who would’ve thought…
Jul 23rd
…that it’s funny how on your birthday, quite a few sites post updates. But you don’t make a blog post to celebrate – or remember even – your 16th birthday.
Yesh, I hit the supposedly sweeter-than-sweet age of “sweet sixteen” on the 21st – only just a few days ago. And unlike what you see on MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16″, not everyone – rich or not rich – does stuffo like that. *chortle* =P All I got was just some birthday money from a relative and a friend of mum’s, a DVD box set of Rurouni Kenshin (where this domain got its namesake) from my parents, and a birthday card from the linen lady (mum’s friend too) who works at my boarding house back in UK. Oh, and not to mention, a beautiful sketch from my brother Jerry. I’d put it here because I want to show the whole world; however, 1) I have no scanner and 2) the macro shot function on any camera will not do it any justice.
I should give Scarlie a mention, a thank-you and a huge glomp too, because she remembered. And oh, sorry that I happened to leave *just* as you were about to drop a convo on MSN. 0_0 She so happens to be the only online-mate who knew or remembered; and although I don’t hold grudges against those who didn’t, I’m grateful to her because she did. =) Actually, the members of the Mayu-subs group also did send their wishes; but that’s another story. And if you’re curious; I’m now part of the Mayu-subs group as 1) a translator and 2) an uncredited webdesigner. Well, I was supposed to be making a WP skin for them…but I’ve yet to find a decent pic to design with. Ehe.
On a final note…who would’ve thought that this blog post seems to be void of 1) the usual exclamation marks, and 2) excessive usage of smilies? *smirks*
I hope everyone’s doing great this summer.
oh no she didn’t…
Jul 12th
…oh yes she did. SHE DID!
(clicky click the big text above!)
Y’know, I was just gonna end the post there and then. (Actually, I was also going to talk about how the new layout came about, but that’ll be for later.) However I came across Skye’s blurb on FaeDubh and it really got me there, so I’m gonna do a two-cent-chip-in. Knowing me, it’s gonna end up being a million bucks instead of two cents. =P (And fingers crossed for YM.net’s new look too!)
About a year or two ago that started to change. I’m not sure if I’d fully want to blame the fighting that happened a while ago that “split” the community, but I believe it did play a part. Especially since soon after many began to distance themselves to keep themselves out of the fighting, both in terms of closing their site or just becoming more business-like. I’m probably one of the latter as well.
Woah. I was one of those caught up in the fighting – the AB war, as I personally dub it. And much to my chagrin, I remember detail all-too-well.
Okay, so maybe my then-13.5 year old brain had yet to learn to be more tactful, less naive + hot tempered, yada yada when with others – be it online or offline. But long story short, at the time, I designed something that was less than satisfactory, recieved a fair bit of critique, got a bit flared up, caused a misunderstanding which then led to a bit of a hoo-ha in the then-community (I remember names like Midori, Megori and others.) Then I calmed down; but the damage was already done – someone decided to take my fired-up blog post that was on THIS very site (no, I’m not showing you where and what, people) and gun it down so badly. The same “someone” – or “some people”, actually – didn’t stop there, and that’s where the fighting within webdesigners and everything under the sun grew.
It’s died down now that they’ve stopped; but the shadow of the damage still lingers – whether you agree or not, it’s your choice. That’s in the form of – I quote – “the lack of community. There isn’t as much support as their used to be.” I might be wrong; maybe the dying-out is just all of us who used to be close-knit in the community growing up at the same time, and finding that there’s other things out there than designing – like SATs/GCSEs/coursework, etc. But I think it’s sheer apathy they’ve got – “what’s the use of looking out for other designers if you’re just gonna get slagged off for it?” I was one of the lucky ones, though; when I was attacked during the AB war, Rachel stuck up for me – got slagged off in the process – but I still admire her staunch loyalty till today.
absolutely jaded.
Jun 23rd
PLAYLIST// The Ting Tings – Shut Up And Let Me Go (ZOMG, it’s the song for the iPod advert! And it somewhat fits the mood of this post!)
PREQUEL TO POST// Riku, Scarlie, if you read this anytime soon – EMAIL ME! I know I tried to drop the former a line, but you never got back to me. *sniff* And Scarlie, THEY RECENTLY BLOCKED LIVEJOURNAL DAMMIT. =(
Phew! That aside, I remember I used to have a post with the title “Absolutely Speechless”, but that was eons ago. And if memory serves me well (I cleared my archives, haha), it was about 1) someone dropping me as an affy like a hotcake, or 2) someone applying for affiliation with stolen graphics.
But feh, if you (very few readers) noticed, my posts are being less and less centred around cyberspace-mania – they’re more towards life in general. I’ll be glad when school’s out in 2 weeks and I have an 8+ week long summer break; because that way YM.net gets a facelift it desperately needs. AS WELL as Surrealle. *sigh* Don’t we just wish I could have easy wi-fi access 24/7, so that this problem of updating is non-existent? No? Ah well.
Anywho, as the title suggests – yes, I am fed up. No, I’m not on drugs. Yes, humanity still intrigues me with its never-ending bouts of stupidity. And YES, I have not been in much contact with you online mates – and I deeply apologise – for one or more of the reasons below:
# Priority One: School (now isn’t that a HUGE surprise.) Or to be more specific, coursework and exams. And well, when you’ve got only 4 internet-equipped communal computers in the boarding house (to cater for 35+ people), when you DO get time on the comps, you’d want to use every spare minute for your coursework. Not online matters, unless it’s sparing 5 minutes to write a snappy email to Mum/Dad/Jerry (not my boyfriend, my BROTHER.) And when you’re NOT on the comps, you’re either 1) drafting technical directions for your GCSE Drama work, or 2) revising for a 2.5 hour long Statistics exam…and then some! 0_0 Luckily I’ve got only 2 Science exams left, and most people are out of the house for the weekend, hence why I’ve got a good moment to type this entry now.
# Next comes musical stuffo. Strange as it sounds, I’m enjoying it more and more – I guess it’s got to do with taking the plunge and involving myself in it more. For starters, Mr Hedges (Mr H) “forced” us to start early on our GCSE Music compositions…now you think we’d be composing posh classical music or something-like-that. Ha-ha. On the contrary, we were allowed to compose from 4 genres – one including “Popular Music in Context”. Guess what yours truly is doing now…writing a Britpop piece (think Oasis, Blur etc) – wahey! And don’t get me started on the concerts I’ve been “pushed” into doing; though I admit they make me enjoy playing for audiences a lot more!
So basically, it’s a lot of offline-happenings that’s kept me busy. And a lack of proper internet access. Thank heavens I can still blog here, and that I have my own domain – WordPress.com, Blogspot.com…you name the blog network, they’ve blocked it. URGH! =( I can’t even read Jerry’s blog…I might offer him hosting if he wants. =)
There’s a cut for your sanity – click on to read at your own risk.