Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Breathing through my mouth (darn stuffy nose)

There were a lot of interesing conversations during the seven hours we spent on the road today. Half of them were about our--or rather, your--favorite subject, relationships.

You said you've heard too many stories about unfaithful marriages, either or both partners were guilty of charge. It runs in your family, your friends', your co-workers'. It's depressing that the world could be such a dreary place to be lived in. The next second, you came back to your usual optimistic nature. Trust is important, you said, but above all, one must survive, should one experience that kind of violation.

I never understand why one breaches the most important commitment one could ever make. It's easy to say it now, I guess. When one faces the opportunity so attractive, that's probably when the moral imperative vaporizes perniciously. Ah, to be young and naive (and of good nature?), to treat and in return expecting to be treated fairly.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Modesty vs Vanity

A friend asked NY's to sing at her church yesterday since their usual singer was not available. I was there for emotional support, not that she needed it.

A snippet of conversation regarding the "gig":
"Kak Inda Hon, kamu kalo mo ikut liat orang nyanyi pake bajunya yang agak alim ya. Jadi pikirin baju yang biasa kamu pake ke St. Mary's, trus kurangi kadar keseksiannya 50%."
Hmm...what I classified as a "sexy" outfit is anything with uncovered spaghetti straps and low cleavage cut. Never wear any of those to church or anywhere else for that matter anyway. But it was still hard to come up with a "cute" outfit with the kind of coverage NY required. She has created a monster (inside joke).

Another one...

Kak Inda Hon, coba dengerin nih orang nyanyi ya. *mulai beryanyi*
2 bait kemudian...
Gimana menurut kamu? Masak kayak gitu dibilang kurang menjiwai lagu loh.

Heh? Hmm...udah sih sepertinya. Tapi kalo mau lebih menghayati, coba aja mikirin nyanyiin lagunya untuk hmm...Mas Ganteng misalnya. Ha ha ha.


That will work
! *nyanyi-nyanyi lagi, tapi kali ini beneran keliatan dengan penuh perasaan*

I'm glad I can be of any help. HA HA HA

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Pictures Sunday

Eid Mubarak!


(NY's) Future family. Hoahahaha...


Kelebihan waktu sejam, gimana kalo foto-foto dulu?

Saturday, October 28, 2006

DQ Saturday

You have three choices in life: live for today, live for tomorrow, or live for the past. When all channels have been exhausted, living for today does not equal the pleasantries it is supposed to be corresponded with. Living for tomorrow, as always, gives a sense of hope and with it a stand to fight for whatever that might go wrong or right or in between. And that, my friend, can be exhausting as well because tomorrow seems to be a million light years away. And really in the grand scheme of things, one is nothing but a small speck of dust in the wind. Living in the past, on the other hand, brings about the old, the ever familiar, the comfort zone. How attractive it is! I'd rather living today for tomorrow. But for today, I miss talking to you. I miss you.

Romance and Geekery

I don't know that relationships can be that complicated

and you think you and him is complicated?


of course not

there's no "us", isn't it?

you'll learn....
.
.
.

how's the project? the one with solar satellite?

that a dream project


what's your current?


current ?

data acquisition

sensor to daq to pc
webbased

you and your brother can consult with each other?
his stuff is like that too right?

we do consult
the daq idea came from him

oh

what kind of board do you have?

built your own? or use one of those NIs?

www.emant.com
found one in sgp
tough find


cheap


yes

very cheap

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Dreamy

At the ToT tonight, the speaker was one of my favorite people of all time. Sufficed it to say, I was so so happy to see him again after all this time.

Following the costumary hugs:
"H, how long have you been here?"
"It's ten years next year, Father." I carefreely laughed.
"Really, yeah, I couldn't believe it's been that long."
"Uh, uh." I expressed a similar disbelieve.
"Do you remember?" I reminisced, "when I first arrived here, my father called up the church and said, 'I have my daughter starting school here, I would like to talk face to face with one of the priests.' And then the next afternoon, we came to see you."
"Yes, yes."

Anyhow, here is a thing, if my vocation is to become a married person, I'd like to have him as the celebrant. Ah, a Texas spring wedding, maybe? =)

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Book meme

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
"The Oxford academic Frederic Harrison (who might himself be presumed to boast some competency in the classics) took an equally caustic view of the benefits of prolonged communion with literature, history or painting. 'Culture is a desirable quality in a critic of new books, and sits well on a possessor of belles lettres,' he allowed, but 'as applied to everyday life or politics, it means simply a turn for small fault-finding, love of selfish ease, and indecision in action. The man of culture is one of the poorest mortals alive. For simple pedantry and want of good sense no man is his equal."
NB:
The choice was between a bunch of books on electrical stuff or the book from which the above was quoted from.

Monday, October 23, 2006

and when I grow up, I wanna be a politician

life is pretty good back here

how so?

well, let's see...
i have family, food, lots of food, and i don't have to do laundry or wash my car ever again


ahaha, true that
24-hour food, laundry and maid service, and you have cable
life is good...


yeah, plus no traffic, working from home

heaven

people say that this city is kotor, semrawut
but after a while, you'll get use to it
it's just the way everything is here


I guess

i still can't drive like orang jakarta though

it'll get back to ya

you know what i want to do next?
trying out to become one of those news anchor
specifically, the english news service


yeah? TVRI programa 2?

Metro TV juga ada
that way, it's easier to sell my self
once it's time to jump into politics


oh my, you are serious about that politic thing?

hell yeah

ck ck
ehm...tapi kali harus agak langsing dikit kali ya...

HA HA HA, OK, i will

dan kali pake jas-nya yang kerenan dikit potongannya

ah, di belakang meja ini...
cuman atasan doang aja kan yang penting

ha ha ha

Ha ha ha

Friday, October 20, 2006

Random Friday

"How old are you?" The guy already violated one of the sanctums of womanhood.
"Twenty-seven."
"You don't look like twenty-seven. You look like twenty-two."
"Aw. Thank you. Ha ha ha." I'm not sure if I should be flattered or mad.

--

"OK, I'm going to the library, I'll call you when I got back."
"The library? The bar or the ..."
"I know you would say that, the real one... Do I really look like the type? Beside, it's 1 PM Friday."

--

I borrowed two books purely for reading pleasures. Three or four Designing Women reruns in a row is not fitting for before bedtime activity anymore.
They are:
  1. Status Anxiety. Ha, interesting, it is written by someone who can still be categorized to belong in our generation. Let's see how entertaining and witty it is.
  2. The Complete Peanuts. I believe, we had a copy left back home.
--

A really big guy in my research area of interest (the advisor ranks him as one of the top three authorities in the world) gave a talk this afternoon. I came up with a question for him out of naivity. He answered it clearly and added a few more extra points. I had thought that the method they used is not really that practical. He confirmed that humbly. But then in this industry, there are always bountiful of innovation and improvement that break whatever physical limitation.

Anywho, I'm going to ask his signature for my copy of a book he wrote.

--

I'm interested to participate at this photocontest for International Education Week at our school.

Photo Contest Guidelines

c. International Students, “As Others See Us” —photos taken in the
U.S. that represent something the student finds typical of the United
States, region, or community. This is a subjective category, so the
description given will be important. An example would be a picture of
how Americans use sports memorabilia in restaurant decor

2. Criteria:
a. Size: 8 x 10 to 16 x 20
b. Mounted on foam board for display
c. Previously unpublished
--

Look, it's 2% of a full moon. Which day is Eid going to fall on? Isn't Monday or Tuesday too late?

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Where were you?

"Tuesday, September 26, 2006 There`s a 50% chance that I`m writing this just for the sake of the IP address. Haha. A few things I learned about this place today:
1. formal suit goes with bicycle here
2. people jaywalk here
3. the streets here are squeaky clean yet not so standard that they become boring
4. wywh"
I'm guessing Paris. Ah, how romantic. But wait, it's not squeaky clean there. So, I don't know. And number 4, ah, what a lucky girl. =)

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Hi

A friend once told me he couldn't understand when people complain about their lack of conversation topics. The fact that there is nothing to converse about is a conversation topic, which brings us to the lack of update here in the Dungeon. It's been, what, five days since my last post?

I was feeling particularly hostile towards a certain person last Saturday, hence the post below. Unlike 80% of the matters posted in this blog, it wasn't anything about the yucky love stuff. It was about the disappointment of being taken for granted by somebody you consider a good friend.

Anyhow, it got carried over to Sunday. NY dragged me out of the bed. I went to church with her with a heart as hard as diamond drilling bit. I didn't follow any of the readings, I didn't sing, I even didn't take communion. It faded out towards the evening. I realized, it was just me, as usual, being overly dramatic about some ridiculous sentimental feeling.

And what did I know, it seems that that person really can read my mind. Without me even no where close to touching the subject, he voluntary conveyed the details. It made me come to my senses once and again.

Ah, unto the better days (and self) ahead.

Update:
What I mean by coming to my senses is to not putting high expectations on people I couldn't count on. I was facing an almost exact situation today and it didn't bother me at all. Yay, independence!

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Schmuck

I couldn't believe I put such an unnecessary high hope on you and on me. Never ever going into that kind of thing again. Never.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Rec buddy is here!

Jadi kan, gue kemaren dulu ke discussion group gitu lah, anak-anak muda Katolik sini. Topik malam itu ternyata tentang perkawinan. Kenapa banyak yang gagal, blablabla. Gue pikir...sial...ini yang dateng udah pada bawa gandengan gitu, gue aja yang hepi joi joi dateng sendirian. Lalu kan ya kirain ngebahasnya secara agama ato teologi ato apalah, eh ternyata pake psikologi populer, yang kayak elu sering "ceramahin" itu.

Ha ha ha. Dan loe udah bosan pasti... ha ha ha...

Ha ha ha, yoi, eh bukan bosan, gue pikir, yah kalo yang beginian juga gue udah lulus, udah dapet sertifikat gitu dari elu.

Lalu, pembicaranya bilang dia percaya sama teori:
1. Posisi elu di keluarga menentukan siapa yang bakal elu nikahin. Jadi, bungsu biasanya ama bungsu, sulung ama sulung, anak tengah ama anak tengah.
2. Elu bakal menikah cuman dengan salah satu dari dua tipe orang: nyokap ato bokap.

Jadi intinya, kalo gue, bakal tertarik sama anak sulung dan yang personalitinya mirip-mirip bokap.

Ha ha ha..loe idola banget ama bokap ya. Eh, tapi kalo sulung ama sulung berantem terus dong. Harusnya sulung ama bungsu gitu.

Nggak ah, kalo sama bungsu pasti gue sebel banget. Manjanya itu loh. Sedangkan gue kan pengen dimanja. He he he.

Lah gue bungsu...gue gak manja.

Elu, nggak manja? Manja lagi...ih manja banget.

HAHAHAHAHHAHA....gue udah tau loe bakal bilang gitu. Kartu gue udah kebuka semua di loe HAHAHAHAHA.

HOOAHOAOHAHO...ya gitu deh.

Boredom needs company

It's another gloomy, thunderstorm warning morning. I started off the day with measurement and more measurement. I came upon the Rolling Stone's website from the Google desktop bar. Thank goodness, otherwise I am really going crazy. I browsed over the video section and found a music clip. Been hitting the play button over and over and over.

At 10:30, I made a phonecall to a girlfriend whom I haven't talked to in ages. She's been on my mind lately--along with two or three people I should always be in touch with. She was a frequent reader of Misnomer but she hasn't had a clue about the existence of this blog despite of the subtle clue. *wink* Should I just tell her?

The girlfriend was one year my senior in highschool. She'll be finishing a PhD (in Biochemistry from a reputable fancy university, no less!) sometimes next spring. This years is her tenth year living in the States and going to school. We are pretty much in the same boat.

"Really, what kind of life we've lead all these years," I said.
"Well...we'll be through it sometime." I envy her state-of-mind. She's always calm and logical.

Before her cell phone died on us, we made plan to watch The West Side Story in two weeks and another plan for an end-of-the-year roadtrip to Las Vegas and surrounding area. Anyone wanna join us for any of these? Anyone?

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Nggak Penting

Have you..

fallen in love with someone you can't have?

Yes, I have.

missed someone too bad til you can't sleep at night?
Mos def.

kissed a member of the same sex?
On the cheek? Yes.

been so depressed?
Yup, not just once in a blue moon.

felt so lonely and dunno where to go?
Not lately.

been dumped?
No?

spent more than 5 hours in front of your TV?
Yes. Law & Order marathon (and many other TV series marathon)

gone out with friends and got back home at 2 in the morning?
Fo shizzle. What do you think is the weekend for?

had only two hours sleep?
You mean napping? Yes. Otherwise, yes, too.

got drunk so badly?
No, just "passed out".

made a fake smile while you're hurting inside?
Yes.

been miles away from the one you love?
only miles away? What about thousands of miles?

slit your arms just to see blood and feel better?
Uhh, no! I'd rather turn up the volume to some trash metal or something.

had a thought to suicide?
Yes.

lost 10 pounds in a week?
More like in two months.

pretended that you're sick just to skip school?
No.

fallen asleep in the classroom?
Yes...I think.

spent 100 bucks to shop at once?
Other than for electronics? Yes! Oh my.

been in a car accident?
Once. Wasn't my fault.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Between this and The Smashing Pumpkins

I don't quite know
How to say
How I feel

Those three words
Are said too much
They're not enough

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

.
.
.

All that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see

I don't know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things will never change for us at all

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

--Chasing Cars, The Snow Patrol

Sometimes (too many times) a (this) girl just need to cry her heart out, and, man, it's still because of you.

Dallas Trip Pics, pt. deux

Japanese Garden



Sunday, October 08, 2006

Friday, October 06, 2006

Sport Commandment # 29

Never mix tennis and racquetball, unless you can master handling the two different racquets , for example, to return the raquetball ball without looking like a short-sighted fool.

Permisi dulu, ya, mo jalan-jalan ke Dallas dan suburban sekitarnya. Secara berurutan: DSW, Galleria, sushi, taman Jepang, mal (kalo sempet), bakeri, dan Oakland! Oh ya, sambil bertemu, bercengkrama, dan beramah tamah dengan Bu Didi dan Pak Sooner dong.

See ya Sunday.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Hidup Baru (bukan saya)

Hoi, Want...

Kepindahan elu ternyata cukup membuat gue sedih juga.

Nggak ada lagi saling negosiasi jadwal buat ke Rec. Nggak ada lagi gue yang sebel dengan ngaretnya elu yang bisa sampe sejam. Nggak ada lagi saingan nurunin lemak dan tahan-tahanan nggak bosen di atas eliptikal. Nggak ada lagi temen tanding lari lebih cepet. Nggak ada lagi ngomongin masalah-masalah nggak jelas sambil melakukan semua itu. Nggak ada lagi yang dengan antusias merancang eksperimen kardio dan diet yang paling efektif. Nggak ada lagi yang minta-minta air beku gue. Nggak ada lagi yang minta ditemenin ke Subway ato grocery setelahnya. Oh, dan di luar semua kegiatan olahraga itu, nggak ada lagi pesan siang bolong di MSN yang mengaku lagi bosen dan ngajakin makan siang (kedua, pantes juga benernya tu berat susah turunnya). Kayaknya nggak ada lagi tempat di North Gate yang belom kita jelajahin yaks.

Coba ya, kemaren malem, gue udah kayak orang gila olahraga sendirian. Padahal cuman sejam dan udah pake musik segala musik, buku segala buku, majalah segala majalah. Gue tetep aja sering ngelirik ke jumlah kalori yang dibakar di mesin sebelah dan baru sadar, lah kan bukan elu orang di atas mesin itu. Ha ha ha.

Ya udahlah. Hidup kan terus berjalan. Selamat menempuh hidup baru aja deh.

Love Thursday


alda says:
helolloooooo

X says:
wah halo dek
gimana ujiannya?

lumayan
kamu lagi ngapain ni kak????

baru bangun

selamat pagi
gak sarapan kak
kamu ada kuliah hari ni??

hahaha
iya lah

jam berapa kak

iya bentar lagi

ohhh,,,,kalo mau siap2 blang ya

Kak Yada lagi siap2

oooo
gimana anak,,tu sukses program diet dya???

nggak ada diet2 dia
ada ujian juga dia hari ini

ooooo
semoga sukses ya kak yada,,,amkin
.
.
.
kakak kakak kuu,,,,aku cabut dahulu ya,,,lemes ini badan

ahahhah
emang kamu ikut puasa?

hahahahhahahahahaha
gakk,lemes aja kakakku
orang rindu ma klian

iya, orang juga...huhuhuhu

syap2 lah kak

okeh daah Dek Al

dadadadadadadada

babaaaiiii

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Totally, totally stealing this from Hani

"Pinjem", ya, Han. Hihihi.

Inside Her My Bag

The bag: Maroon/Brown Balenciaga Motorcycle Bag (knock-off, made in HK, hoahoaohaoha)

On her trip home last May, NY stop-overed in HK for two days. She promised to bring back some people --you know who you are-- some top quality designer bag knock offs. In actuality, she only got mom, her, and me. The two of them each got one of those Coach monograms. For me, since the forewarned "I don't want anything monogrammed and fake," she bought me the motorcycle bag instead. Really, it wasn't love at first sight for me. The bag resembles what an inang-inang would wear and don't get me started on the "tentacles". But in the end, I grew fond of it. It makes organizing easier with the inside pockets and pouch.

The content (divided into three categories, clockwise, started from the left):

  1. The techies stuff
    • MP3 player with the arm band--great for Rec trip
    • Flash drive--great for computer lab trip
    • Cellphone, handset, charger--great for organizing social and academic life and of course for gossipping

  2. The administrative stuff
    • Checkbook--for that last minute rent payment
    • Two red pens (couldn't function without), two black pens (I never really use these), and a highlighter
    • Hello Kitty keychain--office and lab keys (dubbed the dirtiest, literally, Hello Kitty in the whole wide world), multicolor beaded keychain (apt, cars, mailbox)
    • Rosary
    • Prescription sunglasses (never really use these either)
    • Wristlet (financial stuff, blood donor card, towel card, IDs, a pen, and a lipgloss)

  3. The hygene stuff
    • Rewetting drop for contacts
    • Bodywash
    • Bodyspray
    • Antibacterial thing
    • Tissue
    • Oil blotter (I just found this inside one of the pockets today, it's NY's)
    • Ponytail
    • 500-mg Ponstan (my favorite analgesic ever)
Really, I don't carry this bag and the whole content other than when I go to school. Most of the time, I saunter around with only the wristlet and the cellphone.

That's all folks!

Gaagh

If my face were Italy back in 79 AD, there is a Mt. Vesuvio waiting to explode. Man, 27 years old and I'm still having deadly pimples.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Yay, it's ToT time!

Tonight is the first of the six of Theology on Tap series. The original ToT was jump started by the Archdiocese of Chicago 25 years ago and has been a hit amoung young Catholic professionals across America ever since. Where else can you say, "Hey Father, let me buy you a beer" appropriately while immersing in discussions bridging the 2000-year old faith to today's secular daily life?

At B/CS, these events are sponsored by the Diocese of Austin and hosted by Catholic Seeds, a local group of young professional, 21-39 years old, single or married. I love the Seeds' disclaimer that it is not a Catholic singles group where, for example, you can execute a JLAH/JLAW plan. I mean, you sure can but that's not supposed to be *cough* the main purpose.

The complete schedule and speakers:
Oct 3 - Rev. Italo Dell'Oro - "Where is the Church Headed? Pope Benedict XVI's First 500 Days"

Oct 10 - Arthur Canales - "Insights on Christian Marriage: Why So Many Want It and Why So Many Fail at it in the United States?"

Oct 17 - Rev. David Konderla - "A Recipe for Success: The Ingredients for a Healthy Relationship"

Oct 24 - Rev. Mike Sis - "Decisions, Desires, Discernment: Does God Have a Plan for Me?"

Oct 31 - NO THEOLOGY ON TAP – HALLOWEEN

Nov 7 - Sarah Hayes - "Recognizing God in Everyday Events: Is There More There Than Meets the Eye?"

Nov 14 - Rev. Brian McMaster - "Current Reproductive Technologies and the Catholic Faith"

[pervert mode]Hmm....especially looking forward to that last one. [/pervert mode]


NB: Around this time two years ago, I took this picture while walking home from Fitzwilly's after the ToT. Time sure flies.

Monday, October 02, 2006

As happy as a Mexican jumping bean

Ke Dallas, kita...KYH? Halo Bu Didi!

X says:
kapan baliknya?

Y 360: Homeward bound says:
Sunday
:)

OOOOO
udah beres semua?

not yet hahaha

aduh...apa rasanya yaaaaa
11 years?

9

masak 9 sih? ai aja tahun depan 10

izz all good...gue kan kaya lizard...bisa menyesuaikan diri
huahaha
ganti warna

hahahahhahahah

gue kan balik thn 97

ohhh yah nggak keitung lah
itu kan ndak permanen

he he he
10 years then

huhuhu
trus pacar gimana?

long distance...
who knows how that'll work

hehehehe
got job waiting already?

nope...
santai dulu hahaha...

kicking it back a little?
hahahhahah
jelajah Jkt dulu

is it not retirement time yet?

aiha hahahhahah retirement...dasar kakek...

he he he
santai2....hari2 baca buku aja

ciiieeee
politician kita, ntar jangan lupa gue diangkat jadi staf ahli Menristek yah

ha ha ha
beresssss....
huahahahahaha

In chronological order

Number of student I bought and got advice on a certain South of the Border liquor and mix (this was on the Saturday before the first Monday lab section he attended) = 1

Number of student whose load of laundry I liberally moved to the dryer because I just couldn't wait for a few more minute to put mine into the washer and then he came and I had to explain the whole situation which placed us on a little more than awkward chit chat = 1

Number of student added moi to his Facebook (kurang kerjaan banget sampe bisa ketemu coba) = 1

Number of student has seen moi in pajamas at 2 PM on a Sunday afternoon while getting the trash out and doing laundry = 1