Moving on...

How does one move on when everyone is gone?

Once the wolf has fought to be stronger and fought to be meaner, for the purpose of assuring those who care for it that it is alright on its own. It chose its path carefully based on its wish and others' wishes upon it.

Yet now that those who have cared for it have moved on, it has lost half the motivation for whatever it has done. Yes, it has become stronger. Yes, it is smarter. Yet there is no one to acknowledge that.

Those who acknowledged were the harsh plains, deserts, and forests ahead. The environment would acknowledge its strength to walk among them, without being hunted. It may have lost its motivation and purpose, but the strength within it remains a certainty...

Sidetracking - bad childhood

Wondered why I was coerced into this...

Level 1:
[x]Sleep in class (can't help it)
[x]Talked in class
[ ]Not seating at your own place in class
[]Scolded by a teacher (strange isn't it?)
[ ]Litter the classroom
[x]Did not do your homework at least 15 times
[ ]Submitted your homework late at least 10 times
[]Came late for school at least 10 times
[]brought/wore home clothes without school's permission
[ ]brought/wore jewellery to school
[x]did not pay attention in class for at least 60% of the time
[ ]cried out "sian" or "wa lao wei" to the teacher
[ ]plucked a flower/ killed a plant in school
[]copied other people's homework in desperation (too much pride)
[x]played a trick on your classmates/teacher

Level 2:[ ]sent for detention class
[]late in class
[]not wearing your school uniform properly
[x]shouted at the top of your voice during lesson time
[x]scolding vulgarities in class
[ ]spotted hairstyle deemed unacceptable by the school
[x ]used a school facility without school's permission
[x ]played soccer/basketball or any other sports in classroom
[]singing loudly during lesson
[]walking around the class aimlessly during lesson time
[]did not greet the teacher properly
[ ]went to the toilet during lesson time without permission
[]played a trick on the teacher during april fools
[ ]used the teacher's table as a rubbish dump
[]made yourself a nuisance to the teacher

Level 3:
[]was asked to stay back after school/ break time
[ ]made a fool out of morning assembly
[ ]wasted the school's toilet paper
[ ]sabotaged someone
[x]irritated someone

Level 4:
[]forged your parent's signature
[ ]forged a classmate's signature
[ ]forged a teacher's signature
[ ]made rude remarks to the school cleaners in front of them
[ ]flew a paper aeroplane down from the school from at least the fifth storey

Level 5:
[]fiddling with your handphone during lesson time
[ ]played with your PSP in school
[ ]using school computer to play games without a teacher's permission
[ ]listened to an MP3 player in school
[ ]messed with the teacher's pigeon hole

Level 6:
[x]vandalising with school property (does crashing through a window count?)
[ ]tried to defame your school in public
[ ]used the internet to scold teachers
[X ]fought with someone in school
[ ]shoplifted in school

Level 7:
[ ]cheated in a class test (Don't need to cheat at all cuz I AM GOOD!)
[ ]cheated in a school examination
[ ]cheated for your PSLE/ GCE 'O' or 'A' Level Examination
[]Lied to your teacher
[ ]played truancy for hall assemblies/ specific lessons

Level 8:
[ ]took drugs in school
[ ]smoked in school
[ ]set fire to something in the school
[ ]locked the teacher out of the classroom
[ ]played truancy just after coming to school just to take attendance

Level 9:
[ ]refused to pay school fees
[ ]cheated the school money
[ ]stole things which belonged to the school
[x]bullied someone in school[ ]pranked called your school

Level 10:
[x]raised your voice/shouted against a student leader
[X]raised your voice/shouted against a teacher
[ ]raised your voice/shouted against your discipline master/mistress
[ ]raised your voice/shouted against your vice-principal
[ ]raised your voice/shouted against your principal

Level 11:
[ ]brought weapons to the school
[ ]brought real firearms to the school
[ ]brought a real bomb to the school
[ ]fired a real weapon in the school with the motive to frighten/kill
[ ]dressed up as a terrorist to school
(level 11 is seriously weird)

Grand total : 15

If you are between 0-15-------------{I am a good student}
If you are between 16-20------------{I am a good student but with occasional trouble}
If you are between 21-30------------{I am an average student}
If you are between 31-40------------{I am a bad student}
If you are between 41-50------------{I am a very bad student}
If you are between 51-60------------{I should have been caned by the discipline master}
If you are between 61-65------------{I should have been expelled from school}
If you are between 66-75------------{I should have been sent to a reformatory centre}

Banishment

"Banishment killed most victims in the past societies, when the world beyond their little village or town or city was harsh, when survival could not be purchased without the coin of cooperation. No graver punishment was possible then. It was humans' structure of needing company around them that when one was cast out, it would incur devastation upon that person. Banished victims crumpled into themselves, abandoning all skills that could serve to sustain them. They withered and died..." (Modified from Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson)

As I read this excerpt, I knew my blog title was no longer valid. "Coming back home" has spiraled downwards to "Exile from Home". In the past, though being stray, at least I knew there was home. Now, home has lost its meaning to me. Warmth in home, support in home, home sweet home... These phrases are meaningless to me.

Initially, I was still OK with it. The transition in my worklife and the need to find shelter above my head help keep me occupied. They kept me away from fully realising the implications. Now when I am finally and have some time for myself, I wonder where I am headed next. A large part of our life is attached to our homes, be it whether we like it or not. To rip away "home" from a person is tantamount to ripping a large part of life from him or her.

If I persist in these negative thoughts, I would most likely also "crumple into myself, abandon my skills that could serve to sustain me, wither and die..."

No. Banishment has something in store for me. Total freedom. Freedom to go forth and do what I want to really do. It is with grieve that I have to leave home, but it is also the chance to be a full-fledged butterfly from the safety of the cocoon.

Movie Review (Land before Time) [Set A]

[Acknowledgements to unknown contributer and many thanks to the contributer who makes learning fun for people in need]

As the film opens, the narrator (Pat Hingle) explains that a drought is occurring. To escape it the dinosaurs are migrating in search of the "Great Valley," a lush, Utopian paradise. A "Longneck" (Apatosaurus) herd gives birth to a single baby, named Littlefoot (Gabriel Damon). As he grows older, his mother (Helen Shaver) tells him of the Great Valley, and informs him of the prejudice between the different dinosaur species when he tries to play with a "Threehorn" (Triceratops) girl named Cera (Candace Hutson), but her father (Burke Byrnes) stops him. That night, Cera and Littlefoot meet again, and play together for a while until a "Sharptooth" (Tyrannosaurus) attacks. Littlefoot's mother intervenes, battling with the Sharptooth and suffering severe injuries, but managing to defeat him by pushing him into a deep chasm. At the same time, an "earthshake" (earthquake) occurs, opening a deep ravine in the ground, which swallows up the Sharptooth and a great deal of other dinosaurs, and separates many herds, including Littlefoot's and Cera's. Littlefoot finds his mother when the earthquake ends, but she is mortally wounded, and dies.


Feeling depressed and confused, Littlefoot accidentally slides down a ravine, where he meets an old armored dinosaur named Rooter (Pat Hingle), who consoles him upon learning of his mother's death. After mourning for some time, Littlefoot hears his mother speak to him through his heart, and reminds him how to reach the Great Valley and soon finds Cera and asks her to join him, but she refuses. He later meets a cheerful "Bigmouth" (Parasaurolophus) named Ducky (Judith Barsi), who asks to join him. As they travel, and try to find food along the way, they encounter an aerophobic "Flyer" (Pteranodon) named Petrie (Will Ryan), who joins them on their quest. Meanwhile, Cera encounters a comatose Sharptooth, whom she believes to be dead, and charges at mischievously, though this accidentally awakens him. As she flees, she meets up with the others and warns them about the Sharptooth; Littlefoot does not believe her, being convinced that Sharptooth is dead. As Cera describes the encounter (exaggerating her bravery), she accidentally flings Ducky near a patch of grass, which has a hatching egg containing a baby "Spiketail" (Stegosaurus). Ducky names him Spike and brings him into their band.
Seeking the Great Valley, they find a river leading to a cluster of trees, which is rapidly depleted by a herd of starving sauropods. Searching for remaining growth, they discover a single leaf-bearing tree, and obtain food by piling atop each other to reach it and pull it down. Cera remains aloof and arrogant, boasting that she is independent, but at nightfall, she, along with the others, gravitates to Littlefoot's sleeping nest for warmth and companionship. The Sharptooth attacks them in the morning, but they escape through a cave-tunnel too small to admit him, and discover a Longneck-shaped monolith mentioned by Littlefoot's mother. Although they pass other landmarks she mentioned, such as a string of volcanoes, Cera grows impatient as the search begins to yield no results and quarrels with Littlefoot, causing a schism in the little herd. Littlefoot continues in the direction he was told, while the others follow Cera, who goes another way. As Ducky, Spike and Petrie fall into danger involving a lava barrier and a tar pit, Littlefoot comes and rescues them. They then save Cera from an aggressive herd of Pachycephalosaurus while disguised as a giant tar-monster, which frightens Cera. Angry, humiliated and heartbroken, Cera tearfully leaves the group.



The next day, the others are frolicking in a pond when the Sharptooth appears nearby. Determined to defeat him, Littlefoot formulates a plan to lure him to the deep end of the pond, drop a large rock from the edge of a nearby cliff onto his head, and thus drown him. As Ducky lures him to the water, Littlefoot and Spike have trouble moving the rock. During the proceeding struggle, a hot draft from Sharptooth's nostrils enables Petrie to master his powers of flight. Sharptooth jumps onto the rock Littlefoot and Spike are pushing, taking Ducky and Petrie with him to where they are. At that moment, Cera shows up and helps the plan to be completed; defeating Sharptooth for good. But Sharptooth grabs Petrie in his jaws as he falls towards the water and they both fall in. After a few tense moments, Petrie emerges from the water alive. Sharptooth however is not seen or found and is presumed dead. Littlefoot then follows a cloud that looks like his mother. The cloud leads him to the Great Valley, where the children's surviving relatives are already settled. Petrie and Ducky rejoin their families, and Ducky's family adopts Spike. Cera reunites with her father, and Littlefoot joins his grandparents. The film concludes with an indication of the protagonists' companionship.