Have you heard of the monkey's paw story? the titular object is a fictional artifact that grants you your heart's desire, but with a twist. scary JC friend's dad cited the example of a man who wanted to live forever, but ended up getting trapped in a wall as it was being built. other versions i've heard include one person wishing for infinite wealth, but dying shortly after. based on those two examples, i think you get the idea that to make a wish on one of those things, you probably need a lawyer to draft up a wish contract. in a twisted sort of way. i think that one of my wishes was inadvertently picked up by a monkey's paw. you see, i wished for a distraction from thinking about that person. but instead of getting more willpower to finish my thesis, or motivation to look for a good job, or something that would have steered me in a more productive direction, i got injured during judo yesterday. was sparring with a junior when i went down with her for a throw. don't know how, but my right knee popped. it was really bad, too...almost like the first time it happened back in 2009. the knee swelled up, and walking was painful. it was bad to the point where i brought my TCM appointment forward to "asap", which thankfully was earlier today. they happened to have a slot open, and i jumped on it. there's improvement, but i'm still rather limited in my range of motion. as if the knee injury wasn't bad enough, there's also a minor rolled ankle and basically my entire right leg's muscles are tight. worse still, the aftereffects include strain on my left side as well, because of the increased reliance on it for walking and other weight-bearing activities. just when plan get fit was supposed to take off!

actually, it might not be all that bad. i called genesis this past tuesday, to get updates on their membership prices. while my plan was to go for the unlimited package, doing so would quite literally wipe my bank account out. so i figure that i'll use the next month or so to earn some money, and build some good lifestyle habits, like eating less processed food and finding more stuff that i can cook myself. i was talking to the massage therapist at the TCM place while she was brutalizing me (or, loosening my muscles up, same difference), and she said that i'm still young - in fact, many singaporean guys get married in their mid-30s. i suppose that's true, but that's not exactly applicable to me for a number of reasons. regardless, i did appreciate her calling me handsome. i don't think it's just to make me happy because i'm a customer...at least i hope it isn't. but one thing that we both agreed on is that i could be more handsome if the excess weight went away. that's a goal to work towards, i guess.

earning money won't exactly be easy. so far, i've got a couple of tuition kids (one from NYGH, another from VS). that gives me enough money to survive on, provided that the kids don't have to miss classes. aside from that, i had a contact for kent ridge tuition centre, and there are several other tentative plans that may or may not happen. i'm actually really grateful to have friends that are so willing to help me in my time of need. i'm just hoping that i can weather these few months. it should get better soon.

-random thought of the day: Needles suck.-