The pope died yesterday...although a lot of people were moping and crying, I feel that it's his time. He himself had said that if it's his time, he'll go to the Lord. I always find it odd to see people crying over someone who is not your relative or close friend. Sympathy and empathy or respect, that I can understand. But sorrow over someone whom you barely know? Hmm...I'm still puzzled by that. I have respect for the pope and for what he has done. Now, let us all pray that the next pope will not be a conservative. It is about time that the old fogies in the Vatican take a step into bringing the church into the 21st century. This goes beyond having a radio station and a website. It's also about the practices and the clothing!! Do you know that there are a lot of priests and nuns who are dressed like they belonged in the 15th century? Ok...now I'm beginning to sound like my bro...who obviously is NOT a conservative.

The pope is the same age as my grandma. When we received news of the pope's death, my bro was so tempted to tell my grandma that the pope had more reasons to complain about his health than she did. The pope had arthritis, Parkinson's disease and kidney failure. My Grandma? A compressed fracture and an aneurism (pardon my spelling). But ah well, my granny can literally turn a deaf ear to us.

I met Dr Graham for consultation today and she told me that I made too many strong statements in my essay. She said that this is a trait that she finds in all Singaporean students. She suggested that perhaps our strong science background has made us see things as either right or wrong. Hmm...quite an interesting point of view.

The deadlines for all the essays and presentations are slowly coming. C'mon exams! Come at me like the shinkansen! Haiyaku! (Translation: Come at me like the bullettrain! Quick!) I've got my ISM and JS2216 presentation due on Wed, JS2216 final report on Thurs, SN1101E presentation on Fri and then it's another week of deadlines to meet. Thank goodness this week is gonna be the last week of tutorials and most lectures! Reading week's coming too! WOOT!! And then it'll be the exams...followed by darling hols! Now, I need work...part time work...I need moolah...unless one of you are generous enough to donate $ to me!