Day 0: The Night Before
The first of several final IB exams starts tomorrow. I feel like writing a short entry on my thoughts and feelings before and after each exam. It’s something nice to do before I sleep each night, whether or not there’s an exam looming the next day.
What’s cooking for tomorrow? Paper 1 of English A1 Higher Level. I honestly don’t like this paper because there’s not many ways you can revise for it. Basically, you have to write a commentary on an unseen poem or prose in 2 hours. Sure, you can try to knock out a commentary once a week as revision, but I don’t see it being that beneficial. The exam, as far as I see it, tests your knowledge of the English language in the context of literacy. This paper, in theory, is the most accurate to assess a students skill and ability to analyze a piece of literature, but in turn, it is also the most unreliable.
Everyone has a different reaction and interpretation to something; wether it be film, music or a piece of writing. So, in theory, someone can comment on their reaction, and get marks, since it’s what they think of the poem (using the exam as an example).
Oh, so Valkyrie didn’t suck? If you say so, mark-scheme.
Unfortunately, you have to think on terms of how the author wanted his audience to react, even if your own reaction is somehow more valid. I always fear that I will write something, maybe about how a character is constructed or evidence of political allegories, and the examiner will read it and say to himself,
“Actually, that’s wrong. Your interpretation is invalid”
That would suck. You know what also sucks? Black holes. Talking about black holes, I can\’t wait until the 13th of May, 9:45AM. Why? I\’ll be over and done (hopefully) with Physics, a bastard of a subject to take at higher level. That\’s next week, and it\’s the night before the exam. How time flies.
Plans for May
I graduated yesterday, which was nice. However, it feels a bit strange because we haven’t finished our exams first. Hopefully nothing bad happens, but it’s hard not to think about it. Either way, whatever happens, I have a ton of plans for the summer. Luckily for us (IB students), we get a whole extra month of holiday. Lots of time to do lots of things. A list would suffice; don’t you agree?
For now, I will be busy until the 22nd of May. I might be putting a few things up between now and then, but I can’t promise anything.
Range
Taken during the HKAYP Gold Award trip. Possibly one of my favorite photographs of the trip.
Best Photographs of 2007
I don’t consider myself an expert photographer, but I think I am improving enough these days. But, for Christmas, I was given the following:
Canon EOS 40D Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 APO EX DG Macro Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC Macro SLD Glass Marumi 72mm Haze UV Lens Filter Marumi 77mm Haze UV Lens Filter
And so I haven’t had long to master my new equipment yet. During 2007, two of the most interesting places I visited was my trip to Kenya and my second trip to Queensland, Australia.
I had already gone to Queensland in 2006, and had a more-than-vague idea of what was good to take photos of: the sunset and the aircraft at the aerodrome I was training at. Kenya, though, was a completely new experience for me because it was my first time with live animals. Armed with my Canon 350 (Which was the last time I ever used it) and my 6 month old zoom lens, I really pushed myself to try and take some pictures of the wildlife we saw. Many of the photographs really passed my expectations. From that point on, I’m building on a huge interest of wildlife photography and I hope I can get into said business in the future.
Anyway; I think the following photos are my most impressive I have taken, in my opinion.
New, and a Year-Long, Website Design
I have finally finished the new design. It’s not a full portfolio like I had planned, because I’d rather use sites like Flickr to host, for instance, my photography portfolio. It’s just a fun project which I plan to keep for the rest of the year. But, I do plan to finally install WordPress onto the main site, so I will be moving away from here soon.
iPhone – A Doubtful Gaming Platform
This article was originally written and taken from Gamers-Reunion, which is now discontinued.
Something intelligent
This is quite amazing, because the author is dead-on with their outlook:
We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider free ways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less common sense; more knowledge, but less judgement; more experts, but more problems.
We spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom and lie too often.
We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life; we’ve added years to life, not life to years. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we’ve become long on quantity, but short on quality.
We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour.
We’ve conqured outer space, but not inner space; we’ve done larger things, but not better things, we’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul, we’ve split the atom, but not our prejudice; we write more, but learn less; plan more, but accomplish less.
We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes; but lower morals; more food but less appeasement; more acquaintances, but fewer friends; more effort but less success.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men and short character, steep profits, and shallow relationships.
These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure and less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition. These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one-night stands, over-weight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in show window, and nothing in the stockroom.
