Red HOT!!

Here's me firing off some pieces over my gas stove. (Who would have thought eh?) Leaf pendants made in 670 silver. It was really pretty! Seeing the pieces glow from the fire. Going to make a lot more when the exams are over.

Final Report, Exams and Jewellery

I'm currently working on my final report of the semester and it's worth 30% of one of my modules which is thankfully non-examinable. It's due 24th April and I was initially intending to hand it in today so I would not have to worry about it during the study break. That is until my Dad asked me to send the car for servicing. SIGH... So well done, I officially cannot hand it in today. On the bright side, at least I won't have to rush it through anymore...

The funny thng? I string and knot freshwater pearls into Endless style necklaces to relieve stress. It sure as heck feels good to see something so beautiful being created from your own hands. Will probably start selling all of them on e-bay after the exams... What am I going to do with SO MANY pearl necklaces after all? LOL. All of them are natural colours too and knotted in pearl silk so it shouldn't be a big problem to sell... I realise that I don't really like the dyed ones with the exception of a few colours... Especially don't like the really gaudy coloured varieties (aka hot pink, bright purple, bright blue, bright yellow, bright green... You get the idea)

I foresee 2 modules that would be giving me some trouble this semester both of which have MATH so ya... Sigh... And before you ask, YES, I've already ordered like over 10 strands of loose freshwater pearls for stress relieving purposes.

Ten days to go before hell begins...

Exam Schedule:

• 26/4 AM: RE3805 (Worry NUMBER 1)
• 28/4 PM: RE3803
• 30/4 AM: SC2220
• 3/5 PM: RE3903
• 4/5 PM: SC2221
• 6/5 AM: RE3804 (Worry NUMBER 2)

First Pieces I've Made

650 Silver ring with synthetic emerald (means same chemical composition and crystal structure), patterned in leaves and mulberries.

650 Silver pendant made by moi. Seaweed fringing the sides of a clam with bubbles. LOL.

Gems and Such

NOTICE: There are two rows. Top row is the stuff I sought out to buy, bottom is err... Well... Impulse buys? LOL. Numbers on the bags indicate pric of each.

Been seriously considering setting up an online business for jewellery and stuff. I like the other more unconventional, naturalistic (free-form) type gems. Yes, they are gems not rocks/stones. Which needless to say is different from the classical  style that my Dad focuses on... Still my target market is still narrower... Sigh...

Working on my pieces now... Once I've finished aroung 20 than I'll be putting them up for sale. What better ground to test the market eh?

A Fishy Situation

So my family isn't shy when it comes to eating unconventional stuff since we're Peranakan and all. But this time, even I have to agree that we might have taken things a little too far... Latest on our chopping block: the KOI. (Yes, those super expensive colourful red and white, gold and black fish you see swimming in ponds)

In my defence, I didn't start it! Pammy's Mum did. LOL. When her koi died (Aunty Anne was cleaning the pond and blasted the koi by accident - I wonder sometimes but that's another discussion for another time - in the head and it died probably from brain damage or something) for the first time last year, she steamed the poor thing in soy sauce and had it for dinner. Pam was telling me how weird it was (Supposedly tasty as she says it was, flesh was very creamy) to see that golden koi spread out in the fridge before steaming and on the dinner table after. That plus the fact that that particular koi was a real sweetie while it was still alive.

The koi eater has struck again! This time with 3 casualties. My cousin in law (Pam's brother in law) accidentally turned off the pond pump while he was visiting and the next morning, the 2 biggest koi had died. A 3rd one though much smaller died the following day. So... Enter fish head curry. I shit you not! I think she's planning on fish and chips next since she's already started with her filleting... Aunty Anne puts them all in a big black garbage bag in the freezer. I commented that it looked like a body bag.

The best part? She has so much koi that when I went over yesterday she gave me some to take home. (Head, tail and side) Can you imagine the look on my Dad's face when I told him what was in our fridge?? LOL. I wonder what's for dinner tonight?

Thread & Wire... Metal Clay... + Conflicts

Needless to say, I CAN'T WAIT TO START WORKING WITH MY HANDS AGAIN!! Having been faced with the difficult choice in secondary school between taking AEP (Art Elective Program) and downgrading to the Normal Academic stream and staying on in the Science Express stream with me obviously choosing the latter... One of my life's regrets, I only wish I had the courage then to follow my heart and go against my parents' wishes. (I blame culture for this by the way, about how ever since when you're young, you're totally groomed to go down the pure academic path where 'Science is good and Arts is inferior')

I'm moving on to the Thread and Wire classes (Both Basic and Advanced) after my Gemology and Jewellery History classes at JDMIS complete (Next week, I start the second week after. LOL.). PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let the Metal Clay class be open for this month~!! I totally want to get creative! Learn more, practice more! Totally bubbling with excitement!

I have to remember to tone down though, since my NUS exams are coming up soon... BUT it's so difficult to contain!! LOL. It's almost like 'SCREW NUS. Just concentrate on what you enjoy more.' So hard to maintain a balance between 3 almost completely different fields of study! NUS: Urban Planning & Sociology, JDMIS: Jewellery Design and Management & Jewellery Design and Fabrication (Since I'm doing the 2 diplomas in JDMIS at the same time, it feels like one and the same! EQUALS TOTALLY ENJOYING MYSELF)

MUST REMIND SELF: NEED TO BE SERIOUS FOR NUS EXAMS. MUST MAKE DEAN'S LIST. GET STRAIGHT A'S!! MAINTAIN HONOURS!!

Heaviest Ever

So I went to the gynae the other day... And to my horror, I was forced to step on the scale for the first time in a year. To my even horror, I found out that I am at my heaviest EVER!! (Which was strange to me and Jansen since I'm definitely skinnier than last year) Jansen says the scale must be screwy. I hope it is too.

THEN yesterday I stumbled upon my very very old pictures from when I first graduated from JC. And lo and behold, I say for the first time how skinny I was... Iwas as skinny as a twig!! All lean muscles and zero percent body fat. In comparison, I feel like a fat stuffed sausage bursting at the seams today.

My weight gain has been attributed medically to the condition I have that is known as polycystic ovaries. In summary, it means that I'm too damn fertile for my own good. My eggs ripen at a faster rate than most and for some unbeknownst reason decide not to leave my ovaries, as such, they break down in my ovaries instead of my uterus to form these 'cysts'. On top of that, because they are breaking down in the wrong place, the eggs are producing the wrong hormones... Testosterone instead of oestrogen.

Implications:

1. Increase in body hair (fortunately not the case for me)
2. Increase in weight (SIGH)
3. Increase in muscle mass (SIGH)
4. Increase in ability to gain muscle mass (SIGH)
5. Decrease in curves (SIGH)

I definitely feel the effects... And in some ways I do enjoy the fact that I put on muscle really easily because it makes me look really toned. On the down side, I got to be REALLY careful working out so I don't gain THAT much muscle mass. Jansen thinks that if the scale wasn't wrong, the weight probably has to do with my increase in muscle (Is it possible to increase weight by THAT much??) and increase in bone density which he apparently says is attributed to me having more testosterone than usual. Great... Bad enough that I already have heavy, dense bones to begin with... Now I'm getting bones of lead.

On another note, THANK GOD I HAVE DECENT BOOBS... So even though they've shrunk a bit, they're still above average for the Asian girl.

I can't wait for the day when I'm finally completely cured and will go back to my regular weight again... That's another year and a half more of medication to go though...