After Hubris, Gravity
My Physics results came back yesterday afternoon, and when I saw the teacher's face I knew nothing good was in store. I've said before he can look amazingly sarcastic. Well, he can also look angrily disappointed. (This was proven when he later asked me why I'd scribbled nonsense all over the answer sheet.) I hate being right about things like that.
Well, I failed miserably. And now I'm being quite miserable about it. 14 marks out of 39, which gives me a whopping percentage of 35--5 marks below grade. My parents are so going to flip when they read the email I've sent to inform them, and I can almost see their faces when they read it. And well, why wouldn't they? Considering I kept telling everybody how absurdly easy I found the exam, this is the perfect opportunity for anybody to get a few jabs in. Not, of course, that I won't jab right back. Nobody hits me when I'm down and gets away with it.
Well, here's my own analysis of my failure:
I underestimated the difficulty of the exam after the A I got last time, and consequently studied far less than anybody else (I spent about 90 minutes on Physics revision in the two weeks before the exam). During the exam itself, I overlooked most of the information, assuming that I knew everything already, and simply answered the questions I thought were being asked without bothering to read the questions that were actually being asked. Also, I didn't even bother to double-check my answers or the questions, again because I thought I knew it all already. And after the exam, I proceeded to boast loud and long about what I thought was going to be the next on the string of As I was planning. Finally, I failed.
So that's it. I failed because I was proud. Stupid me. I should have seen the proverb "Displays of gratuitous hubris unerringly precede sudden acts of gravity" and realised it referred to me. I can be so dense at times.
I've just read Serving Crazy With Curry by Amulya Mulladi. It's a pretty good book, and you can gauge that by the fact that while I was reading it I lost track of time. Usually I'm pretty punctual, so anything that can prevent me from checking my watch every few minutes has got to be quite a draw. It's a great plot, has pretty good psychology, and the recipes in it are quite simply gastric-provoking. I read the book before dinner and was fantasising all through the meal later. It's a pity the author didn't provide an appendix at the end of the book providing English equivalents to all the Indian spices used, though I think a quick search through Google should provide the answer soon enough.
I've also joined a forum, http://www.kaotherworld.com, and I think it's a pretty good site. It's based on a fantasy series, and it's kind of an RPG forum where everybody has two indentities: an Out-Of-Game one, to interact with other normal players with (eg the Introductions area), and an In-Game one which is used to play in the game. It's quite good essay exercise, although Herr Robson wouldn't understand it. He's not the fantasy type, he's more sci-fi... although I bet the very word fiction is a turn-off to him.
The diploma students at the college have all vanished into thin air for their holidays, so about three-quarters of the hostel population have dissolved, bringing with them three-quarters of the hostel canteens' revenue. As a kind of odd retribution, the canteens have begun closing very early and I haven't been able to get anything resembling dinner out of them for the past few days, so I've been stuck on a diet of oatmeal and buns. Lots of fibre and water, but nothing much of anything else. Fortunately the holiday isn't a three-month one or I really would waste away to nothing; but this situation is going to last two weeks, and boy am I going to be grateful when the canteens resume normal hours.
The students have gone, and the bees have come. I don't know whatever brought them, but the toilets in the hostel blocks have suddenly gotten hit by a rash of bees. Bees on the walls, ceiling, lights, floors, in the cubicles, on the bowls, the sinks, and pretty much anywhere else. And before anybody starts asking why, I'm going to say I don't know. There aren't any flowers in the place, or pansies (British would appreciate that pun but I don't think Malaysians would. Gene certainly wouldn't) that I can see, and I don't think diabetic urine would atract bees in such quantity for such protracted periods. Nor has anybody been busy spreading honey around the place.
I caught one of them, a particularly weak specimen, and put it on my shelf to rot dry before I put it in my pencilcase and take it to showcase. Unfortunately the ants want it too, and for the past few days I've been picking up the bee's carcass (I stuck it in an empty jam jar with some oxygen absorbers I got from mooncake packages for one night) from the floor and off my study table. However, the ants have got it at last and I can't find it in any of the usual places. I hope the ants enjoy their meal.
Well, I failed miserably. And now I'm being quite miserable about it. 14 marks out of 39, which gives me a whopping percentage of 35--5 marks below grade. My parents are so going to flip when they read the email I've sent to inform them, and I can almost see their faces when they read it. And well, why wouldn't they? Considering I kept telling everybody how absurdly easy I found the exam, this is the perfect opportunity for anybody to get a few jabs in. Not, of course, that I won't jab right back. Nobody hits me when I'm down and gets away with it.
Well, here's my own analysis of my failure:
I underestimated the difficulty of the exam after the A I got last time, and consequently studied far less than anybody else (I spent about 90 minutes on Physics revision in the two weeks before the exam). During the exam itself, I overlooked most of the information, assuming that I knew everything already, and simply answered the questions I thought were being asked without bothering to read the questions that were actually being asked. Also, I didn't even bother to double-check my answers or the questions, again because I thought I knew it all already. And after the exam, I proceeded to boast loud and long about what I thought was going to be the next on the string of As I was planning. Finally, I failed.
So that's it. I failed because I was proud. Stupid me. I should have seen the proverb "Displays of gratuitous hubris unerringly precede sudden acts of gravity" and realised it referred to me. I can be so dense at times.
I've just read Serving Crazy With Curry by Amulya Mulladi. It's a pretty good book, and you can gauge that by the fact that while I was reading it I lost track of time. Usually I'm pretty punctual, so anything that can prevent me from checking my watch every few minutes has got to be quite a draw. It's a great plot, has pretty good psychology, and the recipes in it are quite simply gastric-provoking. I read the book before dinner and was fantasising all through the meal later. It's a pity the author didn't provide an appendix at the end of the book providing English equivalents to all the Indian spices used, though I think a quick search through Google should provide the answer soon enough.
I've also joined a forum, http://www.kaotherworld.com, and I think it's a pretty good site. It's based on a fantasy series, and it's kind of an RPG forum where everybody has two indentities: an Out-Of-Game one, to interact with other normal players with (eg the Introductions area), and an In-Game one which is used to play in the game. It's quite good essay exercise, although Herr Robson wouldn't understand it. He's not the fantasy type, he's more sci-fi... although I bet the very word fiction is a turn-off to him.
The diploma students at the college have all vanished into thin air for their holidays, so about three-quarters of the hostel population have dissolved, bringing with them three-quarters of the hostel canteens' revenue. As a kind of odd retribution, the canteens have begun closing very early and I haven't been able to get anything resembling dinner out of them for the past few days, so I've been stuck on a diet of oatmeal and buns. Lots of fibre and water, but nothing much of anything else. Fortunately the holiday isn't a three-month one or I really would waste away to nothing; but this situation is going to last two weeks, and boy am I going to be grateful when the canteens resume normal hours.
The students have gone, and the bees have come. I don't know whatever brought them, but the toilets in the hostel blocks have suddenly gotten hit by a rash of bees. Bees on the walls, ceiling, lights, floors, in the cubicles, on the bowls, the sinks, and pretty much anywhere else. And before anybody starts asking why, I'm going to say I don't know. There aren't any flowers in the place, or pansies (British would appreciate that pun but I don't think Malaysians would. Gene certainly wouldn't) that I can see, and I don't think diabetic urine would atract bees in such quantity for such protracted periods. Nor has anybody been busy spreading honey around the place.
I caught one of them, a particularly weak specimen, and put it on my shelf to rot dry before I put it in my pencilcase and take it to showcase. Unfortunately the ants want it too, and for the past few days I've been picking up the bee's carcass (I stuck it in an empty jam jar with some oxygen absorbers I got from mooncake packages for one night) from the floor and off my study table. However, the ants have got it at last and I can't find it in any of the usual places. I hope the ants enjoy their meal.
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