XiaoFeiXia

Emotions

2006-08-21T18:49:00.000+08:00

Went to my first lecture of Emotions psychology. It wasn't too bad. However something happened that I never encountered before.

"Dear class, it came to my attention that the Law of Emotion file may be corrupted. Hence, you DON"T have to read it. I'm removing this from the required reading list. But if you have read it, good. Because the paper is offering some interestin views about emotions. Be careful though, becuase, many of the views, although interesting, are not well substantiated empirically. But still it's good to know them and be aware of different viewpoints." O_O

The Law of Emotion, by the way is an article marked as reading for the first week. It is a relatively tough paper to digest as there are multiple laws governing emotions that uses jargons here and there. I am glad that I didnt crack my brain trying to decipher the whole article. Am even more glad that I stumbled upon this paragraph which I felt will be quite relevant to everyone. Here goes.

"..the automatic workings of the law of situational meaning are evident. One example concerns falling in love. Data from questionaire studies (Rombouts,1987) suggest that it is also triggered by a specific sequece of events, in which the qualities of the love-object are of minor importance. A person is ready to fall in love because of one of a number of reasons -loneliness, sexual need, dissatisfaction, or need of variety. An object then incites interest, again for one of a number of reasons, such as novelty, attractiveness, or mere proximity. Then give the person a moment of promise, a brief response from the object that suggests interest. It may be confidence; it may be a single glace, such as a young girl may think she received from a pop star. Then give the person a brief lapse of time-- anywhere between half and hour or half a day, the self-report suggest-- during which fantasies can develop. After that sequence, no more than a single confirmation, real or imagined, is needed to precipitate falling in love."

For those who bothered (and have the brain cells) to plough through what I have lifted, I am pretty sure it's gonna be useful eh? *wink*

Definitely not regretting taking this (non-core) module. Haha.

Tick Tock Tic....

2006-08-17T15:49:00.000+08:00

Was thinking on my way home an hour ago.

Saw a pretty gal with a pair of slender pins wearing my jc's uniform. She managed to pull it off despite the thick grey fabric that the jc had imposed on us. We used to lament that it is probably some fire-retardent material and it IS water proof to a certain extent. Drip a drop of water onto the cloth and it will take >10 sec to sip through. No joke!

Anyway the point is, what's the quality that enables her to carry it off? Her well-proportioned legs? In some ways I presume. But I suspect its her youthfulness that seals the deal. Not even the drab uniform can affect that undeniably young-ish aura surrounding her. I cannot deny that a tinge of envy did emerge for an instant. Pretty young thing. Damn! Dont get me wrong, I am still pretty young myself (Gen Y cohort). However I am no longer tender meat, so to speak.

Pushing my amoebic brain a wee bit deeper, and I realise that hey, it's all part of the deal. 5 years down the road and she might be experiencing the same situation as me. Further more, shouldnt I enjoy The moment instead of chasing after what's unattainable? And aint guys suppose to age like "fine wine"?

Mature- an adjective that was never used on me. Wooohoo, I am ready to cash in my child-like look anytime! Hope it'll be enough to tide me over til I am in my 40s ;)

Adolescent Psychology lecture two days ago. What's the difference between a (1)teenager, (2) juvenile and (3) youth?

1)Teenager: chronological age (13-19) ;
frivolous and lighthearted image (steinberg)
------------> Aww, I am out of the league.

2) Juvenile: Commonly used in criminology literature eg., under the Children &Young
Persons Act ( CYPA), Child is defined as <14,> Boy am I glad that I aint eligible.

3) Youth: between childhood & maturity;
later years of adolescence ( Keniston);
15-29 (Yeo & Chow; Ho & Yip);
Under 40 (PAP)
-------------> Woot! I am quite sure a lot of people will vote for PAP for its definition of youth.

Turning 24 tmr.
Arnett's Emerging Adulthood (18-25 ). Not a boy, not yet a man. Think Britney. Before she went wonky and got herself laid.
Life isnt that bad.

S(car)

2006-08-16T23:04:00.000+08:00

My driving licence is more than 3 years old.

I could still vividly recall how shocked I was when told to turn back to BBDC a mere 5 mins after I was on the road. Body slumped, I dragged myself back to the room and sat down. Tick, tick, tick. 20 points were all that's needed to crush me again. It was my 2nd attempt. My first was ruined by a taxi-driver even though I'd aced my circuit.

"Drive safely." I looked up unsure of what's happening initially. Euphoria.

The first car I drove was my dad's maroon E230. Needless to say, multistorey carparks with impossible narrow turns caused disfigurement. Dad says I am not "one with the car". Whatever that means.

Fast forward 36 months later, I am proud to say my dad's current car doesnt need a single IPL treatment. Even though I still insist that Camry's turning radius is ridiculous. I am thankful to my dad. For sharing it with me. For not scolding me when treatments for his first car amount to a pretty painful sum. Inevitably we have to lose some money in life, he said.

My first graffiti on the place where I used to stay.

Close up. Only the maroon mark is mine. Guess I am not the only one huh.

Now I tend to oversteer to my right.

Darkest post yet

2006-07-29T00:26:00.000+08:00

Those who knew me would never believe I'd start to follow the crowds and have my own blog (used to look down on the herding instinct).

Well, since I have never link up with my friends, nor tell anyone who knew me about this blog, I suppose no one would really care with the mundane stuff that I bothered to put up here when I am acutally not-lazy enough to do so.

Tonight is another night.

I dont love my mum. There. I have spitted it out.

Ashamed, guilt, remorse, indignation. Come on, stone me, whip me, hang me. But I have never felt proud of her. Ask me to recall one happy scene that i have shared with her, b-l-a-n-k. Nada.

My dad told me to give in to her. Said she is mentally unstable. However, she is so bloody shrewd! Always used her leverage on me and my dad. How? I guess I still have a modicum of the rational me left to not air all the dirty laundry in public space. To cut it short, I'd just 'issued' an ultimatum. Her trump cards aint going to last forever. In a few yrs, when its going to be invalid, it will be too late to patch things up.

I dont want to be a hardened cynical ol' soul. Hello? I am still in my early twenties! Yet the accumulated emotions have been threatening to spill out these couple of years especially. I have gradually build up a defensive wall, brick by brick, such that even my two "oldest" friends couldnt reach out to the core.

I need something to look forward to. And not to seem so pathetic. Going an all-out war with my mum would mean that my dad is the one whose going to be the 1st casualty. I do not wish for that to happen. Yet what could I do? My dad said I am selfish not to think of him, and the family... Said if mum couldnt change, it's me who must change.
BUt i am not BIG enough to do that. I am quite a wreck imo. How can I help others properly if I am not complete?

The opposite of love is not hate. It's indifference. When the day comes that i channel all my frustration to indifference, no number of apology letters nor tears would help. I pray that day would not arrive.

Another one of those silly quizzes

2006-07-24T23:03:00.000+08:00

I'm a Ferrari 360 Modena!

You've got it all. Power, passion, precision, and style. You're sensuous, exotic, and temperamental. Sure, you're expensive and high-maintenance, but you're worth it.

"Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Taking it with a pinch of salt with these pseudo-psych quizzes. =)

Late night rumbling.

2006-07-15T02:09:00.000+08:00

Woot! Finally the day is here. Will be officially shifting into my new house this sunday. Housewarming will be on next sunday. Sadly, I think I would have to postpone my dream of having a border collie as school is starting soon and I have no time to go properly hunt for a good breeder until the next hols.

Anyway, was driving into the new house when I saw a police vehicle parking right outside the gate. Some poor soul crashed his Celica onto the tree just a metre away from my house.

See how he buanged the road sign and the pole? My dad was hoping that the tree aint mess up too badly as its shade was very much appreciated in the current weather. Lol. On hindsight, if only I dared to pilfer the road sign... Can definitely use it to spice up my bedroom. Haha. ( In case ppl think I am a heart-less bastard, the young-ish driver escaped without a scratch.)

Eh! Cant seem to upload more photos... something is wrong with blogspot. Guess that's it for now then. Mister Sandman is beckoning*

Kinda lazy these few weeks, will be updating more soon.

2006-06-13T23:16:00.000+08:00

Find your own pose!

Toboggan Traits and Tendencies :
Tobogganeers are always one step in front of their peers; they're first to buy a house, first to microdermabrate, first to spend more than a thousand dollars on a rug. Yet in their rush to get ahead of the curve, Toboggan couples sometimes find themselves racing in two entirely different directions. If they don't check in frequently to make sure they're both on the same track, they can grow impressively far apart, and it can take a great deal of painful maneuvering and many late-night talks before they reconnect once again.

Comfort Zone:
Toboggan is a Sun Sleeper pose. Other Sun poses a Tobogganeer might enjoy include Big C Little c, Classic Spoons, and The Heimlich.

A Note About Feeding:
Tobogganeers have two modes: fed and calm, and unfed and frantic. To prevent bickering and other erratic behaviors, always keep the pantry and glove box well stocked with a supply of crackers and spreadables.

Quite accurate!

My stomach's on fire

2006-05-07T23:50:00.000+08:00

My 3rd feeble attempt at blogging. By now, I guess it's pretty obvious that I chose to type whatever stuff that creeped into my mind 1st hence please pardon me if my syntax is all messed up. Ya, no highfalutin stuff for me tho' I can be quite the word-smith. Bj must be puke-ing right now. Muahaha

Aisey, didnt go to the SKC dog show at Expo today as (expected) V didnt wanna go at the last min. Oh well another time perhaps. But I do have one doggie pic to post - it's my tuition kid's doggie.

Haha, can you all see that she's suffering from an underbite? I was joking that maybe after my braces are removed this month, I can pass it to her. Nonetheless, I like Pepper( ya thats her name) a lot. She rarely barks and don't have that typical "doggie" smell. Such a lovely bitch. Lol.

Speaking of braces, I am so glad that NDC finally indented the black bands that I was looking for since last year. At least i gotta wear them for one month before my orthodontic treatment is nearly complete. =)

Oh went to choose curtains for my new bedroom today, quite uneventful. The thing is: the more choices that are available, the harder it's to make a decision, ya? I think this can be widely applied to daily situations in our lives. Overwhelmed is the key word. Oh the guy who brought the curtain samples to our house is a Malaysian. My sis and me were groaning away when my mum suddenly decided she wanted to be a native msian by adopting the erm, unique, m'sian accent. Doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure why she is doing these. The innate obasan desire to strike a mean bargain later I suppose.

Still remember I used to make freq. trips to M'sia when i was younger with my parents (my dad was born there). Those adults and kids there used to tease me abt my weird Singapore accent( xin1 jia3 po1 ren2, thats what they used to call me) , in the end i picked up their local version quite readily. Tho' I stopped following my parents (hello, a car trip to pahang isnt the most exciting thing on earth) to Msia for 5-6 years, I went back with them again last year. And i was discussing the accent issue with my (now grown-up) nephews, nieces and cousins. I discovered that while i can readily switch to their accent with no difficulties, they cant switch to our version! Why huh?? I was like breaking down in mono-syllabic pronounciation with them, and i could see that they were really struggling to imitate my version! O_o

So there, even tho' I am virtually a semi-lingual (aka BICS in both chn and eng), and that I am hopeless with dialects, at least I can blend into the msia crowd whenever there is a need to ok. The flip side is I am easily busted if they try to converse with me in Cantonese. Muahahaha

Lastly, my stomach is burning now. Mr piggy (aka me) had to order take away spicy veg. ikan bilis after having dinner with parents. There are quite so many mock versions of the real stuff eh. The one I tried today is made of peanuts and tiny potato strips coated with a fiery marinade. Not too bad, but it's too heaty i think. Must do damage control now.

"The world moves for love and kneels before it in awe."

~The Village

Goodbye Cck, Hello Cck.

2006-05-06T16:56:00.000+08:00

Firstly the day I'd yearned for has finally arrived! I am free!!!!! 3 solid months of break for us students that working adults can only fantasize in their dreams =p

For this couple of weeks I should be quite tied down due to the fact that i am shifting hse for the 3rd time of my life. From ulu cck to... cck. Muhahaha, i bet u all are rolling ur eyes now. It's not really my fault anyway. It's my dad. Looking at the brighter side, my new room will be as big as the current master bedroom in my old hse now. ^^
One more thing, how come I didnt get to vote?! Shucks...really dunno how they do the demarcation one... my current address has a cck in it, but apparently, we are not in it. There goes my hope of the 1st election since i turned 21. If dabizi aka mr steve chia lost, who dares to vie for the seat here again?

I will no longer be bounded by HDB's rules next month! yeah... I can have my dream Border Collie...however I am lying low for the moment, parents mood aint that good lately. Not to mention that a BC costs a bomb ya know! A non-show breed quality can easily costs $2-3k+... O_O
How can a poor student like me afford one? Even the Progress package (i call it the PAP bribe) aint going to help much. Sigh, anyone wanna sponsor? My pigu (for those non-chinese or bananas out there, pigu means ass in mandarin) aint worth much but i am willing to use it as collateral. lol

Oh, went to Kranji farmmart today, nothing much to see. Bought some vegetarian anchovies (very crunchy and tasty!) and took a look at the petshop... took less than 1 hr for the whole trip... quite boring actually.

Tasty snack at $3.50 each only. Glutton me bought 3!

Side profile of "ikan bilis". Looks like fish bait eh? Gross! But they are actually mushrooms bits coated with flour.

Thats all for now. Oh i heard there is a dog show at Expo tomorrow, am going to check it out!

Feeling a lil bored.

2006-04-19T22:44:00.000+08:00

Hence my maiden venture into the blogging sphere...hehe!

Firstly, my nick. It's like everything in this world, the position you choose to adopt will affect your view. Lol, reminds me of developmental psych's egocentrism. But i prefer NOT to be known as small fat prawn, so please use yer blein a wee bit more ok?

That's it for now as my final exam is in 2 days time, and I havent really scratched the surface... whats new?