Life Update

As most regular visitors to The Daily Word will know, my site was down for a period of time. Just to get you up to speed with what’s been happening to me, if you are so inclined, here’s a list of the 20 most significant things that have happened in my life during that period, including key insights that have changed my thinking:

1. I obtained a Gold for my IPPT, with a personal best in my 2.4km run (9:13) I’ve been trying for this for the past year and a half, so achieving it was really a dream come true.
2. The dude who will be taking over my job in camp has arrived, meaning I’ll soon be able to hold fewer responsibilities in preparation for my ORD
3. I’ve switched website hosts to (mt) MediaTemple
4. Decided to drop my own Catherine Publisher for WordPress (currently in the process of switching)
5. I have a new-found love of swimming, and have been swimming weekly for the past three weeks. Swimming has never been my thing until now; previously when I was in the pool I’ve always been like a fish out of water.
6. I’ve started running 22 – 35km per week, in preparation for the AHM (Army Half-Marathon) in late August / early September, as well as the Singapore Standard Chartered full marathon held early December. I’ve never run a full marathon before, and nearly died the last time I ran the half-marathon. Therefore the more intensive preparation this time round
7. In the recent bear market, I’ve lost 15% of my net worth. Thankfully I’m not worth much yet, so 15% is really not that much. Ha.
8. I’ve become more extroverted. Don’t ask me why.
9. I think of the corniest jokes. These jokes used to stay in my head, and in my head only: I never told them. But recently, perhaps due to the inexplicable added extroversion that I obtained from god-knows-where, I’ve started to tell them. Some people are offended, as my jokes aren’t always told at the appropriate time, well, at least according to some (“c’mon,” I said, “that meeting was so dry your skin was flaking. You can’t believe how ugly you look!”) When they start getting too hot, I normally do stop my jokes, to give them some time to cool off. But when I’m hungry, I bombard them with even more corny jokes. Why? Because when the the jokes touch them, they turn into popcorn! Mmm. Yum yum. Yup, I know. Corn-ny. Ha.
10. My house has World Cup (soccer) coverage (we tapped into the Indonesian airwaves) and I’m not watching, which really is a surprise even to myself. I used to love watching soccer so much.
11. My kitten, Chibby, got run over by a car.
12. I spent more money in the month after my Brunei trip than in the previous four months combined. Somehow Brunei seemed to awaken the curse of consumerism in me.
13. I’ve covered more distance in my runs in the month after Brunei than in the previous three months combined. And I have swam more in the past three weeks than in the preceeding five years.
14. I’m reading blogs again 🙂 There was a time I used to spend hours just blog hopping. Then I stopped reading blogs completely. After that, I read very selective blogs. Now, I’ve come full circle.
15. I’ve started looking girls / young women in the eye when I talk to them. Never used to do that. Was always too shy; well, at least that’s what they used to say (“they won’t eat you!” they’d say. “Yeah, but Medusa will turn you to stone,” I’d say). This change is probably linked to my sudden extroversion. I think it’s possible Brunei did this to me — few things in life can match the shit I’ve been through there. I metaphorically died there, but having actually really survived, am back with nothing to lose. So this probably also explains the crazy amounts of money I’ve been spending… interesting.
16. I currently have no specific girl I’m interested in, and this is new. I’ve always been infatuated (or more romantically, in love) with some girl somewhere. But recently, I’ve really been quite liberal with my romantic inclinations.
17. I chatted on MSN with Rachel (meerkitty). She’s 17. The full force of my age, I’m 22 this year, hit me when I realised this. My hopes of being a young prodigy (at something, anything!) are gone now.
18. Having not enough sleep makes me very, very cranky. I have thus far: ignored someone who means a lot to me, punched someone (who doesn’t), snapped at someone (many times), pulled down someone’s pants (don’t ask!), and screamed my head off when I got irritated while tired. Allow me now to say a generic “sorry” to all out there whom I have wronged.
19. I have apologied twice this week, three times if you include the apology above. This number is more than the total number of times I have said “sorry” in the past four years. Am I getting soft? Nah. I just read somewhere that girls like courteous guys: gentlemen; apparently they’re getting rare. So, I’m “gonna be a better man” and work on my (rather flawed) personality. I’ll open your door if you like.
20. I realised that the girls I like are currently, or have already completed, studying overseas (in Australia and America). This has prompted me to seriously think about the reasons why, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the girls I like are rich and speak mostly english. Ha.

By the way, there’s the opening of a new blog in town. Congratulations to zixuan on his new blog!