Big ol' honking Factor VIII

I had a very spacey day in school. Somehow, feels like Add Maths took up most of the time, but it felt OK to me, because Integrals feels like a good chapter for me. I can understand it anyway.

Yesterday at school was a lot different. I was ... incredibly hyper. Especially in Bio. Pn. Nitce was talking about blood clotting and Factor VIII, and Evelyn and I kept saying, "What's Factor VIII? I don't get it. Teacher, what's Factor VIII? It's a substance? What substance. Where does it come from? Why doesn't it have a name? D:"

Then Laksh bellowed, "Will everyone stop asking about Factor VIII and leave it alone?!!"

And Shumi said that Factor VIII is the thing that tells the platelets to release thrombokinase. Which in turn turns the prothrombin into thrombin and voila! Clotting. It made a lot more sense after that.

And as always, anything to do with blood had me singing the Blood song at the end of the MCR album. Iffah asked me to sing the whole thing, but Pn. Nitce started explaining stuff, so I had to stop. :p

Then Alysha somehow managed to smuggle away my Twilight book from Laksh. And started reading it in the lab. Thus begun a very sugar-induced discussion about vampires, their lack of blood and how can they cover up injuries if all they've got is a truckload of venom floating around inside themselves? No red blood cells. No platelets. NO FACTOR VIII.

And again about how it must be pretty uncomfortable to NOT hear a heart beating away inside Mr. SparklePants (Edward)'s marble chest.

Iffah read the Sparkly bit in the book and decided that Edward is sweet and romantic. Oh, Iffah. I knew you would not resist his sparkly charms. :(

Sara-who-thinks-being-a-Bio-student-is-fuuuuun

*throws confetti everywhere*

HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY JASMEET!

I'm one day early wishing though, but hey, it's all good fun. :3
You're the oldest on the prefectorial board! xD

Went to Red Box at the Curve to celebrate Jasmeet turning seventeen. There was a quarter of the Form 5 prefects there ... me, Rui Rong, Chyna, Angie, Nadiah, Shifa, Nahjan, Ilham, and of course, Jasmeet. There was a lot of music. And singing. Off-key singing. But fun off-key singing.

I brought my camera, and I bought batteries ... but then realised that I bought AAA batteries instead of AA batteries. *facepalm* Oh, the irony. So I got no piccies. :(

Later on Angie, Nadiah, Shifa, Nahjan and Ilham went to watch Cloverfield and I left a half hour later to check if Ikea was selling meatballs for Mama. I was crossing the road, then I saw Papa's car driving into the carpark, that was a weird feeling. Then all of us went to Ikea and ate meatballs, instead of me, 'cause I ate chicken.

Then we went clothes shopping for Nazim and Hanna, then we went to Popular. And I finally bought Seventeen Against The Dealer. <3 style="font-style: italic;">Sara-who-feels-many-kinds-of-accomplished-this-weekend

Green Ninja

GO HIJAU!

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Credit for brushes, textures and font here.

Run and run and run and never look back!

Merentas desa this morning is my last one. At least until I go to one in the future. But still. No more.

Awww, there's that sudden twinge of Last-Year-O-School Syndrome again. :(

Anyway, the Hijau juniors aren't as bersemangat as I had wished. Kinda annoying. But we'll whip 'em into shape in time for sukantara. I hope. They just need some pushing.

There was this random dude jumping around the stage before the prize-giving, promoting some shmancy dance/martial arts class thingy. He was sweating all over the (now carpeted) stage. I got bored after seeing him punch and kick into air a few times.

Anyway, I finished the Caleb thingy that Lakshmi was asking for. Y'know, the dude from The Covenant. The kinda plotless movie stuffed full of special effects and hot guys and one girl in a towel. Geee.


Have yet to ask her whether she wants this one or the one without a background. And I'm afraid he doesn't look like Caleb, more's the pity. I'm horrible at caricatures, or anything similar. Hmmm.

Sara-who-is-strangely-not-that-tired-after-running
Credit for brushes here.

Another one bites the dust.

So. Uh. Following the trend of previous dead, overdosed celebrities, Heath Ledger has, uh, kicked the bucket.

RIP, man. You were a great actor. :(

Sara-who-just-really-finds-death-via-overdose-annoying

CIMB gave me a lineless book. :O

Yes, of all things, that was what I was most excited about. Not the visit of the Minister of Education. Not missing out on three hours worth of classes. Not the strange glossiness which now makes most of our hall ceiling.

CIMB gave us all lineless books. And you know what that means.

I have a new doodling book. And it's hardcover. *faints*

<3 Thank you. :3

Anyhoot, today was quite the occasion. And of course, us girls don't need excuses to scream. The moment the Minister walked into the hall, instant eruptionLIKEWHOA. KABOOM. SQUEAL. OMG. Etc.

Still not as loud as Hari Guru though. That will forever be the loudest occasion in the history of school I think.

CIMB was launching some "Way Forward" career talk, which was mostly about how you could join CIMB without even being in banking, 'cause of all the other stuff that hangs off the bank, like remora fish to a shark, and so on. It was OK. But still, the bit about banking being repeated over and over again started to wear on my ears.

And I just noticed ... is it me, or are all the orang atas in the government related to each other? Hmmm. And another thing; they all marry Convent Bukit Nenas girls? Which leads me to another thought: If St. Johns' boys dream of marrying Convent BN girls, does that mean that BB boys think the same of us?

xD

Oh, and here's your complimentary reason-to-panic of the day:

264 days to SPM.

:O

Sara-who-will-panic-others-till-she-panics-herself

Bit of random.

Homework 95% done. Just the BM paragraph to finish, and Chem graph to draw. So why am I here again? Meh.

We went to Jaya just now to buy dvds. I asked if they had Avatar (yes, I really do want to watch it) but they didn't, so I was all :( because that means that unless I want to spend a bomb on originals at Speedy, I'll have to wait till Papa goes to Johor to get some good-quality stuff. So I'll have to wait a little longer. I know, I say that I don't like anime, and it still stands true, but I think the art on Avatar is pretty, and the characters are just too huggable. xD

In other random news, my clock is broken. A bit of the paper inside peeled off, so now the second hand is jammed permanently at '10'. So I'm now relying on my handphone.

Here's to another week of school. Where I will have to wear blazer for the majority of it ... yow.

Sara-who-really-likes-cookies

Dashes.

I've finished 80% of my homework load, so I thought that I'd treat myself to some 'Net time, and finish my BM paragraph and Chem lab report tomorrow. Just enough time. :)

Thanks to the new schedule, I have more reason to love Thursdays and Fridays. All the science classes have been crammed into the first three days of the week (which actually kinda sucks, because then the teachers will be asking for homework on days when I don't have the classes ...). But then Thursday and Friday have the most amount of books to lug around all day. Dilemma, dilemma.

I have reason again to update my To-Buy-To-Read Book List. In the order of what I want the most to the least:
# Seventeen Against The Dealer - Cynthia Voigt
# Snakehead - Anthony Horowitz
# Sleepwalker - Robert Muchamore
# Nightrise - Anthony Horowitz
# Come A Stranger - Cynthia Voigt
# Thieves Till We Die - Stephen Cole
# New Moon - Stephenie Meyer

By the way, has anyone noticed that Borders sell their stuff around RM10 - RM20 more expensive than MPH? It's pretty annoying, since that Borders have the bigger selection of books. For example, Cynthia Voigt's books cost RM32 at Borders, but you could snag one at RM18 at MPH (and if you're lucky, RM8 at Pay Less Books).

Really. :\

I just got hit by the fact that I'm in Form 5 again. It comes and goes, this strange twinge of realisation. Sometimes very unsettling. I feel like someone forced me to grow up overnight.

I need to draw. I feel like drawing. I haven't drawn anything worth showing since ... two weeks ago, was it? I dunno. But I have no inspiration.

Sara-who-feels-a-little-disjointed

Lists

There's nothing like a nice warm shower after walking up and down the merentas desa route. No, I didn't run/jog/hurry. I've broken some sort of personal code, I know it. xD But it was the only time that Tarsha could tell me the drama story, and seriously, running + talking is a torture. And I'm choking on my own phlegm, so yesh, excushe me pleashe. :p

We made it in good time though, so it's all good.

I'm planning on starting the drama script after I've finished all my homework, find a time slot somewhere. I have to get it done soon, Ms. T's started breathing down my neck. Scary business.

So, ko-ku has officially started. This is what I'm involved in so far, so I remember:
# Prefectorial Board. Biggest responsibility school-wise. Whoot!
# Nahjan's Newsletter. xD Send all ye artworks, comments, writing and complaints to this here address ---> sriamanbulletin@gmail.com
# Editorial Board - English Segment. I'm pretty excited about this.
# Drama Team. I seriously want to win. This dream's been nibbling since I was in Form 1.
# Secretary for HU. There weren't many Form 5s (dudettes, where did you all GO??? D: ) and I'm just happy that I didn't get Prez. (Go Ling Shin! xD)
# Green House. Dang the whole creativity-stomp out thing the school's doing.
# Taekwando. A little loose with this. But I want the exercise. xD

Hmmm, I think that's it. Very manageable, I think. I guess when you wear maroon, you automatically end up doing lots of stuff. I think it's fun. My workload isn't as big as some people.

And, I have found fellow people who find something weird and unsettling about Twilight. xD Problem is, some people say that New Moon is as boring as a grit of dirt. Why? No Edward Cullen. Dang the dude. I can't seem to like him, but you can't deny he makes the series what it is. Dang diggity dong. So now I'm all fickle-minded and unsure whether to buy, or borrow. *starts furious coin-flipping*

Speaking of that, here's my current To-Buy-To-Read List:
# Come A Stranger - Cynthia Voigt
# Seventeen Against The Dealer - Cynthia Voigt
# Snakehead - Anthony Horowitz
# Sleepwalker - Robert Muchamore
#Thieves Till We Die - Stephen Cole

Yup.
Till next time.

Sara-who-is-happily-busy

... and then the Partay.

The party was sooo hectic. But completely worth it. =)

Nad came over around 2. Iffah came a little later. I was still a little sick, somewhat deaf. And very tired. xD Before the party started we got into a little prank call party of our own. Was hilarious - for more details, go lookit Nad's blog.

Anyway, here're the stuff we baked for the party, which was 100% homemade!

The cookies. <3Hanna's 'cake'. She requested the whole cupcake idea.And Nazim's birthday cake. =)

The party started at 4. There were so many kids! Nazim's friends (a horde of boys and on girl, not including a couple of cousins), Hanna's friends, Hanna's friend's siblings ... it was nuts.

Mira did the games. Which didn't really work, because everyone had made up their mind about what they wanted to play. The boys were yelling about playing dodgeball with a balloon and the girls were ... well, a lot more agreeable than the boys. But it was all in good fun.


Iffah's cousin. =)All the kids in the garden. Well, some.Ngahngah and PakNgah. Atuk and Maktuk. Everyone in the living room.Opah, and Ngahngah and PakNgah again.

The whole candle-blowing part was recorded by Mira, while my camera spluttered and died a little. Dang it. xD

The birthday boy. Ten years old, and positively radiant!And the birthday girl. Six years old. xD

Later that night, we went to the airport to greet Acu and WanSyuk. They just got back from haji. It was one awesome day. And in Nazim's words: "It was the best party I ever had!"

Sara-who-really-loves-her-family

First, some fandom stuff ...

Yes. I have to get these stuff off me first, before presenting the pic-load which is the birthday party. xD

Firstly ... I decided to try out my new pencil. Meet Fang. He's from the book series: Maximum Ride, by James Patterson. Drawn with my new pencil, inked, scanned then coloured in GIMP2.

I've never managed to draw a picture of him that I'm satisfied with, because, well, I just can't get him to look like how I picture him. And this time, I managed it! :D He's supposed to be wearing all black, silly little emo-brooding birdboy, but I didn't like the idea of playing with black and greys. So I gave him navy blue.

Now, another thing.

A Twilight-related thing.

I looked it up on the great and ever-informative Wikipedia (long live that blessed website xD) and here's what I got:

"Twilight is the time before sunrise or after sunset when sunlight scattered in the upper atmosphere illuminates the lower atmosphere and the surface of the Earth is between light and dark."

Haha. Kidding!

I looked up the actual book page, and I found a bit of what Stephenie Meyer is writing: Twilight from Edward's point of view. I read the preview chapter, and asdfghjkl. Why didn't she write this one first??? D: Edward's POV is so much more interesting than Bella's. *sulks* Sure, he's long-winded and bombastic, but I don't mind long-winded when it's interesting.

And anyway, I like to read about the rest of the Cullens. Edward hogs the spotlight, but of course. But all the little things about the other guys make me happy. xD

Hmm. So I may not really like the book. But I admit that the characters are interesting. So there. And I think I will buy New Moon, no matter how people say its boring. This way, I can lend it to all the other sorry people, who, like me, are too hesitant to buy the actual thing.

I will be doing everyone a favour! Yay. xD

Sara-whose-brand-of-generosity-is-a-little-weird-right-now
Credit for brushes here.

Old things and new stuff.

What a day.

I'm a little sick today. Flu. A little on the deaf side. Had to ask people to repeat sentences at least twice. I think I'm getting a little bit of a cough too. Ugh.

Not much in school today, other than House meeting thing and Prefect's Meeting. Nothing too special. Or maybe I didn't sense anything, 'cause my whole brain was in a blur? Meh, dunno. I got to talk to my relief class a little ... the Form 1s. Such giggly little things. xD Nice girls. And I realise that to them, I'm this senior prefect in Form 5. None of them can even begin to imagine me at their age. Time sure flies.

On the other hand, I got myself a new pencil.


I'm needing one since that my old one vanished. I had that pencil for three years. Lost it in Form 2 and found it again in Form 3 in the K.H. bengkel's pencil basket thing. So it's been around for quite a while, which is both a nice thing and ... not-so-nice. For one, it had sentimental value. That pencil's seen me through the days where my drawings consisted of one-sided people with no hands to ... well, wherever I am now.

But then it was literally falling apart. It had no eraser ... no bottom, and the tip kept getting jammed. It's a shame that it didn't last 'till after Form 5 though. Well, always time to start things fresh.

Stick-dude seems to agree with the whole 'starting fresh' idea.


I hope I get better by Nazim's and Hanna's birthday party tomorrow. The two of them are as sick as I am, poor things.

Sara-who's-feeling-slow-and-sentimental

Twilight

I'll say one thing about this book, it's got an incredibly shiny cover. The photo above is after I wrapped it up though, so I'm afraid you won't be able to experience its genuine and, eh, natural shine.

Spoilers are to be expected. Proceed with absolute caution.

So here I am, finished with the book that everyone's been so crazy about. And, well ... this was inevitable, but ... I'm a little disappointed. I expected a little more 'oomph', if you get me. I was thinking along the lines of all those other average fantasy novels - normal human introduced to other-worldly conditions, and the adventure that ensues.

I forgot a little that this is a love story.

The story is narrated by Bella Swan (when I first read her name, I kept confusing her with Elizabeth Swann ... heehee.), a seventeen year-old who has decided to live with he chief officer father in the wet and overcast Forks, Washington. She doesn't really want to be there, but it's better than being uprooted every time her mother's new husband, Phil, finds a new job.

The high school in Forks only has a population of 300 students - a very small number to her. Everyone pretty much knows everybody, which she expects will make her an outsider. But there's a family going to that very school who are even more out of place than she is - five of them, pale-skinned and breathtakingly beautiful. And this is where the story really starts.

Bella shares a class with Edward Cullen, the, ahem, youngest of the Cullen boys (Biology class, har har.). Their first time sitting next to each other is pretty much spoiled by Edward's incredibly angry features.

The dude was ... like really pissed off at something, that's for sure. xD

Well, months pass and that slight hiccup at their first meeting was explained later on (Bella's blood is apparently Edward's brand of heroin)... in a very long-winded info-dump, courtesy of Edward himself. I didn't like that scene. Too ... weird and dream-like, and they were both talking in weird bombastic English that made my head spin.

I just realised that I'm like, writing an essay here. Sorry everyone. xD I'll stop with the condensed book recreation. So, read the book yourself for the, uh, juicy details.

Now, first things first. Let's bring Edward up here. I'll say that I can understand the hype around this guy ... but I don't really get the attraction so many girls have to him. Could be the choice of words, the way we're always reminded that he looks like a real-life Guess advert and how he's always compared to statues.

I'm sorry, I don't find statues very attractive. It's weird. ^^;

I understand Bella with the whole klutzy thing she's got going on ... but other than that, I can't really feel the chemistry between the two. Despite the fact that they're both so ... clingy to each other.

The story itself starts off promising, but the climax came and went, and I felt strangely empty. I felt as if the climax was only there as a necessity. The characters are cut off from the actual storyline. Like passers-by in the wrong place.

And the ending? Fell a little flat on me, but was OK. The whole argument with Bella wanting to be a vampire and Edward flat-out refusing gets tedious after a while.

But if you're looking for some good epic romance complete with damsel-in-distress and fearless model-lookalike hero, Twilight's definitely for you.

I'm debating whether or not to read the second book ... because despite everything, my curiousity's been poked at, and I really want to know what happens to the both of them in the end. :)

Sara-who-now-needs-to-draw-to-get-the-book-out-of-her-system

Epic, tragic, book-buying

It's been a week of school. And just when I announced to Iffah, during Agama class:

"It's 2 o'clock. My eyes can't stay open. I don't think I can take it anymore."

The class finishes and the brilliant news starts to spread, written unmistakably in the paper handouts ...

School now officially ends at 2 o' clock. We have been saved fifty minutes of extra school-ness. This is very awesome. I am relieved and happy. :D

In other news, I am reading Twilight. Yes. After long hours of furious self-arguments, looking at the horde of fanarts on Deviantart, passing the Featured bookshelf at MPH and violent coin-flipping, I finally bought the book.

After Mira persuaded me, that is. On two separate occasions.

So why was I so ... hesitant at buying the book? Well, lots of reasons. For one, it's too dang popular. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not against popular stuff. I like Harry Potter, Spongebob ... life, in general. But the thing about Twilight is that it's like some epic love story.

I have read epics. I have read love stories. Both together? Only as subplots. So you have to understand that by buying this book, I'm automatically committing myself to an entire series about pretty much the same thing: Edward/Bella epic-tragic-emo romance. And some fantasy swirly magicky vampire-y stuff.

And I do end up being very sarcastic when it comes to romance. Pardon me. xD

And the second thing? Edward Cullen is thrown about so frequently nowadays, I could stand on a canteen bench and holler "Edward CULLLEN!!!" at the top of my lungs and people will squeal. To which I say that I can't blame them, because, well, I can see why they're so crazy over him.

So, being three-quarters through the book - I will write a proper thought-post about how I feel about the story after I'm done - I just have to say so far that it's interesting. Yup.

Ps. I am very happy, Hannah. ;D

Sara-who-is-on-a-reading-kick

It's a book. Wait a second, it ain't in English?

So I went and read Konserto Terakhir, y'know, our komsas book for this year. I'm halfway through and I admit it's interesting. I mean, if you can get me to read a B.M. book of my own free will until midnight, then you win a shiny medal.

Anyway, Mama saw it on my bed this morning and read the ending (she does that a lot with my books, it seems.). And she told me what it was, and I was all:

:O

^ My face, right there, coupled with "OMG WHUT." and "YES I KNEW IT."

But yes. Quite shocking.

I don't think anyone would care if I wrote down the ending, but hey, you never know. Hahahaha.

Sara-who-is-very-amused

Day 2

Day 2 of school. *checks self* All limbs still attached. Head still firmly placed between shoulders. Glasses still intact.

So far so good.

It's been a hectic two days. What with it being single session and all. First day, got homework already. Prefect work is pretty big. It'll slow down once everything smooths out. Not too much of lessons yet.

My relief class this year is Form 1, which is FUN because 1) Not much of disciplinary problems to take care of and 2) I am a senior, nobody would dare cross my path. *insert evil laugh* However, I realised something when I was doing duty this morning. It is the first day, so I guess it's expected, but ... the Form 1s are kinda ... big-eyed. And staring. O_o;;; They were watching my every move, and they were standing so still.

Makes me wonder if we were like that in Form 1.

Well, we'll see how it goes next week. Grace period ends on Friday, then we can really crack down on this whole disciplining thing. Meh. xD

Sara-who-has-to-study-now

Pack your bags ...

... 'cause school's tomorrow.

I feel strange.

Gonna miss the holidays.

The next long one I'll get, SPM will be over.

Life won't be the same then.

Good luck, everyone. *salutes*

Sara-who-has-nothing-more-to-say

Tomorrow is HERE

Yup. Today is Tomorrow! *messes with your brains*

Anyway, I just wanted to type all this down. I think that 2008 is gonna be a really, whacky year. A good kind of whacky year. I can tell. It's started unpredictable too. I mean ... my parents piled us all into the car and drove out onto the highway to see the fireworks!

And here's the thing. I really wanted Thnx Fr Th MMrs to be my last song for 2007. I ended up listening to the radio instead. And then after the fireworks, it started raining.

Yup, 2008's got a lot up his/her sleeve if you ask me. I'm pretty excited.

*SUDDEN BANG*

Sara-who's-starting-the-new-year-with-a-sudden-bang