X&Y

i bought the new coldplay album, 'X&Y' last weekend and have been listening to it over and over on my way to work and back to campus. i wasn't impressed initially, it didnt have that effect like 'parachutes' or 'a rush of blood to the head' did, but after few hours of listening, it slowly grew into me. its not a bad album at all, i guess after few more hours of listening will do good. the album shot to number 1 in 21 or so countries, and in UK, its the second biggest debut since Oasis' 'Be Here Now' which only indicates good things.

i just find it hard to fathom that that ringtone song occupies the number 1 spot in the UK charts as of now.

in any case, by september, i should be familiar with all of coldplay's songs, except for their B-tracks or limited release ones. i gotta do the same with oasis, which is going to be much harder since they have so many more songs. ooh, i can just imagine how much i'm gonna enjoy the double header.

let me share my initial disappointment trying to attend a concert. it was back in... 99 or 2000 (i cant really remember) when coldplay was scheduled to have their concert in singapore. back then, they were only known for 'yellow' and 'trouble' so none of my friends wanted to dish out the SG$50 (which is a lot when you're a middle/high school student) to go see them. even when they were performing together with scottish band Travis. i think, at that time, those two were the biggest bands on radio, i really didnt wanna miss it. as i contemplated whether to go or not (more for the price of attendence than whether to go alone or not) time passed and by the time i decided to get the tickets, they were sold out. imagine my disappointment. and that was around my birthday too. missing out on two great bands at that time, because i was indecisive (and that hasnt changed too much, though now, when i make my decision, i go all out on it) so this time, i really wanted to catch coldplay, and i am going to. its gonna be great.

got my second paycheck earlier this week. ive come to realize how it sucks to have worked for 4 weeks and my one week's earning is taken out as taxes. im not really complaining as im not a big spender, so it doesnt really make much difference, but it really sucks. hopefully i'll get most of it back after the end of the current tax year. even though i say i dont spend, when i do want something though, it can get out of hand. most of my first paycheck was spent paying off my credit card debt (now i dont have any balance) and paying for the flight that i am taking to go to boston over the 4th of july weekend. and then... well, the coldplay tickets, and a portable, but pretty strong speaker for my laptop/ipod and the apple isight webcam to communicate with my family. ok, webcam was needed, i was just balking at the price, as other affordable ones werent compatible with a mac or their resolution was bad, etc. but i did feel like i wasted all that money getting stuff which, at that time, seemed necessarily. but now that ive gotten all those things, the pay that im going to earn over the rest of the summer should solely be spent on food and transportation only. i guess its good in that regard. and i gotta start hunting down people who owe me money...

next week would be half way through summer. it flies past way too fast. next thing i know, i'm studying again. im gonna miss working, though it wont be long before im back at it again. ive been having really interesting and enriching conversations with some of my colleagues, who are much older than me, but we never run out of things to talk about, funny enough. yesterday was one of those days where it was evident that your training in school/college may not necessarily have to do anything with what you might be working for in the future. you just gotta be open, flexible and ambitious. so long as you put your mind and heart into whatever that you do, you can basically do anything. though, of course, a college degree is somewhat necessarily to back that up. it was kind of surprising how many of my colleagues have tried so many different things before now and just hearing these things makes me excited at what potentially holds for me after im done here at tech.

im pretty happy with what im in charge of at work, as i think im one of the few fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on what kind of person you are) who is responsible for a project where i get to do quite a lot of things in such a short work period. i guess it pays to be working in a small environment to get maximum exposure in that sense. imagine if you're working in a massive corporation, its more likely you'll be standing infront of the xerox machine most of the day. (ok, thats a little demeaning, but you get the point) its only gonna get better, hopefully, starting next week, i'll get to do some real stuff, like training suppliers on using the portal. i gotta make sure i do that right, coz if i do, i'll do more of them and get a better hang of things that goes on.

all that ive been doing after i get back from work is watching 'seinfeld.' its just a hilarious show. i borrowed the entire seasons 1-3 dvd from scott and its great coz i can watch it at any time and not depend on what time the reruns are screened on tv (and we are missing a tv from my room anyway). its a great way to unwind to at the end of a working day, and by the time i feel like im tired, its the right time to take a shower and turn in for the day. ive been missing a good sitcom show since 'friends' ended, so this is great.

i guess the only other thing i need to start doing is to read more and start running. im playing soccer every now n then, but i guess i need to pull my fitness level back before i get match alertness and controls back to where i used to be. i feel horrible playing soccer coz my accuracy is gone and my touches arent as good as i like it to be. i was never a good player, so i dont have too much of an expectation, but if i cant even carry out decent plays, thats going to be a problem.