I feel like a spy

I was supposed to go town today, to see some CNY festival thing in Birmingham, but someone decided not to go out after all..

Anyway, I stayed home and did some DIY. You know how some chavs smashed some windows? My dad wanted to catch them. And what better way than to use a hidden camera? Seems like the police couldn't be bothered to help, so this was my solution.

 This is a screenshot of the laptop. Basically what I did was, position the camera on the windowsill and used 'Yawcam' to preview the alleyway. Yawcam also allows me to detect motion, so that whenever something moves, it takes a picture and e-mails it to me. I can also check the cam through my iPod Touch or my phone.

My phone

Chavs smashed my windows

Hate is a strong word. But I hate fucking chavs! I despise them!

The worst thing is, where I live, at least 80% of the population are chavs.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm ashamed of where I live. Learn the name: Burntwood. Avoid this place at all costs. Especially... ESPECIALLY if you're not white. Burntwood is a racist, scum infested area. There's no safe place here.

At the top of my head, I can think of seven things that have happened that affects me, my family and my friends. I'll list them in order of seriousness:

1. Like I said, Burntwood is an extremely racist area. If you're Asian, prepared to be verbally racially abused whenever you're in town. I've endured for as long as I've lived here, which is around 11 years now. I've learnt that the most people here (including the adults) are ignorant chimps who never get out of the village. They know nothing of the outside world, which is probably why they think of non-whites as aliens. Last year, I was walking with two of my friends to Chasetown. The bus stop is there, and it takes about 20 minutes to walk there. Did I mention Burntwood is a shithole? There's actually nothing to do, which is why the chavs here do all these chavvy things. Anyway, I was walking with my two friends when suddenly a car drives past, full of white idiots yelling 'China'. It was the first time my two friends came round my area, so, what a great welcome. I'm making sure I never bring friends round again just to keep them from knowing what a terrible place I live in. But that's not it. The car comes back round again, and yells the same thing. What was their problem? What was the need in that? I didn't even know them. They were probably about 2-3 years older than I was. The worse was the third time they came round. They yelled 'you eat dog'. I felt weak. I couldn't even do anything back.
2. I dread every winter. This season provides chavs with unlimited ammo, and their target? My house. They throw snowballs all the time, and while it doesn't do any damage, it's annoying as hell hearing the thud during the night and waking me up. My house is targeted the most because it's next to an alleyway where the bastards like to hang out. I've even seen them throw snowballs at passing cars.
3. One morning, I woke up and found a traffic cone in the garden. The bastards must have thought it was pretty funny to throw random shit in our yard. Well wanna know something chavs? I do not enjoy having your shit in my garden.
4. I seem to have discovered a hobby of the chavs. Between the garden and the alleyway lies a wall. That wall is meant to protect our garden, but the thing is, on the otherwise of the wall (the alleyway side) is a whole bunch of this plant whose name I do no know. It's quite stiff and bouncy if you jump on it. The chavs make a hobby out of jumping on these plants and climbing the wall. They then jump of the wall and back into the plants which act like a trampoline. I actually caught two of these fucking idiots doing this on the wall once.
5. I have no idea who did this, and I don't think I'll ever find out. What happened basically was, my friend Jam came round to stay over. He drove, so he parked his car on the pavement as there was no space in the drive. The next morning, we find a huge gash on the side of the door. I hate it when these things happen. I've only had a few friends come round my house, and I was sure this would mean Jam wouldn't be coming over anymore. But he's a bro and didn't really seem to care anyway. Still, just shows how bad my area is.
6. A few years back, during summer, the door to the kitchen was open. It was hot. The door faces part of the wall that divides our house from the alleyway. I was in the living room when I heard a loud splash. I ran into the kitchen, only to find my grandma standing inches from a wet puddle on the floor. I also saw plastic bits in it. Suddenly, I see a projectile flying towards me. I manage to get out of the way, and see a splash on the floor. Chavs. Seems like they couldn't wait till winter to throw snowballs, so they decide to throw water balloons. Fucking nobs have nothing better to do.
7. Number seven. The worst, yet. Two weeks ago, my dad told me that one of the window panels of the roof of the conservatory had been shattered by a thrown rock. I looked up, and I see it for myself. This was too much. Well, obviously the chavs didn't agree with me, because two days ago, another window panel was shattered. Good thing the windows are double glazed, otherwise the glass would have caved in. Fixing these windows will cost £400 altogether. My dad called the police and they came over to check out the damages. They say they might install a camera on the side of the house. Before that could happen though, another rock was thrown yesterday. This time, at the door of the garage. The window shattered. For fuck's sake I can't take this. Fucking hell. Why won't my family just move to another place?

CNY 2012

I ate some food with my family. I don't really know what else to say...

Soulmate

How do you know if he/she's the one? If they're worth your effort?

So there's this person you really like, but it doesn't seem as if they have any interest in you whatsoever. Do you carry on pursuing them, even if it annoys them, or do you give up completely?

Let's create a scenario. We have Howard, 17, the guy who's never had any luck with girls. He wears glasses ad has no sense of fashion. Then there's Sally, the 'love of his life'. She's the popular blonde one who has all the boys in line waiting for her. Stereotypical, but it'll do.

Howard has finally mustered the courage to confess to her. She rejects him. Just like that. Howard, who was already lacking confidence, backs away and remains depressed for the rest of the year. It seems like even though she's his soulmate, it was never meant to be. What went wrong? Let's take a step back.

If Howard really believed she was the one, he shouldn't have gave up. He won't know what's going to happen. Nobody does. But if Sally is the one, he should never give up.

Now if Howard did keep pursuing her, there's only going to be two outcomes:
A. Sally realises her love for him, and Howard has succeeded in finding his soulmate.
B. Sally gets pissed off, and Howard never sees her again.

I'm not gonna lie, the latter is most likely going to happen. Maybe she just wasn't the one. I say that to a lot of my guy friends who haven't had the reply they wanted.

In fact, I forgot to mention the third outcome:
C. Howard gives up after a he realises she isn't really the one. Giving up at this stage is different to if he gave up when she first rejected her. Giving up now, Howard doesn't regret anything. He tried his best, and if he gave up at this point, Sally isn't his soulmate.

To summarise, if you think you've found the one, you never give up going for them. If you do find that you give up after giving your all, then they're not the one. You move on, and keep searching. Many people will disagree with me when I say, everyone has one soulmate. You just have to look hard to find them.

Love, really?

Have you ever felt like, you loved someone, but they don't love you back? Like, to you they're your soulmate, but for some reason, to them you're non-existent? I'm willing to bet many people have experienced this feeling, and I just wanna take some time out and discuss this in depth.

Now I'm no love expert (I don't think I've ever even fallen in love before) but from my own experience, this is the knowledge I have gathered.

Love is unpredictable. It's a cliche but a very true fact. You can't do anything about it. You can't choose who you love, it just happens. That guy, he's old enough to be your dad, but you can't help thinking about him. That's love, you can't help it. That girl, she looks like a camel, but you can't stop dreaming about her. That's love, you can't help it.

There's no such thing as loving the wrong person, the only mistake that could happen is thinking you love the person. It can be hard to tell the difference, but it's something you'll have to figure out yourself.

Why do I sound like I know what I'm talking about? Actually, I don't know. Perhaps, none of this is true. Perhaps it is. I believe there's no answer, only personal opinions. Love is not something that can be defined. It's just the way that God created us. Ah, now I'm going off topic. Believe me when I say, this is truly an amazing, yet difficult topic to talk about. It's like I know what I want to say, but I can't express it in words

Okay, I need to reel you back in and make you interested. Let me tell you a bit about myself. First, you should know that I haven't been in a serious relationship before, forget even loving someone. So why am I writing this stuff? I think it's so that people know what my take on love is like... Maybe. It seems like there's more questions and less answers.

Back to the original question: have you ever felt you loved someone, but they don't love you back? What do you do about it then? My thoughts? Do whatever you want. What happens was supposed to happen. They either realise your love for them, and they love you back, or they really just can't love you back. Like I said, you can't choose who to love.

I'm sorry, I came up with more questions, and didn't really give any advice. I wasn't really trying to give answers to be honest, but after writing this, it has really made me curious, even more than before. It's made me want to find out what love really means. Man, I'm sounding so cheesy at the moment. Forgive me, I just watched a romance and now I'm listening to love songs while writing this. I'm probably gonna regret it, but I'll post it tomorrow anyway...

Lemon Drizzle Victoria Sandwich Cake, and Pizza

Today was my last lesson of Food Tech at school, and we made cake and pizza. My partner ditched me, so I made everything by myself. Well, mostly everything, I got some help off a friend.

Wow that's quite a lot of pictures. By the way, the cake tasted real nice! And because I can't share my own cake with you guys, I asked the teacher for the recipe and here it is!

The recipe

225g of caster sugar

225g of margarine

225g of self raising flour

4 eggs

2 level teaspoons of baking powder

Zest and the juice of 1 lemon

 Jam or lemon curd           

2x 20 cm sandwich tins, lightly oiled and base lined with greaseproof paper.

Pre heat oven to gas 4, electric 170 C.

1. Weigh out all the cake ingredients into a bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy.
2. Grate the lemon and then cut it in half and squeeze out the juice. Put the juice on one side.
   Mix the zest into the cake mixture.
3. Divide equally into the two greased, lined tins.
4. Place on a lower shelf in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.   Meanwhile mix the lemon juice with 2 spoonfuls of caster sugar in a small bowl.
5. Test the cakes with a skewer to see if they are cooked through.         Turn out onto a cooling rack and turn one of the cakes back over so that its top is uppermost. Poke a few holes in it with a skewer or fork.       Spoon over the lemon and sugar mixture.
6. Sandwich the two cakes together with lemon curd or jam.
7. Eat.

And that's all there is to it!

Oh, I also made a pizza, but I don't have the recipe for that. It looks ugly, but it also tasted real nice.

SOPA and PIPA for dummies

So, many of you may have heard of the names SOPA and PIPA by now. They are two bills from the US that have the power to change the internet, in a negative way.  Even if you're not a computer nerd or internet addict, you probably need to know what they are as they will 99% likely affect you somehow.


SOPA and PIPA
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) are two bills that seem to have a purpose for a good cause, when in fact this may not be the case. They could in fact change the internet as we know it. How?


Well since they are planning to place a ban websites that include anything copyrighted, and that don't belong to them, many websites we know will die as a result of the bills. Their main attempt is to close down websites such as The Pirate Bay and weird Chinese movie streaming sites, but because of this, innocent websites will also die. Do you really want stripeytofu.blogspot.com to die just because it has a picture of SpongeBob?!

It also means that social websites like Facebook and Twitter would be directly affected, as it would mean all celebrity, branded and media-related stuff that are copyrighted, would have to be removed. Facebook users would have to limit themselves on what they can say on the website. No more talking about X Factor, no more linking YouTube videos and no more celebrity Facebook stalking.


But...

... the bills are likely not going to pass. Obama himself has already spoken out again SOPA, but it is not completely dead. Read the article about it here. So we don't need to worry any time soon. In any case, many famous websites (e.g. Wikipedia) are blacking out for 24 hours to protest against these bills. Even Mark Zuckerberg posted a status concerning this matter

I called this post SOPA and PIPA for dummies because, well, that's all I really understand from this so far!

Jam

Although this was meant to be a post advertising Jam's blog, I thought I'd go the extra mile and broadcast to everybody what a bro he really is.

Our history officially started in 2009 when we both went on the China trip. We knew a couple months before, and he came up to me on school and we quickly became friends. We exchanged phone numbers and started texting each other loads. I'd never really taken advantage of my free texts until I had Jam's number. Oh, and whoever's reading this thinking 'what gay boys', then screw you! You don't know what it's like to have a true bro! If you thought that as a joke... Then fair enough haha.

Our first photo.. I think.

Anyway back to the story, I invited him to come out with me, my cousin Beef and friend Purple. It was the first time I'd seen Jam outside of school, and my first impressions was 'he dresses stupid'. This is also the first time Jam will know this, so don't hit me tomorrow please! He dresses a lot better now, so that's okay. Ever since then, in the 3 years we've been bros, we've overcome many obstacles that come our way, been on so many adventures to other places, and had our ups and downs.

A bro really, is a bro for life. To be honest, I feel slightly homo for saying this, but I don't care: anyone would be lucky to have Jam for a bro, but I'm glad he'a my bro. Of course there are other bros in this bromance, but this post is dedicated to Jam.

Jam has proven many times to be irreplaceable. Even though I've finished my piss and need to flush, I need to finish this paragraph. Jam is someone you can completely count on... Most of the time. He's a valuable friend and is always there when you need him. Seriously, you need anything, you go to him and he gives you a solution. From copying homework to getting life advice, he's there. I've seen Jam change from when he was a little to prick to what he is now, and he's only ever improved. Even if you're not friends with him, he's so good at making friends that you'd feel like you've been his friend for ages.

Now look at us. His hair hasn't changed at all.

If it wasn't for Jam, I would never have got any social skills I reckon. I'd still be some wannabe emo kid in the corner, listening to MCR and thinking about how awesome blood is (I've never done that before by the way). He gave me the confidence to make friends easily and that's a really important skill.

I have to admit, I've let him down several times.. Yeah, that's right, SEVERAL. Some of the times I couldn't even help it but, but you know, I probably didn't try hard enough. I can't even think of any times he's let me down, except for last week when he didn't drive me home, but whatever!

There's so much I could write, but I feel like I should stop here now before any more girls call me gay and ask me to be their gay best friend.

Oh by the way, check out Jam's blog here.

Udon's birthday karaoke

8:23
Woke up. Don't wanna, but have to.

10:10
Playing PS3. I just wanna do this all day.

11:25
Just got on the bus to go Pom's house, where Jam's gonna pick me up.

12:27
Arrived at Pom's. Extremely tired, and my phone already has only 70% left.

13:27
Jam's taking too long, so I decided to catch the bus. Going to meet Swan. She's already there. Crap, I'm late.

14:39
In Forever 21 with Swan. She's gone in the fitting rooms, and I've been waiting for like 30 minutes now. Just kidding.

15:20
Now in H&M. How long will this last for...

I kinda stopped updating then, cos I forgot. I'll blog how the day went now. I'll start from meeting up Victory.

Me and Swan saw Victory get off the bus, and I didn't wanna run to get him cos he was far away. So instead, I called him and told him to come KFC. Yeah, I had KFC, but only a small wrap thing! After, went to Card Factory to get Udon a birthday card. Oh, did I mention this karaoke thing is for her birthday? Me and Victory bought a card saying 'Happy 7th Birthday!' or something, because it was only 29p. Then I bought a Sharpie and we drew in a '1' in front of the 7 to make it 17. Hahahaha we are so funny.

We met up Jam too, and after shopping at Primark, we made our way to CCK, the karaoke place. Only Udon and a couple of friends were there first, but then suddenly loads of brown people came. So I went downstairs. I have to admit it was pretty awkward. I mean, I kinda knew them, but didn't talk because they're all in the year below me. Now that I think about it, I was actually the oldest one there.

So yeah, it was awkward. Us Chinese people segregated into the corner (as I had predicted) but then after going outside and talking to a few of them first, it became more comfortable. I got to know more of them and they're actually pretty nice!

Erm let's see, what happened next? It was such a long day I can't remember. I think the drinks came and I drank like 3/4 a bottle of WKD. I know, I said I don't drink, but I was really thirsty. In fact, it made me even more thirsty... Victory kept telling me WKD has loads of calories, and made me stop drinking it, but he also peer pressured me into drinking vodka! I smelt it and it was so strong, I could never take it. That was the only alcoholic drink I took that night. Oh wait, May forced me to down some vodka mixed with coke I think. It went up my nostrils so I think my nose got drunk.

There was a lot of singing, but mostly rap and I hate rap. Mainly cos I can't rap. To be honest, I tend to avoid karaokes because I don't like singing, but then I realised it's kinda okay to be honest. Still, I'd rather not go hahaha.

Later in the night, Swan prepared Udon's cake, and we sang Happy Birthday to her. Some people gave very touching speeches. Udon cut the cake afterwards, and gave me a piece, only to have Victory snatch it away from me and say 'Do you wanna get even fatter?'. Luckily though, Udon fed me a piece, and then Butter, and then Lettuce. Even though Victory tried to stop them. Thing is though, I felt even more like a pig because those three fed me. But man, the cake was so nice. Which reminds me, the girl who made the cake was sitting with this guy who had his arm around her and Jam said 'Are you guys-' and then he did a thrusting motion. The guy said 'We're cousins. Oh man, it was so awkward!

Spin the bottle

I put on Love Story by Taylor Swift, and then stole a microphone and began to sing. May came over, and we sang together. Man, I was so sick I didn't even have to look at the screen. But I did because I had nowhere else to look at.

Around 10 o'clock I think, everyone started to leave, leaving only the Chinese people. I thought to myself, finally, I can pick the songs. I grabbed the mic, and proceeded to sing all the Taylor Swift songs. Oh by the way, I sill hate singing. I don't really know what came over me. Also sang Knock You Down by Keri Hilson, Run by Leona Lewis and 童话 by 光良. It was pretty sick. We could finally hear ourselves sing since it went from 20+ people (some of us didn't even have seats) to 8. After belting it out for like, an hour (11pm), it was finally time to go home. Jam drove Swan back first, then Butter, then Victory, and finally me.
Gotta say, I didn't dislike it as much as I thought I would have. I guess it's good to go out once in a while rather than stay stuck at home. But man, all that PS3 I could have played instead...

01:30
Finished writing the blog.

RE: Tag! You're it!

Nicknames
Well, I've had Gorilla, Fatty, Tofu, Andypandy, Andrea, Smellybore.. I think that's it. Most of them aren't very nice unfortunately.

Favourite Subject
I don't really have a favourite one, but art is decent I guess. I get to chat with everyone and just chill basically. And do some art occasionally.


Favourite Drink
I would have to say cream soda! I can never get sick of it!

And if you ask me what my second favourite drink is, it'll have to be Appletiser!

Favourite Band/Artist
This one is kinda hard. I like a lot of artists, but none that I really really favour. Oh wait! Taylor Swift! Oh man, how could I forget? Ahhh she's beautiful.

What would you name your kids?
Love this question, cos I've thought real hard about this, and I'm certain about what I wanna call my kids. Basically, I want a son and a daughter, and I'm gonna call 'em Luke and Leia. Maybe only nerds will get this, but yeah, Luke and Leia!!

Ah if my kids got along like this, that would be so totally awesome.

I just hope they don't end up like the real Luke and Leia did.. that'd be kinda weird.

Any pets?
I have a goldfish.


Favourite Colour
Black and white! My first stripey jacket was black and white. My first trainers were black and white. My room is black and white. But I'm yellow.


Favourite Movie
A Walk To Remember. Some romance film that I don't remember, but I do remember really enjoying it. I'm gonna watch it and review sometime this year. By the way, that's where the song Dancing in the Moonlight by Toploader was featured in, and that's my favouritest song of all time! Number one most played on my iTunes.


Favourite Quote
I'm so cold, I'm shivering! - Patrick Star


What type of phone do you have?
Samsung Galaxy SII. It's one sexy beast.


How tall are you?
I'm 5ft 7.. wish I was 6ft+ though.

Today, I saw a weird thing

Okay, so it was during break, and I sat opposite Jam at a table. Two guys were chatting really loudly behind me, when suddenly Jam flinched. I thought it was weird, but what was even more weird was what happened next.

Jam told me that one of the guys had spat a drop of saliva on his nose. I was like '(LMAO) Just wipe it off'.

But he didn't.

Instead, he took out the piece of gum in his mouth, and gently dabbed his nose with it. I was staring at him while this happened. My face was like O__O. Could I really believe what I was saying? Jam was wiping his nose with a piece of gum that he took out of his mouth? Was that even possible?!

A past mistake involving a girl

I once told a girl 'you'll never get a boyfriend' and she never spoke to me again. Oh by the way, she's got a boyfriend now.

I cried from an anime

"Five childhood friends grow apart after the death of Meiko Honma, close playmate of them all. Jinta Yadomi, leader of the group when they were kids, neglects high school and lives as a shut-in when he unexpectedly starts seeing the ghost of Meiko, who can only interact with him and no one else. She has returned to ask Jinta to fulfill the forgotten wish she made as a kid."

Okay, so I've just finished watching an anime. It's called Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai. Or just Ano Hana for short.

Oh before I get into the juicy stuff, I should let you know now that this most may not appeal to you if you're not an otaku or anime freak or whatever. Some of you are still gonna read this anyway, I can tell...

Ano Hana is unlike any other anime I have ever watched. What makes it so special? Well, it's everything. I'm not kidding, everything made it special. From the music to the artwork, everything made Ano Hana a very enjoyable and unforgettable experience. The main character, called Jintan or something, is someone I could actually relate to, and I genuinely felt sorry for him and times you were supposed to. It's the fact that as a kid, he was the stereotypical leader that all his friends looked up to, but you see him now and whilst he's completely different, he still retains his leadership characteristics. The way the creators did this is so subtle and brilliant.

It wasn't only Jintan that stood out, the other characters are each so unique and loveable that it made me just wanna watch more and more. I finished the anime in two days, though in total, there's only 11 22 minute episodes. However, this meant the anime was very compact and wasted no time with useless scenes.

I'm the kind of guy who can't express his feelings into words properly, so everything I've written here may not make sense, but you'll have to bear with me, sorry.

In fact, is anyone even reading this?

Almost every episode in this anime made you feel emotional some how. Either happy or sad, each episode made you feel this way. It's amazing how a cartoon can make you feel these things. I captured the feelings the artist wanted to portray completely.

Anyhow, I'll give this anime a 10/10. Although it will only appeal to hardcore anime fans.

By the way, animecon on February 11th and 12th. Anyone wanna go?

This is the song that is played at the end of the anime. You might cry from just listening to this song.

By the way, I'm not a pussy.

Party pooper

Wow, it's currently 1:30am, Friday morning. I can't get to sleep. Well I probably could have, but I was watching this really cool anime which I'll blog about later. Since I probably won't get to sleep until a bit later I figured I'll blog for a bit.

Yesterday, (well, Wednesday) Udon invited me to go to her party. I quickly activated my Facebook to check the event's list of people attending. They are all year 12s. I know of some of them, but I wouldn't even call them acquaintances. But, since Jam and Victory are going, I might. I've already told you I'm not the party type, and I find it uncomfortable and awkward at every party I've been too. Kinda weird considering I'm not exactly socially awkward, but that's just the way I am.

So I didn't tell Udon that I'd go, straight away. She texted me and I replied saying 'Let you know tomorrow'. Well on the day (Thursday) I was still not sure whether I should go or not, so I tried to avoid her. I saw her in the corridor, so I tried to walk past quickly, but I failed. She shouted my name so I was forced to ensue a conversation with her. I said 'Let you know later!' and ran away.

In our school, the art class consists of the year 12s and year 13s combined and since we're in the same class, I though 'I can't stall anymore'. I went up to her and said 'Okay, I'll come'. Victory was laughing, which made me laugh, so Udon thought I was lying. Every time she asked if I was telling the truth, I stuttered. She asked if I was really coming and I replied quickly saying 'Yeah, definitely, about ninety- er, eighty percent chance'.

I guess I'll have to go. It'll probably be fun. I can't actually remember the last party I've been too, so if you're reading this and I declined your invitation to a party... Sorry, it's cos I'm not the party type.

A bit about me

If you're reading this, you probably know me already. But in case you don't, or you're a new reader (I wish!) then enjoy reading this post. Actually, even if you do know me, you'll probably find this interesting to read too.

In no particular order:

Nintendo
I'm a huge Nintendo fan. Not saying I'm really big, I mean like I love Nintendo so much. My dad has bought every Nintendo home console since their first one: Famicom, even before I was born! I guess I owe it to my dad that I'm such a gamer. I can totally confirm now that I prefer the Nintendo Wii over the Sony PlayStation 3 since my bro got the PS3 for Christmas. I always get into debates about whether the Wii or PS3 is better, and it is definitely the Wii. Sure, the PS3 has 1080p HD graphics and the Wii only has 480p SD, but that's nothing. The most important thing about a game is gameplay, and the Wii has it all. Anyway, I'm not going to go into too much detail about this topic as I could go on forever.

Girls
I, really like girls. That doesn't mean I kinda like boys, it just means, I really really like girls. I'll admit, I used to be really shallow. I'm still pretty shallow now, but who can look me in the eye and say they're not? At all? I'm trying to change from that. I want to mature, and realise that it's actually not all about looks. I'd be happier with myself if I could achieve this. I think I'm off topic now. Girls are great. I appreciate girls a lot, so much that they sometimes think I'm one of them. Basically, lots of girls think I act like a girl. But men also have feminine qualities, you know?! It is for this reason that it is hard for me to get a girlfriend. I have many girl friends but I always get into the 'friend zone' so, no chance. I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong, but I hope to change this when I'm in university. It's a personal thing.

Depression
People who have known me the longest may know that I used to get depressed very easily. I'm much better now, but sometimes, I still just lie in bed and think about things, and feel sad, and listen to sad songs. I'm actually writing this post in my room without the lights on. Not cos I'm depressed, but it's like my Fortress of Solitude where I can think clearly. Anyway, this is a really deep topic which I'll leave for now.

Taylor Swift
I love Taylor Swift.

Music
I love music. It's like, a form of communication for all life. Even if two people can't speak the same language, they can bond through music. At least that's the way I think of it. Music has so many emotions: it can make you sad, it can make you happy, it can even make you angry (if it's really rubbish). I learnt to play piano when I was very young, and stopped when I entered secondary school (I was 12). Back then, and up till last year, I thought it was a good idea. I didn't like playing music which I didn't like. Instead, I thought I could self-teach. But boy was I wrong. I thought I could manage by myself but this proved to be false. Next year, I will take up piano lessons if possible.

Otaku
Otaku is the Japanese word to describe somebody with obsessive interests, usually anime or manga. I grew up watching anime like Dragon Ball Z and Pokémon. All through my life I have read countless manga comic books and watched many anime series. I buy DVD sets and collect figures and random swag. Yeah, I love Japan and I wanna go there to explore one day. I've been to one anime convention (called AnimeCon) but that was ages ago. I want to go again, but I don't have many friends who watch anime. Anyone up for it?

Making friends
I enjoy making new friends! Just a few years ago, I was shy and didn't like talking to people first, but now I think I maybe even too enthusiastic about it! When I meet someone for the first time, I may react so big to it that the other person might get shocked. Ah wells, that's just me. It's funny to think how things may have been different if you'd met me a few years ago rather than the last two years. I may not have talked to you ever again since the first conversation. Haha.

Adventure
I'm always up for an adventure! From exploring a new city to trudging through the murky swamps of the Amazon Forest! Does it even have swamps? Course, I'll probably never get the chance to do the latter, but exploring new cities is something I've always wanted to do. I want to record a video of me exploring it, so that when I'm older, I can watch it and think 'I went there and had fun'. I dunno why I would think that.

Concert
I have never been to a concert before. I've wanted to, many times, but I never listen to a song long enough to wish I could hear it live. It's because if I listen to a song and get addicted to it, I constantly listen to it and eventually get sick of it. Sad times.

Clubbing/drinking
I've wanted to join the 'cool crew' before. There's been a couple of incidents where I forced myself to drink alcohol to fit in, and one time I actually went clubbing in China just because my friends asked me to. I wasn't even old enough. I was 15. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. I don't hate drinking or clubbing, but it's just not my thing. What I'm trying to get at is that I don't like the taste of alcohol, which immediately means I don't really fit in at parties and clubs. Hence why I decline almost every invitation I get. How am I gonna cope with university?

Become famous
I've always had this dream of being famous. I don't care through which way, whether being a music producer or an artist or whatever. I just want to be known and to make myself seem significant. Maybe make a change in the world, or inspire others. Yeah, that's the ultimate dream.

By the way, I had a haircut.

Me trying really hard to pose

2012: A New Year, A New Blog

Hi readers!

I see you've come across my new blog. It looks a lot different doesn't it?

You may notice that all my other posts have gone, but that is not the case! I have simply changed the blog address to www.stripeytofu2011.blogspot.com. The reason for this is because that blog is now over a year old, and is starting to get cluttered. For 2012, I have started this blog which should hopefully be more organised.

Of course, you can still read the posts from the old blog. I probably won't even touch it again.

So let's start the first post on stripeytofu 2012 with a bang! And no, that isn't a pun involving the end of the world. Although I heard that that was only gonna happen in December of this year, not at the beginning.

Last Christmas
Christmas 2011, was decent. I think the main problem was that it didn't feel like Christmas, at all! The atmosphere wasn't there, and I blame that on the lack of snow. I've only seen it snow once this winter, and it was only for 5 minutes on the way to school. As for presents, I received some money and a nice Marvel wallet. My brother on the other hand received a brand new PS3 Slim, which I play on a lot. How come he got the bigger present? Ah wells, I'll personally try to make Christmas 2012 the best Christmas my family has ever had!

Looking back at 2011 as a year
Now that I got the short Christmas paragraph out the way, let me focus on the year 2011. It's a been a roller-coaster of ups and downs for me. More downs if I'm honest. In fact, have there been any ups? Ah, I'm sure I'll find some.

...

Alright, I got nothing. I can't even remember what happened last week. Okay, let me generalise things.

1. I've liked over, ten girls, maybe? Ten girls, but I never have the courage to ask them out. No, courage isn't the right word. It's more like, I'm always in the friend zone, so things would never happen. Meh, forget this, I'll leave it for another post.
2. My previous blog has got over 10,000 views! 11,489 as of now to be exact. 11,489 divided by 12 is about 957, so I get almost a thousand views monthly, and 32 views daily. I'd say that's a job well done! Mostly because I advertise my blog through Facebook. Now that I've deactivated Facebook (have you noticed?), I'm expecting much less views, but that will just show whether I have loyal fans or not!
3. I received a new phone as an upgrade from Orange. It's called the Samsung Galaxy SII, and a worthy contender to the iPhone 4. It's been amazing and I look forward to using it all the way through 2012. It lets me blog on the go and take nice looking pictures too. A man's best friend.
4. I saw a real boob, by accident! Although you'd probably think I'd be happy, I really wasn't! I'd take it back if I could, or, give it back? Erm, don't worry though, if you're reading this, it probably wasn't you...

Seriously, my brain is hurting from trying to recall events from last year. My memory seems to be worse than the average person, so I need to be constantly reminded of things. Sorry. Also, I guess that 2011 just hasn't been that memorable for me.

2012... the dreaded resolutions
Here I go again, making resolutions that I could never keep. But you know what, I have a good feeling about 2012. Maybe it's because of the fact that the world is gonna end, or maybe because it's my final year in school, but whatever the reason, I'm gonna make 2012 the best year yet. And I need you guys (my friends) to help me achieve my goal! If you're some random reader from another country, I guess you could help by just reading my blog. Thanks.

1. Be nicer - Yeah that's a bit vague actually. Basically, although I may seem nice on the outside (hehe), I'm actually a backstabbing bastard... maybe not that bad. But I do gossip and talk about people behind their backs, I'll admit it. This is unacceptable and has got to stop. If I talk to someone I dislike, I must talk in a friendly manner. All hate must be kept inside and hidden away. Yeah, that'd make a great resolution, and make me pleased with myself.
2. Lose weight - I've said this many times now, and it's never happened. Well 2012, I need your strength to help me move off my ass and exercise! Thanks. I need to look good for when I go uni. Who's gonna talk to me if I look like a fat slob?
3. Stop watching dirty things - Yeah, uh... that's pretty self-explanatory.
4. Sleep earlier - I kinda stole this one off ScatterrBrained's New Year's Resolution post, under The Serious Business section. I sleep, WAY too late. Usually 1-2, but sometimes as late as 4 in the morning. Due to this, I can never focus 100% on any day. Sleeping earlier will allow me to concentrate more and tackle my everyday obstacles.
5. Be happy - Sometimes, I can get pretty emotional. Like, depressed and that. I'll try my best to stay positive and look on the bright side from now on. Being happy is healthy, so I hear. And maybe, I could even influence other people to be happy.

I guess that's it for now. Those are all my resolutions. I hope I can keep them, and if you guys have any resolutions, I hope you can keep them too!

The future

I can already see 2012 holding many promises and opportunities for me. I have to take every chance and make the most of it. This year, I will finish high school and hopefully go to a good university. It's going to be a big step and the next stage in my life. I used to think 'I don't wanna grow up! I wanna stay a kid forever! Time is moving too quickly!' and you know what, I'm actually looking forward to the future now. I can't wait to see what it holds for me!

I hope you stay with me throughout all of 2012 too! Happy New Year!