102 minutes

A Week From Now

starkravingensign — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:42:43 +0000

A week from now, those 77 charges of mine will finally, finally, find out whether they can get over the hill i’ve been coaching, cajoling, and yes sometimes screaming at them to climb this entire year. Time to get your game faces on, people:)

It’s been a memorable trip to say the least. So many resistant minds. So many lousy moments. Especially when you get accused of showing professional bias. That was really a low point. But then you think about the converted few, and the many more who are surely trying, and for a while it IS worth it.

I miss them already, there just wasn’t enough time to convince them all. But maybe that’s the point. So you keep trying harder next year. And the next.

And so I just want to record here and now that Sarah Ho, Chng Xinni, Tay Chun Mei, you make the job worth it. I will miss you all very much and our time learning together, though I know you will go on to do wonderful things in your lives:))

I made quite a lot of people cry this year, not something i say in praise, but I wonder if I was THAT evil, or as Xinni puts it, that they feel comfortable enough with me to show that much emotion in my presence. Hmmm.

I have been told I will take the noobs next year, but I won’t hold my breath. Next year will bring its own set of challenges. For now I wanna buy a Canon PowerShot SX150 IS with the remainder of my SMILES cash. Have agreed to string for DCS. It’s all so sudden. Ok random point over.

To the class of 2011, then. It’s been some ride. Thank you.

Ten Years On, To Forget About That Thing Called World

starkravingensign — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 08:57:08 +0000

‘To look life in the face, always to look life in the face. To love it, for what it is, and then to put it away. Leonard, always the years between us. Always the years, always the love, always the hours.’

– Virginia Woolf, in ‘The Hours’ (2002)

It’s Holidays Again! (What Holidays?)

starkravingensign — Mon, 30 May 2011 17:19:21 +0000

June break has descended upon us. It’s Day 2 and I’m already keeping a vampiric existence, marking (or trying to) at 24-hr Macs and wondering about the futility of it all. And then the news that because of a cock-up I’m not attending the course after all. Oh well. Had a nice chat with WJ yesterday afternoon and I must say I’m charmed by youth. Being somewhere else is not the point if you’re being chained to your unmet responsibilities and unfulfilled obligations – it’s like get off my case, all of you! I need a freaking break. Go find someone else who will give a damn about your problems for a while, why don’t you?

Not a good sentiment to have when it’s only Day 2.

Being Zen About Loss

starkravingensign — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 10:12:04 +0000

Sent in my MacBook Pro for repair; engineer says my HDD is shot; data recovery is uncertain but definitely expensive. Trying to be zen about the loss – what do we really have that we can keep with us permanently anyway?

Maybe there’s no point working your butt off for the kids

starkravingensign — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 09:27:32 +0000

The slackers hate you because you’re always on their case; the truly intelligent don’t really need your help anyway; the pseudo-intelligent hate you because you’re always bursting their bubble of intellectual arrogance.

The weak? Well, there’s really no guarantee they’re gonna make it right?

A frightening thought.

Dog At My Door

starkravingensign — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:49:09 +0000

So after a hard day’s work, I climb up the usual flight of stairs to see – a dog. A big dog. Right in front of my door. I stare at it. It stares back. I don’t know what to do, so I actually found a refuge at the community center, mulling options. At first I thought it was owned by a guest of my neighbor’s, but then it turns out she too was shocked by its sudden presence. So, still locked out, we called the cops, who called SPCA. Am typing this while waiting for them.

It’s a sweet looking dog, pretty old and probably sick. If I wasn’t so deadly afraid of dogs, I’d probably pet it or something. As it is, I can’t even stand next to it, because the confined spaces are really tight and I’d hate to be trapped between a dog and the wall. So I’m waiting at the carpark gate for the SPCA. They just arrived.

SY thinks I could have done more for the dog, but I don’t know. She says the SPCA would put it to sleep, but I sure hope not.

Anyway, there’s a happy ending to the story, because the owner, from the pet store opposite, luckily returned just as the dog was being led to the SPCA van. And another dog-man reunion ensues.

What a night! Doggone it!

Reached My Limit – I Want HER Gone!

starkravingensign — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 06:31:09 +0000

Inflexible, abrasive and generally nasty. That’s HER in a nutshell. I really really hate working with HER. I’d rather bear this burden alone than have to bear with HER too

03SF, Revisited

starkravingensign — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 14:44:22 +0000

A few days ago, I bumped into Esther on the bus, and had a really nice 20 minutes catching up on things since we last laid eyes on each other. Fortuitously, a few days before, I had a missed call from Carrie, and we set up tea this afternoon, after what seemed like ages since we last met (2004?). One of the sublime pleasures of catching up with your ex charges is how heartening it is to see how they have flourished and, well, how grown-up they are. It’s like maturity was a film you can only peel back at the appointed time, and what looks back at you, who used to be untested youth is now a confident, assured fellow adult in the grown-up club. It was the same with Gen, and now I have the crazy idea of contacting as many 03SF ppl on FB and putting some reunion together.

WordPress 2.7, Do Not Disappoint

starkravingensign — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:43:51 +0000

Coming so soon after 2.6.6 finally decides to work, I hope this upgrade augurs well for the app and reinvigorates my flagging desire to blog more.

And so, half the hols is gone, just like that. I must confess I haven’t swotted at the speed that I should have, or even wanted to, but sometimes some downtime does wonders for the soul.

60 More Charges Over the GP Hill

starkravingensign — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 04:48:14 +0000

And so, while waiting for ML to get her food, and finding to my very pleasant surprise that the WordPress app ver 2.6.6 is finally working, I decided to blog the obligatory report that my 60 charges did go over the Hill and came out not in too bad shape. The A haul wasn’t too great, and one didn’t make it, but I guess I should be thankful given how particularly challenging this bunch was.

Not surprising, already the newbies have muttered discontent, and the prevailing sense is entitlement without having earned it. They’re stronger but just slightly. I’ve even had The Talk with one lot. I can only say I feel more confident, more secure this time around, and with a little bit of luck and faith, we will prevail again, with better grades.

And yes, why does it all have to come down to it – the G word. After the F word, it’s the single most vulgar word we on the T Job can ever fathom.