3rd May, 2004 - New strip!

Sorry I missed last week's update. I had a paper due. I actually have an exam tomorrow too!

Haiku Circus is the cutest, smartest (sometimes) webcomic ever. count the syllables!

Placebo - Special K. I fell in love with Placebo good and proper. I think you should too.

10th April, 2004 - New strip!

I was in Urban Outfitters today with a friend. They have the coolest books. I think we really do learn something new everyday (even if we do not go to Urban Outfitters). For example, it takes 96 hours of corn eating to make your shit look 100% like corn.

In other news: Yes, I am receiving a fulfilling education on taxpayers' money.

Rialto - Quarantine. Cooooontaaaaaaaact, unnnnncleeaaaaannnnnn.. Just like what I think when my foot accidentally touches the floor. I mean this dorm room floor. It's dirty lah.

3rd April, 2004 - New strip!

I like Hong Kong very much.

I was just wondering, what with the new domain coming (slowly but surely), would any of you have any site design suggestions? Or you could even design a layout for me! Yes!

The Cars - Just What I Needed. I don't mind you coming here, and wasting all my time time...

26th March, 2004 - New strip!

Jet lag's a bitch. Oops I just said a bad word!

20th February, 2004 - New strip!

I might not be able to update for the next 3 weeks, because I'll be (in chronological order) 1. studying really hard 2. on a plane 3. in Hong Kong.

14th February, 2004 - New strip! LET GO OF THOSE PANTIES!

Put your head on my shoooouuuuuuuuuuulder... but wash your hair first.

Oh yah Bobbin got reviewed by Korsil! Isn't that cool? I really like the idea of you guys reading the comics... even if it's only cos you have "nothing better to do". No, seriously!

Pulp - Babies.mp3 . I wanna take you home. I wanna give you children. You might be my girlfriend! Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!

8th February, 2004 - Oh my god I haven't updated for 2 months

I've been really busy with school, but I think you've heard enough excuses! So let me tell you what's in the works:

The new URLs (they let me have two!) are coming, bobbin-comic.com and nenewarlus.net (those who can spell shall have their COMEUPPANCE)

I've been toying with the idea of redesigning the site for the new domains, while continuing to update the old one (just in case), or maybe not. I'll have a better site design, navigation system and update system, but I'm really rusty with all this stuff, so it'd be a great help if any of you could give me suggestions, especially regarding easy site updating for webcomics.

And of course, new strips! So hold on to your panties, my padawans!

12th December, 2003 - New strip!

First off, check out The Sticks! It sounds like a band, but no, it's a comic.

Second off... Actually there's nothing else, except for exams. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Placebo - Black-eyed. Why should anybody take time out to whine if Brian Molko is already doing it all for them?

5th December, 2003 - New strip, plus TOP SECRET BONUS COMIC FOR YOUR EYES ONLY!

Hi children! Boy oh boy do I have something to use exclamation marks about!

1. After many sleepless nights and much, much thought, I decided to choose www.bobbin-comic.com. I know nenewarlus.net won, and honestly, I don't think it's right to poll you guys and then totally defeat the purpose of the voting process by choosing the second most popular, but please forgive me this once. Nenewarlus was always and will always be number one in my heart, but bobbin-comic is just the right choice. Besides... Doesn't everybody love hyphens! .. I thought so! So, thanks for your input into the process, you can still access the poll results and many constructive comments. Don't go changing your links and bookmarks yet though because it'll only be done in January or February. I still haven't decided whether it'll be a complete move or something else, so we'll see in time!

2. Sorry for not updating the past week, I went to Denver! To make up for it, you can check out the TOP SECRET BONUS COMIC FOR YOUR EYES ONLY which I spent that time on. It's called "The Grass Is Weirder" and, hopefully, it's gonna be published (if we can scrape up enough money) in January.

3. The Paypal thing has been re-put up. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Faye Wong - You're Happy So I'm Happy. Same senior, different song. She recently made some enigmatic song lyrics which went something like "I gave my body to him but my heart to you". But it's not very enigmatic!

22nd November, 2003 - No new strip, but yes new poll

Just when the engine was getting warmed up, I turned it off. I'm sorry. (I am starting to pick up analogy-speech!) I'm going away for a week tomorrow (actually, today) and was really busy with a whole bunch of stuff.

Meanwhile, I'm glad to see that you guys are voting on the new URL. Unfortunately though, www.bobbin.com.sg is impossible, you need to be a registered business to get a .com.sg domain. (Thanks to everybody who pointed this out to me!) I would remove the option, but that would reset the poll. Meanwhile, nenewarlus.net is in the lead, with bobbin-comic.com in second place. I like both, actually, but do you guys think there'll be a real problem with nenewarlus.net? I mean, yeah, people would never be able to spell it, but does everybody just cut and paste these days? Or does word-of-mouth matter more?

Bluetones - Slight Return. A senior of mine introduced this song to me and I think it's very nice.

15th November, 2003 - New strip!

Your mission this week is to go here and download both games. And then, play them and email me with the opportunity cost of all those "wasted" hours in dollar terms.

And, I need your help! Should Bobbin move? Let's talk about it on the board!

The Darkness - I Believe In A Thing Called Love. This is just crazy and very fun. Like Jarvis Cocker times ten, and reborn as Queen.

7th November, 2003 - New strip!

YAY! I managed to lie, cheat, steal, bribe, sleep and fake (maybe in some other order, but I forget) my way into getting a Bobbin strip published in the school newspaper! GO COMICS CLUB!!! I would take a photo of myself holding the issue and looking very happy, except my digital camera is spoilt, I think. Last week, smoke starting coming out of it in my hands. I wish I were exaggerrating... I wish I could spell exaggerrating.

Look, another endearing Singaporean webcomic..! Except it's about life in med school. GO GO GO!

Why do I get search engine hits for "come visit my anus"? What have I done to deserve this? Oh wait... ... oh yah.

1st November, 2003 - Bobbin's back!

Life has finally settled into a routine and I'm glad to bring Bobbin back to you! Thank you for holding on through the long wait. I plan to update Bobbin on Friday nights now.

Also, I've joined my school's comic club, and they're letting me have some pages in their publication, and I'm really excited about it, because I intend to do something different from Bobbin (but not too different..) for it. So it's a long term project, but I just thought I'd tell you guys about it, and when it finally gets done I'll definitely post it up here.

I CAN JUGGLE!!!

5th October, 2003 - I FEEL IT IN MY BLOOD

This is kind of anticlimatic, but I'm finally getting really itchy fingered and there is definitely going to be a new strip up by 2 weeks from now! After mid terms. And to all the people who emailed me and have not got a reply: I'm getting to it really quickly. Sorry it took so long!

SO HOLD YOUR HORSES AND UNICORNS!!! And in the meantime, do try out fellow Bobbin reader Lars' very own game, SIX PACK MAN! Is that cool or what? (ps: sorry it took so long!)

5th September, 2003 - HIATUS UPDATE

Hello everyone! Just to tell you, I'm now in the US and settling down nicely. Term just began and a lot of things are in a mess, but slowly they're being sorted out and I think that I'll be able to update Bobbin in not so long a time from now. So please bear with me!

More news, I have changed my email address, and I'm cancelling my old account. I think I will lose some of your mails in the process, so if I haven't replied, I'm really sorry and it wasn't on purpose! Just pop over here for the new address.

Till the next update, take care and may Nenewarlus be with you!

24th July, 2003 - BOBBIN IS ON HIATUS

Sorry that I have not updated the last three times. Ok let me put it in point form because if not I'd ramble on forever:

One: The Gig was postponed at the last minute to the 23rd and 24th August, which was quite idiotic, but then again the organisers made us sign a contract which said we were not allowed to pull any "diva-like" tantrums on them come what may, including "acts of god". Anyway, there's a limit to how far bitching can get you. But anyhoo, I won't be able to play, because...

Two: I'm leaving Singapore in slightly less than a month's time to attend university in the US. So I've been spending time with the people with whom mutual missage will be incurred, and also sorting out other less (?) interesting things (e.g. panties washing instructions, deciding what might or might not induce final fantasy limit break in roommate, etc) which I really do like spending time on.

Three: This Computer is showing signs of senility (it thinks it's April 2002, and parties like it is) and is on the verge of shuffling off this mortal solenoid and I am very afraid of losing tons of stuff. I also want to make backups, etc.

The REAL reason of course, is that I am hooked on Harry Potter. Kidding! But I really apologise and hope you'll be able to let me put the comic aside for awhile. I'll definitely update if I can, but most likely, it'll be some time before I adapt sufficiently to uni life (aforementioned panty washing) and can get back on track. But I do plan to continue Bobbin in uni and I hope you'll wait around till the next strip! If you sign up for the mailing list, I'll email you the minute that goes up. AND I SHALL BE THE TRUE HERO OF THE THREE KINGDOMS ONCE AGAIN!!!

Sincerely, Joycelyn.

11th July, 2003 - New strip!

We have a gig next week, Friday and Saturday! Except I'm not so big on the details, I just know it's two sets each day. I will keep you updated, like it or not.

8th July, 2003 - New strip!

I just read Philip K Dick's The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and you know what, I wouldn't read it again. But I don't regret reading it. Apparently everybody else is just as confused about it as I am and that is the way it's meant to be. Although, do you notice how much he thinks of sex in general? I also read Terry Jones' Douglas Adams' Starship Titanic. That was less confusing. But also a lot of sex.

My favourite fruit is apple. But I hate it also because one out of two times I eat apples (that means half.) I bite into this hard part near the middle and it gets wedged between my incisors and I CAN'T GET IT OUT. The moral of the story is: When you do things wrongly, blame your tools, just like a bad workman.

3rd July, 2003 - New strip!

I'm in a big rush so there's no time to mumble on about my usual crap. For entertainment though you could visit the Gallbladders website which has new mp3s and a whole ton of updates!

27th June, 2003 - New strip!

Placebo - You Don't Care About Us. A very nice and whiny song. IT'S YOUR AGE! IT'S MY RAGE! It recently struck me that Brian Molko looks JUST like Takki, except more alternative and I think Takki prefers being male. They probably both pluck their eyebrows.

19th June, 2003 - New strip!

I'm updating on a Thursday, cos I'm going on a short family holiday to Thailand for 3 days. No, not to have a sex change operation. See you!

Hole - Reasons To Be Beautiful.mp3 . I know Courtney Love is quite detestable. But she is so funny! A choice quote from an edition of Q magazine I own - "Wax my anus". Mahls n' mahls uv purfect skiun ah swear ah do ah fit rahd in! Mah luvv burns through everythin ah can-nut brayaythe!

18th June, 2003 - New strip! Finally!

Thanks for the wait. Anyway, recently I've been doing all the stuff that bummy people (or bums) do, such as playing retarded games like Dynasty Warriors 4 for embarrassingly long swathes of time, persuading non-bums to spend time with me, spending the money I earned in pre-bum days, reading books (The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams, who is dead now), wantonly downloading stuff, and also not bathing a lot.

You know "Come On Eileen"? Number one, why does he pronounce it as "Aileen"? Number two, isn't it amazing how dirty non-dirty-sounding-unless-you-catch-the-lyrics songs actually are? Number three, if you don't know what I'm talking about, it is by Dexy's Midnight Runners, which I have a feeling is a one-hit wonder kind of band, and also a very good cover of it has been done by Save Ferris by a female singer.

16th June, 2003 - New link banners, SPECIAL STUFF page and cast profiles!

Hi! I'm back and raring to go! Please check out all the new stuff I've been busying myself with to warm up. I am now blissfully unemployed and intend to repay everything I owe you. So there will be a strip on Wednesday, come what may! Also, The Gallbladders have a gig coming up in late July, and we'll give you more details soon.

Recently I've been listening to all these 80s songs and oldies from my childhood, and I conclude that I have been scarred for life. Like all this Air Supply business, what's up with that? "I just died in your arms tonight"? Well, maybe you didn't bathe.

Also, try my friend's site, where she not only has a webcomic, but THREE, plus a blog, and now I feel pathetic.

4th June, 2003 - Added link.

Hi everybody, and thanks for all the shows of support. I'm feeling much better now, although everything's been quite rollercoaster lately and I really wouldn't know what's in store next. Anyway I'll try to get cracking on a strip (suddenly there is hunger in me), failing which I will get cracking on making nice(r) banners and tidying up the site for the first time in 2 and a 1/2 years! but in the mean time, I thought I'd introduce you to this other Singaporean webcomic:

!!!!!!!!

If you read it you will quickly come to the conclusion that all Singaporeans 1) really think about school a lot, and 2) have hang-ups about homosexuality. Plus, I like the way he subtly renames NUS (National University of Singapore) to Singapore University. Oh and regarding the art - y'all come back now, ya hear? :>

30th May, 2003

Dear Bobbin readers:

I have been updating - more like not updating, actually - rather infrequently and undependably. I apologise, as always, and thank you for your support. As much as I love doing the strip, times have been unusually trying for me recently, in more ways than one, and also in that way that makes you say "Oh, isn't life ironic?" with resignation. I haven't been feeling like I'm up to maintaining the strip and trying to be funny, because I haven't been able to feel "funny" for long enough periods of time like usual. Given this, it would be insincere to continue (and also, the strips would be kind of bad). I am very sorry to have to announce a break until things clear up and go back to normal. I know I've kind of fallen into the trap of what almost all webdiaries (even quasi ones) do, that is, leave things really vague and meaningful only to a small circle of people. But I hope you understand, and at the same time, please don't worry for me. Nothing catastrophic happened, I just feel not up to it.

Thanks, from Joycelyn.

21st May, 2003 - New strip.

I did this search on Google for "mother of all pimples" and was disappointed to find only 2 hits. So hopefully, now there are 3! Not that I have the mother of all pimples, but this one really is pretty substantial, it could be ISO certified.

Placebo - The Bitter End.mp3. It is like Delilah but the Brian Molko version. His voice is one of the most pleasantly irritating sounds on the planet.

16th May, 2003 - (No) new strip.

I'm so sorry for the unintentional hiatus. A lot of weird and wonderful and exciting and busy and worrying (but in a good way) things have been going on in my life, and I realise a lot of it can actually be traced back to here, this comic I mean. So I would like to thank all of you, seriously, for everything that you probably didn't know that you've helped me learn about myself and other people and life and all these gushy things and everything I've gained and lost and I don't know how to end this sentence. But, thank you from the very bottom of my heart.

This doesn't mean that I'm going away of course, I am quite sure I will be back next week. Work has suddenly got a lot more tiring and eat-into-free-time-ish. But I promise I will be back next week, or my name is not Mary Higgins Clark. Speaking of which, I was in the library today and this reminded me of me as a young girl. Because my auntie used to read tons of Mary Higgins Clark books and I used to think that the author was not Mary Higgins Clark, but Mary Higgin's Clerk, because people pronounce 'clerk' as 'clark' some times. So I was wondering why the poor clerk of Mary Higgin couldn't just write her own name on the cover. I mean what a bad owner/employer Mary Higgin was, right?

Catatonia - Road Rage.mp3 . Why can't I sound like Cerys Matthews? That is one of the greatest mysteries of life. Like, why doesn't Brett Anderson lust after me? GOOD QUESTION!

2nd May, 2003 - New strip.

I'm sorry I haven't exactly been updating according to schedule. Ok anyway, I watched X Men 2, and I have a spoilery question (spoiler depending on what you've spent your life doing) and please answer it on the message board.

Mansun - Six.mp3. Can you see? How I cowwwwered to uh-thorrity! YA SEE?!

24th April, 2003 - New strip.

I DON'T WANT REALATIONSHIP! I JUST WANT, BANG BANG BANG! <-- ps: this does not reflect my actual state of mind.

Muse - Can't Take My Eyes Off you.mp3. It is their extremely loveable cover of an oldie. Everybody loves distortion pedals.

15th April, 2003 - (No) new strip.

But, please go to the Gallbladders website which Quanyi has so nicely done up! There are pictures of Cherie in bondage, and you can see the layout of our Gallbladders den/pit/nest/breeding grounds and read how Quanyi's spelling has been shot to hell after a mere 5 months out of school! GO! GO! GO!

Juvenile Wreck - Alyson Hannigan.mp3. Besides being about one of my favourite actresses, this song is possibly the only one on the planet featuring the lyrics "you were attacked by an alien bag". Very fun and mindless, like The Ramones.

11th April, 2003 - New strip.

If any of you have been having problems with the email update, I think you might have to register or something. One of my favourite foods is yong tau foo. Although I have to admit, I could never find any joy in eating ladyfingers stuffed with fishcake.

The Magnetic Fields - Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits.mp3. Ifff you knewwww, how I longed, for you now, that you're goooooone, you'd grow wings and fly home to meee... I long to wriggle your ears, singing little rabbit songs.

9th April, 2003 - New strip.

You know, I think that if you gave me the chance to have any Singaporean celebrity as a friend, I'd choose Beatrice Chia. She seems like a very cool person. Other factors aside, she once put pubic hair in her roommate's moisturiser to punish her. Oh great, now I'm going to get a bunch of pubic hair hits from search engines. But speaking of art, I watched this show on Arts Central a few nights ago, called "GO TUTU GO". The title is funny but the show was nice.

Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees - Oh Baby.mp3 . Another feel-good song.

4th April, 2003 - New strip.

Oh no I'm struggling with an optical wireless mouse that keeps jumping all over the place! I mean the cursor. Does anyone have experience with this kind of thing, or is my brand just lousy? So, I apologise for any weird jumpy looking comics. This is of course opposed to the beautiful masterpieces I usually produce that are able to bring tears to the eyes of grown men.

Ivy - I've Got a Feeling.mp3 . I just think this song is so nice and dreamy.

2nd April, 2003 - New strip.

This morning I was on the MRT and suddenly I heard the opening to my favourite Marilyn Manson song. I thought I was finally going crazy, but it turned out this guy was just listening to Beautiful People REALLY loud on his earphones. He was even nodding to it. I felt like making friends with him so badly! But it was my stop and I had to get off the train and through the whole day I was wishing that I had noticed earlier, so that at least I could torture myself over it a bit more. WHYYY, WHYYYY WHYYY WHY-HYHYHY! (Oasis style)

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Art Star.mp3. Oh my god this song is so hilarious. Plus you can get a sore throat just by listening to it. This is always a bonus.

21st March, 2003 - New strip.

The Gallbladders will be playing at Holland Village on Sunday, 23rd March, at 7 pm! The stage is "in an open field between the POSBank and block 2 of Holland Road, opposite the shopping centre that has Cold Storage on the first floor". Please support passionately! Unfortunately, I will only be there in spirit. My physical body will be in Perth on holiday for a week, which means I have to apologise for not being able to update next week. So see you and I will come back with an Ozzie accent! Probably not, but I will definitely return with Ozzie food in my tummy.

Shivaree - Daring Lousy Guy.mp3

19th March, 2003 - New strip.

I'm sorry if you thought NAB was dead. Meanwhile, The Gallbladders have a gig at Holland Village this Sunday, the 23rd of March 2003! I will be in Perth. I would've been in Hong Kong.

7th March, 2003 - New strip.

I just re-discovered Saint Etienne!

5th March, 2003 - New strip.

If I update on Friday it means I have survived Thursday. You know how Theseus (? Or Perseus?) - the guy who went off to fight the minotaur, and then he promised his wife that when he sailed back, he would fly a white sail if he was alive, but fly a black one if he was dead? And then he survived, but forgot all about it and so his wife thought he died and jumped off a cliff? Yes.

Solveig - Marie.mp3 . MARIEMARIEMARIE YOU'RE A SHIIIIINING PEARL! No offence to Marie, but I would never name anybody that. Still this is a song that makes me sing to the computer when noone is looking.

28th February, 2003 - New strip.

I asked you to tell me "something" about the last strip. It was intentionally vague, so I could get answers like:

Still, this is my favourite:

I LOVE stuff that leads to misguided hits from search engines! Anyway, the answer was that Bobbin's shirt logo was on the wrong side.

Nina Persson - Desafinado.mp3 . I think Nina Persson has the most beautiful voice on this planet. I keep on imagining reading the newspapers as an old woman and reading her obituary and crying.

26th February, 2003 - New strip.

If you can tell me something about this strip, you will be handsomely rewarded. In other news, my upper left wisdom tooth is erupting! Like a volcano, but with less lava.

Eraserheads - Julie Tearjerky.mp3 . A really catchy song by a band from the Philippines, a country which I remember working very hard to remember how to spell the name of.

21st February, 2003 - New strip.

The Cardigans have a new single and are going to release their new album soon! On top of their list of what they're not going to do, is probably "tour asia". Such is life. Still I love The Cardigans. If you want to give them a try (besides Lovefool) go and hear Been It.

18th February, 2003 - Listen to my excuses

I wish I could tell you the reason for not updating is that I was whisked off on Valentine's Day to a tropical island paradise (that isn't Singapore) and I just returned, but alas I have too much integrity in myself. I've been quite tired out recently, not only by work, but also by driving lessons (believe it or not) and other worries about my future are getting to my head, and all this is not very conducive for producing strips. I'm not going on hiatus, it's just that the probability of updates has fallen even lower below 1, and I hope it will be ok with you. PS: Does anyone else, besides me, get emails from "jacce" who wants to be your friend, or else about how Colin Powell has become a hawk because oil barons are blackmailing him with the information that he is gay?

YOU'VE SEEN RIGHT THROUGH! DISTORTED EYES! YOU KNOW YOU HAAAD TO LEAARN!! THE EXECUUTION OF YOUR MIND! YOU REALLY HAAAD TO TURN!! ... Nobody will ever let you know. When you ask the reasons why. They just tell you that you're on your own. And FILL YOUR HEAD UP FULL OF LAI HAI HAI HAI HAIS!

13th February, 2003 - Amended strip.

I sort of tweaked yesterday's strip and now it's sort of Her!-ish, which means Chris Bishop is going to come after me with a machete and a copyright-infringement lawsuit unless I call it a 'homage', which I just did. Yee ha!

12th February, 2003 - New strip.

Happy Hari Raya.

7th February, 2003 - New strip.

My hair is so coarse that when I throw it away, it makes a sound in the dustbin. By the way do you know that when hair burns, there are no ashes? It just disappears. It goes into hair heaven. I know this because I have been bored in the presence of a bunsen burner before.

PS "Hell no" has won. Thanks for voting and commenting. You have made an impact on my life.

Suede - Metal Mickey.mp3. If you didn't look at the lyrics, you wouldn't know what they were. But trust me when I say this song not only rocks, but features the words "she sells heart, she sells meat".

5th February, 2003 - New strip.

Let's talk about professional tennis. 1) I CAN'T REMEMBER WHICH ONE'S SERENA AND WHICH ONE'S VENUS!!! 2) There's this Hantuchova girl. I do not know what's her first name, but maybe it is 'Legs'. But she wants to be known for her tennis, not her legs. She is making a(n) (un)veiled reference to 3) Anna Kournikova, which may not be spelt like that, but I am sure that hardly matters to a lot of men. 4) Sebastian Grosjean is Brett Anderson's sporty French twin. 5) Speaking of which Suede came to Singapore last last Saturday and I was within a 5 metre radius of Brett and I wore my bunny ears to the concert!! 6) What does Slovakia, or Czechoslovakia look like? Can they speak english?

3rd February, 2003 - New strip.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

Sorry this update is so late. I sort of got carried away with new year and everything (you know, eating) and I didn't have access to a computer the whole weekend. Anyway, this is the only time of the year when our family is completely free so it's really important for us to spend time together.

29th January, 2003 - hum...

I like Ally McBeal, I mean, Calista Flockhart. Plus, I would not really mind getting married to Harrison Ford either. Although, I am not schizophrenic. But everybody does hear people calling their name sometimes even though there really isn't anybody.

LOOK I AM FAMOUS! No really, that was very sweet, Korgath. Thanks.

I am sorry for no update today, but I'm really... shacked/shagged. Please forgive me.

I know this sounds iffy, but really it's one of the most intriguing things I've read lately: AlternativeScience.com. It sounds credible.

24th January, 2003 - New strip.

I'm shacked. You know, I used to have a classmate, she pronounced (not on purpose) it as 'shagged'. So she'd go around saying, "Woah, I'm so shagged man." I feel bad for not correcting her, but I hope she brings joy into this world.

991 votes!!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!!!

You know that song where the woman goes, "And I say, AIIIIII YAIIII YAAAAYY AYYY AYY, YAAAAIIII YAAIII AYYY! I SAID HEY! WHAT'S GOIN OOOONN!" Well wasn't that irritating?

22nd January, 2003 - New strip.

This Avril Lavigne person is in Singapore. On one hand I don't like her fakeness. On the other hand I just sort of like her. And then, my mutant third hand (nobody gets this when I say it in real life) claps itself over my mouth and asks me to shut up.

923 votes! The suspense is killing me!

To do my part in clearing up a myth - Ozzy Osbourne didn't mean to bite the bat's head off. And he only did it once. Some weird fan threw a dead bat on stage, and Ozzy thought it was made of rubber, so he just bit it, but when he realised he felt totally disgusted, ran backstage and vomitted.

Natalie Imbruglia - Torn.mp3 . I almost totally forgot about this song. Back then I thought it was about rape (you know, she is cold and ashamed and lying naked on the floor and "you're a little late, I'm already torn" etc) but she insists it's about "the illusion of love". Whatever. Near the end of the video she starts 'dancing', but she can't really dance and looks slightly retarded. But it's ok, she's pretty. And anything in slow motion looks artistic... I don't mean to come off sounding this bitter.

17th January, 2003 - New strip.

From tomorrow onwards I cease to be a driving virgin. Are you proud of me? And it only cost $66!

Alyson Hannigan is getting married! How absolutely cool. You know, Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

There's already 820 votes in the My Date With Destiny poll, so why don't you all just pervert the course of democracy and ratch (?) it up to 1000 already! COME ON I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!

Supergrass - Mary.mp3 . They look like werewolves in the video, and probably in real life too, but at least the music is good.

15th January, 2003 - New pearls of wisdom issued from my mouth!

Okay, okay, logic puzzle! WHEEEE 1. There is a new strip today! 2. I am a liar. Now, only one of those two sentences is true. Guess which.

I apologise. But I will be back on Friday, really. The reason is, I am now working, as an intern (the proper sort). I just spent the whole day staring at a computer screen, so much so that I read the phrase "faces of mayhem" as "faeces of mayhem", so I decided to take a break for tonight.

Anyway, noone knows that I update (or not, apparently) on Wednesdays. Maybe I should start an awareness campaign.

10th January, 2003 - New strip.

You know goodness when you see it. GO! GO! GO! Small Stories-ish art with skull heads, good music, androgynes, siblings and wholesome family values!

Wheatus/Erasure - A Little Respect.mp3 . This must be the most irritating nice song on the planet. You know, that episode of Scrubs.

8th January, 2003 - New strip.

So I've decided, for you all, that you must go to The Editing Room and read their film parodies and laugh and laugh. Especially the Star Wars ones, like Attack of the Clones. Or else read the LOTR one. Actually the rest aren't really funny, but you have to read those.

I really like viewing the comments that you put up regarding My Date With Destiny. Somehow I don't even care about the percentages anymore.

Roxette - It Must Have Been Love.mp3 . BUT IT's OOOOOOOOOVER NOOOOOOOW!!! It's where the water flows. It's where the wind blows. But what is it?

3rd January, 2003 - New strip.

Recently I watched Wasabi, this French movie directed by Luc Besson and starring Jean Reno, and also Ryoko "Look! I have Lips!" Hirosue. Luc Besson and Jean Reno were also responsible for The Professional, which had a pre-pubescent Natalie Portman acting in it. Ryoko is not very old either. I think these two men are sort of dirty, but hey, the movies are nice. Anyway the most amazing thing about Wasabi is that Ryoko (Japanese girl, yes?) speaks French! I mean, seriously! And there's this part where they play with their uvulas, which is something I thought only I knew how to do (PS: a uvula is that thing at the back of your throat that cartoonists always depict as a punching bag.) Also I'm not so sure what the movie was entirely about, because it was in French, and had no subtitles whatsoever. But, yes.

I know this is a long shot, but has anybody in Singapore seen a Himitsu VCD or DVD? If not I'll just have to buy one off the net. (That's the best deal I can find.) Because it makes me cry.

Rialto - Monday Morning.mp3 . A reader recommended me to this, and then when I heard it I realised I'd seen the MTV once before. It sounds like the lovechild of Suede and Pulp. This cannot be a bad thing.

1st January, 2003 - New strip, New year!

Sometimes, in the morning, when I wake up, I look like Elvira. But with less bust support.

Thank you for donating! NAB is now 2 years old, and a bit, and I hope it will get older and older and older until it has to sit in a wheelchair and roll off a cliff.

Mr Children - Youthful Days. Mr Children is a Japanese band. This is one of those nice songs which you can't sing, even if it wasn't in Japanese, because there are these two notes that are very weird sounding. Ok I can't do it, it's only me.

27th December, 2002 - New strip.

About one year ago, I was complaining about this mission in Grand Theft Auto, where you have to snipe stuff, and I was stuck. One year on I am playing Vice City (the sequel to GTA) and stuck on this mission's evil spawn. GAAAAA!!!

If you enjoyed the icons, or anything else, it would be great if you could donate some money to me! (scroll up to the Paypal thing) It'd make me really happy, and feel self sufficient, and I could pay my mum back for the webhosting. Thanks. See, by saying 'thanks' first I set a guilt trap. I am a cunning foxvixen. You have no idea who you're dealing with.

Beach Boys - Kokomo.mp3 . This song isn't new to me, but you know sometimes you just download stuff on a whim. Anyway, am I wrong, or does he go "I want, to eat, a lump of rotten steak." between the first chorus and second verse? Well I'm probably wrong.

25th December, 2002 - Xmas strip, updated the FAQ and links, NAB icon pack!

Ho ho ho! Do you know some people really actually laugh like that? I mean people who are not Santa Claus. Anyway, here's my present to you:

Hehe, DW is salmon pink. Also, the icons look a lot better against a dark background.

I'm listening to this mp3 of Ally Mcbeal (Calista Flockhart) singing Santa Baby. I like it when she says there's one more thing she needs - a deed to a platinum mine. Because actually it doesn't fit.

Life's So Rad is nice because it's just so sweet. Men In Hats is just hilarious.

20th December, 2002 - New strip.

THE GALLBLADDERS GIG!!!

We'll be on the main stage, behind Orchard MRT, near the big christmas tree from 3.30 to 4 tomorrow (Saturday the 21st) so come and see us, rain or shine! (probably both.) And then from 5.30 to 6.30 we'll be busking on a little carpet at that space in front of Ngee Ann City/Takashimaya, like China acrobats! Except we are less skillful, and I was lying about the carpet. We're playing the same set three times over all (including Jinno and Rapunzel), but if you had to choose one time slot, make it the 3.30 one. You can bring your underwear to throw at us! (note: "throw at us", not "pelt us with".)

If it rains, well, too bad. I can only hope that electric guitars don't give electric shocks. One thing to be happy about though is that our guitars don't have any vertical rods that could potentially attract lightning.

18th December, 2002 - New strip.

Thanks, all of you who've been asking about our gig! While I'll only be able to release proper details on Friday (the gig is this Saturday), what is confirmed (at least for now) is that we'll be on the big main stage behind Orchard MRT next to the huge christmas tree at 3.30 pm. After half an hour there, we will be going somewhere else (we don't know where yet) for another hour, where we won't be on a stage, but on a little carpet on the floor, like China acrobats. Aren't China acrobats cute? I wish I could lie on top of a big drum and twirl a handkerchief with my toe while inducing harmonic resonance in a glass with my other foot. Of course theoretically I could do this, except I would probably have to be hospitalised shortly after.

Garbage - Subhuman.mp3 . Garbage always has nice B-sides. Sometimes I wonder whether they actually purposely use the good songs as B sides, so that when people listen to them, they think, "Wow, THIS is a B side? They must rock!!!" Sounds very crafty. I like.

In my possession is Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Sleep will cease to have meaning.

In other news, the bunny ears will be a DIY affair. Apparently with some wire and fake chest hair, anything is possible.

13th December, 2002 - New strip.

Still no luck with the bunny ears. Honestly, what is the world coming to? And noone wants to follow me into the S&M shop at Far East Plaza. Also I have a feeling the trip may not be worth it, because the bunny ears might have the aforementioned leather tassels. Speaking of which, remember that time on the message board, where we all discovered that Jessica Rabbit is unanimously voted the most sexy cartoon character of all time? Ok.

There is this Toni Braxton song, I think it is called "Another Sad Love Song". There is one part where (I think, but doubt that) she says, "Fat stores slow, it doesn't let go". I can relate, except that fat stores fast.

Catatonia - Mulder & Scully.mp3 . Cerys Matthews has such a wonderful voice. It's one of those you just can't copy, like Gwen Stefani's. I am happy for them. YOU'VE SEEN LIFE THROUUUGGH!!! DISTORTED EYESSS! YOU KNOW YOU HAAAVE TO LEAARN!!! THE EXECUUUUTION OF YOUR MIIIND!!! YOU REALLY HAAAVE TO TURN!! Nobody would ever let you know, when you ask the reasons why. They just tell you that you're on your own. And fill your heeeeeead up full of LAI-AI-AI-AI-ess! Oh Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy.

11th December, 2002 - New strip.

Remember, not too long ago I was asking about renting a Superman costume? Well we've sort of ditched that idea, but what I need help with now are bunny ears. Like, you know, on a hairband, and nice and plush and white and everything, more leaning to the Playboy side of things than the children's-halloween-party side of things, but not so extreme (e.g. no leather tassels). I once saw the most beautiful pair at Topshop, but it cost 20 bucks. What is a girl to do? We have gotten to the point where we found a very cute rabbit stuffed toy in Watsons ($9.90) and were considering buying it, scalping it and sewing it to a very fat hairband. But, I have too much of a heart. More importantly though, 10 bucks seems a bit much.

Sonic Youth - Bull In A Heather.mp3 .

6th December, 2002 - New strip, NAB Begging Bowl

So, now there's a NAB Begging Bowl - you know, that Paypal thing up there. For the past 7 or 8 months, a very kind NAB reader (who is not my mother) has been paying for the hosting at (not-so)Freeservers, which comes up to about US$8 a month. This pays for, amongst other things, banner ad removal, 2GB worth of bandwidth a month, and FTP access. I don't want to take advantage of his generosity, so now my mother is paying for me, but I thought I'd try to make up for it by trying to repay it with donations. So, please donate, if you feel like it. Thanks! (PS: If you don't, it's ok too. But in time to come I will probably be resorting to more manipulative, evil, timeshare-ish techniques, etc, that will no doubt not grant me a place in the afterlife. Don't say I didn't warn you.)

And I know you want Nenewarlus back. Don't worry, it will come back. Also, remember to be back on Wednesday! Maybe earlier than that.

Sherene's Closet - It's a Pity.mp3. Since I'm on a local music roll. This song is wonderful. Plus, it's a cool band name. I have a friend whose name is almost exactly the same, except it has a hell of a lot more e's in it. Ok, one. Whenever I recommend local music I feel bad typing the 'mp3' in at the back. It's hard to say why. It's a pity that I can't make you happy. And you don't even worry when, all of your friends they tell me, that you sleep with everybody. I think I'm going blind, cos you mesmerise my mind... I feel like I'm lost at sea. I think I need to pee. This must be the best local song I've ever heard.

4th December, 2002 - New strip.

I'll be bolding important parts of this news update, for the benefit of cosmopolitan individuals living fast-paced lives. I think I shall update on Wednesdays, too, in the foreseeable future. This is to make up for that dry November period.

About the Keenspace poll, thank you all very much for your opinions. From them, I gather that Keenspace is the manifestation of Evil on the Internet, or not. Right now it seems to swing towards "Hell Yes". Please give me more time to think about it.

The Gallbladders have been jamming very heavily, for our gig (in Singapore.) on the 21st of December. It's free, and at Orchard Road. Even we are iffy on the details, but you're all invited! I think we'll have about one hour's worth of your hearing to destroy, so it should be pretty fun. Plus, we have loosened up a lot, and have ceased having the average mobility of potted plants on stage. Yeeha! If you do come, you are absolutely welcome to throw articles of (clean) clothing, blank cheques, recording contracts, and if you feel like it, body parts if you want (but not body fluids. That's different) at us. Also, we have a stand-in drummer who's a guy, which sort of gets in the way of us being an all-girl band, even if he's a good guy. Speaking of which, does anyone have any sort of idea on how much Superman costume rentals cost?

Manic Street Preachers - You Stole the Sun from My Heart.mp3 .

29th November, 2002 - New strip, and a no nonsense POLL (refer above).

And thus the reign of darkness and evil came to an end.

Hopefully, I'll be able to update more often, since I have 7 months worth of break. Anyway, about the poll - essentially, I'm in a bit of a fix. I love this domain name, and although I am satisfied with (not-so-)Freeservers, I feel drawn to Keenspace for two reasons. One, traffic may (may) increase in the near future, or else the average file size of a strip may increase, both of which sort of stretch my bandwidth limits. If I ever exceed 2GB a month, then the site will be shut down. Keenspace offers unlimited bandwidth (to my knowledge) and also notices if you're getting popular and might upgrade you to Keenspot. (That's a humongous if, by the way.) Two, they automate stuff for you. So, I just need to know whether Keenspace really is all it's cut out to be. I have a feeling not. Most probably, I'll use the results to see if it's worth sort of mirroring NAB at Keenspace. I already have a spot there. I mean, a space. (Also, I like the idea of having Dates with Destiny. In fact, if I were not a girl, I would probably seek out one called Destiny, and then feed her little fruit-things and say, "GUESS WHAT, PEOPLE?! I'M HAVING DATES WITH DESTINY!!!" Destiny would then slap me, and not allow me to have DESTINY'S CHILD. Ow!)

This is the part where I gush about something, so here it is. Lying about the house during the exam period, I discovered this one and a half hour TV slot allocated to cooking shows, every weekday on channel 5. I love watching Good Eats. The host, this guy called Alton Brown, is really funny, if corny. Do you know in America they have a Food Channel on cable? This is totally unfair. The closest I can get on SCV is Animal Planet, but not all of the wildlife looks appetising. Also I like watching food shows even though I'll never be able to cook the food they teach me to, namely because seeing all that food makes me hungry. I know there is something vaguely dirty about all this, like when I listen to music CDs to feel like feeling like making music. Oh well.

You want me to recommend music, don't you. Oh yes you do. How about local music? Try Zoe Tay by The Boredphucks. Besides having a very cool band name, this way I get to suck up to them. This can never be a bad thing.

26th November, 2002 - New strip.

Yeeha I am back from the dead! Thank you for waiting so patiently and understandingly. I meant to update on Friday, but when I came home I discovered that the computer was spoilt. So - thanks for waiting. Never again will I forsake you guys (that is, unless I really need to.)

Bad news, though, because the computer was spoilt, I've lost all my emails since June, so please forgive me if I haven't answered any of your mails - I was putting them off till after exams to answer, and now they're all gone. Yeah I don't like it either. Please continue emailing me.

PS You have to check out this song by And You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead - It Was There That I Saw You. Because, it's nice.

PPS Remember in The Sound of Music, when the little children are singing So long, farewell, blahblahblahblah blah blaaah? And then one of them goes, "Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you" except he pronounces 'you' so that it rhymes with adieu so he goes "to yuh and yuh and yuh"? I always feel like doing that. But I fear ostracism.

11th October, 2002 - Bad news.

Dear NAB readers, I really wish I could continue updating but the A levels are coming and I really can't. I apologise. I feel really bad. I wanted to make a strip to put up today so at least I could mitigate the badness of this news, but it would've turned out bad anyway I think (as in the strip). Thanks for understanding (you understand, right?) and I'll definitely be back by December. And, think about it in terms of long run benefits versus short run benefits. So, see you in less than two months! Sealed with a kiss, etc.

The Velvet Underground - Stephanie Says.mp3 . After that whole Avril Lavigne thing (don't worry, I deleted all (most) of them) I feel the need to boost my indie cred. Hey wassup yo yo yo shit?! In one sentence, I have insulted the whole of hip hop culture. Also, don't you think Ana's Song by Silverchair is so beautiful? I used to think he was saying, "Please, Diana..." but actually he's saying, "Please die, Ana..." because Ana is a drug. Obviously, if I had paid any attention to the title, I might have figured that out a bit earlier.

I am so happy JC is over. I enjoyed it a lot more than secondary school I think. Whenever I say this, people go, "BECAUSE OF THE BOYS! (YOU SLUT!)". This is not true. I think how much I enjoy being in an educational institution is proportional to the amount of freedom I have in it.

I realise I have exceeded my quota for rambling, even for a webcomic artist, and even for one who is trying to make up for feeling bad by typing a lot. Ok, I'll shut up.

4th October, 2002 - New strip.

My classmate (with impeccable music taste) bought me a book called Depraved and Insulting English. Obviously, the book reminds her of me. It is very, very fun. For example, 'fecaloid' means 'resembling dung'. 'Edeomania' - an obsession with genitals. 'Lotium' - stale urine formerly used by barbers as a cosmetic for the hair. I wish that all these would guarantee me a good SAT score, but that's the way life is.

Whale - Pay For Me.mp3 . This one's a bit tough to find but it's very nice. How can you dislike a song from a band called Whale? Also, I can't hear what she's saying except for somethingsomething "you're my santa claus machine. love me." Inaudible singers support each other. Meanwhile, please help me. I can't stop downloading Avril Lavgine songs even though they're only so-so. Don't you think she looks like Buffy? Probably cos of that weird front-view nose. See, when you're Asian, you don't need to worry about such stuff. It's all 2D anyway. GO ASIANS GO! Which reminds me, the Asian Games are on now.

27th September, 2002 - New strip.

The best thing that happened this week was, I watched So Close. Essentially it's Hong Kong's answer to Charlie's Angels, so it stars the 3 most bankable Asian starlets of the moment. I mean I'm serious, watch this show, I almost laughed till my teeth came out. As in, there were some parts where they wanted people to laugh, and I did, but mostly it was hilarious cos of all the product placement and the skimpy suits and the "plot" and the bra revelation etc. Plus, the show is extra good because Shu Qi (an ex porn star) dies halfway through. And Zhao Wei (not an ex porn star) is a lesbian. This does not mean that I dislike ex porn stars or that I like lesbians - I am judiciously impartial - they just happen to be like that. And for anybody who gets to watch it, let me give you a tip: it is double the fun if you imagine Shu Qi has a vaginal yeast infection at the part where she's kicking at Karen Mock with all those swoosh swoosh sounds. I almost died.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Over the Rainbow. This rocks, because all punk covers rock. If that's not your kind of thing, then you must listen to I Would Walk 500 Miles by The Proclaimers, which I can't get out of my head, and you have to love lyrics that go "And I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more, just to be the man who walked a 1000 miles to fall down at your door".

20th September, 2002 - New strip.

Yay my prelims are over! Now there'll be more time and less update disruptions (for the meantime) but thanks for bearing with all that in the past few weeks.

Foo Fighters - Everlong.

I just feel the need to express, to everyone reading this, how much I love - I really mean this - 1. Daria and 2. Brett Anderson. By Daria, of course, I mean the whole show, but Jane in particular; by Brett Anderson, I mean, he's the sexiest, sexiest, manliest manliest man on the planet. No matter what anybody says. Dear Brett: I wish you were born in 1980 in Singapore.

13th September, 2002 - As promised.

Today the newspapers said that scientists have managed to 'grow rabbit penises in test tubes', and then graft them onto rabbits, 'who made good use of them'. You have to love scientists. Personally, I can think of people who have told me more than once that they wanted to grow genitals from their scalps. Actually, come to think of it, it's just one person. Since I like to classify things as Good and Bad, I shall say that this is Good.

I know you probably don't, but if you watched the 9 o clock show on Channel 8 ('Wing of Desire'. Don't ask me what it means or why it's not Wings of Desire or Wing of Aeroplane or Wing of Sanitary Pad or something more logical) I bet you would quickly deduce that it's sponsored by Singaporeans for (Liver) Cirrhosis. Show me an episode where noone gets drunk. Come on.

Marilyn Manson - The Dope Show. It's that kind of weather (cold and clean) and season (prelims) that makes songs like that sound even nicer.

6th September, 2002 - Please wait till next week. Thanks.

My prelims start next week, so just let me update next Friday, when I'm halfway through them, ok? Sorry.

Task for the week: Interpret the meaning of the following song lyrics. No, really, they are deeper than you think:

Know that it would be untrue, know that I would be a liar, if I were to say to you I didn't set your house on fire... So if you love sum-baaady better set them on faaaa-yuuur! Do you remember that 'oldie but goodie', Rhythm of the Rain or something, and then at the beginning of the song there's real thunder sound? Well this song has a real match striking sound. That's good.

The Dead Milkmen. They're like a more retarded They Might Be Giants. Download. Send the music industry to hell. Ha! No I'm kidding! Hey what's with the handcuffs...?

30th August, 2002 - new strip. Now look what you've done.

To compensate for the excellent humour provided above, I shall now tell some nerdy bio jokes which my classmate (not the one with impeccable music taste) told me so that I can alienate a majority of the audience and, in general, make people vomit. (You're welcome!)

How do cells communicate? Answer: BY CELL PHONE! HAAAAHAHAHAHAHA

How do you eat DNA spaghetti? Answer: WITH A REPLICATION FORK! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA OH MY GOD I'M IN TEARS!

The Wannadies - You and Me Song.mp3 .

23rd August, 2002 - Still on hiatus. Kindly forgive.

TO ENTERTAIN AND TEASE:

Please watch this ad and explain to me, 1) Why is Ryoko a horse? 2) Why are other people horses too? 3) What does this have to do with cup noodles? and 4) How does a UFO come into the picture? Discuss.

My classmate (she loves being mentioned) who has impeccable music taste (she likes being praised) let me hear this song on her mp3 player yesterday and it rocks. Ok? Muse - Plug In Baby.

16th August, 2002 - I apologise, my children.

I envision not being able to update (this time, I really mean it) for the coming month or so, but I'll make up for it by fabricating news that will Entertain and Tease you. Ok?

The following is true: BRETT ANDERSON CAME TO TOWN! And he's in today's Life! But he left yesterday night at 10pm. I made efforts to win a chance to attend their exclusive Singapore showcase, but I have lousy luck. It's ok, maybe it's being saved up for me to get admitted to Yale or Stanford. Anyway for the past week my poor friends have had to put up with me making asphyxiated gasps at the thought of Brett being in Singapore, but not with me, despite being a Singaporean girl. For the love of logic, WHAT THE HELL?!

The following is true too: Scroll to the bottom of this page. Number one, how can I manage to miss the most interesting articles in the papers? Number two, the second last article is proof that, finally, Ryoko is trying to become more like me. Aww!

9th August, 2002 - new strip.

Today is National Day! I was watching the telecast of the parade on TV, right, and it was so funny seeing all the ministers dancing with their lightsabres. But at the part where they showed the clip of Lee Kuan Yew speaking in 1965 - "In 10 years this place will be a metropolis. Never fear." and they filmed him and he was actually crying I felt like crying too. I mean the way he said it made me want to cry, but what really gets me is seeing old people cry. And, I mean, he's the SM. <-- this would be embarrassing if he was actually just blowing his nose or something.

And this is the last of my strip store. I don't know if I'll be able to draw something by next week, but I'll try. I WILL TRY!!! I WILL!!! ... I shall?

The Smashing Pumpkins - Ava Adore.mp3 . "It's you that I adore, you'll always be my whore" is one of the best lines ever.

2nd August, 2002 - new strip.

One day when the opportunity cost of doing it is not as high as today's (the prelims lurk ominously), I promise I will calculate the probability that any given NAB strip has at least one panel with the NAB ... (pronounced as "The NAB DotDotDot") in it. I hope that when I die, people will write: She contributed the NAB Dotdotdot. Thousands will grieve.

Anyway, I apologise if I have not been able to reply a lot to emails and to posts on the messageboard - I am reading them, though, and I will do so eventually. I still love you. But of late I've been doing a lot of university searching and comparing and all that. Over last weekend I decided: I really, really want to get a scholarship and go to a foreign university. So life has become a lot more academic-oriented. Also, I sort of realised that my "extra-cirricular" stuff was NAB and The Gallbladders. Do you guys think I should write about them in my admissions essay? Please give me advice. Thanks.

Oasis - Force of Nature.mp3 . I like it when he says 'you're smoking all my stash'.

26th July, 2002 - new strip.

Groupie Central is such an intriguing place. Essentially, people who've slept with rock stars/boy band members (honestly, they look too un-sex-driven) go there and post accounts of their experiences. What is funny is that besides Belinda Carlisle, Courtney Love is the only woman on the entire list; that Kurt Cobain was "like a little boy" and had a thing for makeup (not that the two are related); that the Sugar Ray singer likes, um, golden showers (which I always thought was just a nice lyric from When I Grow Up, but upon reflection is a very Shirley Manson line); and that that Billy guy from Green Day has the shortest... instrument amongst all the rock stars. Poor thing! But, good stuff. But one thing I didn't need to know was about Dave Grohl cos while the Foo Fighters are wonderful and all that I can't imagine him having sex.

Can anyone suggest a way to get soft drinks flat in a short time? Because I like them flat but it's difficult to leave them out until all the gas has bubbled off.

Penny Dai - Ni Yao De Ai.mp3 . No I'm not an F4 fan but they had to choose such a great song as the ending theme.

19th July, 2002 - new strip.

I really am a sucker for advertising. Today we walked to Serene centre and I got to eat the chicken big mac (new!) that I've been dreaming about. It's not bad. It's the first big mac I've ever eaten in my life.

I had a 15 minute nap today before bio prac, but it seemed like such a long time. I don't remember what it was about but I remember it was really wonderful. As in, beautiful and happy and everything and when I woke up I couldn't believe that I was now stuck in a bio lab with potatoes as company.

Mp3 of the week - JINNO SAKURAKO (beta) by the Gallbladders! WOOHOO! That's our band. I think Tripod has a problem with direct linking or whatever, so, just go to http://gallbladders.tripod.com/, right, and type in jinnosakurako.mp3 after the slash (or is that a backslash?). It's a really rough recording, and we plan to do it one more time with a mixer (thus it's beta.) but I hope you like it. And, here are the lyrics.

12th July, 2002 - new strip.

I have bad news. I may be skipping more updates, because things are really starting to get busy at school. The prelims are coming, and after that are the A levels. I just hope you guys can understand. I promise I'll make up for it one day. I've also like, sort of hit a snag in the plot (yes there is one) so the strips may be a bit disconnected until I find a way around it.

In the meantime, I fell down! I mean, seriously. I sprained my right ankle, scraped my left knee and grazed my palm. I could use this as en excuse for not being able to draw comics as effectively or something, but, oh, to have a human conscience! On more happy news, The Gallbladders (us!) recorded a beta version of sorts of some songs and we're gonna edit them and put them up for download and if I had money I'd pay you to download them, but in the meantime we shall have to settle for emotional currency. (note: not camgirl sort)

Nirvana - All Apologies.mp3 . Appropriate, huh?

5th July, 2002 - My Apologies.

I am so sorry but try as I might, I can't come up with a new strip in time for tonight. So please forgive me as I work something better to offer you next week. I've also been really pretty busy and we're having an audition tomorrow and I really hope it goes well!

In the meantime, I have experienced Japanese indie visual rock by way of Baroque and I will never forget it. It's mostly an excuse for guys to dress up like girls, yet drive girls crazy at the same time, but it's still good. There's a very good fansite here.

I'll distract you from the glaring absence of a strip with The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl. And, you could try Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal!

28th June, 2002 - new strip.

My block tests are almost over! Yeeha! They are over enough for me to go out and everything, so that's good. Anyway, I've got a show to recommend to you. It stars Ryoko Hirosue - I mean, at first you think she's just one of those cute people who are really only good for being cute, but she can act. Plus, you never really thought she had boobs, but she does. It's a Japanese movie called Himitsu (which is translated into english as Secret and the chinese title is mi mi.) and though the premise sounds like it's set to be dumb it really isn't because it's funny at some times and sad at others and that's just the way I like it. Except I don't really understand the ending too well. It's always like that. I watched it on channel 56, for those who have access to it, but I really wish my tape recorder to record the Japanese dialogue instead.

Suede - Beautiful Ones.mp3 . The first time I heard this song, I was 15 years old, and I had just turned on the TV and there was Brett Anderson whining "la la la la, laaa la la" to me through his fringe and I knew my life had changed. Please, give me Brett. Justine Frischman is just way too lucky.

22nd June, 2002 - new mugs! (but no new strip.)

The demons have returned the computer, and so I have put up new mugs. Yay! New mugs! Including many of when I met Wen on Wednesday, all the way from Brisbane, in Singapore for a limited time only. For the record, we watched the Masihmaro show at Junction 8, which is definitely something he can write home about. Personally, I prefer Miffy.

18th June, 2002 - new strip.

I'm kind of worried that something REALLY BAD is going to happen to the computer (and yes, it would be bad enough to warrant capital letters) so I'm just updating on Tuesday in case. Anyway, this is the last week of my June Horridays. I feel that this is a good time to recollect "The Best of June 2002", for posterity's sake.

1. Listening to all sorts of new music. For one, you have got to check out Electric Soft Parade - Empty in the End. This guy has a voice that I would love to have if I were a guy. And The Hives are great too. Also caught up with some Smashing Pumpkins songs. There's just something about them that's so classic.

2. Acquiring a toaster. Life is at least 5X better with a toaster. And I don't mean those sissy toasters (an adjective noun pair I never thought I'd ever match up) that only toast !@#$ing bread, you've got to get the sort that opens up and is poised to face you every morning, mouth gaping. I would like to thank my family for being understanding.

3. Playing PS2. I have blisters on my thumbs! Ow! But the pain is so good. I got Way of the Samurai thanks to Kip's entry not too long ago, and I've also been busy with the most mindless fun game on the planet: Dynasty Warriors 3. Come to think of it, Kip has introduced to me (indirectly) lots of nice stuff, like The Magnetic Fields.

4. Getting to know more people and make friends! You know who you are. <-- I don't really like saying 'you know who you are' because when other people say it, I don't, in fact, know who 'they' are, and so I feel really alienated, but everyone's entitled to that kind of thing. Get a quasi-webdiary.

5. Getting FIT! No, that's a lie.

14th June, 2002 - new strip.

This is something I should've said a long time ago, but I kept forgetting to say it - to all those people who I used to talk to a lot on ICQ, I'm sorry if I haven't been able to keep in touch. I deleted ICQ because I didn't want to get distracted by it. Not that I think you guys are HUGE distractions in my life or something, I mean, I miss talking to you all, it's just that I need to sacrifice something. I'll reinstall it after A levels, ok? Same thing goes for those people who mailed me and haven't got a reply - I apologise.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Love Burns.

7th June, 2002 - new strip.

Speaking of Nanako, I know I'm addressing a niche audience here, but I made this Nokia ringtone for myself and decided to post it here. It's Sakurako's handphone ringtone from Yamato Nadeshiko. And I also did one of Weezer's Buddy Holly, which is a very cool song. It's in the same text file.

Mangled song lyric of the day, courtesy of Bananarama: Only you can set me free! Cos I'm guiiilty! (guilty!) Guiiiiilty as a goat can be! Oh, yeah. I wish I had grown up in the 80s. No, actually, I wish I had been born one year earlier than I was. Then I'd be playing now (aforementioned 7-month hols), as opposed to trying very hard to forget my youth.

31st May, 2002 - new strip.

I probably won't be able to make a night update, so I'm updating now. Anyway, I wanted to buy a Japanese drama serial that was 1. funny and 2. featured good looking people, so I was just looking at all the ones I could find Ryoko Hirosue in (since Nanako's aren't funny, besides Yamato Nadeshiko, & GTO doesn't count) and besides Summer Snow, Beach Boys, and Oyaji...! (or something ) I also chanced upon this one called "Walk of Idiot". Which sort of frightens me, because I didn't think that anything could ever get that lost in the translation. Anyway, it's intriguing, but I'm too lazy to read the fan ti zi on the back, and there's not a review of it on the net or anywhere. Strange, eh?

Try out this cute French song: Pink Martini - Sympathique.mp3 . Please, tell me, what am I going to do if they shut down Audiogalaxy? Also, do you actually download any of the mp3s I recommend? Also, you know my plea last week, regarding the weird Japanese "Hey" song? Well, it's "Gakuen Tengoku" by "Finger 5". This is what results from a healthy relationship between a webcartoonist and the readers/minions she exploits. Aww...

26th May, 2002 - new strip.

I promise, that's the end of Spider-man stuff.

Now, people, I need help with a song this time round. Did anybody watch Waterboys, that Japanese show about an all-male synchronised swimming team? Right. You know the song that plays while they're scrolling the end credits? What is it and who is it sung by, I'd really like the mp3. It's not unique to Waterboys, Gao Yuan Peng Zi once sang it on Super Sunday (I thought she made it up herself). It starts off with people shouting, and tell me if you can't catch the tune here: Hey, hey hey hey, hey! Then someone repeats it. Then, Hey, hey hey hey, hey! (To a different tune. And they repeat it.) Then, Hey! (Hey!) Hey! (Hey!) hey(hey!)hey(hey!)hey(hey!) YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (very quick Japanese ensues). It's, um, a happy song. Please understand when I tell you that I cannot search for 'hey' in Google and expect solid results. Kindly help.

24th May, 2002 - oops.

My dear readers, I will not be able to update today. But I will try to update ASAP. The computer (which isn't mine, btw) has had its innards out for most of the past week and stuff is still in a mess, but more importantly, I'm really really busy and this can only get worse. It's always like that, isn't it. I'm officially having my June 'holidays' (sorry if that sounded a bit too bitter) but I guess the hard work I'll (hopefully) be putting in will be compensated by the 7 month break next year. I don't even know if I can keep going with the updates throughout the holidays, but I'll try my hardest. I feel really bad about this, since traffic is increasing and a nice reader's already paying for this site and stuff. Forgive me?

I watched The Ring today. Yeah, a bit slow, I know. But anyway, it's really not scary. Actually it's pretty funny when Nanako (who shouldn't perm her hair) embraces the long-dead but oddly hairy skeleton near the end. (By the way, anybody who emails me and addresses me as 'Nanako' in an unsarcastic manner... would be duly rewarded. Right. Hehe.)

Since so many people could figure out that 'I Am the Mob' is by Catatonia, I'll give you a tougher one this week. Ready? Ok. Umm... "And the girl doing the weather somehow keeps it all together, but I feel like jumping off a window ledge." What song is that lyric from?

17th May, 2002 - new strip.

**STAR WARS EPISODE II SPOILERS** Well, guess what I watched on opening day? Hehe. Points I raise: don't you think this Amidala woman has the worst taste in men in the galaxy?! No, let's make that the universe. But I think Coruscant is very nice, the seedy bits and the nice bright daylight bits. I especially like the diner scene, I mean the atmosphere. And Naboo. Yoda really shouldn't have legs. Natalie Portman is amazing. Do you think if I eat microscopic specks of carrots for meals, I could look as good as her in that costume? Yeah neither did I. But the part where she gets clawed, do you realise after that she rolls about and gets sand in her wound? And can someone please explain to me how come Anakin and Padme can kiss each other so hard when there's a !@#$ing lockpick in her mouth? And, Quanyi calls Camino (?) "Planet of the Supermodels". Tee hee. Tee hee hee. Star Whores makes me giggly.

To show my blossoming into a weird online sort of person, I am now going to rattle off a song lyric, and see if anyone can write to me and tell me what song it's from. Ready? I throw horses' heads in people's beds. 'Cos I am the mob. Clue: It's called "I am the mob". Right, that was easy. I think I'll have to change the question to, Which band is it by?

10th May, 2002 - new strip.

A TalkingCock Special this week! Yay. I hope I don't get into trouble. Seriously.

I think Spiderman is a good movie. You know, Kirsten Dunst really looks a lot like Nina Persson.

3rd May, 2002 - new strip.

I just wonder whether you guys (because most of the readership is male, I think. But anyway this also applies to girls somewhat) know what it's like to have your hair longer at the front than at the back. Do you? And have you ever felt what it's like to be able to put your hair in your mouth? (As opposed to other people's.) ...This is starting to sound quite gross isn't it. I just wonder if you wonder. FYI, to have it longer in front (it's called 'concave'. Convex is probably uglier), it's really ticklish. And about the in-the-mouth thing, well, it just feels like hair in your mouth. Ew. Please don't take that to mean that I suck on my hair all the time, I mean, in a dry lippy way, you know?

I thought not.

26th April, 2002 - new strip.

Gadzooks! Not like I'd actually say that in real life, but, yknow, the Hip Internet Lingo and stuff. Not that that's Hip Internet Lingo, actually. But, anyway, gadzooks! (shut up.) My strip store has been depleted once again.

I might just have a TalkingCock special next week, a little bit too late to be in conjunction with the movie, but, better late than never.

If there is anything you must sleep tonight knowing, then it is this: When you cut open rats, hold your nose. Seriously, they stink. My friend thinks the smell is "like hard boiled eggs", but I disagree. Number one, if hard boiled eggs smelt like that, they would not be considered a viable food source. This makes me wonder, how does she make her hard boiled eggs?

My Bloody Valentine - When You Sleep.mp3 . Somehow whenever I listen to this song it makes me think of nice-smelling evenings that make my stomach twist in happiness. I'm not so sure if stomach-twistyness is a good thing, but this song sure is.

19th April, 2002 - new strip.

Business first: Check out The Bobbin Mug (!) Like, yknow? It holds liquid, and, like, this liquid? Can be hot, or, like, not hot, like? And Bobbin's on it. Like, totally tubular, toot.

I know US$10.99 is pretty pricey, but that's the lowest they'd let me go. Anyway, I drew it in a pencil-y kind of way - using a, um, pencil - and I think it's pretty ok. I mean, obviously.

Anyway, thank you everybody who replied to my rather desperate plea last week. It was very very nice to know that all these people are offering their precious time to make friends with me and stuff, and I really appreciate it, and I apologise if I haven't replied to your email, but I've been pretty busy. It was quite funny, though, all but one of the replies were from non-Singaporeans. Actually, what I was hoping for was just someone to SMS and chat to on the phone and stuff, see, which is a bit difficult with, for example, Americans. But, thanks. And, (I know this is what you've been looking out for.) nobody obscenely propositioned me. This is good.

Till next week, I shall leave you with Manic Street Preachers - Stay Beautiful.mp3 .

12th April, 2002 - new strip.

So, like, um, I don't know if this is bad or whether I'll live to regret it or not, but here's the gist of it:

I want to get married. Like, in the future.

Right, and, like, you usually marry people who have been your boyfriend for some time, right? As opposed to, say, people who rape you. Right. But, I have no boyfriend. But, I'm a geek, right? Who's kind of antisocial. So I have a website. So, I get to thinking, maybe, yknow, just maybe some other geek (of the opposite sex.) wouldn't mind getting to know me, right? (Play along with me here.) So, yes. Anybody who wouldn't mind being friends? I mean, we don't need to get married straightaway. Like, maybe a week later? Ok no seriously but I think getting to meet new people is a good thing, outcome regardless.

Anybody with a good heart, an open mind, who is easily obsessed, and who is kind of sedentary would be just perfect. Oh and you have to be male. Plus it would be a hell of a lot more convenient if you live in Singapore like me.

Please forgive me if I have been to brazen. I mean well. Email me?

5th April, 2002 - new strip.

I really had something interesting to say, I was thinking about it all week, but now I have forgotten what it is.

Oh yes. For those of you who don't visit the forum, here's some good old fashioned plugging. Go to The Gallbladders' website to see pictures from our last/first gig!

The Magnetic Fields - Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side.mp3 . I have got Kip, of Scrubs, to thank for this music recommendation. And I totally understand why he likes this band - I mean, it's all about love. Plus the singer has such a great voice.

29th March, 2002 - new strip.

Time for me to do some brazen promotion: These NAB Ego-boosting Boxers are really, um, ego-boosting! And they're like, white and 100% cotton and they're US$12.99 which is the cheapest I could get them to you for. Plus, they have Bobbin on them:

Right. So, if you're a guy looking for underwear, or you're a crossdressing girl looking for fun, this is the way to go. I promise.

Elastica - Connection.mp3 . This is really cute (the song). This Justine Frischmann woman apparently has this habit of dating guys who later become famous. E.g. Brett Anderson, Damon Albarn, Guy Ritchie. Obviously she has taste (except for the Damon bit). This is totally not fair. I don't even get to date anybody, much less Brett Anderson. (that links to a very sexy pic, btw.)

27th March, 2002 - last last week's strip and last week's strip.

A very kind reader of NAB has offered to pay for 7 months of upgraded service with Freeservers, and it is with his charity that I can now bring to all of you NAB sans banner-ads and, hopefully, not so bandwidth-limit-exceedingy (that was supposed to be more poetic). I thank him from the bottom of my heart, and now I've uploaded the 2 strips that you guys missed for the past two weeks.

I'll see you again tomorrow with this week's strip.

Hitomi - Is It You.mp3

16th March, 2002 - an apology?

There was no strip on Friday. I apologise. I actually had one in mind, but the computer got whisked off for repairs. The funniest thing is that, it's still not repaired. Ha ha ha!

This is not very right, but I like the smell of haze-tinged air. Just stick your head out of your window on some nights and the smell is just so nice, it makes you want to cry. Of course I probably wouldn't approve of the haze if it were happening in my actual backyard, as opposed to in my metaphorical backyard of Indonesia.

Next week, I will give you two strips. I promise. I think.

8th March, 2002 - new strip

Depending on my discipline, I might not be able to make a strip next week, or the week after that. But I promise you that if it comes to that, I will repay you duly.

Sometimes life is so sad! And you don't really know why, but you feel like talking about it, but there's nothing to talk about, because you don't know why. And it's not exactly sad, either, it's just so real. I mean, yeah. This is stuff that is not cheerful. And the weirdest thing is that I'm not unhappy. In fact, I know what I want to do. I mean, with my life. (PS: not, take it. In case it seemed like it was leading to that) Wow, this is becoming awkward. So I'll just leave you with an mp3 to download/get misdirected to from a search engine:

Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta.mp3

1st March, 2002 - new strip, the all-new NAB Store o' Doom! opened!

The NAB Store o' Doom! (aka Palace of Material Satisfaction via Consumerism. Or maybe I should just shorten it so it'll spell PMS. Hehehe) is now officially open! Yaaaaaaaaay. All I've got there now are the boxer shorts (as suggested to be named the NAB Ego-boosting Boxers), but as I've stated all along, everything there is available on request, negotiable, and non-profit. So just give it a go and tell me if you buy anything - you'll totally make my day.

Thanks so much to all the people who showed concern and offered help about the bandwidth problem. Apparently it didn't exceed in February (? I'm not too sure), so I'll just see how things go from here.

Space - Me and You vs the World.mp3.

22nd February, 2002 - 100th strip!

Woohoo! Hundred strips. I always dreamed of seeing this day. Let's hope for 200, huh? Although, rather ironically, I have a feeling this might be the first month in the history of NAB where the site might get shut down. Well, kind of, anyway. (I had to bold that so people who don't really read this notice.) I've been getting mails from Freeservers (insert regurgitative gut noise) for a few months in a row about how 3/4 of my bandwidth for the month (512 MB) has been used up to date. The problem is, this date is getting closer and closer to the half-way mark of the month. As in, essentially, I'm exceeding the bandwidth or something (actually, you cute li'l rabid fans are (and I like it.)) and once my allowed bandwidth for the month has been used up, they close the site and reopen it the next month. This, is stupid. I really don't know what to do. I can't pay or anything, and if I found a suitable provider I could go somewhere else, but that would involve a lot of technical stuff that I have increasingly little time to deal with. Please tell me if you have any suggestions.

Secondly, kind of related too - I've officially run out of my strip store. Normally I'd be able to whip some more up, but with school work and everything getting heavier by the day, I don't know if I'll be able to sustain this. Why is this whole set-up so retarded?! But never fear - I will try my very, very best. Really! I mean, the death of NAB is not nigh.

Plus, to make this whole thing rosier, I am once again sick... as a... spoon. Right. GOOOOOoooOOOO ILLNESS!!!

... This is not a very happy 100th-strip-celebration.

15th February, 2002 - new strip

I felt kind of bad for "hinting" so explicitly (as in, it was so explicit, it was not hinting) that it was my birthday, because you guys actually started wishing me a happy one and all. But, I got over it. :> Hehe.

I hope today's strip satiates the appetites of Brett-rooters. I told you he was coming back. This is one of the strips where I get away with not being funny, and can use plot development as an excuse.

Finally, I cannot stress how much I want to be Jane Lane. I swear, if I had a daughter, and decided not to name her Nina, I'd name her Jane. I am also dead serious when I say that I'd name my son Tom. (FYI, girls talk about this kind of thing a lot. A lot. And that's your Gender Insight of the Day!)

Also, r*k*milholland and Hyung Sun Kim are such sweeties. Awww you're so sweet! Awww... Dwarf hamsters are cute because they are so retarded. That is the way pets should be.

8th February, 2002 - new strip, fanart!

Hello hello hello. I am in a good mood today, not only because people actually gave me stuff for my birthday (which is always nice), but those who didn't also wished me a happy one, which is also always nice, and people who I didn't expect to know it was my birthday did it too. Yay! All my presents from friends were blue hair accessories, ankle socks, and a really big poster of a semi-naked Takki (one of these things is not like the other... how did that song go?) Besides birthday stuff, Chinese New Year is also coming on the 12th! Chinese New Year is, to me, the best time of the year. I mean, the mood and the songs and the food and the (if I wanted to be corny then I would say 'gongs' here, but then I'd also be totally inaccurate, so.) and everything. How often is it that I finish a sentence properly and gramatically?

So, like, besides that little foray into Happiness Land, here's new fanart! Courtesy of r*k*milholland, who does the comic you all love, (besides this one. (ps: you love this comic.) Something Positive.

(click to see the larger, nice version.)

Lastly, I have turned blatantly capitalist. Well, not really. But I've been thinking of putting up some Bobbin merchandise for sale (at zero profit, because I love you) and I need ideas and suggestions. So far, we have boxers, a mug, and of course, a shirt. So contribute your two cents' worth at the board.

1st February, 2002 - new strip, and links!

I am obsessed with Shotgun Marriage - you know, the Jap serial. With Takenouchi Yutaka (he did not look good in Ice World, but I think I seriously have a thing for men with semi-qualified facial hair) and Ryoko Hirosue (who has the world's most intriguing mouth - I just realised this sentence came out pretty bad). My mum actually got me the VCD set for my birthday, so I'm ahead by a few episodes. Speaking of which - my birthday is coming very soon. I will not tell you when, you silly little squirrell. (hint: Feb 8). I will be 18, which is very strange. I remember when I turned 16 I was thinking, "Hmm, they always say Sweet Sixteen, and I'm totally not sweet. Shit!" Then when I turned 17 I was thinking, "Hmm, they don't say anything about being 17. Shit." Linking this skilfully back to what I was originally talking about, because everybody knows what a whiz I am at sticking to the topic at hand, 18 is also the age in Singapore where you can get married without your parents' consent. This would probably be a lot more fun if I had someone to elope with. Interestingly, 16 is the legal age for sex. What's that supposed to mean? Anyway, my points are that (1) I watched Shotgun Marriage so much that I actually dreamt that I had one, and (2) MY BIRTHDAY IS ON FEBRUARY EIGTH. Hehe. You know I would never withhold important information from you.

Secondly, this is a pretty funny webcomic, called Terrell Quimby. Kindly visit.

Lastly, kindly download: Radiohead - Creep.mp3 and Radiohead - My Iron Lung.mp3 . Do you guys actually listen to my recommendations? Well, whatever - I just like getting hits when people search for the mp3 and are brought here in confusion instead.

25th January, 2002 - new strip.

Wow! I finally realise why everybody says that JC life is stressful. I really hope that I'll be able to keep updating.

Also, I am socially inadequate. How now? Also there was this band today and I think they were good. They had a very Trent-y singer and they sang nice songs (the rest played Creed-y stuff) but ok that's enough I feel so dead and kind of sad. But it's ok I will strive.

18th January, 2002 - new strip.

Ok children. Listen up. Today we are going to learn how to entertain ourselves on the internet (not that way, Johnny. Bad boy!) in between Fridays, which is the day when we? ... Yes! Visit bobbin.8m.net like we've been wanting to do all week! Something Positive is good. Really. I mean, it's so good I have to drop the whole teacher thing to recommend it to you. I mean, right, I offer you Endless Hours of Fun, but for every time-of-the-month reference I make, this guy has, what? A snowman with a vagina (technically snowwoman, I know), a hairless boneless water balloon cat, a Pikachu climax, and, of course, a time-of-the-month reference. I just made that last bit up but I think you get the drift. (PS: If you don't get the drift, just click here.)

I even suspect he also makes use of his friends to set up gags.

11th January, 2002 - new strip.

Cherie made a new song and it was so nice. And we worked on my song and Quanyi made it so nice. They are so nice. I am so busy. Yet not busy enough to lose weight. But busy enough to write vapid comments in my supposed-to-act-as-comedic-backup-"webdiary"-in-case-the-comic-itself-isn't-funny.

Next week will be better.

6th January, 2002 - new strip.

I'm sorry that I'm only updating on Sunday night, as opposed to Friday, although it really wasn't my fault. Blame !@#$ing Freeservers. I couldn't log in.

You know that Oasis song, She's Electric? Well if I were to assign my PS2 a gender, then I could draw many parallels between the two. For example, Sheeeeee's electric. She's done things I never expected. And I waant you to know, d'you know what I'm saying? And I neeeeeed moooooore time (to play). Cos I need you and you need me, there's lots n lots for us to see, lots n lots for us to do - if she is electric, can I be electric toooo?

This turned out to be a lot more boring than I intended.

28th December, 2001 - new strip.

Woah, that was a quick year, wasn't it? Well, not as quick as I would've liked it to be in some places (e.g. studying, waiting for phone calls, being stuck in ridiculous situations etc) but at least my holidays have been pretty drawn out to me. I'm going out and in with Quanyi for a few hours so I'm updating early.

I never actually thought that NAB would last one year. I know it seems pretty short in comparison to other webcomics, and I know I don't update relatively often, but still, I'm pretty glad that I got myself into such a rewarding hobby and managed to continue it. I'm serious. In this Year on the Net, I have been able to meet so many new people both through NAB and through other places, and got to know some of them, and found out that they're really nice and giving people a lot of the time. Some people have even managed to change my view of the world and turn my biases around, although they probably don't know that, but I'm grateful for it. So, um... That's great. :> And thanks so much.

Next year's going to be a whole lot busier than this one, since I have major exams coming up and two sort of extra subjects (I hope I can carry them). So I'm afraid updates won't be coming more often, but I hope you can still count on weekly ones. Thank you so much for your support and kind emails (I haven't got a really mean one yet - maybe you should try).

Things I have learnt to be (more or less) true:

The maximum you can hope to get is determined by the maximum that you give, although it'll usually be a lot less.

If the chance that it will happen is kind of low, it will happen if you genuinely think it won't.

People will always be people, which explains a hell of a lot of things, so don't get too happy or angry about stuff.

Shampoo and soap taste terrible.

(I might add on to this when I have more time. Right now, I'm late.)

25th December, 2001 - Xmas strip, new extra small banner!.

Laaast Christmas, I gev you my heaart but the very next day, you gave it away. Thiiis yiir, to sev me from teeaars, I'll give it to someone spesh-shul (spesh-shul...).

I would like to dedicate today's strip to Alyson Hannigan. Wow, don't you just love movie references?

Honestly now, would you still love me if I told you I had a bodily deformity? I mean this. It has been really, really cold the past few days. I think this is non-sequiter paradise.

The presents I got: a towel, a pencilbox, two packets of mushrooms (don't worry. They're the vacuum fried sort, or whatever. They're nice. They're edible.), a handphone cover and the thing that made me scream wildly, as the giver predicted (thank you! :>): a picture of Nanako Matsushima.

More importantly, my present to all of you is the suddenly quick-loading index.html. Isn't it just great? Thanks to all the people who wrote to help. See you on Friday.

21st December, 2001 - new strip, new links!.

Why the hell am I updating so early? (9:36am on a Friday.) Let's clear up the comic-related stuff first:

Firstly, I'm going to have a special Xmas strip up, on, um, Xmas day. Right. I think you're going to like it, because it has a movie reference, a song, a bad word, two bad costumes and a bad joke. Haha! Did I actually say that? Sorry, I meant half a bad word. Right. Remember to come and look at it, my little children.

Secondly, I like the following webcomics and I think it'd be great if you checked them out: Derek Kirk's Small Stories Online and Return to Sender. Dammit, why is everybody better than me?! Anyway, I wish I had a little button thing for SSO (not Singapore Symphonic Orchestra). I couldn't find it.

Thirdly, to everybody who thinks that this page loads at a rate similar to that of the natural formation of coal reserves (i.e. everybody.), you know what, I think so too! Could you tell me, for the love of [religious figure], why this is so? I'm serious, because pages other than index.html load perfectly normally, but index.html crawls even when I open it locally. It must be something to do with linking to something on index.html. If someone could just help me decipher what, I'd be eternally grateful. (As in, you have to tell me when you decipher it, or I won't be that grateful.)

OK, business is over, I get to ramble.

I knew I had been playing too much GTA3 when, when I saw real-life cars accelerate, I wondered why they were doing so even when I wasn't pressing the X button. Also, I shouted at my mother to langa a pedestrian, but then I'm always doing that, so... Anyway, I decided maybe it was time to do some MGS2, huh? So I did. It's a great game and all (some people don't like me to rub in the whole I-have-a-PS2-and-you-don't thing.) but the thing is, you have to remember it was created by Japanese people. Now I'm not being racist or anything here, I'm just saying that you can expect a little weirdness or pervy-ness (I know that's not in the dictionary) to occur when that happens. So, when Snake is not being some super infiltrator mercenary spy guy, he is also one to hide himself in lockers and kiss (you can actually hear the sound.) posters of raunchy Japanese girls (not Nanako.), etc. But then again I control him, so, um... Next topic.

I had the most surreal dream last night. I dream a lot, and really vividly, which probably means I lack that kind of thing in real life. Like, the only sense I haven't actually used in a dream is smell. I only started tasting things (in my dreams, ya idiot) this year. So, anyway, I dreamt I was Hideaki Takizawa's (drool spills over)... I don't know, assistant/groupie or something. And I had a co-assisant/groupie. We dressed him up in his flashy pants (...) and we were actually chatting to him, although he only understood Japanese. And I cracked a joke and he laughed, which really shows that that doesn't happen in real life. Oh wow, he's so cute and he's only 2 years older than me. That's the best thing about having a good imagination, you know? Hehe. And then! And then, Hideaki and my co-A/G got turned into worms and got lost. Shit, they probably ended up mating. Besides that little sub-plot, I travelled to Antarctica and in order to be more economical they got a crocodile to drag a body bag carrying (live) tourists around in a blizzard.

Moral: Don't watch too much Supercroc on the National Geographic Channel.

14th December, 2001 - new strip.

Ow, my stomach hurts.

But on a brighter note, I have a PS2!!! GTA3 is great, you know. I think I'm having a tummyache because of it. I swear, that stupid ship sniping mission is making me get a peptic ulcer.

7th December, 2001 - new strip.

It is a very nice feeling when you are misled into believing that there are only two weeks of holiday left when, in fact, and as you suspected all along, there are actually three. But then of course, you felt incredibly terrible when you were misled in the first place, so I guess they cancel out.

Bill Bryson is a sure thing. So are Dave Barry and Douglas Adams. Too bad he's dead, eh, if not I could link to him.

It's so strange. It's like I don't love my Playstation anymore, and it doesn't seem to miss me either. Maybe the sparks have gone out of our relationship?

Eat: The New Pornographers - Letter from an Occupant.mp3.

6th December, 2001 - new strip.

You know how I say that I update this site on Fridays and when I want to, except most of the time I actually only do it on Fridays so you begin to suspect that I add the 'when I want to' just to make myself seem not under the regimented control of something that I actually imposed upon myself in the first place, but you don't really care anyway, and then my holidays come and you think 'Well maybe she's going to update more often!', or maybe you don't, and then I don't, and then you get all angry and leave, and then I have to go about arranging under-the-table (hehe.) deals with other webcartoonists to bring you back in hopes of persuading you that I really do mean the 'and whenever I feel like it' part?

Well, I'm not really sure what the above sentence/paragraph meant to illustrate, but the gist of it is: it's not Friday and I'm updating. Yay!

In a !@#$ing webdiary context, I would like to say that my mother is a terrible woman. I mean terrible in a nice way, of course, because if there's one thing I've learned is that it is never good to disparage your family members, because you'll just end up feeling really guilty and bad once you've stopped being angry. Anyway!

Today my sister said, "Remember the time when Mummy put sand in your mua ji* and you ate it?" The scary thing was, I didn't. Hmm. Apparently, I was away from the table when my mother took some sand from a nearby surface and sprinkled it on a portion of my plate. When I came back, I apparently almost (note: important word here is almost.) shovelled it in my mouth when my mum said, "HEY! Why're you eating sand, blind is it?"

Like I said, terrible woman. In a nice way. I hope my sister was exaggerating.

* mua ji is a type of snack. It's like, little balls of glutinous paste rolled in crushed peanut and sugar. It's nice, trust me.

30th November, 2001 - new strip.

So, hello. Scroll down for JANE WALLPAPER! (I lack a 'stuff' page, so I have to keep telling you to find it here while it's still here.) By the way, now you see what I mean by blatantly reusing a good picture - expect more in the future, my friends. Also, a kueh is a type of confectionary.

Anyway, yesterday, my aunty brought me to her trendy gym, so that was fun, and today I'm aching. They had this funny no-impact running machine which I used. Wow I'm unhealthy. There was this ang moh* woman running on the treadmill and she looked like an ang moh version of Jane. Actually, just a skinnier, taller, and orange haired Betty. Maybe Betty's love-child with Archie. ... She wouldn't be too happy to hear that, would she?

Anybody watched Love Revolution last night and thought that the show would be a hell of a lot more interesting if Nanako Matsushima replaced that funny girl from Overtime and Hideaki Takizawa were the male reporter? See, I knew it. Anyway, this brings me to a question I've been needing an answer to. What if you were an actress, right, and they needed you to have a kissing scene with some actor, but you've never actually kissed anyone in real life before? Discuss.

* an ang moh is a Hokkien (? help me out here) term for caucasians. It's not derogatory, so don't worry.

27th November, 2001 - a new strip added, additions/amendments to FAQ, Jane wallpaper!

OK! I'm back from the House of Sin and Malaysia relatively untanned, much more game-laden, and also more injured. But more on that later. Now, to show how sorry I am that I didn't update for so long, I'm updating the strip, and as a gift to you, I present: JANE WALLPAPER!

(click to get the colour 800 x 600 version.)

Aww, isn't it cute? ... SHUT UP! See, those little blue circles are for you to put your desktop icons in. I spent a lot of time agonising over whether I should colour Jane or not, because I'm not very good at shading and colouring and how the hell do you get Asian skin tone?! Anyway, I'm quite happy with the results, so I hope you like it, I went on some kind of drawing spree last night and I drew that and scanned it in. It's going to appear in a strip very soon. I figured that if I released it as wallpaper first, it'd be less cheat-y. If anyone actually uses the wallpaper, please mail me. I will love you. Oh, and if you think the colour version is ugly and you want the normal, b&w Jane, here's the black and white version.

Right now it's 1:24pm and the electricity's being cut off for maintenance or whatever at 2, so I'd better hurry. I sprained my ankle and bruised my elbow. As though joint abuse isn't enough, my nose is peeling and my lips are chapped. Damn my accident-proneness and lousy constitution.

I think I'll be seeing you guys on Friday again. Sorry for the (?) brevity. On one last note: THEY'RE TAKING AWAY MY FTP!!! There will be retribution for this.

9th November, 2001 - a new strip added

Ok, important things first. I fear that this may be the last update ever. No, just kidding, put back that hanky. Seriously, though, I update every Friday, and I've been able to do so for the whole year, but next week I won't be able to, and the week after that I probably won't be able to either. I'm really sorry about this, but there's nothing I can do, because next week I'll be staying in the aforementioned House of Sin (HoS), and I can't update unless I quarrel with my best friends (...), and the week after that I'll be tanning and shopping myself to oblivion in good old Malaysia. So, I hope you guys understand. I promise I'll make up for it after all that, though, ok? No more bad jokes! ... Well, ok, maybe one more. Hehe. Ok, now on to the !@#$ing webdiary part.

Finally, the olympiad is over. I absolutely failed it. The most interesting part was when they gave us eight (8! Is that not our lucky number? Also, being typically chinese, it is my favourite number.), eight cups of CRABS (I kid you not.) and told us to categorise them. I mean, they were dead crabs of course, although it's hard to tell a dead crab from a sleeping one, yeah? And it doesn't really help when you can imagine somnolent (a proud member of the SAT word list) crabs waking up and ngiapping you with their claws (or chelida, you laymen you.) yelling (telepathically) "Highly convex and inflated carapace?! Well let's see you highly-convex-and-inflated-carapace THIS, bitch!" The crabs stank. Also, during lunch, I quite unwittingly ate something that tasted a lot like what the crabby stench would taste like if it were a tasty thing and not a smell. So, that was... nice... Also, I just realised that the above paragraph is an English teacher's nightmare. Well, shit.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to trail the Super Sunday Girls cos they're coming to Singapore. Well, not really, but my friend got tickets to the pu wei zhi ye recording and they're also coming to Junction 8. I like Gao Yuan Peng Zi. She's like so retarded, it's adorable. And, she looks much better than in those publicity photos, I swear. Also, her blood type is A; her ambition is to be a happy person; the thing she likes most about her body is her fair skin; the things she hates most are 'smelly things' ("you wei dao de dong xi" - hehe); and her 'most embarrassing matter' is her love life. I swear, we're twins, very much like the way I'm Nanako Matsushima.

2nd November, 2001 - a new strip, an FAQ and more added

SCHOOL'S OVER! Today has been a pretty damn perfect day, and I don't say damn very often, which must mean it really was pretty perfect. Anyway, from now on, it's eight (8) weeks of holiday. (Ok, this is the part where I pretend that you're interested in my personal life, so brace yourself.) The whole of next week I'll be bogged down with Bio olympiad and SATs, the week after that me and my close friends will (hopefully) be living in a House of Sin, and the week after that, I'm going on holiday with my family to Malaysia. I'll spend the rest bumming around and trying to brush up on my bad subjects, revise etc.

I made very big changes to the About page. I changed some of the stuff I wrote about myself, and added a whopping big FAQ, so you will read it.

I'm using the little power I have to suggest that you scoot on over to Kungfool! because, well, because it's great. Also, Mr Hyung likes Russian babes who are a bit extremely deranged, so he can't be that bad. Or maybe he can.

Lastly, me and my sis finished Metal Gear Solid this week (thanks to extremely heavy cheating, of course). Don't you think it's hilarious how you can actually take photos of that nekkid woman whose butt is censored and who has flies buzzing around her head? I mean, what the hell?! And that Nikita thing, and like how I thought Otakon was gay and he peed in his pants, and how even though like I've punctured Sniper Wolf's lungs with my gun she can still lie there and talk for hours on end about how she's a Kurd, and I insist no, she's actually a whey...? Ok, my Audience Alienation Alarm is ringing. Gotta stop.

26th October, 2001 - added a new strip

So, anyway, I totally apologise for the sub-par strips recently. So today marks the start of a completely new journey: Very Bad Jokes. (Come to think of it, that's not completely new either...) Well, at least they could be construed to be funny, see. Anyway! I've been enjoying my post-exam, pre-start-studying-again days. This is because the studying days are coming, um, next week. But, see, this is totally not fun, so I'm going to tell you about something fun:

You must buy the new Garbage album, because Garbage is everything good. I mean, they both start with 'G', right? Anyway I bought mine and it came in the normal jewel case, and then suddenly I see a new, really pretty packaging (it's like, a rose) which I failed to buy, even though it was at the same price, namely cos I already bought the normal packaging one. It makes me half angry. But it really is nice.

I still haven't done the FAQ yet, but we did get a lot of posts at the board! Unfortunately I think a few of them were deleted when the board provider did something really wrong, so don't hesitate to post more. You can ask questions about NAB or about me. Also, I can't really track very well what are the questions that were asked more than once (definition of 'frequent'), so I think I'll just be taking the interesting ones and answering them.

Read the older news, you ninny.