Random notes from my 3 days of doing absolutely nothing but sitting around.

- The House finale was made of win. They killed 2 characters. That's just depressing.
- The CSI NY finale isn't anywhere as near as depressing or as good as the House one, as I don't give a shit whether Mac's gonna die or not, because he won't. And because we've had too many Mac-centric episodes already. Seriously. 10-ish episodes on the 333 stalker- isn't that enough Mac already?
- So I can see that I will be more stoked to watch House than New York in the beginning of the new season, and I'll love NY more in the end. It's always like that. I start out liking one, but end liking the other more.
- Season 4 of House and NY on AXN starting June 2 and 10 respectively! Squee! House keeps its Monday 10pm timeslot (Which has been House for the past I don't know how long, since they didn't put anything but House on Monday nights, even after Season 3 ended) and NY will be taking back its Tuesday 10pm timeslot, which was taken by Damages and Terminator:The Sarah Connor Chronicles after Season 3 ended (Which I both watched. I love Damages. T:TSCC is like, meh, I'll watch it for the Lena Headey).
- I was watching Season 2 House yesterday on TV. Cameron's voice was so high pitched, I LOL'ed through half of the show. JMo has been speaking with her lower voice this season, and Olivia Wilde isn't as high pitched, it took some time to get used to.

Things that need to be done:
May:
- 26th, Taylor's CLIOD programme! Haha. ICPU in 1 day. Wonder what it'll be like

- Clean/rearrange my cupboard
- Clear my table. The organized mess is getting disorganized.
- Renew my passport before Singapore June 14.
- Finish up the accounting from the t-shirts. Ugh. Afternoon sessions lost me RM 1400. Sheesh.
- Get some ideas for Reunion video.
- Catch up on the homework that I left to rot before the exams
- Study study study

This is the obligatory

"Exams are over, I'm free"

and

"Holidays are here, whee"

post.

I leaned across, to close my blinds, as the glare of the sun was getting unbearable.

My chair hit my hip, and it didn't spin around to accomodate my movement, like it used to.

Then I remembered. I have a new chair in my study now. Min Shen's favourite swivelly black chair's down in the TV area.

I watched ReGenesis and wrote some stuff down for the fun of it.

Then I remembered that none of my regular readers watch ReGenesis. Heh.

OH, but I LOL'ed when David had a phone call from Lilith (His daughter who was shown in Season 1 who was acted by... Ellen Page), must've been something about her going to uni or something, cause he was like, "So, what're you going to study? Molecular Biology? Or Molecular Biology?" Now THAT'S what you call trying to get your daughter to do what you're already doing. Hee. I wonder whether Ellen Page will turn up in any form in the ReGenesis finale. In any form. Solid, living, breathing Lilith Sandstrom or by voice or a photo, like in Season 2. I mean, next week isn't just the season finale, it's the SERIES FINALE. IT'S LIKE, OH MY BROKEN HEART. THE SCIENCE. I LOVES IT. THEY DON'T EVEN DEAL WITH PHYSICS.

Anyways.

I wonder whether they'll kill Carlos off. I hope not. It's in times like Bob emo-ing during this episode that I really, really, really wished that Rachel still existed on the show. *sigh* Rachel was such an awesome virologist.

I still don't regret staying up late, late nights on Thursdays and Fridays after PMR. It brought along one of the coolest TV shows I have ever watched that made me squee about the science. Oh, the science.

BM 2 tomorrow. Xueli has my KOMSAS book. *Dead'ed* *Resorts to reading a Kamus Peribahasa and checking out my Tatabahasa book*

Also wik, Chemistry wasn't as tough as the February one. I am so doomed.

I feel better already. Still have a bit of flu-ey feeling, but not so bad now.

3 weeks of exams definitely drain one of other thinking ability.

Trudging through Chemistry right now with a slight fever and annoying runny nose (Must remember to pack extra tissue paper for tomorrow). But I am still alive.

I cannot wait for the holidays for peace, quiet and, I'm assuming, some hanging out with my friends. Hopefully.

On another note, Justine's name has already been removed from the rankings. *sigh*

I find it funny that Justine was offered a place in the Bollitieri Academy many, many years ago. She said no because it meant that she had to go to Florida. LOL.

Imagine if she did go.

She'd have that awful-looking forehand (Like Sharapova's, Jankovic's, Vaidisova's, etc) and her agents would've been, like, IMG.

I LOL at the prospects.

I haven't quite had the time to sit down and type about recent activities.

I guess I'll write about Justine first, since I know I'll be squealing more about House, NY and ReGenesis next week. After all, there's no more squealing-about-Justine's-amazing-matches and annoying the hell out of people by blabbering about Justine almost 24/7. At least the worst was over. I think I reached the peak of obsession around Form 2/3. LOL. OH, and last year.

So, bear with me what will probably be the last long post about Justine and how awesome she is to me, blah, blah, blah. You guys have gone through it for at least 4 years, now. Why worry? Hee.

Justine retired a World Number 1, the first to do so, and only the 4th Top 5 player to retire. She had 117 weeks at the top of the tour (Counting this week, the last week in which her name will be in the rankings), 41 titles (Which include 7 Grand Slam titles, 2 YECs and an Olympic Gold Medal) and is holding on to 2 titles this year, and still holding on to another 7 from last year.

There are people out there who think that Justine's retirement isn't worth anything. There was this person who commented on an NY Times article saying that, 'Sure, retiring when I'm 25 with about 20mil USD in my pocket's really hard, after a decade.' But I guess what people doesn't realize is how hard it is to stay at the top for such a long time. (Don't even talk about Federer. He's just... ew.) I'm sure it's even harder to retire when you're RIGHT AT THE TOP, with a 1700+ point advantage to boot. Why retire now? Why not stay on for a few Grand Slams, one last ditch at winning Wimbledon for the Grand Slam?

However, when the passion isn't there, it's gone forever. And for someone like Justine, who's been so dedicated to tennis all her life, losing the passion for the game is quite big a deal. It's like running out of gas petrol when you're driving in the middle of nowhere on your way to, say, Singapore, and there's absolutely no one around. I find it ironic, since just the day before her retirement, I had been making a banner, adding her quote,

"I've hung on to tennis. I've done so for the past 20 years. It is something that is in me. It is me."

If that's how she's looking at tennis, I don't doubt that she probably has lost some sleep over considering whether she wanted to continue her career or not.

It is admirable that someone so young, and yet so old can walk away from the trappings of fame and fortune, just for the simple pleasures of life. She certainly has learnt how to live in the past year or so.

I will, though, miss waking up in the middle of the night just to watch her play a match. I will miss seeing her slide on clay. The beauty and the fluidity and focus of her tennis. Hell, she was unique among the top players, and she sat right above all of them. I will miss her nailbiting matches, those days when someone would tell me halfway through a match, "Pfft. She's going to lose," and I could say, "You wait and see," as we watch Justine claw her way back. I will miss that oh-so-awesome backhand (No words can describe its lethal and aesthetic values), and that lethal forehand, which has been developed over the years to become on of her greatest weapons.

She was definitely a first for me. One of the first individuals I actually, properly admired as they are. And she was definitely the first person I saw grow on the tennis court. Not just age. It was her playing style. How she matured over the years, strove to overcome the barriers of her relatively-small physicality. How, as I remembered when I first saw her play, she barely had a forehand (It was this strange, bouncy thing that was just... bizarre). Her serve was more pathetic than it is now.

Over the years, we've seen her change her serve, add more variety to her game. Improve that forehand to the lethal whip we see today. The rackethead speed she produced every single shot was just amazing, putting her whole body behind that one shot. The sublime dropshots (Which are especially wonderful to see on clay) and those overheads.



Now that she's retired, there's no one to fill in the gap she's left. No one as of now who has as beautiful, technical, tactical tennis, or even as much focus she has in every single match. It's not just a big loss to tennis. I think it is also a big loss to sports in general (And I haven't even talked about Annika Sorenstam retiring yet. Damn.). As Billie Jean King had said, Justine was, pound for pound, the best athlete out there.

All I will do now is sit back, take a break from watching tennis, wait until another day comes that another girl would come along to take my breath away with such beautiful, perseverant tennis. I hope, too, that one day, the graduates of Justine's academy can bring back the beauty of tennis.

The beauty of the one-handed backhand.



But that is only hope. And every individual is unique. And Justine would be one in a million.

However, thinking of her spending time, devoting herself to new loves and new life is quite interesting. The simplicity of life, life off the fast lane, life with her family, life with friends. Going back to study and fulfill the promise she made to her mother.

9 years on tour. 7 years I've been a fan. I've enjoyed every minute of it.

All good things must come to and end, people say. Justine's career ended. But I personally think that her life just started.

Thank you, Justine, for being someone I could look up to for inspiration.



(I have this gut feeling that this post has been quite repetitive. Forgive me. It's 2.30am. Coherent thought = Not there)

Lack of coherent thought after watching the first part of the House finale.

It's just... akldjf;aoweiu;aj sa;!!!1!!11!!

And, after watching the 416 promo, there has got to be more between 13 (As much as Hadley's a nice surname, I'm still attached to 13 xD) and The Answer (Keeping dearest Min Shen spoiler-free), because, well, there are, like, two moments where she looks like she's going to cry/has cried.

I like Amber's street clothes, though. Much better than those short skirts she's worn mostly throughout the season.

And, hur hur hur. Is 13 with Cuddy? That look she gives Cuddy, and then when she says 'Sorry'. FINE. I've been reading too many fanfiction.

Argh, there's so many things happening now, and time is flying by so fast. So little time to absorb whatever's happened to me. Now I think I know a fraction of what Justine feels.

Anyways, I shall start with some stuff from 2 weeks ago or so. Eh - sorry. Last week. The April-May week.

Okay, I know many of you don't like Pn Asmahan - I personally don't mind her - but think about it - Last year, when the 4 teachers retired/left school, they had their ceremony on teachers' day. When Pn Wu retired this year, there was this uber big ceremony (With white lilies which are actually for funerals). But did you realize that Pn Asmahan didn't have a ceremony? Bet that didn't cross your mind.

Nomination's begun. It's pretty insipid/uneventful/boring/disappointing so far. The nominees are too timid right now. I think I'd be a bit depressed when I retire from the prefects. It's been such a big part of my school life, and honestly, the last 2 years have got to be the best years of my life, so far.

Justine's had a bad, bad start to the year. Nevermind the 2 titles she's won. But I don't mind. I mean, she's been on an uphill climb since 02/03 (Apart from that pithole in China labelled 'CMV' in '04 - but she still managed to get the Gold Medal in Athens) and at the end of the day, she's human. Her body's not as strong as it used to be, her asthma's getting worse, her knee's not as good as it used to be. It's all life. When I first became a fan of hers, I knew she'd be a great player. But she was more than great - she won 7 Grand Slam titles, an Olympic gold medal, 2 Masters titles. Not a lot of people win 1 Grand Slam, let alone 7.

Exams - exams are just sucking my soul out right now. I wish there was something out there more freeing, something - nevermind. There isn't anything like that out there, so yeah.

I can't wait to have some alone time during the holidays. Being in school - people around you everyday. Going for tuition on a week day, seeing so many faces when sometimes, I don't want to see any at all.

I need a new phone. Ugh. It's so annoying when I'm trying to send a long SMS - but can't, when there's a 1 page limit on this one.

So many things to post about - but my thoughts are a jumble, so yeah...

Sometimes I wonder whether I'm suffering from depression, but there are always reassuring things that say I'm not.

And I wish I was more eloquent. *sigh*

Lasts:

Days of the Months:
- 31 Jan
- 29 Feb
- 31 March
- 30 April
- 23 May
- 30 June
- 31 July
- 30 August
- 30 September
- 31 October

School events:
- First Term Exam
- First day of school in the year
- First Perhimpunan of the year
- Sports Day

Prefects stuff:
- Marching Practice
- Prefects' Camp
- AJK meeting
- Major spotcheck

Things that are GOING to end:
- Mid Terms are our LAST internal exams. The next 20 or so exams we'll be sitting for are state/government exams.
- Being a prefect. Wow. Five years is really long, collectively 2 years of which were spent as a BOD, 1 of which was spent as an AJK. And 1 years' worth of being a prefect/probate.

We're growing too old, too quickly. It's already May.

*sigh*