One year has passed by so fast! And once again, i’m grateful to be alive. So here goes:

22 things i did/that happened to me when i was 22. (of which is not in any significant order)

#1
Learn classical guitar and read music. Believe me, it’s really hard. I’ve been learning a little for half a year and i still suck terribly at it. But in any case, i’ve really enjoyed myself every time i go for classes, so i’m going to keep on at it.

#2
Started making stuff. I wish i could have made more stuff but there’s always lack of time. I should make time for some fun. 🙂

#3
Lived in a room with my 2 sisters and my mum and my cat for 3 months. (With 4 cats in the house) Not going to lie, it was probably the hardest thing to do this year. I am fine without the privacy, really. It was just the terrible dust and cat hair in the house (my sinus got so bad and i almost had asthma attacks too) The air-conditioning does not work so 4 people in a room with a cat and a fan that is a little spoiled as well and sleeping on a mattress so thin and with Apple’s poop, it was not pleasant at all. But like sis said, if we make through this, we can get through anything. Makes me wonder, i feel really bad for the homeless and those who cannot afford a house here. 😦

#4
Moved house. I DON’T LIVE IN TAMPINES ANYMORE! After 22 years of my life, who’d knew? It took a while to get used to this area. At first, i was a little pissed that everything closes so early. At my old home, i can go for a walk at 3.30am and still eat bee hoon goreng if i wanted to, but not here. But after a while, i am beginning to appreciate the lack of number of people here. It’s very laid back, and i don’t have to crawl with the crowd even if i want to go to the shopping malls. (I went back to Tampines Mall in the evening just a week back and i was like I DON’T MISS THIS AT ALL AHAHAHAHA)

#5
Decorated my room from scratch with no outer influences. I even drilled the wall shelves in myself. This means so much to me, and why? Because usually my mum picks the colour and furniture and i have to go along with it. But this time, it’s all me! Finally get to paint the wall black and have an inspiration wall!! 😀 (i think the top shelf really helped me with my nonsense stuff.)
And this side is all my other nonsense/music stuff. Looking pretty cool if i have to say so myself. 😛

#6
See my work in the cinema – Captain America! It felt so unreal! Great work everyone! 🙂

#7
My first metal performance! Honestly, it was Alexi Laiho that inspired me to pic up the guitar a long time ago with this video:

So, having to see COB in Singapore is pretty cool! Here are a couple of pictures.

THAT HAIR THAT POSE
Aside that, i am also pretty happy to have seen-

#8
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, 65 DAYS OF STATIC AND ZEE AVI LIVE.
I really do hope to see more bands next year (if i could afford them)!

#9
Voted for Singapore for the first time – and twice. All i can say is that i was quite disappointed that it was not what i hope for but then again, i am not that hopeful anymore. That’s all i can say.

#10
Got QC shirts!!! 😀

#11
And with reference to the one above, i have officially stopped buying clothes (unless it’s a VFX crew shirt or if i really really need it, second hand). Glad to know that i don’t have the urge to spend money on clothing anymore 😀

#12
Had purple hair.
See here if you wanna know my hair progress. AHAHAHA.

#13
Actually owned more musical instruments – and a mike. My stylophone and ukelele are awesome. I shall try to buy second hand instruments (even though those were new D:) when i can so if you have lobang for any kind of 2nd hand stuff at cheap prices, please feel free to inform me! 😀

#14
On the verge of learning to roll my ‘R’s or trilling tongue! This is a great video.

I can purr a little but it’s still a WIP, it’s getting there. Why do i want to learn it? So that i can speak proper Malay and also pronounce some things easier if i happen to learn other languages.

#15
Cured my tennis elbow/wrist/back pains permanently.
Pick up this book if you would like to know more.

#16
Became a member of the cloud appreciation society. 🙂

#17
Baked a cake for someone’s birthday! 😀

#18
Wrote a novel! (Well i tried to anyway. :P)

#19
Being with someone for half a decade! That is like more than 20% of my life! Impressive. Love you moo! ❤

#20
Renewed my long expired passport. (Hopefully go somewhere next year? D:)

#21
Learning cleanup at work! My job’s been a big part of it and i do enjoy every moment working on awesome stuff. It’s been a slow start (in terms of myself) to learn new stuff but i do hope i get better technically. I will work even harder next year! 🙂

#22
Broke the Guiness Book of World records with Misha Collins and GISHWHESEANS for the Greatest Internet Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen! It had been a hell of a ride. The greatest kind of fun i ever had all my life. I hope it happens again in 2012!

So, that is about all folks. Happy birthday to me an a Happy new year to you! Have a blessed 2012! 🙂

(from the NaNoWriMo website)

If I’m just writing 50,000 words of crap, why bother? Why not just write a real novel later, when I have more time?

There are three reasons.

1) If you don’t do it now, you probably never will. Novel writing is mostly a “one day” event. As in “One day, I’d like to write a novel.” Here’s the truth: 99% of us, if left to our own devices, would never make the time to write a novel. It’s just so far outside our normal lives that it constantly slips down to the bottom of our to-do lists. The structure of NaNoWriMo forces you to put away all those self-defeating worries and START. Once you have the first five chapters under your belt, the rest will come easily. Or painfully. But it will come. And you’ll have friends to help you see it through to 50k.

2) Aiming low is the best way to succeed. With entry-level novel writing, shooting for the moon is the surest way to get nowhere. With high expectations, everything you write will sound cheesy and awkward. Once you start evaluating your story in terms of word count, you take that pressure off yourself. And you’ll start surprising yourself with a great bit of dialogue here and a ingenious plot twist there. Characters will start doing things you never expected, taking the story places you’d never imagined. There will be much execrable prose, yes. But amidst the crap, there will be beauty. A lot of it.

3) Art for art’s sake does wonderful things to you. It makes you laugh. It makes you cry. It makes you want to take naps and go places wearing funny pants. Doing something just for the hell of it is a wonderful antidote to all the chores and “must-dos” of daily life. Writing a novel in a month is both exhilarating and stupid, and we would all do well to invite a little more spontaneous stupidity into our lives.

It’s so true. And with that, i’ll be away for the month of November to write 50,000 words of crap. 🙂
See ya!