Saturday, September 30, 2006

Saturday Epiphany

Hello,

It hit me. It was always about me needing you (emotionally?). I've become a non-independent, too much accomodating, yeowoman I always despise. But then, you did things that made me realize you need me probably as much as I need you. And that my friend, is a warm fuzzy bit of emotion I've been feeling, my natural high. If only I can keep it like that.

Relationship, beside love (and romance, teuteup), is much about interdependence and solid team work. Just like you proclaimed the other day. I hope I'd find that person to share it with...adventually eventually.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Last night was fun, ya, Ade, KYH

That "New World" cuisine.

The "tattoo".

The crazy "surprise" birthday party.

Ah, I'm beat.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

What are you doing the rest of your life?

I've known you, what, 1/3 of my life? How many of those years has been filled with lies? Yours. I am good on finding information, man, it's what I do with those information that's questionable.

How could a so called wise ass grown up man does those kind of things to himself? But then since your lies do not do me any damage, I decide to play along with it, well, more to ignoring things.

The truth is, you used to be the one person I look up to, an older brother I never have. And I've grown. Have you ever noticed how cold I have been all these years?

You're clearly on the path of self destruction. You need help. I've washed my hands.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Berpacu dalam Melodi

X:
ya ampun...ini lagu kok desperate banget sih

"Now I don't expect you to guarantee
Your faith and devotion to only me
I'm aware you got a lot of wild oats to sow
But baby when I need you
Don't you tell me no"

XX:
hahahhaah
yg nyanyi cowo apa cewe

cewe
ini lagu cocok buat ex-ex elu nih
hoaohaohahooha

hahahhhahaha jgn lah

"I know a man likes to feel that he's been around
Before he decides to settle down
I've no doubt
Some day you're gonna feel that way too
But baby, just remember
(until you do)"

hahaahaah, lagu nya siapa sih, pengen denger gw

mo denger?
di YouTube

link nya dong

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HNYjjIdtYJM&mode=related&search=

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/dusty+springfield/some+of+your+lovin_20044054.html
liriknya...
kaget ya item putih
gue baru nemu nih...penyanyi favorit (baru) gue

lagu jaman kakek gw masih muda nih

hahahaha

Monday, September 25, 2006

The Crescent Moon and the Star

Today's two lab sections were long and exhausting. I was practically up on my feet for nine hours straight. At first, it was to set up the things we needed for the lab. Just in time where I thought everthing was running fine, three of the students showed me their funny lithography results. We needed to redo their wafers. The last guy went out five minutes before the next section started and I, naturally, did not have time to eat lunch. The second section was better.

I nuked a Croissant Pocket and ate lunch at six and then went home. I turned on the TV, a Law & Order SVU episode was halfway played. Before I knew, I was asleep, a good deep one. But before, on the background I heard Detective Benson confinding on her mother...
Benson
You were raped, for God sakes. Are you telling me that you don't understand why she did what she did?

Serena Benson
Oh, I understand it. That does not mean that I condone it.

Benson
Wait, are you saying that you wouldn't have done exactly the same thing if you'd had the chance?

Serena Benson
Is that what you would have wanted me to do?

Benson
Yes!

.
.
.

Benson
I hate him for what he did to you.

Serena Benson
So do I — and if he hadn't, you would not be here.
An hour later, I woke up fresh and ready to rumble. Rec Buddy called a few minutes later .

"Masih cape, lo? Ke Rec yuk."
"Tadi capek banget sih, sekarang udah seger. Ayok..."
"Ya udah, gw jemput elo sekarang yah." It was his turn to drive.

On our way to the Rec, I pointed to the crescent moon and a star on its higher left. They were beautiful against the dark background and the clear sky. I wish I had my camera with me.

"Kayak lambang di mesjid ya."
"Ha ha, iya, pas banget sama bulan puasa."

An article discussing the crescent moon-star in Islam and an equally interesting article on the use of crescent moon as "sleep" symbol in computer interface.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Because I have nothing else to tell

Uhm, do you find the above picture cute (slightly larger size, here)? I know at least three people say so. I call it "The Three Amigos and a Troll," specifically, Mr. Bear, Mr. Doggie Bear, Mr. Bear Bear and the unnamed Troll. They are safely perched on a hanging shelf three feet above The Mini. Ah, enough with the cuteness.

How is everyone's first day of puasa? When I got back from the Rec tonight, I found lots of cars parked up on the street. I was wondering what was up with this phenomena since it wasn't a Thursday, a Friday or a Saturday. And then I saw the mosque, ah, tarawih was in session.

Anyway, on Saturday I felt a sudden urge to (slow)cook. Luckily, we had that rump roast that had been sitting on the freezer for almost month. That kind of meat is perfect for braising. I threw together two packages of instant Rendang spices, a can of coconut milk, about 800 mL of water, and the cut up meat into the slowcooker. Voila, three hours later, we had the pseudo Rendang done. Yum! Eat it over a bed of Basmati rice (it was on sale, really really cheap), and it feels like as if I was eating my favorite Nasi Padang restaurant.

Okay, back to laundry now.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Drama Princess Saturday

We've grown apart. Me and my readings, you and your daydreamings. I put aside that toned down Machiavelli book and we started talking about everything and nothing, just like the old time. And before we knew, two hours had passed. "I'll be back on the weekends. Promise me, we'll do this again then." I smile.

-----

Aha, I forgot that the new moon this time means the start of Ramadhan. That moonphase display on the right is not just for nothing.

Have a blessed penitential month, dearies. Would you find this collection of Ramadhan links useful?

I'll be waiting for the buka bersama and the makan-makan for Eid.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Quiz Friday

Your Taste in Music:

80's Rock: High Influence
90's Alternative: High Influence
Adult Alternative: High Influence
80's Alternative: Medium Influence
90's Pop: Medium Influence






You Are a Drama Princess (or Prince)



You're not over the top dramatic, but you have your moments.

You know how to steal the spotlight...

And how to act out to get your way.



People around you know that you're good for a laugh.

But at times, your drama gets a bit too much for everyone.

Tone it down a tad, and you'll still be the center of attention.



Your Life Is Worth...

$923,500


You Are A Fun Friend

You're the one who keeps your group laughing
And you've always got an idea for something fun to do
The party's not complete without you
And you wouldn't miss it for the world

Thursday, September 21, 2006

The Everlasting Man

It sure takes a lot of eyes and body coordination to finish reading more than half of a paperback printed in tiny typeset while moving about in an elliptical machine for an hour each day these past three weeks. Once in a while, some sort of enlightment accompanied by little smiles emerged from reading these materials.

...and to be discussing some of these ideas with you and in turn only to get weary eyed in disbelief. I guess it's for the best that we agree to disagree on every single fundamental stuff. At least "I" won by 1300 years. :p

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Dududu

It's amazing the clarity that needs to be present on (or the one that will be the result of) writing a curicullum vitae.

The advisor is insisting on nominating yours trully for a prestigious fellowship from one of the prestigious technology companies this side of the universe. The one I have not a miniscule hope on getting. But, hey, a girl gotta do what a girl gotta do, right?

Gosh, why do I have to be so disorganized and disoriented at the same time?

Update:
I'm up to 5-page of glorified bs. I feel like a sell out. Ha ha ha.

XX
### Cherry St. # ###
College Town, TX, 778##
979-###-####
x@xxxx.edu
Education
blablabla

Research Experience
blablabla

Publications
blablabla

Work History
blablabla

Award
blablabla

Activities:
  • Spending 1.5 hours (or more depending on the Rec Buddy's discretion) per day to shed off the much unnecesary weight.
  • Blogging obscure daily activities and nurturing drama queen personality.
  • Devouring junk food daily as long as collectively they are less then a total of 1500 calories.


j/k. I wish I could put those under Activities, to give it some pizzaz or something. He he he.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Another Virgoan

Happy 34th, Din.
[Really, you're already that old? j/k Time passes so quickly.]

I'm not sure how you rank among "my" Virgoans. Pretty high, I suppose. :)

I Wear My Sunglasses at Night

Out of the stupid and unfortunate stuff I've done all my life, I managed to:
1) drop the left lense of a stylish prescription eyeglasses through the small opening between the elevator and the floor. I swear I can hear the sound of it breaks as it lands on the ground floor.
2) "misplace" the spare glasses, which by the way, are old and scratchy.

Now I'm pretty much relied on contact lenses. The thing is, I have issues with the contact on the left eye. It gets blurry from time to time (and to make things worse, I usually wear these contact lenses to sleep, being lazy and never mastered the quick way to put them on).

To remedy the situation, I usually:
a) would blink, a lot. Gosh, who knows, some people might think I'm winking at them.
b) grab the rewetting drops and use it one too many times. If people see me, it looks like I've been crying all day, what with the redness and the teary eyes.
c) and when b) is not enough, I'd take the said contact out, clean it and put it back on, which does not solve the problem at all. It'd still be blurry.
d) When I couldn't handle the blurriness, the blinking, the eyedrops, and the cleaning, I would just take them off. I can still handle life without eyesight correction devices, well, maybe except to watch DVD with subtitles.
Oh, and appropos to the DVD watching...
e) would just go ahead and wear my out-of-style prescriptive (sun)glasses.

"What a dork!" NY would tease me. But hey, whatever works, you know. This song by Corey Hart would be appropriate everytime.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

My favorite Virgoan

That cute girl on the left, let me tell you. It's almost heartbroken that she has been through quite a lot of medical procedure from such a tender young age. But hey, she survives, a goodsport and a firecracker that she always is.

She has blessed with and accomplished so much. The coolest family, a bright mind, an easygoing personality, a functional leadership skill, a meaningful relationship. If nothing else, she's on the express track towards wellroundedness. A nice person too, one will definitely enjoy her company anytime.

Happy 21st, Kak Ika Hon.

What you lack in age, you make up for in madness (among other things...about Korean drama, so help us God).

Live long and prosper & may the Force be with you, dear.
It might be the gloomy day, it might be the hormonal thing, it might be that I am just tired. I tear up a bit just to think how all road just lead back to you. I thought I have let you go completely. I haven't.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Friday, September 15, 2006

Picture Galore

Dinner at the Suardins, in honor of the newly and soon to be nuptialed.





Thursday, September 14, 2006

Fat Burning Zone

I love Rec Buddy for his commitment on research (not school related field). He takes this whole research thing religiously: performing experiments, analyzing results, gathering conclusion, and finally presenting it to whoever he thinks worth explaining to.

The top three on his current list of interests: personal relationships, health and fitness, and lately, home furnishing. He mainly relies on search engine for the last two. The problem is there are googols of things one'd find scattered around the information superhighway, it's the better judgment that determine if what you read is what you need and what actually works for you.

Take for example, our latest frenzy about fat burning zone, which turns out is nothing but a myth taken from oversimplifying a scientific result on human physiology. All this time, Rec Buddy has been feeding me with his findings, until last night when I decided to do my own research.

Fat burning zone is defined as the heart rate region where you would burn more fat than carbohydrates, and thus, has been claimed as the ultimate tool for weight loss.

A low intensity exercise, associated with a lower heart rate, burnt more fat than carbohydrates. Lower heart rate means the heart could deliver more oxygen around. Since fat burning is an aerobic process, the higher oxygen to carbon dioxide ratio means there are more fat burnt compared to carbohydrate. At the opposite end, a high intensity exercise, associated with a higher heart rate, burns more carbohydrate than fat.

The catch is, for the same exercising period, a low intensity exercise produces lower total calories compared to the high intensity exercise. While the ratio of fat to carbohydrate burnt during low intensity exercise is higher then that of the high intensity exercise, the total fat burnt of the latter is larger than the that of the former.

Adding to the already complicated thing, heart rate is not necessarily a reliable measure of ratio of oxygen burnt and carbon dioxide produced during exercise.

What one needs to loose weight is a negative calory balance. Fat or carbohydrate burnt do not make a difference.

So here we are, resuming our "high" intensity training one more time...

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

9 months and 2 days ago

I couldn't believe I was that naive. :)

Fellow Virgoan




*Pak Dodol, permisi, anda jadi ikut terpampang di sini. Kalo di-
crop kurang sreg sepertinya, he he.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Norman trip anyone?

Logging in to MSN:
Family (0/5)
Friends (9/35)
...
BEAT OREGON! In Bob we trust...(away)
...
...
...
Other Contacts (1/8)
X says:
is that Bob really really that great?

BEAT OREGON! says:
hellllls yeah
1 NC, 3 big 12 championships...in 6 years of coaching

how cool
are you going to pay the last homage sometime before you leave?

sEPT 23

Middle Tennessee...
are they okay?

yahh...tackling dummies
mau ikut?

hm
next Saturday?
pengen..tapi bisa nggak ya
hm

bisaaaa....

I don't know. I promise to volunteer for homegame football fundraising. Plus 9 hours driving. But then the crazy Sooner will leave for good next month. Hmm...

Monday, September 11, 2006

Bloggin' time

Pak Dodol wrote about the saturation of the blogosphere and at the end this is what he said.

I think I'm missing the good ol' blogosphere.

The silly online diarists' neighborhood where everybody knows your name.

Ah, I miss watching Cheers. Digressing.

What he points out below is what I couldn't disagree more.

You know what, that title above, The Saturation of the Blogosphere? Check that. It should've read: The Saturation of My Blogosphere. My personal blog-world can barely take in new blogs, other than those whose authors I know personally or I can at least relate to personally.

My Bloglines consists of blogs from authors I know in person and/or can relate to. I have stopped blogwalking for quite a while and been mainly relied on the feed aggregator for my daily dose of blogreadings. My comment on his entry:

Iya, jadi jarang blogwalk, yang ngenalin Bloglines kan elu.

Saking jenuhya sama blog sendiri yang "saturated" dengan hal-hal nggak jelas keseharian, sekarang gue malah nge-ghostwrite. Ha ha ha. Masih dengan tema yang sama, tapi rasanya lebih seger. Ha ha ha.

Which brings us to this topic...

Main Entry: ghost·write
Pronunciation: 'gOs(t)-"rIt
Function: verb
intransitive verb : to write for and in the name of another
transitive verb : to write (as a speech) for another who is the presumed author
Remember the running-partner-turn-Rec-buddy? Other than KYH, my labmates, Bu Didi (virtually), KIkH, Ade Hon (the last two mostly on weekends), he's the one I spend a considerable amount of time with almost everyday. Naturally, a lot of his life got intertwined with mine, tidbits volunteered and exchanged.

One day, bored with the nature of my blog, I got a lightbulb working and decided to do a ghostwrite for him instead also. It is a fun thing to do trying to make it look like a guy's writing. He thinks it's nothing like his style. And, Ka, Toto said it sounds feminine.

Anyhow, I am having such a high time ghostwriting, eventhough the "subject" of the blog and his roomates couldn't really get the humor I am trying to convey.

Read all about it here.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Yang akan tiba

7:53 PM, saya lihat keluar jendela. Matahari sudah hilang, berganti kegelapan dan kerlap-kerlip lampu di kejauhan. Saya selalu bilang kalo saya selalu sedih ketika musim panas berangsur berganti ke musim gugur. Kenapa, katamu. Karena matahari yang lebih cepat terbenam yang membuat saya merasa kehabisan waktu. Yap, stres yang disebabkan musim dan matahari. Bagaimana kalo saya tinggal di Alaska atau di Kutub Utara ya? Oh ya, saya kangen kamu loh. Apakabar?

Lyrics Thursday

Some people are in touch with poems by obscure but brilliant poets. I settle with the simple good ol' classic jazz selections. From 1939, Bob Haggart (music) and Johnny Burke (lyrics)...What's New

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

TA (Teaching Anxiety)

Last Sunday, which coincidentally was my birthday, was the day before I started teaching the first two lab sections of an Electrical Engineering class. I am not an electrical engineer by training, but my research has pulled me into this kind of stuff early on.

Throughout the day, I felt anxious more than ever even though that was going to be my fourth time teaching the same materials over these five years. I know I am pretty experienced, on the other hand, there is a self-imposed pressure to make this year's an ever better practice.

As I noted, the pressure was there but not the drive. I spent the whole day to not even close to prepare the basic methodology, to ponder on what I am going to say to the students or to anticipate their questions.

Finally at eight that Monday morning, I started working on my little handout (rules, contact information, office hours, etc.) for the students. One section of the lab was at 11:30 AM, another section was at 3 PM, the last one will be on Tuesday morning.

While preparing the handout, I got on my mood and it all came back to me. It was going up hill from there.

That first lab was very short. We began with general introduction and safety rules before got on the gist of the lab. The kids were nice. I have enough confidence that I can handle them.

I spent the time between sections making little roster of their e-mails, grading their pre-lab work, and organizing my lab folder with the manual, fabrication charts and notes.

Hmm, this teaching gig is getting interesting by the minute. Should I consider going into academia for my little plan in the not so distant future? It feels like I could enjoy teaching. But working on a tenure position is probably not going to be that fun. Besides, I really need to go into the real world. So probably the answer is still a no.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Plateau oh plateau

KS says:
http://www.weightlossforall.com/target%20heart%20rate%20zone.htm

X says:
elu udah itung?

jadi 125 itu
lower limit nya
upper limitnya bisa sampe 165 kl gw

iya gue juga
nggak sih
gue biasanya 155 paling tinggi

yah loe ngga apa2 segitu
soalnya angka 220 itu ngga exact kok
loe baca detail deh
di kasi tau gimana dapetin 220 untuk tiap orang

tapi 125 rendah banget ya
kayak nggak gerak
"the higher range of the zone but you will burn more calories however most will be in the form of carbohydrates and less total fat."

iya yah
kl gitu gw ngga lebih dari 150 aja lah skr

hihihi
anaerobic apa pula ini

ngga tau

ohhh, tapi Want, kalo yang bakar carb ini
"Although anaerobic exercises burn more carbohydrates they can be important in any weight loss program. They help burn fat indirectly by increasing the metabolic rate after an exercise session"

aduhhh gimana dong
bingung nih
brp jadi nya

makanyaaaa

udah lah ntar aja di pikirin
hehehhh
mo cari plateau dulu

heheheh
nah iya itu lebih penting
coba elu ukur hr [rested heart rate] skrg

gimana caranya gw udah lupa

yah cuman ngedengerin pulse aja kan ya
15 detik aja kali 4
ato kalo rajin tungguin semenit

bentar yah gw ukur

gue 61

gw 60 pas
sedetik satu gini

hebat ya
brp ya bagusnya
"Children age 10+ and adults: 60-100
Well-conditioned athletes: 40-60"
cieeee...elu well conditioned

elo jg 61 gitu

ayo kita bikin 50

jadi nih ceritanya mungkin yg salah di HR nya yah
selain makan2 yg ngga jelas
dan jgn laper aja
makan musti tetep 6 kali sehari

iya
dan bener2 kecil kalorinya ya
oh susahhnyaaa

iya
6 x IHOP yah jebol juga

yoiii
sekali dua minggu aja kali makan gede gitu
ato sebulan sekali???
haooaoha

sekali 2 minggu aja lah

juga katanya latihannya bagusnya diseling2
ntar badannya udah terlalu adaptasi jadinya nggak turun juga

di seling2 apa tuh

di ganti2 gitu rutinnya

hmmm iya jg
kita udah ganti2 berkali2 nih

tapi apa yaaa??

kita kayaknya perlu istirahat nih kamis kali yah

ini hari apa sih?
Rabu ya

kamis jumat ngga latihan yuks

iya kali ya
okeh

terus mulai sabtu lagi

tapi jangan makan gila-gilaan selama nggak latihan itu!

yoi

Fashion no-no

Kak Yada Hon, orang suka loh liat cowo pake Polo. Apalagi kalo badannya yang agak gede jadi full gitu jatuhnya di dia.


Ha ha ha, orang juga. Tapi begitu liat bawahnya...ihh...pake celana kotak-kotak pendek. Langsung ilfil.

Trus liat ke atas lagi pake visor yang bagian depannya plastik dikesampingin pula.

Ihh..iya..trus pake kacamata pilot.


...aviator?


Iya itu...

Ja ja ja..trus pake postman bag dikesampingin yang dari kulit...trus pake Crocs...pink


Iya, dari atas sampe bawah pink...iuhhh... ja ja ja ja...

Iuhhh...ja ja ja.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Jadi TA lagi

elu inget kan yang Sabtu kemaren gue ke liquor store yang di West Gate?
entah angin apa yang membawa gue ke situ, biasanya kan yang di University Dr. ato di Texas Ave.
trus kan pas gue mo bayar, penjaganya bilang, "You got the good stuff, huh."
soalnya gue ambil yang Souza buat tequila dan margarita mix-nya
kayaknya 100 % agave deh itu tequila-nya

jadi kan emang agak kemahalan, trus dia nyariin yang murahan dikit tapi masih Souza juga

trus...
joajoaoaojaoja...nah ternyata itu penjaganya itu salah satu murid gue di lab tadi!
hahaha...ya ampun hahaha, ternyata TA nya pemabok
gila...jajaja...yoi...bisa-bisa nggak di respek nih gue ama murid-murid
respek lah
TA-nya ternyata asik, gak kaku biru

biru?
asal aja sih itu...maksud gw, TA nya nggak dingin, dingin=biru=kaku, gitu
jajajajaja...oh gitu...iya, haduh, coba kalo TA-nya suka clubbing, pasti lebih seru lagi nih ceritanya
yoi

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Tomorrow

For so many years this time around, I'd turn up the volume to this song and tear up a bit. The older I am the more melancholic I become.

Shakedown 1979, cool kids never have the time
On a live wire right up off the street
You and I should meet

Junebug skipping like a stone
With the headlights pointed at the dawn
We were sure we'd never see an end to it all

And I don't even care to shake these zipper blues
And we don't know
Just where our bones will rest
To dust I guess
Forgotten and absorbed into the earth below

Doublecross the vacant and the bored
They're not sure just what we have in the store
Morphine city slippin dues down to see

That we don't even care as restless as we are
We feel the pull in the land of a thousand guilts
And poured cement, lamented and assured
To the lights and towns below
Faster than the speed of sound
Faster than we thought we'd go, beneath the sound of hope

Justine never knew the rules,
Hung down with the freaks and the ghouls
No apologies ever need be made,
I know you better than you fake it to see

That we dont care to shake these zipper blues
And we dont know just where our bones will rest
To dust I guess
Forgotten and absorbed into the earth below

The street heats the urgency of sound
As you see there's no one around

At 26 I find friendships that shall last more than this lifetime (hello dearies!), the idea of love that I seem to never grow out of and some light at the end of the "higher education" tunnel. What will 27 bring?