From Easy A:

Brandon: Is there an Olive here? 

Rosemary: There's a whole jar of them in the fridge!

 Rosemary is my favourite character.

notes

Things I'm reading in Australia:

If On A Winter's Night A Traveller

The Believer, September 2010

The Bible

Picnic At Hanging Rock

Being Alive (poetry anthology)

The Consolations of Philosophy

I also feel that I might suddenly, intensely, start to miss all the people back home while kayaking in a remote corner of Tasmania. 

Angela McRobbie (from Postfeminism and Popular Culture):

When in a TV advertisement (1998/9) another supermodel, Claudia Schiffer, took off her clothes as she descended a flight of stairs in a luxury mansion on her way out of the door towards her new Citreon car, a similar rhetoric is at work. This advert appears to suggest that yes, this is a self-consciously “sexist ad,” feminist critiques of it are deliber ately evoked. Feminism is “taken into account,” but only to be shown to be no longer necessary. Why? Because there is no exploitation here, there is nothing remotely naïve about this striptease. She seems to be doing it out of choice, and for her own enjoyment; the advert works on the basis of its audience knowing Claudia to be one of the world’s most famous and highly paid supermodels. Once again, the shadow of disapproval is introduced (the striptease as site of female exploitation), only instantly to be dismissed as belonging to the past, to a time when feminists used to object to such imagery. To make such an objection nowadays would run the risk of ridicule. Objection is pre-empted with irony.

A word I like: genuflect

Are physical spaces commensurable? Yardsticks are necessarily reductive (?)

Looking for local scholarship opportunities opens up depressing future after depressing future...

To bake: savory caramelized onion muffins

streams of consciousness + drowning

Ow my head hurts but I'm not terribly upset about it, because I got baptized today! V. glad my grandparents came down, as well as my fwenz A & J. My family went to Zhou's kitchen again, because it's a near a taxi stand, which supposedly helps my grandparents get around painlessly. I spent the entire afternoon shopping with parents around Novena, which was weird, because who shops at Novena anyway?? The whole family bought Salomon hiking shoes for trekking in Cradle Mountain, except me, because I am a simple man who can be content with comfortable Muji shoes. Speaking of holidays, we're all very excited and my sister now expends most of her intellectual energy on making wardrobe decisions (e.g. ensembles that revolve around the cable-knit jumper originally owned by my mum in the Eighties) and cool places to shop. Once again, being a simple man, all I am asking for is a visit to the state library in Melbourne, UNESCO City of Literature. I am looking forward to taking photographs with my cousin's DSLR + posing next to trees in the woods. Also, my head still hurts. And I need to pack my bag. I'll take a photograph of the pile of books that I'm bringing along to read. 

taffy

Things I miss: the debaters, baking, conversations with Mrs H, birthday surprises

Things I worry about: an intellect on the decline, drowning in the baptismal pool, looking out of the plane cabin's window and seeing the wing on fire, detecting nervousness and fear over the cabin intercom

Things I have eaten today, in chronological order: one grape, peanut butter on toast, wholemeal banana walnut muffins, a café latte, Hokkaido ramen, gyoza, chicken karaage, ice cream (matcha, vanilla and mango sorbet), molten chocolate cake, cubic Japanese candy, brown rice, sautéed sugar snap peas with baby corn, grilled cod and onion, Unsettling Grey Herbal Soup (opaque and nutty, thin and grainy)

Things I am looking forward to, not necessarily in any order: getting baptized finally, eating barbecued chicken, jetting around Sydney and then Melbourne and then Launceston and then Cradle Mountain and then Freycinet and then Hobart and then Melbourne and then Sydney again (while picking out gifts along the way), watching The Rocky Horror Show, finding a job/internship, macarons, YF camp 2010, Universal Studios, *secret santa*, not learning how to drive, "serving the nation", loaning books to the KI library, Christmas dinner

notes

!!!!! THE As ARE OVER !!!!!

Cheese consumed: none

Dream: I bought a small puppy and played with it all day. It learnt how to jump, and jumped right out of my window on the 12th level. It landed on a car. Blood, everywhere.

In other news, I've learnt how to operate the espresso machine at home. Caffeine habit for the holidays, here I come.

career plan (draft 2)

filmmaker

activist

cultural theorist

notes

Cheese consumed: Parmigiano-Reggiano
Dreams: Several, all rather unremarkable. Didn't bother remembering.

Banana and flaxseed wholemeal muffins
Caramelized onion, garlic and dill muffins

"The lignans in flaxseed appear to play a role in protecting against breast, colon, prostate, and perhaps skin cancer."

"Our study of 10 onion varieties and shallots clearly shows that onions and shallots have potent antioxidant and antiproliferation activities and that the more total phenolic and flavonoid content an onion has, the stronger its antioxidant activity and protective effect" — Rui Hai Liu, Cornell U

"Apart from offering strong tangy flavor, dill has many medicinal properties, which come from certain compounds called Monoterpenes. The protective Monoterpenes, are stimulants and activate secretions of an enzyme called glutathione-S-transferase (an power anti-oxidant) which is very effective in neutralizing carcinogens, particularly free radicals, thereby protecting from cancer." — source

Rachel Corrie

Tom Hurndall

Human shields

notes

Cheese consumed: Fourme d'Ambert (try naming your Pekinese that.)
Dreams: None

!!! ECONS IS NO MORE !!!
I'll miss studying econs. O, how I am ever so fond of it.
DEAR SELF, STOP PERSONIFYING KNOWLEDGE KTHX

Thai Express lunch!
A: Just think about it — one day, all our conversations will revolve around NS.

If another Korean War breaks out, maybe Singapore will send troops and I might actually die before 60. *rejoice* I want my youth to be immortalised in death.

ZW's birthday at Swensen's!
After waiting 15 minutes for her ice cream cake be returned after the waitress supposedly brought it back to slice it for serving...
Me: OH MY GOD WHERE'S THE CAKE? IT'S LIKE WAITING FOR GODOT
A Yew: IT'S LIKE THE CAKE CUTTING NEVER REALLY HAPPENED
W: Yeah like, what's his name? Descartes...

Tomorrow!
Paper 5 Day with J and R. Cafe in library@esplanade + literature + assorted baked goods + hot juicy gossip (not) + feminist discourse

Currently reading: If on a winter's night a traveler... by Italo Calvino. It's like the Inception of postmodern literature. So. Good.

sweet dreams are made of cheese pt. 1

I'm doing an experiment with cheese and dreams, based on this article: Cheese unlocks your wildest dreams, says study.

Current cheese: Fourme_d'Ambert, and oh my goodness it smells like this certain friend's B.O., squared.

Last night, I dreamt that I came to school for Paper 5 Lit, and forgot to bring all my texts with me. And my lit tutors just widened their eyes very dramatically and told me it's just too bad. Also, I was doing three papers at the same time, and a general question about Singapore came out for the international history section. It was horrible.

Also:

Truly Hybrid Questions: Economics and Women in Literature

Explain, in detail, the subprime mortgage crisis, paying close attention to how Otherness is presented in the texts of new and traditional media.

To what extent is a discretionary fiscal policy an instrument of the patriarchy? 

Compare and contrast the respective impacts of a refusal to acknowledge the complicity between privilege and oppression, and market failure. 

"The producer-consumer binary in economics only oversimplifies."

(a) Explain how the statement radically alters the foundations of economic reasoning.

(b) Discuss alternative models to explain how commodities are distributed in a premodern society.

And in the delicatessen, from time to time, the coins
in your palm will not translate. (Foreign)

Referring to two or three poems, discuss the ways and means that Duffy uses to present correspondence and disjunction in her poems. Pay close attention to images depicting the economy and international trade.

"Economists don't give answers, they ask questions."

Discuss how this may or may not be relevant to any two texts that you have studied.

"Every empire aims at immortality." (Adam Smith)

Is this a fair representation of patriarchy? Discuss, relating your response to globalisation as neo-colonialism. 

"The business of business is business." (Milton Friedman)

To what extent is this reflective of firms' pricing and output decisions? Express your response in a spiral narrative, making appropriate references to the style and form of Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit.

Comparing across all three texts that you have studied, expand on how they come across as apt allusions of humanity's struggle to achieve the four macroeconomic objectives.

career plan (draft 1)

College: part-time assistant at a celebrated midtown cupcake place, following which I shall work in an independent bookstore.

Au pair

Curator

Food and travel writer

Owner of small, vegan café

(Teacher??? Lit??? KI???) (< 5 years)

Owner of small, vegan café

Economist

Surgeon

Professional jazz clarinetist

Professor of Agricultural Sciences

Dog trainer

etc.

melting point

9 posts ago, I hit my 1000th (published) blog post! (I have many drafts lying around, mostly dormant, occasionally vengeful.) I (unconsciously) celebrated with a shot of Baileys + Polish honey liqueur (slightly vile) + amaretto-soaked sponge cake and woke up with Violent Throbbing Headache Of Death. Such is the story of my life.

Anyway, seeing how my papers are going, I'm thinking of keeping dreams a little more real. I'll be OK in FASS. (Just eternally bitter, of course.) Also, the thought of being bonded for eight years is at once alluring  (masochistically) and horrifying (in a post-ironic sense). It is this conflict that animates all my decision-making processes. Moreover, there is a small, charitable and timid person inside me who feels bad about rejecting personalised, sincere and somewhat heartfelt offers, but oh well.

Additionally, I'm reading Mythologies (Barthes) and the selected stories of Robert Walser + planning Melbourne leg of Great Aussie Trip 2010. UNESCO City of Literature, here I come!

The rainy weather is making me think of Wet Warsaw.

new

My throat is on fire and there is a great miasma that the rain can never clear. Also, I've slept for approximately 13 hours (yay!) and the Throbbing Headache Spelling Doom has left me. 

Anyway, I dreamt that I was taking lit paper 5 at home (which was awful because I had no desk to write on), and there were only two sides to the question paper. I flipped to look at the Duffy questions, and the first one went mysteriously like "That distance between childhood and experience" and it didn't say "discuss" or "critically appreciate" or anything. The second question was really long and required you to discuss the ENTIRE collection in Mean Time, and for obvious reasons, I got very pissed because it wasn't in the syllabus. 

With a terrible sense of despair that crept to my bones, I turned to the Practical Criticism section, and found A LIST OF NAMES parading as a poem, and the question had two parts. It was all very S paper, and demanded you criticise the use of form and structure and how it was appropriate etc.. I didn't even look at the comparison questions, but I remember having a spankin' new Shakespeare play on my lap. 

Then, I got back my answer script for paper 1, and saw that some invigilator had written an irregularity comment on the top of my script, claiming that I didn't "flip back" my paper in time. Some nightmare. 

Post A Level Menu

Abuse

Paracetamol soup

Oranges

Fear

Split-pea porridge

Decaf

Hey I need to get this off my chest:

I CANNOT WAIT FOR PAPER 1 TOMORROW! I HOPE THIS SUSPENSE WILL LAST.

LUBX WILDE LUBX I TELL YOU, I ONLY HAVE LUBX FOR HIM ( + ONE HOPEFULLY BEAUTIFUL, CONCISE, ELEGANT & ALLUSIVE ESSAY.) OK WITH RHYS ONLY, BUT SAD FOR HER AND SAD FOR HER ANGSTY POSTCOLONIAL CONCERNS. CANNOT WAIT FOR PC. MIGHT SCREAM AT CPE IF THERE ARE DELAYS/WRONG EXAM PAPER.

a study in contrasts

When I turn 60...

No. I cannot make such claims, because I will not live to see 60. I shall will myself to die; 59 is too old, even. It is the age of mid-life crises, pot bellies, gastrointestinal upheaval and bad flatulence, monstrously loud sneezing, heart disease, and the start of dreadful hospital visits. It is mostly a terrible time to be alive.

The only other terrible time to be alive is between the age of 80 and death (which is really ageless), because you have no quality of life to speak of. Your friends are dead, you are kept on the life-support of the healthcare system, you can't see or hear or speak properly to the people you love, walking to the toilet feels like a marathon, and the loud sneezing and uncomfortable gastrointestinal problems of the middle ages still remain.

Technology will be so new, so complicated, that it becomes conceptually inaccessible. You cannot grasp the fundamental idea behind new-fangled gadgets — it's almost as if the whole world has learnt a new language. (It goes deeper — the world has began to live differently.)

You cannot make sense of this new reality, which has arrived only gradually and surreptitiously, creeping up day by day. Your existence is fragmented and utterly divorced from everything else. In a sense, you have already died.

Poems

When you come back to me
it will be crow time
and flycatcher time,
with rising spirals of gnats
between the apple trees.
Every weed will be quadrupled,
coarse, welcoming
and spine-tipped.
The crows, their black flapping
bodies, their long calling
toward the mountain;
relatives, like mine,
ambivalent, eye-hooded;
hooting and tearing.
And you will take me in
to your fractal meaningless
babble; the quick of my mouth,
the madness of my tongue.

- Ruth Stone 

Now read this Wikipedia entry.

economics

When despairing and feeling exhausted, and when the phrase "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" sounds batshit crazy, I will gaze upon this picture and remind myself of What and Why and When and How.

WELCOME TO CAPS LOCK LAND 2

HELLO I'VE JUST WATCHED THIS MOVIE AND AM PARALYSED BY THIS "AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE" TO THE EXTENT THAT I CANNOT UNPRESS MY CAPS LOCK KEY. THIS PASTICHE (FILM NOIR + HIGH SCHOOL MOVIE) REALLY WORKS FOR ME; I WISH EVERYONE SPOKE LIKE THIS. THEN AGAIN MAYBE NOT. ALSO, I AM IN HIGH SCHOOL BUT THIS IS NOT MY LIFE. DOES THIS APPEAL TO ME BECAUSE IT IS ROMANTICISED, AND WITHIN THIS MODE OF DISTORTION WE FIND ESCAPISM, OR BECAUSE I IDENTIFY WITH THE FILM. WHERE ARE THESE SITES OF IDENTIFICATION ANYWAY. + JGL'S GLASSES ARE WEIRD BUT IT GROWS ON YOU. I HOPE I CAN FIND THE SOUNDTRACK SOMEHOW SOMEWHERE.

bed of roses duvet cover of moss

Okay, so KI was ok, ok? I am pretty satisfied with my 2 essays (but more pleased with one than the other.) Still. There's international history tomorrow afternoon, and everyone else has maths.

(I also cannot comprehend why people have to speak so loudly — practically shout — on the phone, even when they're not agitated or angry. Baffling + annoying enough for me to write about it.)

Additionally, while doing papers, I cannot help but feel a wave of melancholy and loss. It's the last time I will ever write about the topic, and the topics that were not covered in the paper are gone forever, and I never got a chance to say goodbye. What is wrong with me, I need to stop personifying knowledge, it's an unhealthy habit. 

halloween, pt. 2

Seeing how there has been an unprecedented level of Abject Horror stemming from A level papers this year, I am dumping all expectations and trudging in anticipating nothing but bad surprises. Every paper is now a life lesson about damage control. Thrilling times, these. I have a bad feeling about KI tomorrow (also stemming from a very human predisposition to observe trends + make predictions based on arbitrary patterns), so here are the more likely questions for tomorrow.

'Epistemic agents are not necessarily human.' Discuss.

Compare and contrast the nature of testimonial evidence, referring closely to Eastern and Western culture and philosophy.

To what extent do you agree that fields of knowledge are demarcated by methodology rather than claims to knowledge?

'Certainty is.' How far do you agree?

'Knowledge is essentially an instrument of the patriarchy.' Discuss with reference to aesthetic and moral knowledge.

'The only knowledge we have is knowledge we construct ourselves. The knowledge we construct ourselves is based only on the knowledge that others construct.' How far do you agree?

Explain and evaluate the arguments for anarchy in both the natural sciences and ethics.

To what extent is epistemology in the 21st century an ethical position?

Discuss the significance of paradox and polysemy in any three fields of knowledge.

'We were kidding about justified true beliefs. We made it up. Plato never said that lol.' Organise your response based on fields of knowledge, in alphabetical order.

'Organisers of information are, really, the constructors of knowledge, and should be given grants and stuff, cuz that's what keeps them going, and they should also be nicer to the poorer peoples, and be like, more forgiving maybe? Like give out knowledge, I mean, because it's for the best of all the nations and the countries and the poorer people and democracy... as well as.' Evaluate and discuss this position, referring closely to Edward Said's arguments in Culture and Imperialism, relating your response to objectivity in Kant's categorical imperatives. Compare and contrast your conclusions with the Horatian satire (Appendix A) on page 3. Additionally, structure your essay according to the syntax of a specified foreign dialect, commenting on the significance of your choice.

southeast asian history in food

While in Starbucks last Saturday, S and I sat around talking about the A Levels, because that seems to be what our life has been boiled down to. 

"SEA history is coming up first and I can't seem to remember all the details I need!" groused I, nibbling on a warm and soggy caramel waffle.

"Why don't you sort out your case studies through pictures of food, like you did with the shoes?" S offered, perched precariously on one side of the armchair but still maintaining perfect balance.

"What a great idea!" I concurred, pleased with her brilliant suggestion. (And the smell of fresh coffee wafted around like a happy yellow butterfly.)

Hence, I am going to psyche myself up for tomorrow through pictures of food. (I feel terribly self-conscious doing this because C, the much-revered SEA History Queen [, is obviously better at this than I am, and is probably cackling in anticipation of a very favorably-plotted bell curve.) I am citing the sources that I shamelessly and unethically ripped pictures off from through the links at the bottom of each photograph.

Roti Jala/Roti Kirai

Is this roti jala or roti kirai? Still, though, roti by any other name is just as delightful. Besides its obvious country of origin (Malaysia), the seemingly aleatory method of producing the swirled pancakes is reflective of the pluralism of Malayan nationalism — the gaps that separate and demarcate are suggestive of separation between the different ethnics, a result of the divide and rule policies of the British. Example: the Kesatuan Malayu Muda (Young Malays Union), Malayan Communist Party (which also cooperated with the British during the Japanese Occupation, etc. etc. this comparison is so contrived.

It's a little awkward to organise knowledge by country, but I'll try my best. Economic development: New Economic Policy! Development of domestic automobile industry! Sabah's involvement in Muslim Separatist Movements in Southern Philippines + Lebanese intervention (!), MAPHILINDO, etc. etc. Federal Land Development Authority

Mohinga

Excitingly, you can actually buy this in Clementi. Mohinga is a Burmese dish consisting of chickpeas (loves) and very tasty stock. However, all that races through my mind are the AFPFL, Burmese Socialist Programme Party, Aung San + U Nu + Ne Win, "No Footwear Controversy", the whole debacle with India's independence, YMBA, Buddhism vis a vis national unity policies, Kachins & Karens, the pongyis and monastic education, direct rule, focus on economic equality due to socialist-driven policymaking, nationalizing of the economy, The System of Correlation of Man and His Environment, financial incentives for rice farms, real economic growth: income per capita increased from US$80 to $174 (as if I will actually write that into my script), yay - import substitution to export oriented growth! (for rice)

The mysteriously titled "Soup Number Five", ambiguously named for a very good reason

On to the Philippines. Cronyism and nepotism abound! Stuff (in no chronological order): Bangsamoro movement, US aid, Marcos and military rule, Commission on National Integration scholarship programme to integrate Filipino Muslims, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim, Integrated Social Forestry Programme, etc. etc. etc.

Avocado shakes

AVOCADO SHAKES, LUVVEM. The connection is not apparent, but it comes from Indonesia. Indonesia's my favourite case study (DID I ACTUALLY JUST SAY "FAVOURITE CASE STUDY"? THIS IS SO GEEKY AND GROSS, but then again I'm blogging about tomorrow's paper.) because after watching the The Year Of Living Dangerously (was that it?) the violence of the Gestapu Incident is still incredibly shocking. (Also, must not confuse with Madiun Incident.) Additionally, I bet refreshing avocado shakes were served during negotiations in the Linggandjati Agreement and Renville Agreement. Other details (in no chronological or thematic order): dwifungsi, Acehnese separatism, SI, PKI + TAN MALAKA (- thanks C), priyayi, abangan, santri classes, national unity policies, OH ME OH MY

Thaipan Olive Rice (that I still haven't tried because I misordered, whoops)

Sakdinah nationalism, Hmong Hill Tribes and Boat People, Military Patiwat, student demonstrations, Wild Tiger Corps, Nation-Religion-King, forced assimilation of Muslims in southern provinces, role of Buddhism, blah blah blah

OK I'M TOO LAZY AND SLEEPY TO INCLUDE LAOS + CAMBODIA BUT I'LL THINK OF THEM ANYWAY.

Words that make me giggle: "politicisation" + "political awakening of the masses"; "constructive engagement"; ASA (inside-joke); "labour intensive"

OK: wonderful plan for tomorrow - morning run, taxi to school, glamorously arrive, write brilliantly, accept J's peppermint mocha with open arms, go home to sleep.

pudding

James Franco: 

I finally took the plunge and experimented with the form myself when I signed on to appear on 20 episodes of "General Hospital" as the bad-boy artist "Franco, just Franco." I disrupted the audience's suspension of disbelief, because no matter how far I got into the character, I was going to be perceived as something that doesn't belong to the incredibly stylized world of soap operas. Everyone watching would see an actor they recognized, a real person in a made-up world.

A Star, A Soap and the Meaning of Art: Why an appearance on 'General Hospital' qualifies as performance art 

and oh by the way, he has enrolled in Yale's English PhD programme and the Rhode Island School of Design, after completing an MFA writing programme in Columbia, a fiction writing course in Brooklyn College, a poetry writing course in Warren Wilson College, and a graduate filmmaking programme in NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, all at the same time. All that while finding time to be the face of Gucci, performance impressively in a couple of movies (HELLO? AS ALLEN GINSBERG IN HOWL? IS THERE A LIMIT TO HOW COOL A PERSON CAN BE?), eat some food, etc. I think I have a man crush on James Franco, but Susan Sontag will always be my one true love.

(I'm still working on my SEA-history-and-food post!)

you are now leaving planet derrida

I did not do anything today. (I did spend time with my sister, who, in return, spent time with Pride and Prejudice, which in return made her more literate. And literacy is the key to economic mobility.) It's that point in your revision where you're like, Do I Really Need To Know This, and you start making plans to visit a flea market, bake cupcakes, and write an analytical essay on Crystal Castles' entire discography. 

Anyway, I baked a batch of Guinness chocolate + dulce de leche + Baileys-frosted cupcakes! I derive short-term pleasures from such culinary adventures that, in the long run, help me to develop as a person. Ta-da! Holistic development, check. 

In other news, the KI and literature t-shirts are *finally* here. Yay! They are very beautiful. I cannot wait to set them loose. The aesthetic experience really makes the organisation of very trivial garment-related concerns totally worth the weeks of torment and suffering. Oh what the hell, at least I emerged "braver" and "stronger" — I should write this into my testimonial, why don't I. 

Also: conjunctive adverbs are your friends!

rusty hangers

My sister and I are scooping batter into cupcake liners.


Sister: The batter's dripping everywhere, this is really messy.
Me: Yeah, you need really steady hands to be a cupcake baker.
Sister: Or to perform abortions.

overheard

Mum: OK take a look at this. Regarding the blood test I went for just now, I'm checking this website and it's about chromosomes and lung cancer detection.

Dad: You do realize that you're on the website for the Journal of Applied Research in Veterinary Medicine, don't you?

brunch

chickpeas with maple syrup, garlic, nutmeg and lemon salt (- thanks J!)

bed of (leftover) wild rocket and young spinach

Greek yoghurt

caramelized onions 

slivers of parmigiano reggiano

(rocky road ice cream)

BEST BRUNCH EVER

notes

1. Books to read: À rebours by Joris-Karl Huysmans and Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov. Both are about decadence and sloth. 

2. No really, why do people study at Starbucks? The wooden chairs are too hard and the very comfy sofas are only conducive for sloth and leisure. Whatever makes people happy, I guess. I am also very hard to please. I mainly hang around for the food (and the smell of food.) 

3. Stupid Favorite Word of the Week: defenestrate. 

4. Eerily Recurrent Word of the Week: ferment (As in, "the livid but long-drawn ferment of the subjugated peasantry.")

5. BEST. POETRY. ANTHOLOGY. EVER. HEARTS UNTIL CANNOT HEARTS ANYMORE. (The cover bears the most unfortunate resemblance to Currently Popular Vampire-Romance Series That Needn't Be Named, but still, it's already too ridiculously perfect. If I were a silverfish, I would only settle for a book like this. I will grow fat on the pulp, and then explode happily and messily all over the cover.)

6. Note to self: respect thy body, flee from all evil, i.e. Vile Coffee. 

7. I'm going to collect the literature t-shirts tomorrow! All Is Groovy!

currently reading

like a potato in my hands

Today I realised that even if I don't get straight As out of this exam, get myself a place in Columbia, or get a scholarship to become fabulously upwardly mobile, I will still be happy and thankful for the education, memories and love that these two years have afforded me.