"when in doubt, put to safe! better safe than semi."-old bmt proverbs.

i'm a little embarassed to say that after about 8 months, i've finally completed neal stephenson's 927 page tome quicksilver. i gotta admit, the first half was rather dry and i could only go a few pages at a time. besides, there was a cast of characters with the likes of isaac newton and samuel pepys. so i took a break from reading it. but after i got back to it, it was bloody exhilarating. it was political conspiracy thriller set in 17th century england, france and netherlands. it was funny, witty, sexual, complicated at the same time. now i wonder if i should take the time to read the sequel too.

this week was a rollercoaster ride. my mood index [-40pts] went roughly like this..
MON +80 no guard duty for this 4ntm. yipee.
TUE +20 took over 4ntm in a rush. last minute realised had no torch light and toggle rope. slacked for rest of day.
WED -100 shot by arrows left, right and centre. don't like to have responsibilities.
-40 dodgeball. enuff said.
+30 had 10 dollar 10 min haircut. cool machine which sucked up the small bits of hair.
THU +60 didn't have to go to IMT. slept till 9am.
-150 despite my cries of 'cannot cannot', csm decided that i should run 21k instead of 12k.
FRI -50 took over lousy vehicles. no time to clean weapon.
+150 announced that all of us didn't have to run the half marathon at all. yipee. could book out tonight instead of going to east coast straight on sat.
-40 cut my finger with jackknife while making board. bled all over the toilet and corridor. utterly horrified.
******
strange strange. my cruel intentions download is stuck at 69%.
since today's life featured keane, i would like to add this part of a 2.8/10 review of hopes and fears from pitchfork..

"I'll happily admit if I turn out to have been wrong-- and only time will tell-- but Keane sound like they'll be the last in a long line of British bands who've grown tired of miming Radiohead and now simply aim for the much more imitable sound of Coldplay. I say "last" because Keane's debut album, Hopes and Fears, is so miserably and calculatedly maudlin that it almost seems capable of killing the trend started by Travis and passed like a relay baton to Starsailor and, eventually, Snow Patrol. Coldplaya-hatas will loathe Keane; most others will just be insulted. Inexplicably, the band was recently shortlisted for the Mercury Prize."