and it goes to seven

after a dominant Game 5 showing, one would expect Celtics to display something similar at LA in Game 6. Instead, the Lakers came out strong, leading by 10 as early as the first quarter.

What's worse than Kobe getting hot in the 3rd quarter and scoring 19? (as in game 5)
Him getting hot in the 1st quarter, scoring 11 of the Lakers points.

Everything was going right for the Lakers - the 50/50 balls, the offensive rebounds. Even the touted Celtics bench was nowhere to be found, with the Lakers bench shining instead, scoring about 20+ to Celtics bench's 0 before they managed to find their first points.

Rondo was all over the court as usual, but the difference was he didn't get the support he needed - The awkward misses and missed easy layups were epitomised by Ray Allen's fast break chance after a pass from Rondo; Allen simply squandered an easy layup over Jordan Famar.

Where was Ray's hot hands too? The same hands that sank 8 3 pointers, an NBA Finals record, in Game 3? (or was it 2? hmm)
And of course, the same hands that missed his next 18 3 point attempts in the next 2 games.
To his credit, Allen DID lead the Celtics in scoring in G6.. but most were 2 point attempts. I would love to see him swoosh more quick-release 3 pointers that he always does :)

Celtics were totally bullied into submission in this G6, with the Lakers leading by as much as 22 i believe. I stopped watching at the 4th quarter, as they were down by 20 still. -__- too disappointing.

This series has been laden with exciting basketball and excellent plays. It seems right that it goes to a Game 7. But i just hope it won't be a wash-out affair like Game 1 and 6 (and even 5, where Boston pretty much dominated though the heroics of Kobe kept them close)

Come on Celtics.

drop tuition kid = drop GF

something i tweeted which i thought wa sfunny:

'
For those who also give tuition.. there may be a point where you had to drop a student (or two) due to study commitments, or too many students, etc. In fact, it is very likely that this occurs, unless you're extremely forward-planning and anticipate your schedule/ability to handle work very well.

So i was thinking how hard it is to drop a student.. like how do you even go about saying it?

In fact, it is exactly like breaking up with a girlfriend.

"Sorry, we have to stop seeing each other. I found someone better."

In fact, anything after 'sorry' applies for both scenarios, e.g.

"Sorry, I don't have time for this anymore."
or
"Sorry, I need to concentrate on my studies."

and of course there will be the funny ones

"Sorry, someone else is paying me better."
and
"Sorry, I have to drop you as i have too many others."
which are just LOL from a relationship perspective.

Ok. that's it. bye.

no smile

In a bid to prepare myself for the rigors of university that includes essay writing and massive reading, I have decided to make have weekly blog entries that are properly written in terms of language and structure.
Well, maybe not in perfect English because that would just be boring (i think) but, more coherent and proper than how I usually write.

Just a few weeks ago I extracted my wisdom tooth in a painful process that will be forever etched in my memory. But that aside, I was pretty lucky to avoid some of the side -effects, such as swelling, and inability to move the jaw. (I even had to give tuition the next day)
I could move my jaw slightly, just couldn't open my mouth too wide because it would feel like I'm tearing the stitches apart. So i couldn't really move the left side of my face much.

As such, one thing that I was deprived of was a smile.

Now you may think this is nothing, but having a neutral-dao face like mine, if I just keep my face relaxed, I'll look very unfriendly and angry or something. So I probably looked grumpy for the few days following the surgery.

The most annoying thing for me was the inability to smile. I never realised how important this was until I started talking to people - normally playful-friendly conversations just sound like i'm pissed off because I don't smile.

Just try it - go smileless for a day. When you talk to people, suppress the urge to smile and see how it sounds like. You'll sound snappy and grumpy in whatever you say without a smile. You see a friend and go "Hey, havent seen you in a long time." -no smile-
It'll sound like you're implying 'aw damn, unlucky to meet you".

Any good thing will sound like you're saying it begrudgingly too. Imagine you are playing a sport, and your teammate scores, and you go 'Good job.' -no smile-
You'll sound bitter like you wished it was you who scored.

It's hard to fully paint the scenarios for you unless you experience it yourself. In fact, you can go one step further and similarly omit all smileys in your online/phone text conversations (unless you're the type that doesn't use smileys at all) and see how you sound. (this looks wrong, since you don't exactly SEE how you SOUND. But yea.)

In fact, how have you felt reading this post? Bored? Glum? I have deliberately left out any smileys or exclamation points to accentuate my point. A world with no smiles is a bleak place.