The curse of Monday mornings is back.

You know... when you swat the alarm clock in the morning, and the alarm clock swats you back, apart from the incessant meowing (and biting) from the Chairman to tell you that his breakfast is due.

Yes. I am back to work and the first week was a mad rush of keeping up, not to mention having to still keep up with the backlog from school.

Clinic was worse. Last week was MRI week. I hate MRI week as there is bound to be somebody not responding to treatment. I had to break the bad news to 2 people; one was a 27 year old guy with a young family.

There are a few things to be thankful about. My trip to Japan pushed through, thought that too had it's share of near mishaps. I miscalculated train schedules and almost didn't make it to board the plane for Singapore. I arrived at the airport 30 friggin minutes before flight time. The counter lady was kind enough to hastily check me in (even forgot to even check my passport), accompanied me all the way to the immigration counter, and I arrived at the boarding gate 5 minutes before boarding time (with time even to buy some stuff from duty-free). Oh. I suppose it helped as well that I've ungraded myself to business. I wonder if the counter lady would have been as helpful had I been in coach.

Come July and I'm headed to the US... on United A. I'm cringing just thinking about it.

Adam Lambert is off his comfort zone. Perhaps the purple hair effect is kicking in already?

The world is on the verge of a pandemic flu. Why do I get a feeling that this is being blown out of proportions? Except for Mexico, most cases recovered spontaneously. My suspicion is that the original pig-human transmission was the more virulent, re-assorted strain, getting weaker as it passes from human to human but retaining its contagiousness. We shall see.

2 exams down, one paper to write. As far as I am concerned, this journey is almost over. Hiatus almost over. Work is beckoning. I just hope this swine flu dies down before I return.

Just my luck that the deadline for turning in my final paper falls on the day when I am supposed to be overseas. Earlier than that, my supervisor is overseas and cannot endorse it. Aggravations are such a pain when you already think you have this in bag. Just another way of making me work harder for that trip. Ditto with a coming trip to the US. This swine flu swirling the northern hemisphere has certainly put a spanner in my plans. Another photo finish or no finish in the works. 

The state of affairs in the Waterloo household.

Mr Brown is up and about again, after playing sick for the past 2days after a visit to the vet. Chairman is still as frisky as always.

Somebody is hooked on his Korean dramas. Another is hooked on... gasp.... Gossip Girl. Evil! Evil! Stay away! XOXO

(Which is the reason I haven't mentioned anything on the AWARE saga, yet)

Okay... back to GG.

In the 80s when I first succumbed to pop culture, there was tight fitting jeans, primary colored shirts with folded-up sleeves. Subversive haircuts consisted of mohawks and mullets but tattoos were still considered too taboo. There was Duran Duran, David Bowie, Bonnie Tyler, Madonna in fishnets and Michael Jackson was still awesome (and black).

There was also "Bagets" - that seminal coming of age film series that, to many of my generation, bespoke of the wholesome angst and silliness of living in Manila as a teener in the 80s. And like all of us, that motley group of teeners in the film grew up. One became a politician. One become a pastor. One became a teen-age father. A few remained to be wholesome celebrities and just last year, one of them contracted leukemia. I heard the news that he just passed away today. Life is indeed short.

I'm such a dedicated hoarder that I had to do a hurried 'slash and stash then trash' exercise on those 2002 GQ magazines to avoid their little voices screaming bloody murder in my head. Sorry guys. I'm playing Vogon today and your space on the shelf has just been designated new space for new books.

So after a mad dash of packing them up in boxes (and never looking back), I grabbed my camera to see if I'd have any luck capturing some eclipse images. So after an hour and a half of staring up at the sun, a throbbing headache, about 100 shots, I came up a few decent ones. I was so excited about shooting that I forgot to drop the ISO when it started to get dark (thus the noise in the second shot). Then again, I was really shooting blind from staring at the sun too long, despite the shades I was wearing. So I couldn't really see how the pictures turned until much later when my vision cleared and uploaded on the computer. Now I am off to cook some dinner. Happy Lunar New Year folks!

20% partial eclipse at 5:01 pm (26 Jan 2009)


60% partial eclipse at 5:34 pm (26 Jan 2009)

(Partial eclipse over Waterloo)

After a month and a half long haitus, school is due to start again next week.

Having revisited school, done home works and enduring the stress of exams (for a master's degree, these exams were the real deal), I'd like to think that I'm better prepared than when I started. For one thing, my handwriting has reverted to grade school legibility (thanks to those painful handwriten answers) and I've gotten the knack of tuning out rubbish lectures. All in the name of 'building character'.

So back to school next week. But not until a quickie trip to BKK over the weekend.

2008 was, for me, like getting a new pair of shoes.

First I had to break-in the new pair, with the initial wear bringing sore feet, blisters and callouses. I felt constricted and bound. It was like walking with 2 left shoes. I wondered if I got the right fit in the first place. Transitions and adjustments had to be made. I found myself wearing more suitable socks. Escapism came in the form of wearing flipflops at every opportunity.

But gradually they grew on me, and I felt more comfortable, strutting around with renewed confidence (of not tripping) and began to see them as part of myself and not just some footwear. It became comfortable enough to run 2 full marathons and 1 half marathon, and take an unexpected stroll back to school.

Eventually, all the walking wore them down. I had to get extra arch supports to avoid sore calves. I figured there was no point suffering for something out of my control anyway, but to derive whatever enjoyment I can manage from the pair. I brought out my trusty flipflops or resorted to walking barefoot altogether.

But the time has come. Time to get a new pair and hopefully, get the fit right this time.

Right now, muddynights is licking his wounds after a grueling run.

I woke up at 5 am and almost didn't make it to the starting line in time. By the time I stepped on the starting mat, the Kenyas were already on the other side of the Espanade bridge. Those guys are really world class runners!

Never run when you hadn't have enough to eat. After the first 15 kilometers, I was seeing stars. I had to gobble up the gummi bears I brought along.

The weather was supposed to be cloudy, but 34 kilometers into the run, the sun was already beating down on the asphalt. I hated running along side the buses at Geyland. I can imagine the motorists cursing us for causing a jam.

Ditto with the winding route at Kallang. A 2 kilometer run where you end up where you started!

I had to stop for a while to ogle at the Ferraris parked at the F1 pitstop. After 38 kilometers, I thought I was seeing a mirage. And after 40 kilometers, I thought I saw a huge cold can of coke running in front of me. I just had to run after it. (turned out it was an uncle in red)

Expect to see muddynights hobbling like a granddad with fiery haemorroids in the next couple of days. I just have to re-post this youtube video to illustrate (except the bloody nipples).

3 exams done. 3 more to go.

And throwing a total of 99 expletives a day (one every 30 minutes) at that inane commercial they keep showing on TV.

I'm supposed to be writing 3 papers due this week but I have a mental block the size of Mount Rushmore sitting in between my brain and my fingers. Throw in the humidity and you have the mental equivalent of a dustball too wet to roll but still nothing more than a puff of nothing. I'm stuck. 

I think I'm hiking up to the roof, hold up a lightning rod and wait for a bright idea to come.