Studying for that elusive N1

There is something innately soothing about organizing one's life.

And I've always been one who appreciated and revered the ones who so meticulously planned every aspect of their lives, especially the ones who maintained daily, weekly, monthly planners and journals to boot! Heck, being an avid (read borderline obsessed) stationery fanatic myself, I can understand the urge to write everything down and plan one's future, bringing down the uncertainty about one's future a notch! But for the life of me, I cannot seem to keep up with the schedule of scheduling! I weep and tear my hair out trying to get through my days that are filled with incessant work and travel (not the sort one would enjoy!)

To add to the misery, I have to clear my JLPT N1 level this December. True that the exam is happening in July as well. But by the good lord above I know my preparation has been abysmal thus far! Heck, I haven't even started preparing with earnest! And not only do I need to clear the exam, I need to do it with flying colours! It's more for me than for anyone else this time! And with the JLPT levels out of my way, I can seriously shift focus towards other languages... (I'm looking at you, German, you sexy beast!)

I am on an almost frantic effort to get my life back on track, I've decided to blog about my planning and study progress. Not that anyone is going to read this... does anyone actually read my blog?! But this is more for me, I shall stick to a plan and follow it through, so help me God!

And this weekend (read Sunday), the trial begins. 

Please excuse the World of Warcraft on the screen! :P

P.S. To those of you who are absolute kindness personified and actually read my drabble (read stories), thank you! And don't you worry! I'll keep the regular posting going strong; as strong as I can muster!

Pencil talk!

I wonder how many of you put there share the enthusiasm I have of using a pencil even when there's a pen available. Recently, thanks to the Japanese script class, I was able to wield the humble pencil once again. Using a pen would not have been feasible what with all the erasing and the correcting of strokes that one has to do with the Japanese script. And it just struck me as poetry.... the way the words flowed out of the graphite onto the paper... how permanent yet how transient! And with this new found inspiration, I decided to go pencil shopping! (I believe I'll be using a dozen pencils a day by the time my classes are over and I am not complaining! :D)

I got some mighty awesome Staedtler pencils of the Norica 132 and the Yellow Pencil 134 variety (both of the eraser tipped - an added bonus for me!). And I'm in heaven right now! If only I could bring myself to use them completely without stroking them like Golem with the One Ring!

So, is there any piece of stationery that you crave for?

P.S. I need to memorize all the kana by tomorrow! Yikes! About time I took my mighty pencil and waged the battle once more! :)