust with the saints and burn with the sinners.’ However, if any one of them accepts the invitation, they can spend the semester analysing the moral dimensions of the works of classical as well as modern artists. Being the artsy school that RISD is, the course and the teacher should have a cult following.Well, different strokes for different folks.
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Philosophy and Star Trek
Philosophy students at Georgetown University read works by Aristotle, Kant and others. However, its done under the pretext of understanding the philosophical depths of Star Trek. The course serves as an introduction to metaphysics and epistemology philosophy,and tries to dissect the major philosophical questions which come up in the science fiction entertainment drama. Another proof that the ingenuity of educators has conjured ways of teaching which were hitherto unknown.
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Zombies!
The living dead in Literature, Film and Culture
The American South is still the bastion of conservatism and evangelism, but that doesn’t stop them from trying to expound Zombies. The credit for this pioneering course must go to Sean Hoade, professor of English at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, who draws parallels between American consumption patterns and Zombies. His observation that ‘zombies act as a mirror for Americans, not only as we see ourselves but also as the rest of the world sees America in the time of George W. Bush: as a roaming, voracious killer turning its victims into soulless creatures like itself’ may be a little far fetched, but his students are not complaining.
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Maple Syrup: The Real Thing
Those who decide to attend Alfred University in a bucolic part of Western New York State, may find themselves in a classroom studying the subtleties concerned with the production of maple syrup. The only prerequisite for the course is the ‘willingness to work for long periods in snow,cold and mud’. The production techniques invented by the Native Americans which have endured constant change are dissected, visits to local producers, restaurants and festivals augmenting the process. It’s the Real Thing, so students can find jobs easily with this course on their resume!
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The Art of Walking
The Art of Walking might seem trivial to some, but not to Dr Ken Keffer, Professor of Modern Languages at Centre College, Kentucky. He conducts a class dedicated to the understanding of ‘intelligible and sensual design in inner and outer nature’,first expounded by Immanuel Kant. Apart from the customary walks which he takes with his students to the nearby Perryville Battlefield and the surrounding areas,Dr Keffer assigns freelance walking assignments for students to appreciate the subtleties of walking. Now, where is this college again?
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The Phallus
The people at Occidental College decided that in the course of human events it becomes necessary for students to delve into the ’signification of the phallus’ and the ‘relation of the phallus to masculinity, femininity, genital organs and the fetish’. It being self evident that the phallus occupies a central theme in the psychoanalytic theories of gender and sexuality, the course occupies a pivotal role in the Intercultural and Queer program.All this for a price of about four thousand five hundred dollars.
It seemed as though this moment would never come.. The much anticipated moment of victory happiness content.. The days dragged and dragged and dragged.. My exhausted eyes were patiently waiting and praying hard for this very moment to arrive...
I am finally done with my developmental biology report!
Oh thanks to all that is pure and sacred in this world ( Chandler, n.d.) =P
Lessons learnt..
1. Nothing.. Absolutely nothing is conclusive in plant studies. Well, cant blame 'em, money wun come in that easily there baby!
2. Dont get too excited and deluge yourself admist too many journals.. all you end up having in a scorching headache.
3. Pressure your TA/Proff to give a page limit for your report, which otherwise will end up as a mini ready to be published novel. Dont even talk about the PRESSURE PRESSURE and more pressure to write as much as your fellow groupmates do.. OMG I am thinking like a typical singaporean! nooooooooooooo... what has 2 years in nus done to me!!!!!
Daybreak, and here am I Starbound against the sky Have you ever watched a blossom fall Or heard a Robin call and wondered why? For awhile, think on the simple things How a smile can cause a heart to sing Daybreak is just a prayer For the many things the day can bring A heart full of simple things Nightbird, ride the wind Find your way to where the day begins Shadows waiting in the fading light Have whispered their goodnight and slipped away Hear me now, think on the simple things How a song can cause the world to sing Kneel now with me in prayer For many things the day can bring A heart full of simple things A heart full of simple things...
When I first heard my friend say that there is a portugal om nama shivaya song, I dint quite believe it.. till I bumped into this video..
I louwe the song although I have no clue about the lyrics. haha as though we know the meaning for all the sanskrit mantras we recite! *yikes* well atleast I dont. anyway the song is just toooo melodious and soothing to listen to.. I like! :) :) :)
Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow.
There are days in our lives where EVERYTHING goes wrong and you just feel ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! And I had one that sort today. Absolutely! Arranged chronologically are the eventful incidents.
1. Thanks to my lovely m1 service provider, my line is temporarily suspended till I give them my bank statement which holds my current billing address. Yes I am phone-less. I couldn't even call the customer service ppl.
Silver lining : I was in central lib and (not many NUS ppl know this but there is free phone service there.. shhhhh secret! =P)so basically that's how I got to know from m1 that they've suspended my account. brilliant!
2. I call my bank and ask them if they could send me a statement immediately and they say.. noooooooooooooooooo... It takes a minimum of 4 working days 'mam says a wanting to be polite voiced female whom I felt like strangling then and there! well what can they do.. they don't liaise with m1!
Silver lining : they say I can present any bank statement. awesum so i can just chuck them one of it from my room. m1 shops work till 9pm which gave me a solid 45mins to run to my room, grab the statement and rush to IMM jurong east!
3. Hostel. Guess what? my room doesn't open for lord knows what reason. I remembered it then.. I was meticulously trying to straighten my slightly bent key today morning in the lab. darn apparently it has to be bent to work properly. chis! this world is no place for perfectionists! the best part is I dint have a phone to call anyone! I knock on my neighbour's door and borrow her phone to call the Resident assistant.. and of cos yes abiding by the law of the universe, she doesn't pick up =/ I run to karthik's room praying hard that he would be there ..again looking of my luck so far, anybody would have guessed by now.. nope he wasn't. brilliant! Man how much I missed Jayu that moment just cant be described in words! I decide to knock on every door in the 1st floor and hunt for the RA.
Silver lining : The very 1st door I knocked was a room of a china PRC who barely understood what I was speaking. but he did make out that I couldn't enter my room. he SNATCHED the key from me and dragged me to my room.. then he started trying. first 5-7 attempts were bad. then he decided to oil it ( this is the point where my jaws dropped. how on earth did he have oil in his room I don't know! must be some Indian blood running in him. haha ) and TARAAAA.. it did all the magic. I officially add this random chinese guy to my angel list =P
I shall just get my phone reactivated tommorw! I realized that I panic A LOT.. I cant help it.. I've always had a very secured all-protected life. waiyip would term it as being spoilt. and as always I would die-die say NO! =P
See, my point is everything happens for a reason. Had that RA picked up the call, I would prolly have ended up paying $60 to change my lock. So moral of the story, every dark cloud has its silver lining. SO don't fret about the bad things that happen to you and move on! And its good to have oil in your room, you never know when it'll come handy ( my beloved notty friends, dont let ur imaginations run wild. =P )
