Gaurav

I’d do this, I really would, if it didn’t involve typing in HTML! Obviously, I don’t prize this goal very highly at all, do I? :P

... downloaded from CDBaby.com here: https://cdbaby.com/cd/lazlobane

I hope that it works: the notice says you can only buy the CD from iTunes now, and iTunes hasn’t gotten to Singapore yet!

I’ve been trying to make it to Fort Canning atleast once a week, just ‘cos it’s such a nice place to hang out and wander around in, and since it’s a bit of Singapore history and all that; couldn’t make it last week, but last week was extraordinarily packed (and I had to go shopping besides). Hopefully I’ll go later today. I try and call home from up there, looking down on Singapore city and in the dark shadows of the trees. It’s fun.

I suppose this goal really refers to walking around the actual city (or anywhere on the island, really) rather than continuously going back to the same place. But this, I’m sure, is a start, and hopefully a good one.

Look, there’s not much I can do about this directly anyway; the kiss will come when it will, love will come when it will, and that’s all there is to that. All I can do is remain (atleast somewhat) social, keep living my life, and hope for the best. Maybe once it happens I’ll come back and “I’ve done this!” and “It was [worth it / not worth it]” this, but until then, I’ve got other things I can actually concretely work towards ahead of me. So adieu, goal!

Not going well at all. I’m way, way behind, and I was having too much fun doing other things this weekend to really catch up on my word count. Double sigh.

Contract ends June 21 (solstice, no less), which means – I guess – that jobhunting starts soon. But not too soon. But … sigh. Long story. Let’s see. I’ve started looking for jobs and all, but it’s so hard to find something that’s satisfyingly me – that I’m sure I can do well. I’d hate to be stuck in a mediocre job, or a job which I can only do mediocrely.

Naturally, I’m getting nervous as the date draws nearer. Thankfully, it will be upon us soon enough … !

I did get up by 8am today, just as 43T sent me a reminder e-mail about it. For the first time in absolute ages, I might add.

I’m not going to work on this directly: it’s just not worth the stress. A lot better to work on all the other stuff in my life (stress relating to work, relating to future plans, cleaning up my room, doing more exercise, etc.), and just let this figure itself out.

Am currently somewhere around 1,000 words, when I should be at 4,000-odd words by the end of today. New minigoal: write like crazy to be mostly back on track by this Sunday (roughly 6,500 words).

... and it’s called ’’Lolita’’.

This is a start, right? Now all I need is a language guide, and a bunch of Spanish cartoons to read …

• where traffic drives on the left side of the road.
• where the largest road is a wide, straight boulevard which goes nowhere.
• where democracy and freedom of speech are held as the most important things in the world (except for an itsy bitsy list of 2,306 items mentioned in small print just below Sec 23 subsection 405 subparagraph c).
• where anything is possible with enough bureaucratic paperwork and a little strategic bribing.
• where any building one hundred years old is (or was) named named Queen Victoria.
• where any building over a hundred years old looks vaguely Roman, where-ever in the world it might be constructed.
• where any such buildings house civil servants.
• where they play cricket. Lots of cricket. Lots and lots of cricket.

Just got tired of having this on my list for so long! I claim partial fulfilment, as I have created a fairly decent list of my favourite quotes, as opposed to most inspiring quotes. So, hmm.

I had a great time walking around London, soaking in the beautiful buildings, the atmosphere, and the hundreds of years of history. Of course, Singapore is almost 200 years old, so there isn’t that much history, and a lot of it is buried below modern construction now, but still.

I suppose these guys might have a clue, and I should definitely look into the URA’s walking maps. Otherwise, it’s mostly about taking the initiative and putting on those walking shoes …

I have friends doing this now, and man is it stressful. Working all day to get things just right in Firefox, only to have it completely explode in IE … so I’m going to be sticking to ‘real’ software for now.

We could adapt this comic as a logo!

I’ve been trying out other book websites, and I’ve got a question – why do all the book websites focus on using the ISBN number? Thus far, it’s kind of irritating for me: I’m trying to find a community of Jose Saramago readers, but instead, I have to pick one particular edition of the same book. Agreed, there might be slight differences, etc., but why can’t I just say, “Hey, I like Lolita!” and then hang out with the other Nabokovphiles in their corner?

This is actually a pretty horrible goal. Yes, I can use my computer skills to transition into a job I think would be interesting – becoming a computer-related lab officer somewhere, or sysad computers for someone, or something – but lets face it, that won’t be very interesting. Sysading is ‘fun’ for awhiles (I’ve been sysading a day a week for a while now), but I’m not sure it can compare to something like my current job, where I get to design a piece of software from end to end.

Well, then again, software design isn’t necessarily all that great, either. Would much prefer just starting my own (highly successful, etc.) company instead :P. Seems so much easier, somehow.

I’ve always been interested in space. Maybe if I keep an eye on the CRISP hiring page, I could find an interesting lab officer/type post I can do for a while?

A basic blog is now up; the next big challenge is getting people interested/excited/active. Might be a bit hard, but let’s see how it goes.

Immediate next step: put some photos up!

I’ve finally gotten a blog, a mailing list, and a Flickr group up. Next stop: a Google map!