Book Giveaway #3 - An Amazing Story by Carlo Gabbi

Hello there, it's been a little quiet here lately but at least I'm doing some reading now. I'm currently enjoying I, Coriander by Sally Gardner. I think I can finish it tomorrow so do look out for my review of it soon! :)

Anyway....................I'm going to hold my 3rd book giveaway! This time, I'm going to give one lucky reader a copy of An Amazing Story by Carlo Gabbi. Click on the title to read my review of the book. Mr. Carlo has kindly sent me a copy to review and now I'm going to pass the book to someone else.

To enter this giveaway and how you can get extra entries, see below:

1. Simply leave a comment and your e-mail add saying you want to participate - 1 entry
   
2. Blog about this giveaway in your blog and tell me about it - 2 entries
   
3. Adding me to your blogroll - 5 entries

Pretty easy, right? What's more, it's open to anyone on this planet, provided that you have a valid mailing address so this book can reach you later. :)

Contest ends on 19 November, 2008. Good luck!

Things People Sell Online

In order to earn some extra pocket money, people would try absolutely anything including delving themselves in selling stuff online. Recently I’ve been slightly obsessed with visiting online stores and forums where people sell off all sorts of things even second-hand clothes! And people actually buy them! That’s even more surprising.

The other kinds of stuff that people sell are like used books, CDs, DVDs, jewellery, mobile phones, laptops, radios, cars, and many more things. It’s quite fun to browse through their items for sale and also observing what sells the most. Although some people sell off their used clothing at cheap prices, I’m still kind of wary about buying them.

Some people also take advantage of their own creativity and make things to sell like handmade bookmarks, greeting cards, cakes, and jewellery such as earrings and necklaces.

I Won The Graveyard Book!

Actually, I forgot that I entered this book giveaway held at The Novel World. But when I checked through my feeds and visited Nari's blog, there it was. My name and blog name stated boldly on the page. I'm so happy to win The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman! Another book to add to my stack.

By the way, I had better go through all the books that I and my sister own before setting out to buy anymore books. Sometimes I forget what I or my sister already had that I will buy the same book by mistake. This is why I've started haunting Library Thing again! :D

Went To Watch Id Today

This should be the second theatrical play that I've watched in all my life. Id. You can find out more about it from their blog. There are only six actors in the play. It lasted for less than two hours but boy, was it entertaining! I was totally immersed in the play the whole time it lasted. It was also held at The Actors Studio at Greenhall, Penang.

The actors are really talented. They were flawless, extremely expressive, had clear pronunciation of words, energetic, full of chemistry with one another, and the list just goes on. It was worth my RM15.00 (student price)! I want to watch more plays after this!

I noticed that the audience was quite small. I think there were around 20++ people there. But they had shows at other times too. Perhaps the crowd's less on a Sunday afternoon.

Here's a description of what the play's about!

­­'­Id' tells a very simple story on the basis of a very ‘complex’ theory.

It is simply a tale of human behaviour and how one’s desires are coupled with one’s sense of moral judgment, which finally leads to an individual’s decision.

The play is a potpourri of sociological studies summarised and portrayed through the lives of six people who encounter the values of friendship, family, social choice, religion, etc.

Perhaps understanding Freud isn’t as difficult as it has always seemed.

The story of the play had something to do with Sigmund Freud's theories.

They even had bits of Mean Girls and White Chicks in it. For example, when the girls were talking with each other. They talked like how the girls in White Chicks did. Also, they used 'Oh my God!' a lot of times. Too many times actually till it got irritating.

The ending was a little bit confusing too. Why was the 'Angel of Death' wearing a white bathrobe? I thought the girl character had ended up in a hotel room with some strange guy or something. Didn't realize that she's Death itself! Maybe that's another character she plays.

But overall, it was a great show. Wonderful exposure for me since I'm planning to minor in Drama and Theatre. I love stories. I love movies. And now, I love theatre!

How's Your Online Shopping Experience?

There was a feature article last week in one of the daily newspapers on online stores that sell clothes, accessories, shoes, and other stuff that can be sold online! Well, I didn’t realize that there were so many local online stores selling ladies’ clothes. I was, like, where did they all spring out from? How come I have never came across them in my long days of spending online?

Have you purchased clothes or shoes or bags from online stores before? So far, I have only bought books and DVDs, never clothes. My sister once remarked that maybe the clothes might have been worn before or they could be some dead person’s clothes! Yeah, she’s pretty skeptical about most things. =D

What I’m worried about is the size of clothing and shoes. What if they don’t fit me and what if I can’t return them? I noticed on some online store blogs that items sold are not refundable and exchangeable, whatever that means. It’ll be kind of risky, won’t it? But some stuff I saw in these online stores look darn good. They are even hinting at me to buy them! It’s just too bad actually since I’m kind of broke right now.

Why Am I In University?

I only began asking this question at the beginning of this semester! I should have thought of it way back before entering university. But better to have thought of it now than when it’s much too late.

Do other students ponder over this question? Do they know why they go to university? Are they like me who just went to uni because it was the next step in completing our education? Will education be ever complete? I thought we learn throughout our lives because we always learn something new each day.

This morning during a tutorial, my lecturer reminded us why we are in university. We were asked to define some communications concepts which we answered pathetically but still understandable. She said that we needed to learn to express our ideas in words in order for other people to understand us clearly. It’ll also be useful when answering exam questions if we knew how to form our ideas properly.

Anyway, she said that we come to university to learn how to think. I don’t know how she got to that part but that’s what she said. That comment of hers got me thinking all about it all over again.

So that brings us back to the first question, which is why am I or why are we in university? I’ve just searched via Google and found some insightful articles on why students are in university in the first place even if they don't know it themselves.

I realized a few things earlier. One of them was learning in university is completely different from learning in school. Yeah, the hours spent in classes were less but scattered throughout the day. Still, it is less if compared to normal school hours. That gives us the chance to pursue our other interests so we join societies, clubs, etc.

Spending less time in class should give us more time to study, right? Well, that isn’t the case since students take advantage of their extra free time doing other things unrelated to school work. We students should be using the free time to read our required readings or get started on assignments. Sadly, we like to procrastinate!

Besides that, we are in university to form ideas and ask questions, aren’t we? It’s usually known as the time when shy students learn to speak up in class and during discussions. However, in class, it’s normally quiet when the lecturer asks for questions. Why is that so? Nowadays, lecturers expect this to happen because it’s been happening for quite a while now where students don’t like to ask questions anymore. I’m not sure about ten years ago but this is true for now.

During tutorials, the students and the tutor or lecturer are supposed to be discussing, aren’t they? That’s what I’ve been told but tutorials are becoming like lectures where the tutor/lecturer still talk the most. Sometimes, only a few brave souls will ask something or just give their opinion on an issue. As usual, students will be holding a pen and some paper on the table. It's the copying notes syndrome again.

I’m also amazed at some people in university. When I ask them a simple question, they give me answers which are not related to my question. This shows that they haven’t understood my question in the first place! They also plagiarize in assignments and presentations. They don’t put forth any ideas or opinions of their own. But I’m amazed that they can still do fairly well in exams.

Questions, questions, and more questions. It’s all a mystery to me. But at least I have an inkling of why I’m in university and what I should do to survive there. I think.

This has been a messy post, I know but I just had to get this out. And for those planning to enter university or are already in university, you’ve gotta read this!