In Continuum.

J.

Sure,people say that it is what's inside that matters.You know,how wisdom surpasses physical beauty and all those theories.I guess to a certain degree,it's true.But for some reason i have a feeling that names given to somebody has that particular effect as well.Im not sure about you guys,but personally speaking there are a couple of names,people with these names,who has the talent of pissing me off immensely.What's in a name?You might ask.Well,beats me.You know how the "Chi" in people cross,and then when it happens sparks fly?Not the kind of lovey-dovey sparks,but more like sparks that trigger eruptions and explosions,blazing its way through the course of your veins sort of sparks.

Ever seen Secondary School i never got along with anybody called "J****".Let's just call this guy,or these guys,"J".The very first J i encountered in my life,he sat about two metres away from me in class.Im not quite sure where he was located for the first half of my Secondary School life though,but the memories he left on me on the second half of it sure created a lasting,and in a way traumatizing,experience.

J was part of the F4 in class.The F4 being the ultimate band of geeks.Though Samuel is part of that so-called "F4",he was there really to fill up the spaces,and because he never took a stand with us or them.He was nice to everybody,and we figured he's probably not going to mind being associated with these bottom-feeders.Sure,J's results were good in class.I mean,he's the kind of person who delivers in terms of results.You are going to judge a character on their grades,then he's probably a great guy.But this is when personality matters more than just results in school.

So J's one of the weirdest person i have ever met.He has a strange "Working Face" while tackling questions.His lips would shrink into a sort of pout,curling up into each other while he stares at the blank piece of paper.His weapon of choice are highlighters,multi-coloured ones at that.He highlights every single line in a textbook,and you wonder why he didnt just write "Everything here is important" on top of the page in the first place.He likes the smell of ink,and whenever he pauses for a while halfway through a line he would smell the tip of his ballpoint like glue upon a hot spoon.Sometimes when he's too passionate about his "work",he draws a line across his cheeks unintentionally,and it stays there with the rest of the class laughing head over heels about it.

He never had friends,and probably had little attention from his parents.A flip through his ten-year series exercise books will bring you into the realm of true loneliness.He was obsessed with fishes,and i remember him reading up on freshwater fishes in class,'educating' me on the harmlessness of most piranhas.After each exercise in the book he would mark every single question with a red pen.Not very uncommon,sure enough.But at the top of the first page he would grade himself,write "Very good!" in bad cursive writing and then paste a shiny sticker of a fish next to it.That's...well,pathetic.

I remember his pathetic attempt to sort of bond with me.There was this once when the teacher missed the class because he was sick or something.Everybody cheered when the relief came in,and while we went hysterical J turned to me,raised up his right hand and went,"Weilien,high five!"

I stared at him,dumbfounded and feeling ashamed for this guy in front of me,with pimple-cream smeared all over his face.His dishevelled,bird-nest like hair and spectacles with tape and wire tangled around like some bad abstract art."Well,high five yourself",i replied after a good laugh with Krishna(Who unfortunately,sat behind him for two full years).

This other J,by the same name of course,was in the same Secondary School but we never had the chance to interact.We went up to JC together,and still we merely nodded to each others' existence down corridors.This very peaceful relationship ended of course,when he fell for a girl from my class whom i was very close with.Well,at that time at the very least.

For some reason the guys from his class would fall for the girls from mine,and as a result the guys from there were associated by guilt.They called themselves the G4(What's with nerds/geeks/perverts/bottom-feeders coming in fours?),and whenever they appeared in lecture theatres or classrooms the girls in my class would run for their lives.

The G4 had blogs of their own,and i have visited all of them.Their blogs were the kind of blogs that piss you off after reading it.But since the topic is on J now,i shall describe only his blog in detail.The Gundam picture at the very top sort of shadows everything else,the closest thing you come to being civilised on his blog,really.After about ten seconds on his blog,an irritating midi-track will start playing automatically,this idiotic Japanese anime song.His blog is basically about what he ate,where he went,what he did,the girls he saw,school work,and panties.Okay,maybe not panties.But im sure i missed that as i slammed my head to the table top,with blood gushing out of my skull like fountain.

It's not right to discriminate somebody just because his blog is the actualization of stupidity.That's true,but of course i did not hate him for that reason(Though it was skillfully used as an excuse later on).That close friend of mine whom i mentioned,were friends with J.And as time wore on J fell for her,and sort of confessed.I'm sure he is a nice person and stuff,but apparently at that time he couldnt control his sexual desires.

A rainy day on the bus,he called my close friend about this other schoolgirl on the bus,who was drenched at had her bra showing off the back of her uniform.Her breasts apparent rubbed against his arm,and he gave a full report to my friend(female)while on the phone.He called her again,when he reached home and told her that he was masturbating about her.Yeah,he really did.

As that close friend of mine told myself,and two other girls about this horrible story,her handphone vibrated and she told us that it was him again,messaging her out of the blues.I took the courage to open the message,since she didnt want to do so.And the message was both disgusting and hilarious at the same time."This is why",i thought to myself,"They have laws against sexual harrassment man".

On the screen,clearly typed was this,"I want my mummy!" How disturbing.

So,there you have it.I have issues with anybody called J.In fact,there are other names which get on my nerves as well.The BMTC moon-faced sergeant,this other guy,and Corinna's mortal enemy,fully armed with 400 pounds of pork lard and utter stupidity,they are all Leonards,for some reason.Ah Chang has a thing about the name Eugene,as well."Eugenes piss me off",he once said.Well,guess there's more to a name that meets the eye.