Sunday, April 26, 2009

Study Habits

Hurray for random pictures of the sky =]

Old habits are as hard to break as ever. I wish new habits could ever so easily override the old ones! 

Last semester I did really well not to do a lot of cramming and it went so very very well. I came out with surprising results actually. This semester I've somehow reverted back to my old ways after a good 3 months of teaching myself a great method to study and keep up with work. Why are bad habits so hard to break? =[

I have to go back to the methods I used last semester. It more or less cut out quite a bit of the social aspect of life like messenger, Facebook, etc but I'll just have to get to it. At the end of the day, all the time I wasted on those things wouldn't have given me any sort of benefits. I've cut down my sleeping time by 1-2 hours almost every night this semester and that's just not something I wanna keep up. Not to mention I haven't been cutting down my sleeping time for studying. Ugh. I'm so disappointed in myself.

Exam finals are coming up in just short of 2 weeks. One week of exams, 6 exams: 1 exam per day @ 9:00 a.m. There's something to look forward to! >_>

So my plans are to cut messenger use to zero (unless I need help with work or something) and spend more time in the library on campus without my laptop most of the time. I'll still be needing my laptop since it's where some of the necessary lectures are. But yes, I'll be needing to spend more time away from the main problem since I've been lacking discipline this semester this is just about the only way I'm gonna get things done.

Hopefully, the final results will be satisfying. =]

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

It's that time of the year...


...when I get gifts and people say "Happy Birthday!" all over the place! =D

So what did Miori do for her birthday?

I had this huge lime at my house with friends and family and family friends! All in all there were probably somewhere are 50 persons there. That's a pretty full house! There were children all over the place and about 12 of my friends and my 14 yr old cousin's 7 friends, aunts and uncles and Mum and Dad! That turned out to be one long tiring day but I had a super awesome time =] 

And I got gifts too! From my Dad and my friends. Of course, as people get older the whole idea of presents isn't really as big as when you're a lil kid but my friends put some money together to get me a gift this year and it's so awesome =D So I got a wonderful lil DS Lite with Pokemon Diamond and Platinum! The little girl inside just jumped for joy! =] And I got a cooling pad from Danny! It's so cool..it lights up blue when it's plugged in xD He's been wanting to see how cool it looks but I forgot to take a pic and my cellphone camera doesn't work so I can't do it right now =( Next time!

So that was all on Sunday, the day before my birthday =] On the actual day, I went to a full day of classes (yay >.>) then I went home and started using my awesome new DS and started playing Pokemon Platinum! So I've got me a start there, I have to remember to get the key for Rotom to switch forms before the end of the week though =o After short DS play, I had to get ready to go to dinner with my parents. We went to this restaurant in a hotel that my Mom though would be nice. It really wasn't so great.



The service sucked...it was just so unprofessional. About 3-4 times during our meal, the waitress-lady-person was like "You OK?" Err...that's not how you ask a question in proper English. And the menu wasn't great either, I had to request shrimp separately with 2 side orders: lemon basmati rice and vegetables. So they gave me 3 bowls to eat from. Why couldn't they put it all on one plate since I made the order as a single meal not 3 orders! Then the food didn't even taste all that great. *sigh* But I had a great time with my parents, so it was still a pretty good evening.

All in all, I had a really good birthday this year! Thanks to all who made it so wonderful =D

Monday, April 6, 2009

Why Lie?


"Oh, what a tangled web we weave / When first we practice to deceive" -- Sir Walter Scott

For the year so far, I've met one too many liars than I would like to have come into association with. I've come to realise that liars are persons who tend to have a lot of drama surrounding them and have a tendency to cry over small situations. So after feeling a great deal of negative emotions over the past few days, I decided to educate myself somewhat.

From what I've gathered, liars are developed from early childhood in situations where children realise that lying gives better results and fewer punishments. Children also lie if they realise that the untruths they talk about will get them the attention they crave for or even when adults tell them to lie to others (but children cannot yet register the reason for it). There are a number of other small reasons but those tend to be the larger ones.

There are many types of liars and quite a few types of lies. The two main types of liars that have the most major effect on others around them are pathologic liars and compulsive liars.

Pathological liars are often defined as persons who lie incessantly in order to get their way, doing so with little to no concern for any others. Pathological lying is viewed as a coping mechanism and is often associated with some other mental health disorder. These liars tend to be goal-oriented and tend to come off as manipulative, cunning and self-centered.

Compulsive liars are defined as persons who merely lie out of habit. These lies are a normal and reflexive way to answer questions and bend truths about all situations, whether large or small. Compulsive liars are developed during early childhood in an environment where lying was seen as necessary. Unlike pathological liars, compulsive liars are not seen as manipulative or cunning as they merely lie out of habit. This habit is one that is extremely difficult to break and takes a toll on relationships. Habitual and chronic liars are the same as compulsive liars.

As previously mentioned, there are a great many different types of lies, each generated to fit particular situations. A few types of lies are:
  • White lie - this are usually small lies that benefit the person who hears the lie.
  • Bold-face/bald-face/bare-face lie - this are telling lies when the evidence is obvious.
  • Omission - this is telling the truth to a certain extent, purposefully leaving out important facts, leaving the listener with misconceptions.
  • Exaggeration - this lie is told where the fundamental facts of the statement are true but only to a certain extent.
  • Contextual lie - this type of lie is stating the truth but a certain part is said out of context and, without complete information, supplies a false impression.
  • Noble lie - this type of lie often benefits the persons telling as well as potentially benefits the party hearing the lie.
The common saying "All is fair in love and war" is more a less a way to justify the use of lies during times of hardships, isn't it? War is not merely a battlefield filled with weapons, but words and deception as well. Isn't that how it is? Hmmm...

I personally, have little to no tolerance for liars once I've discovered the lies and deception and I can say that I'm relatively sure I've met both a pathological and compulsive liar. It's really displeasing. Honesty is something that I value to a great degree. And as I appreciate those who do not lie to me, I do not lie to them. In fact, I just hate to lie. Lying is like a nurturing plant seed. I find it so troublesome to tell a lie and, for it to be successful, I'd have to look after it constantly...often telling more lies to cover for the original lie told. And of course, since I have a bad memory, I'm likely to lose the original lie in the many lies that followed. So, I just keep my life much simpler and don't lie.

Lies often create drama. Drama is never appreciated.