unfortunately it seems that other profs i've tried approaching so far all refer me back to the same prof who has declined to help me... one's on sabbatical... think if this happened to me say 2 yrs back i would have felt like a total failure... but now i guess i do try to not get too emotional over things, or just lose hope easily. must admit that what happened was negligence on my part too. i mean i'm kinda discouraged... but doesn't mean that without that prof's help i can't write my thesis right? =) and my history prof recommended some books for me to read... so i mean i guess i just hav to put in a lot more effort on my own...hmm but wonder if i sometimes appear too studious to my housemates? (more than once i fell asleep in middle of night with light on and sometimes they think i'm studying but obviously i conked out) because somewhat out of the blue my landlady said to me yesterday, "you need to fall in love, Shi Min"... to which i could only say, "that's not really up to me to decide, is it"... then she just laughed...not so sure getting attached for the sake of getting attached is that wise a thing to do huh?