Cars are getting happier.
It all started with Peugeot, when they decided sometime in 2005 that all their cars should bear an evil, plastic smile:
Then in 2009, Mazda debuted the Mazda 3, with her very own cheerful, slightly retarded-looking grin:
And now, Lotus has unveiled the new Elise, and she’s happy because she’s found herself some LED daytime running lights and cruise control:
Yes. Cruise control. On an Elise.
The next thing you know, it’s actually gonna be comfortable to drive.
But then again, maybe that’s what the Lotus Evora was all about…
I love happy, cheerful cars. I did a double take the first time I saw the new Mazda 3, but now that I’ve gotten used to it, I actually think it’s quite adorable. You see one and it smiles back at you, like a weird little kid at a street corner smiling to herself in a cute, mildly disturbing sort of way.
“Hehehehehe”
But after you’ve seen that weird little kid around for a while, you start missing her and looking out for her everytime you walk past that street corner. Then you start becoming ashamed of yourself for appreciating something that’s so queer. It’s the strangest thing, but the creepy-smile thing actually works.
For me at least…
Shine Jesus Shine FAIL
FOC2009’s gone, and so is rally, and bidding, which means the summer break is about to follow suit as well. And so far, the whole summer has been strangely unsatisfying. There’s no reason for this, but I’ve spent the entire summer with dread, this sense of impending doom. What kind of doom, I have absolutely no clue.
I thought the “doom” would go away after FOC, but it didn’t, because we jumped straight into the Rally project. So I thought it would go away after the Rally, which was MM’s last major project, and it didn’t. There was no “Thank God it’s finally over,” not immediately after the rally, not 3 days after, not a week… not ever. It just felt like any other day.
It’s like as if the fact that I can finally put my feet up and chill never really sank in. I’ve still got this overwhelming sense of dread, like as if Facebook is going to be revamped with a Hello Kitty theme, but I don’t use Facebook, so that wouldn’t be so bad… Or like as if BMW’s going to pull out of Formula 1, which is actually going to happen. They’re leaving Formula 1 at year’s end and leave the Sauber Team to die an even more horrible death than they already are this season. It would make my BMW Sauber cap a really cool cap to have though, because the team wouldn’t exist anymore, or at least exist under a different name…
And then there was the CSS AGM, which didn’t help to reassert any sense of normalcy either. Not that it was an extremely important personal thing for me or anything, but I’m just glad we didn’t have more freshmen present, or who knows what they might start thinking of us. I shan’t delve into anymore details. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t entirely bad. It was just… extremely weird, as I’m sure most people would agree.
But I’m not dreading any of that nonsense. I’ve spent the entire summer like this. I can’t even take a proper break and take my mind off everything, ‘cos I don’t even know what my mind is on. Is it the impending semester and all its work? Irrational paranoia that I may lose some good people this semester? Money problems? IPPT? That I’ve lost my mind because I don’t know what it’s on??
I’m dreading something, but I don’t know what.
Filed under: Ramblings
Final Exams FAIL
The final exams are finally over, which means the semester has concluded, which doesn’t quite equate to me getting a bit of a break. The summer break is shaping up to be a rather busy one, for the first few weeks at least. Meetings, outings, lots of tasks to do. I just opened the drawer in my nightstand a few days ago, and realised that I’ve yet to count my ang pow money. And it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to count it anytime soon, so if you’re in my house and you’re short of money, DON’T TOUCH MY NIGHTSTAND…
Yeah, like as if you’ll actually obey that…
I’m back to my my post-exam tradition of falling sick within the 2 weeks after the last paper as well. I’m supposed to be playing squash right now, but I’m not feeling 100% yet. So instead, I’m sitting here updating my blog so you folks will know that I’m still alive.
Yes, yes, I hear your groan of despair. I’m still here to terrorize you folks with mindless banter and swine flu. So that’s just too bad for you.
Photo: CNETAsia
On a brighter note though (for me), I’ve finally gotten my hands on my new phone. The Nokia N85. It’s got everything I need on a phone, everything I want on a phone, and everything else I never knew I wanted on a phone. There’s GPS, WiFi, a 5MP camera, a music player, a PDF and Office document reader, and it’s all quite complicated, just because there are so many features. But it’s a good phone. Nice camera, good size, feels solid, and it’s pretty responsive too, for the most part. I’m pretty happy about it. But it cost me a good $548, which means I’m gonna eat grass for the next 2 months and disappear.
Yay, no more mindless banter and swine flu… Aren’t you glad?
Filed under: Ramblings
It’s recess week, and I’m still afloat! Still alive, and not trying to impale myself with sharp objects. What’s more, I actually got a bit of a break this weekend. After 5 long days of nothing but work, I’ve gotten myself to sit back, and do nothing for 2 whole days. Which end in 10 minutes…
And like most girls, I naturally spent my break going shopping. Except I’m not a girl… Anyway, I went to Ikea yesterday and got myself a rug for underneath the drumset, to keep it from sprouting legs and running away from me while I’m playing. While I was there, I took the opportunity to get myself a rat too. It’s white, machine-washable, and very fat, which makes it really nice to squeeze. I know it’s all very random, but so is the box of lego I bought last week. It’s a model of a mail plane (yes, mail, not male…) that’s quite fat, but not so nice to squeeze.
So in 10 minutes time, the fun ends, and the work continues. 5 tests lined up in the next 10 days, one of which I’d just learnt of this afternoon. Hopefully, it all ends well, but I’m not betting on that.
It’s the end of week 3, and I am quite afraid. I’ve got 1 assignment and 1 tutorial due next week, a project that my team has yet to begin working on which is due in 3 weeks, and another lab session on Monday to hinder me from getting any of that done before the end of the week. I didn’t get much done today either. I spent half the day out of the house, and the other half constantly being distracted by everything around me, which made today another unproductive day.
Yes, another.
I’ve been really unfocused lately, and I’ve never really been able to warm up quickly enough to get on top of my work from the get-go like I have in all my previous semesters. Maybe it’s the lack of a real break since 2 semesters ago, or the riduclous schedule that I have this semester, but whatever it is, it’s leaving me feeling a bit knackered already.
And this is just the beginning…
Nico 