Let's play a lovegame

I'm loving the aps on my original, non-3GS-but-almost-as-good I Phone. Been happily tapping away to Gaga's Lovegame. Can't wait to see her next month!

So Jin and I met Zhengx today for a sort-of-farewell tea-thing at this cozy place at Sixth Avenue. They have the most delectable scones and the drinks were pretty good too, although I'm afraid our conversation was morally corrupting (it has this Miss Clarity-esque Christian theme you see...)

Zhengx noted - as 'endearing' - my consistent talent for taking hold of a conversation on any given subject and somehow managing to end up steering it to a topic about or related to myself. I swear its not something I do consciously, and while I do enjoy indulging in a bout of self-aware narcissism every now and then, I know its not a good habit. Besides, when you put Zhengx and Jin together, everyone else should just shut up and listen to them, because their banter is always amusing, often hilarious, and occasionally intense.

Has been a while since I've bothered to comment on issues of social import, but I shall allow myself one. Is anyone else... taken aback... by the pretense also known as the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for Sonia Sotomayor?

It saddens me that even in the age of Obama, Washington is as cynical and politicized as ever. Instead of using the hearings as an opportunity to really suss out the calibre and qualifications of the nominee, these proceedings have descended into what the New York Times has rather appropriately termed the 'well-rehearsed dance that senators and the nominee are now forced to perform'. What a shame.

This is certainly not an indictment of the intellectual capacity of Justice Sotomayor (I wouldn't dare!). In fact, I almost sympathize with her situation - having to rattle off banalities about the Constitution being 'immutable' (GIVE ME A BREAK) and merely applying the law to the facts (which you could probably train a monkey to do), in order to avoid being Bork-ed.

Regardless, this charade makes a mockery of the entire process, with senators from both parties often looking beyond the actual confirmation hearings to the future, more concerned with setting the parameters for any future nominees than the task at hand. All a bit too politicized for my liking.

Don't be too smart for your own good

That's basically the message of Duplicity, when Julia Roberts and Clive Owens' characters finally realize what's gone down.

Some would say the show itself is almost too intelligent for its own good, for - and I quote Michael - 'the average Singaporean isn't going to get this'. I'd like to have more faith in the average Singaporean, but alas, I do have my doubts. Let's put it this way - if you're reading my blog you'll probably get it pretty easily.

The movie's very jet-set, starting off in Dubai and running through Rome, London, Miami, the Bahamas, Zurich and various other locales while New York City (where else?) looms in the present. I like.

Ok I intended to type out something longer but the words are just not flowing freely tonight urgh.

The Upshot

In the future, the Straits Times should seek to hire more Journalists (without the hang-ups) and less Mediawhores

So...

I caught the MJ memorial last night (wondering whether the fact that I didn't feel the urge to shed a tear at any point during the broadcast made me heartless or worse, un-American - so many peeps on JJB were saying that they were choking up or just plain bawling and I really didn't understand it) and so woke up rather late - by my standards - today, at almost 1.

Then I see an SMS from an unknown number asking if I was commencing internship at R&T today or whether there was a change of plan that said person was unaware of. Of course, that was the first time I heard about this internship myself. I applied early in the year, got no response, called and spoke to someone who said that she'd try and find a place for me but never responded. I called once to check, only to be told that she was on leave and would get back to me. Since she never did, I presumed they didn't manage to find anything and decided that I didn't need a 4th internship anyway.

I think I've done enough this summer, so am quite happy to have these next 2 weeks to myself to handle the mountain of personal admin I need to do before I leave. But yeah, the fact that I missed the opportunity - for now anyway - to intern with a team led by Singapore's top insolvency lawyer (those in the know will know who haha) is kindda sucky.

Damnit that it is one nerdy post. Anyways, having a reunion of the fab 6 tonight, we haven't seen each other in ages! Can't wait!

In other news, brunch on Sunday with Chery, the Kok, Teri and Marianne at Graze was great! I'd love to spend every Sunday that languidly. ^That was what I had, can't remember what its called now but it was really delicious. ^^Jared's looked even better.

Monday was pure bitch-fun with Leonard and Meng, and I discovered the joys of Indonesian mee goreng.

Tuesday was - what I'm proud to say has now become a regular thing - Bodypump at Bugis followed by dinner and desert (and unfortunately, still the best conversation I can find anywhere) with my favorite mistake.

Brevity is the soul of wit

Cheryl I learnt a new phrase from the book you bought me! Doesn't it sound so intelligent haha?

I'm sitting here at my desk, with an awesome view of Tanjong Pagar/Chinatown, counting down the hours to the end of my internship with CC. Its been an enjoyable 4 weeks - the work wasn't as heavy as I expected (and I'm quite glad for that really, although zipping out of the office prompty at 5.30 most days made me feel rather guilty), but I do have a better idea of what corporate work is like, and it isn't as mind-numbingly painful as I thought. So it isn't exactly "fun", but only the most passionate litigators would find their jobs fun so...

The international bit is great. Initially I felt a tad intimidated, and to an extent I still feel like a relative outsider, but everyone is friendly and the Brits... gotta love the Brits. Their accents, their turn of phrase, their sharp witticisms, their ability to make the most mundane or matter-of-fact statements/observations funny, their dry humour. I love it. Don't think it'd be the same in a local law firm really, although I hope to be proved wrong on that count.

So what have I learnt? In terms of the hard law, I've picked up dribs and drabs, everything will probably be forgotten over the weekend. But in terms of work skills, I think (hope?) I've picked up two things.

(1) Sometimes, no matter how exhaustive your research, you won't be able to find anything on point, because there is nothing on point. Don't beat yourself up to much over it.
(2) Don't use (1) as an excuse for shoddy research, becasue these things can really bite you in the ass. Occasionally the answer is there if you look hard enough.

That may sound very banal, but I think anyone who has done a spot of legal research will understand what I'm talking about. It's important to approach a research task with the attitude that there IS something out there to be found, and not to think from the start, 'eh I don't think I'll find anything' (which I am guilty of). But if you've actually done proper research and nothing comes up, its equally important to realize that its not because of some deficiency or shortcoming in your abilities (guilty as charged too).

I hope to take these lessons with me, even as I move on to the next phase of my holidays, i.e. the bit where I slack and laze around idly for 2 weeks.

And then Taiwan and Vietnam, and then Drew, and then I leave. Gosh its all coming to an end so quickly, although I like the fact that I can say 'I'm seeing Britney live next month!!'

Later.

Its not hard for you to realize, she'll never be me

Ooh I was telling Jin I never knew the full version of this song existed! I've had the version that ends after the first part of verse 2 for years, and always wondered what the full song would sound like. Over the years people would post what they purported to be the full song, but always turned out to be an extended loop. So I was very surprised to find this, an unreleased gem from the 'Britney' (Slave 4 U, Not A Girl, Overprotected) era.