Today i learnt something very valuable: When your shoe gives u a bad blister on day 1, dun wear the same shoe to play basketball on day 2. Cos the blister will get worse by like.. 100 times?

Ya it hurts bad now. Think it's the shoe, or probably the socks. Either ways, it's painful. Tried some green grass oil on the blister. But it isnt a open wound, so it din sting as bad as it should. Hope the blister dries up fast, so i can get more ball time. Yea, Chao's having exams, so i guess i shouldn't drag him to run with me for now.

Stupid shoe. Pfft. Or issit becos i dun wear it often (which also means i dun ball often, which explains my shitty skills). Either ways, met up with Chuan just now. Still the same old, after commando basketball training he's way much better now, tho he was already v good during JC times. My vice-capt cum star player leh. Dun pray pray.

I like his shooting form. Looks nice and well balanced, and it's really like using 1 hand to shoot, with the other hand just for support. I dun really shoot like that i guess. Actually i also dun really know how i shoot. It's just a feeling, and it's probably quite ugly looking.

Anyways, i think shooting form can be trained. Was playing 1 handed ABC with Chuan, and i realised that it's a very good exercise to train the shooting form. Hold up the ball with 2 hands in your ideal shooting posture, let go the supporting hand and shoot. Can either go for a push-from-below kinda shot, or a flick-the-wrist kinda shot. I think either ways works fine, as long as u put the ball high above your head, look at the rim all the time while u shoot, and continue looking at the rim after u release. Yes the last step is key, cos it makes your shot higher, and keeps your aim better. At least LCS and i stick by it. And it's working for both of us.

Exams are coming in 2 weeks. Stochastic's first up. I got what i expected, and fortunately the class did not perform as well as the previous test. But that's the thing i hate most, to rely on the shortcomings of others. It's not that i'm good, it's just that other people are not. So which is better? Being the best among the worst? Or being the worst among the best? I can't decide. Both have their pros and cons. I think it's up to the individual's personality as well.

And on to exams, i have to be really positive and work through Data Mining. Stoch's probably the only module which i have a clue about. Longi comes a close second, but i havent touch the book much, so it's kinda worrying in some sense. Finance is probably slightly better than DM, but you nv know what LTW is gonna chut for the final paper. His questions are probably the most out-of-world. At least DM is open book, though not much help if i am totally clueless.

Seems like everyone is very into ball lately. Johnson & Joel asked me to "coach" them? Kinda weird, cos they live so far away. Not really sure how it's gonna work, but oh well we'll see. I dun mind coaching, but as i've said many times, if u wanna teach people, u have to have some standard yourself la, be it ball or music or studies. I dun think i'm that good lar, but by all means :)

Guitar Update: Lesson 20: Sliding Scales 2

This lesson deals with the 2nd form of the sliding pentatonic scale. Slightly different from what beez showed me, but essentially still the same. Again, slide with the ring finger instead of the index. I got used to it already, and i figured why i used to slide with the index. It's due to the blues scale... u realise u can't slide with the ring if u play the blues scale. The b5 has to be played.

Some really nice sliding licks here, stuff that nv occured to me before. Sliding instead of bending is also a good way to accentuate the note. Bending is probably more soulful, whereas sliding is more "fun". I dun really use this scale much, but after this lesson, it opened a few more ideas for me.

This few days din really review much of the previous stuff learnt due to the sheer amount of licks learnt. Just dun have the time to play them all at once. Probably when the holidays come i can like dedicate more time to guitar playing, and therefore more time to review the previous licks.

Note searching has improved some what, and it's fun to note searching while playing the extended scale as you can keep yourself in key whenever u get lost halfway thru the lick. Especially when i change key, i can remember only the form of the lick but not the location of the notes. So it helps to have some roots to act as a anchor point or smthing. Whatever u wanna call it lar.

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Anyways Shirui asked me why am i suddenly so into all the activities lately. Like what for? I thought abt it for a while, and i guess it's becos i'm already 24, and i dun think i will have much time to engage in these activities next time. I've already wasted 2.5 years in uni doing practically nothing except studying. At least lemme kickstart my hobbies once again i guess. Though it's really at a bad timing, since exams are right round the corner.

But it's really ok, i dun feel burnt out at all. And usually during the past exams, I'll be heavily involved in playing games, as a form of destress (Daniel quit D2 lar!!!). I think it's a Chinese High thing. This sem i'm putting the time to do something probably more constructive and more healthy, so i guess it's not too bad after all.

I'm fine dun worry. I think i can cope. But most importantly, i think i dun want to waste my time anymore.

A purposeful life perhaps.