messages

Today I was deleting old messages on my phone, and in particular I came across a friend's set of messages (I had my phone set to "conversation view", so I could see all of one person's messages at once), which consisted almost entirely of encouragements. So today, maybe a little guiltily, I am thankful for those little notes and encouragements and even just the unexpected hellos. :-)

Freedom, in small pockets

I am glad for these early afternoons, when our lessons end around 5pm, leaving me so much time to explore the area and take a walk around the city. It is so nice to not have to wrestle with others on the street during rush hours, nor the pressure of work and deadlines upon my shoulders.

Wayward one

I don't want to bump down Suhui's lovely post, but just to prevent the blog from stagnating, I would just like to say I am grateful for this song, and Myles Kennedy:

There are actually a lot, a lot of other things that I am thankful for at the moment, but it would take far too long to enumerate, so I am just going to cheat and say that all the good feelings from all those other things, can be summed up in the good feelings that I have from listening to this song. :)

(Even if the song isn't actually, a happy one. The brain works in strange ways.)

I haven't wrote in this blog for a while, but not for lack of things to be thankful of. For one, it's been a relatively smooth transition back to Singapore from London over the past few months, and judging from the mess I've made from the desk of my room, I would say I've probably settled in, although the penny only dropped a while after.

A lot of things that I was uncertain about in the months leading up to the move, especially those pertaining to my near future were in flux. And now, lot's of things have come together in a rather pleasant way - a way in which I can look forward to.

More than anything, the feeling of new-ness and familiarity is most comforting. And for every new friend (like this cat from downstairs) I have many more things that I hold still in my heart from London. I suppose, and much to my relief, that a lot of the things I was worried about, such as losing my friends, the things I loved to do, and myself in the process were unfounded.

Buckyballs

we all know antibiotics was discovered by pure accident. another beautiful accident is the 'buckyball'. for those of you who are as inapt as me in chemistry, buckyballs is a nickname for a particular allotrope of carbon. if that still doesn't ring a bell, think of diamonds. diamond is an allotrope of carbon, so is the carbon in your body and in your pencil lead. so when i say that the buckyball is an allotrope of carbon, it means its essentially the same thing as diamond and soot, ash, etc, they are made up of carbon but have different forms due to the difference in molecular structure.

buckyballs are recent discoveries. in 1985, scientists fired laser at carbon and found carbon molecules arranged in beautiful spheres like soccer balls and hence the nickname.

so what is the big deal you might ask. just another random cute thing isn't it?

yes and no.

much of the buckyball is still unknown and hence scientists haven't really figure out how to use the buckyball. but the fact that a new allotrope of carbon has been discovered is a big deal. why? think about it. as i've said earlier, carbon, be it diamonds or pencil lead are all essentially, carbon. their difference lies in the structure of the molecules. so with a totally new structure found in the buckyballs, yes, it means a whole new world of uses for it. its such a big deal that this accidental discovery caused the scientists, professors Kroto, Curl, and Smalley to be awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

it is said that the buckyball have uses in the semiconductor industry. but whatever it is, such symmetry and such order found in pure accident is truly a sight to behold!!

for people

I think I was born a bit of a loner, so it is quite rare that I feel thankful for PEOPLE. not just friends, but people in general: family, friends, acquaintances, and people that I just see around. Haha. The last few weeks would have been a very lonely journey, if not for the friends I suffered with, the friends who put up with both my whining and my disappearance while I am off suffering somewhere, the family members who also put up with my treating the house like a hotel and my grumpiness, people i bumped into in the library who start conversations and return a little normalcy into my life every time, faceless strangers in the library who always kept me company. Everyone who reminded me that life does not exist in a bubble. I have a feeling I will continue to need these reminders in time to come.

Name them one by one

I'm grateful of the future. And that I have one. No matter what.