Monday, June 30, 2003
sighs. it's back with a vengence...hrmph.
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oh dear. poor thomas is down with erm..as hk says, pneumothorax. whatever that is. and he's at ttsh...hope he gets well soon and god bless him. everyone pray for him! :)
ok after searching around for what it means...gosh. sounds terribly bad...but at least he could reply to smses, which should mean he's fine right? i hope =]
"A pneumothorax is commonly known as a collapsed lung. Normally, the outer surface of the lung sits next to the inner surface of the chest wall. Thin membranes called pleura cover both surfaces. A pneumothorax occurs when air escapes from the lungs or leaks through the chest wall and enters the pleural cavity, the space between the two membranes. As air builds up, it causes the nearby lung to collapse.
Most cases of pneumothorax result from an injury to the lungs or chest wall, such as:
A penetrating injury, such as a knife or gunshot wound
Blunt trauma, from a fall or car accident
Medical procedures, such as removal of fluid from the pleural cavity with a needle (thoracentesis) or a lung biopsy
Spontaneous pneumothorax occasionally results from lung damage caused by such diseases as asthma, cystic fibrosis and pneumonia. It is particularly common in emphysema, which causes air-filled sacs or "blebs" to form. When a bleb bursts, air is released into the pleural cavity, triggering a pneumothorax. A spontaneous pneumothorax can also develop in people with no underlying lung disease. It's most common in tall, thin men between the ages of 20 and 40, and is much more common in smokers. The rupture of blebs may also cause this type of spontaneous pneumothorax.
Tension pneumothorax sometimes is produced when a growing air pocket causes increased pressure within the pleural cavity. This collapses the nearby lung and can push the heart and major blood vessels to the unaffected side of the chest. This movement, called a mediastinal shift, can produce a life-threatening drop in blood pressure. Tension pneumothorax most commonly occurs in people with penetrating chest injuries. It also occurs in people on ventilators or those who have undergone cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Pneumothorax occurs in about nine of every 100,000 people each year.
Symptoms
Symptoms of pneumothorax include:
Sudden shortness of breath
Painful breathing
Sharp chest pain, often on one side
Chest tightness
Dry, hacking cough
Bluish color skin (because of a lack of oxygen)
Engorgement of the neck veins (in tension pneumothorax)
Low blood pressure or shock
Rapid heartbeat
Diagnosis
Your doctor may suspect pneumothorax if you suddenly develop shortness of breath or chest pain, especially if you have had trauma to the chest. He or she will ask about your symptoms, your medical history and your smoking habits.
Your doctor's physical examination will focus on your general appearance, your vital signs, and your heart and breath sounds. Typical exam findings in pneumothorax might include:
Low blood pressure
Rapid heart rate
Low levels of blood oxygen
Loss of normal breath sounds in the part of the chest where the lung is deflated
A hollow sound when the fingers are tapped on part of the chest
A shift in the normal location of heart sounds
A chest X-ray is the best way to confirm that you have a pneumothorax. The X-ray will show the pneumothorax as a dark area in the chest.
A computed tomography (CT) scan may be needed in some cases to find a small pneumothorax or for people with extensive lung disease. Your doctor may also order an arterial blood gas test to measure the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood. He or she may also order an electrocardiogram (EKG), an electrical test of the heart.
Expected Duration
Once the underlying cause of pneumothorax is treated, a collapsed lung will usually re-expand within 48 to 72 hours. Recovering from a collapsed lung may take up to several weeks.
Prevention
Most cases of pneumothorax cannot be prevented. Quitting smoking can reduce your risk of the types of lung disease associated with pneumothorax. Wearing your seatbelt in the car and avoiding other activities that put you at risk for chest injuries can help you avoid a pneumothorax caused by trauma.
Treatment
A pneumothorax can be treated in several different ways. Your doctor will choose the right treatment based on several factors, including the size and location of the pneumothorax and your medical condition. Almost everyone receives 100 percent oxygen through a facemask. Additional treatment options include:
Careful observation by a doctor to see if the condition resolves on its own
Removal of the air from the pleural cavity with a needle and syringe
Removal of the air from the pleural cavity by inserting a hollow plastic tube, called a chest tube, between the ribs, attached to a suction device
You may be treated or observed for several days to make sure the pneumothorax resolves completely. If you have had a serious chest injury, or treatment does not re-expand your lung, your doctor will discuss the possibility of surgery to repair the lung and pleura. Sometimes damaged or scarred portions of lung are removed to allow the pneumothorax to heal. Traditional surgery requires the chest to be opened. But newer techniques using tiny cameras (thoracoscopy) cause less scarring and result in faster recovery times.
People with repeated episodes of pneumothorax may need treatment to prevent further recurrences. Options include:
Surgery that removes blebs or areas of scarring or attaches the lung permanently to the chest wall
A chemical injection that fuses the lung and chest wall together (pleurodesis)
When To Call A Professional
Call your doctor if you have symptoms of pneumothorax, especially if you have lung disease or have had a collapsed lung before. Even if your symptoms seem to improve, call your doctor. Some people with pneumothorax have lessening chest pain and shortness of breath in the first 24 hours, but the pneumothorax is still present.
Prognosis
Once a pneumothorax has healed, there is usually no long-term effect on your health. However, up to 50 percent of people have another pneumothorax, especially within a few months of the first one. To decrease the risk of recurrence:
Stop smoking.
Avoiding changes in air pressure, such as from flying in unpressurized aircraft or scuba diving."
+ serene @ 2:36 PM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 2:36 PM
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Sunday, June 29, 2003
haven't found very much to post about these days...everything's just quite, erm...average i guess :) of course, with the common tests, i.e. impending death, over our heads, perhaps that's the only exciting thing happening, if you can call it that..sighs. common tests are bad ideas. 6 more days to freedom and meeting up with ad, sixuan and hopefully a few others too. i can't wait *beam*
je ne peux pas oublier ce que tu fais, ce que tu dis, ce que tu es. Je t'adore avec tout mon coeur, avec tout mon espirit, avec tout � moi.
+ serene @ 12:01 PM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 12:01 PM
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Friday, June 20, 2003
went with xiz, sunny, hongking and grace to do CIP today..we went for this hike from the salvation army centre to bukit timah hill with the kids from there...it was quite fun, if you don't count the terrible weather, and how difficult it was to organise them. but they're kids, so i guess it's normal :) despite the extremely long nap i took after returning home, i still feel drained, and i have a flu now. sighs. i get sick too easily! *grr* but glad i went for it :)
SRP and project work tomorrow. wheeee.

Which flock do you follow?
this quiz was made by alanna
haha it looks sooo sweet! :)
+ serene @ 9:17 PM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 9:17 PM
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Thursday, June 19, 2003
went for this DSTA outing today, and the highlight of my day was seeing ms ning there too! gosh, i miss all our secondary school teachers so much. and speaking of secondary school teachers, did you all know that ms tay may yin and mr loke set up their own tuition centre, i.e. they are now directors? *grinses* super cool :) i got this piece of news from the popular newsletter sent to me :) entrepreneurs! :)
oh yes. i fell asleep in the omnimax theatre today. hmm.
argh...ipw's not progressing at all...srp report's half written only, and internship essay is yet to be done, not to mention common tests and DELF revision! argh, i'm in deep trouble...deeeeep trouble. sighs.
the previous days spent with you were perfect, like a dream. without the presence of you, everything feels different, with me sinking into something dark, i know not what. i never realised the power of words on a simple screen until your message came through. one moment, it was expectancy, longing, the next moment it was still longing, but now, tinged with sadness and pain. without you walking by my side today, every step was just so difficult to take, was pure torture, reminiscing all the things about you worth reminiscing, which is everything. the knowledge that i won't see you for some time just kills me emotionally from inside out, and it's getting harder and harder to hold back the tears. i'll miss you.
+ serene @ 1:05 AM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 1:05 AM
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Tuesday, June 17, 2003
sitting next to you, reading with you, working with you, laughing at the most inane and nonsensical things with you, things that don't usually make me laugh, but coming from you, they just do. walking along with you, slowly, in silence, it has to be the most perfect thing in the world. watching you from afar, watching you up close, listening to your beautiful voice, it's just like a narcotic, drugging me, making me oblivious to everything except you, and i'm truly and completely addicted. addictions are usually bad, but this is one addiction i don't want to saved from, because after all, it's the sight of you, the presence of you that revives me each day. i want to continue living in this flawless world of you, with you.
+ serene @ 11:49 PM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 11:49 PM
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yay nice song below. :)

+ serene @ 11:24 AM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 11:24 AM
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Monday, June 16, 2003
gosh. today was really really scary. in the NUS canteen, i like got the fright of my life. sheesh. i hope it never happens again, or if it does, it'll be on my terms, according to my decisions. sheesh. i'm still freaked out.
sigh. i realise that i do a lot of unnecessary things nowadays. like helping a friend download 34 songs (chinese songs argh!) at one go to burn on a cd, or rather 2. once i get a cd-writer, that is. which i'm probably getting on wed yay..wait, but that's not the point. the point is..oh who cares what the point is...the songs are already downloaded *laugh*
yay...results of the first part of my SRP experiment are out, and they're positive! *beam* at least, now i can relax a little and start working on my report. sighs. this means i don't have to go to NUS tomorrow though. and i so did enjoy doing nothing, stoning at my desk, and perpetually going down to the canteen for fun. now, i'll have disguise as a rock at home. what un-fun.
hmm. how on earth do i post chinese characters on this blog?? i've never been able to figure that out...sheesh.
+ serene @ 11:26 PM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 11:26 PM
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Sunday, June 15, 2003
Je devrais faire mes devoirs maintenant, mais je ne peux pas sembler m'apporter pour �tudier ni le chimie, ni le physique. Je semble faire seulement une chose ces jours, je ne peux pas me d�chirer loin des pens�es de vous. 22 jours plus tard, je ne sais pas comment... je ne sais pas comment je le soutiendrai quand je ne peux pas tenir 2 jours sans vous voir. Tu me manque, comme l�enfer, et encore plus mauvais.
+ serene @ 11:35 AM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 11:35 AM
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Saturday, June 14, 2003
wasted my whole day away today, sleeping. argh.
i miss you like hell.
+ serene @ 8:09 PM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 8:09 PM
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Friday, June 13, 2003
yay today was fun! :)
went to tampines in the morning, like 7.30am to visit St Hilda's Primary, my school for 4 years from PY to P3...really miss it a lot, it's a great school with some fantastic teachers. I really wanted to meet some of my old teachers, but because i went so early, i knew i probably wouldn't, so i just left notes i prepared beforehand on their desk, and some flowers, and then walked around the school for a while. so many things have changed, the school's totally different from when i was there (which was 10 years ago). i was looking for the ecopond which some guy from my class pushed me in before, and it was demolished already to make way for a road. sad. but i guess anything evil that happens to serene automatically suffers a painful death, i.e. it is destroyed! *bwahahaha* :) well, then i was looking around in the canteen for my favourite chicken rice stall, and it was gone too! hrmph. see how the school has degenerated into a non-chicken rice place without me *grinses* then went to the classroom blocks which had totally changed, and went into 1/9 trust and 2/9 trust (my old classes...i guess they're my junior classes now) felt a strange sense of nostalgia...it's like i don't recognise the place, it's just so great to see the signs 1/9 trust and 2/9 trust on the doors =]
well then left st hilda's...it was too early to meet aaron, alex and mingze for breakfast, so i hopped on 293 and took a joy ride around tampines. =] it's changed a lot since i last stayed there, so lots of things i can't recognise already. then went to mrt station to meet them for breakfast, and then made our way to the recording studio for the NDP recording. reached there at 10am on the dot, which was a great relief, cos sicheng and reginald were already starting to call and ask where i was...luckily we weren't late for it =] oh and recording is soo so fun! we just went there, sang the tamil song a few times, then the engineer cut and pasted different recordings to make up one whole song, and we sounded great! recording does wonders to our voices, really. we sounded so pro...must watch our for the tamil song during NDP parade! :) oh yes, and we recorded a count-down too...basically we just attempted to scream "10! 9!" all the way to 1..so watch out for that too! *laugh* and we sang the chorus of "one people, one nation, one singapore" which was like done in 3 recordings. as jason nicely put it, (with actions attached), "we rock" :)
oh then went for lunch, after majority of the people deserted us to go find nemo. so we just sat at BK, eating, and suddenly i received a call from my primary school teacher, the one i left a note on her desk a few hours before! super cool =] so we were just chatting about people who used to be from 1/9 and 2/9 too and where they are now...it's great talking to her after 10 years =] then went home after that...it took me 1 hour 40 mins plus *sniff* gosh. tampines is in the middle of nowhere lah =]
SRP again tomorrow...i hope i can go off as early as possible :)
+ serene @ 6:56 PM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 6:56 PM
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Wednesday, June 11, 2003
ok, i've just concluded that SRP is indeed sadism at it's very best. and did i mention eeevil as well?
witnessed the sorrowful murder of 3 pregnant Swiss albino mice today, it really and truly was damn tragic. they took the mouse by its tail, placed it on a flat surface, used the scissors to break the spinal cord of the mouse and kill it. true enough that there's hardly any pain involved, since after you break the spinal cord, the nerve impulses can't reach the brain, but still, it was evil. i was totally shocked by the method..thought they would..i don't know...do it in a more humane way or something. then the mouse was cut upm and fetuses were removed. after which the fetuses were decapitated, and the brains slowly removed from the heads, and finally, the cortex extracted. i've had an excess of trauma today i must say. suggestion of the day (by aaron, the mouse-lover): general anaesthesia for the mouse, operate on it to remove the fetuses, and stitch up the mouse. the question really is: why not? *grinses*
ok tomorrow in contrast will be a mild day. i am relieved :)
Je ne peux pas penser � n'importe quoi mais � vous.
+ serene @ 9:45 PM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 9:45 PM
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Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Sans toi, je sens mal, je sens seule, j�ai seule, je suis perdu. Comme maintenant, mon c�ur est dans la agonie quoique la separation n��tait pas tr�s longue selon le temps, mais � moi, le temps passe trop lentement de soutenir, trop p�nible de soutenir. Qu�est-ce que je ferai � l�avenir? Sans mon inspiration, sans ton rire, sans toi, un monde de rigidit�, de l'ennui, de rien. Je souhaite que le temps pourrait s�arr�ter maintenant, toujours avec la pr�sence de toi.
ok, today was quite fun =] the lithium chloride for my experiment is at long last finally here! it's a tremendous relief, because without it, i wouldn't have been able to start my experiment at all...did basic pre-treatment of cells today, nothing much really. ended up attempting to pass time by playing cards and games like speed and stress. tomorrow's the day where i'm witnessing the death of many pregnant mice *sniff* and their foetuses. we're extracting the neurons from the foetuses' brain sighs. oh and must learn how to prepare the gel for gel electrophoresis tomorrow...probably gonna be very busy and not as slack as today heh.
argh. how on earth are we gonna learn the tamil song by fri???
+ serene @ 11:03 PM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 11:03 PM
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hier, c'�tait un jour beau, un jour de rire, un jour de plaisir, un jour d'amusement, un jour de joie, un jour de beaucoup beaucoup de choses parfait. les �motions deviennent plus forts et plus forts, et je suis presque en s�re. presque. j'adore ma vie � cause de toi et je prie qu�il continuera, mais m�me s�il ne continue pas, je suis d�j� satisfait. Merci beaucoup pour me donner le bonheur, merci beaucoup pour m'inspirer, merci beaucoup pour tout.
P.S. I'm sorry everything is in french nowadays. taking DELF tests in 2 weeks (eeks) and HAVE to practise. =]
+ serene @ 12:14 AM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 12:14 AM
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Sunday, June 08, 2003
Jason: My shoes are so musical.
Me: Whyyyy?
Jason: They are! They have 10 mr toes(tohs) in them!
hahaha...totally had me and the rest in stitches. must remember to tell the chorale people on tues *grin*
+ serene @ 6:43 PM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 6:43 PM
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Thursday, June 05, 2003
Encore. J'ai ce sentiment que je n'aime pas, ce sentiment de d�sespoir, ce sentiment de douleur et de perte. Je ne peux pas cesser de vous regarder, mais il n�est pas v�tre visage qui me fait le faire. Il y a une chose inexplicable de vous, qui cause ces sentiments de moi � arriver subitement, sans ma connaissance, sans avertissement , et maintenant, c�est trop tard. Je suis ensorcel� par vous, je suis tracass� par vous, je suis d�concert� par vous, tous par vous, toujours par vous. Chaque jour du mois, chaque heure du jour, chaque minute d�heure, chaque seconde du minute, je suis toument� par vous. Par les pens�es de vous. Il se sent d�j� comme une �ternit�...une �ternit� de tristesse, une �ternit� sans vous.
La mani�re qu'il me fait le sentir - translation of a beautiful streisand piece, "The way he makes me feel"
Il n�y a aucune froid mais je tremble
Il n�y a aucune flamme mais je me br�le
Je ne suis pas sure de quoi j�ai peur
Mais je tremble
Il n�y a aucun orage mais j�entend le tonnerre
Et je suis essouffl�, pourquoi je me demande ?
Un moment faible
Puis le prochain je suis bien
Je me sens comme si je tombe tous les temps
Je ferme mes yeux
Et traverser mon corps
Est un fleuve de surprise
Des sentiments sont se r�veiller
Je ne peux pas reconnaisser � miens.
Quelles sont toutes ces nouvelles sensations ?
Quel est le secret qu'elles indiquent?
Je ne suis pas s�r je comprends
Mais j'aime la mani�re que je me sens.
Pourquoi est-il tous les temps
Je ferme mes yeux et il est l�
L�eau polissant sur sa peau
La lumi�re du soleil dans ces cheveux?
Et tout le moment je pense des choses
Que je peux ne jamais partager
Avec lui
Je suis confondu
Oui, il a un appel �trange
Tout a commenc� avec lui
Et la mani�re qu�il me fait le sentir?
J'aime la mani�re qu'il me fait le sentir.
beautiful. absolutely beautiful.
+ serene @ 10:57 PM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 10:57 PM
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Wednesday, June 04, 2003
YAY! IPW project proposal finally got approved. felt so sooo happy and relieved when i took the proposal back from mr chan after chorale today. gosh, it just gave me this rush, almost equivalent to that of winning something *grinses*
chorale today was to say the very least, scary. there were only 4 "functional" altos, against 10 sops, 6 tenors and 8 basses. considering we were all seated extremely close to mr toh, it was really (hmm how should i put it in a politically correct manner?), well, thrilling (haha). tried to sing super loud for everything cos we couldn't really be heard, using my mom's trusty handphone to give me notes (i borrowed it from her for that sole purpose today). luckily we didn't get scolded for anything, so yay. happy session :)
Le bonheur. Il y a quelques choses simples dans la vie que me donnent beaucoup beaucoup de plaisir.
+ serene @ 10:05 PM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 10:05 PM
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Monday, June 02, 2003
i was very touched today. i still am very touched today. jired came up to me and congratulated me on the france trip thingee, and he was so sincere about it all, it just made my day a whole lot brighter. i went into bio lect grinning like hell =]
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i was just thinking to myself about what mr chan (my ct) said the other day. he said: "if you want something bad enough, really really want it, there won't be anything that should stop you from getting it, and you will eventually get it one day." thinking back, i think it's really quite true. and meaningful. if you really want something in life, you have to work hard for it, and sooner or later, success will come. it's simple logic, and it may sound "duh", but sometimes we get so caught up with work and all, studying for the sake of studying, cca-ing for the sake of cca-ing, that we forget why we do it in the first place. that it's because each and every one of us wants something out of life, and this path will lead us there one day if we do things consistently. i don't know...i just feel mr chan's just so right about this. and i realise that the things i have gotten so far in life were those that i really put effort in, that i worked super hard for it...whereas things that i didn't succeed in, didn't manage to get, those things were done half-heartedly, because i didn't want it that much. haha actually i don't know what this rambling is about, just a reminder to myself to work harder i guess *grinses*
+ serene @ 9:47 PM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 9:47 PM
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Sunday, June 01, 2003
haha rugby finals were so so fun to watch! ok so it wasn't the most happening match, considering the fact that the last 20 mins were spent scrumming (is that how u spell it?). and it was really a pity we missed drawing with ac at least. but definitely a very fun game to watch. i was just cringing when someone came off the field with a bloody nose/mouth lah. it was so gruesome. eeks. but he was still smiling away. man, i can't believe myself in that same situation doing the same thing *touch wood* :) and haha yup, as sunny said in her blog, there was one incident where a fight almost broke out. cos apparently this ac guy went to stick his hand onto this rj rugger's face and pushed it away, and a lot of shirt-tugging went on, and then ad's hero came and saved the day. *grinses* well :) and it was so good seeing jen yet again, well this time in a nicely tucked in shirt and a longer skirt. it was still short but much longer than usual *grin* living up to her councillor status already...felt so happy for her man =] and it was so fun screaming for the ruggers too. shouted my voice hoarse...i should be more careful with my voice actually...but heck :)
oh yes, and i just have this urge to talk about gp test after reading sunny's blog. like i said, it was terrible. absolutely terrible. hardly any structure or style in my writing. i'd be really really surprised if i don't fail this one. wrote the essay "Does the UN have a future?" well what else could i write right? that was the only topic in the whole paper that seemed do-able to me, kudos to ms ting. see how her teachings have inspired me for life *grinses* (on a sidenote: gosh i really miss her and her lessons.) yeah so wrote about how it DOES have a future. woohoo. the ever-optimistic me. i bet sunny wrote how it doesn't have a future *laugh*
Hier, je t�ai vu. J�ai regard� ton visage, j�ai ecout� ta voix, je ne pourrais pas me d�tourner de toi. L'attrait, c�est une chose dangereux. Il me fait r�ver des fantaisies impossibles, il me fait penser de toi tout le temps, il me fait faire des choses stupides. Je ne sais pas pourquoi je ne peux pas t�oublier, je ne sais pas quand tu as devenu si froid vers moi, je ne sais pas pourquoi. Mais je sais que c�est toi qui me fait heureuse, qui me fait triste, qui ma�trise toutes mes �motions. Peut-�tre c�est une m�prise, � cause de lui, mais si c�est vrai, je souhaite que je ne lui connaisse jamais. Mon c�ur est en train de casser � si tu as connu, est-ce que tu fais attention ? Un peu de pessimisme, mais je ne pense pas. A moi, tu es si parfait, mais en m�me temps, tu as aussi beaucoup des d�fauts. Mais ce n�est pas important � moi, je ne sais pas pourquoi aussi, mais il n�est pas important. Mes sentiments sont un myst�re que je ne comprend pas. Peut-�tre je ne les comprend pas toujours.
+ serene @ 1:52 AM
* [ serene ] r e m e m b e r s again * 1:52 AM
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