Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Catatan (Stalker-nya) si Roy

Deareth Current Object of Affection,

How my heart filleth with joy everytime thou stopping by my humble abode (office, that is)! And to think that thou listeneth to National Public Radio, such a joyous coincidence! There are sparkles in my otherwise zombie eyes when we rehearse conversations, conversation that up to par with long and nice tennis matches. Alas, I am just a foolish girl, who despite of being a creature of habit is not foolish enough to repeat the same mistake twice. Thou art so close but yet so far. I shall do nothing but admiring thou from a far.

Yours truly,
Penguins Dance

NB:
1. HAOAHOAHAOAOHHAO....
2. It is nice to finally get over you, dear.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Culinarily Unchallenged

nda
ol ngga?
yuuhuuu




WAHHHH
salut gue W***
bahkan motongin buncis pun elu bisa miring2
gue aja nggak bisa!

you bet
itu bukan buncis... itu cabe ijo
hahahhaha

see....how not much of a culinary person I am

emang loe



nasinya banyak aja Bang porsinye

laper bu
mo buat apa lagi
aduhhh gw udah tambah gendut bgt nih

hmmmmm
tidur makanya

iya

rasanya gimana W***???
aduh sial jadi laparrr

rasa apa say?

ya makanannya laaahhh

ohhh enak
gw suka dahl nya
terus sambal telor nya jg enak
tadinya mo buat balado sih
tp berhubung ngga ada cabe merah
ijo pun jadi lah
berhubung ngga ada ulekan
di potong2 pun jadi lah
akhirnya jadi gitu deh
semi balado
or not even balado
hahahha

hahaha...tetep mantaf!

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Hubba Hubba

A fun February night at a new cafe filled with insightful conversations about art, culture and politics. :P Desserts by Christopher of Christopher's World Grill, drinks: distinctively refreshing passion fruit ice tea.


Let's pretend to be models for the night.

One more time...

Beta Tau Alpha Magazine, Fabulous Feb Edition...It's too-hot-for-pants-a-bit-breezy-without-jackets-flat-shoes-are-beautiful number.

"Eh, gimana kalo kita ke Gerbang Utara abis ini?"
"AYOOKKK...."
"Jadi pulang dulu nih, dandan?"
"Iya dong..."

i am trying to keep a very platonic relationship here
hahah..succeeding?
sofar yes.. note: we both have a platonic relationship....
who?
you and I
oh..well...I'm not like her at all...she's all that :D

In An Attempt to be Cultured

After browsing around the shelves of DVD of a certain chain entertainment store all to no avail...

Excuse, me, Sir. Do you have Hello, Dolly! available?
I can check that for you. *scrolling through the database*
Uhm, apparently, we never got a hold of any.
Okay. What about Lawrence of Arabia?
Uhm..how do you spell that?
L-A-W-R-E-N-C-E
Oh, okay. We do have two copies, but they are all out now.
*darn it* Oh, okay.
Is that "Fight Club" you are holding onto?
Yeah...do you have this available right? It's just the case, but I thought
you must have the DVD in front. (I mean, seriously, if you don't
have a copy of this movie and still put the case out in the shelf, I
was just gonna bring my business somewhere else right this instant.)
Yes, we're supposed to. I'll find one for you.

It's good that they still have a couple of Kurosawa's around. Otherwise, I will never coming back there.

Pride and Ignorance

Time to perform a diatomic molecular orbital simulation on the dept's supercomputer: tiny split second
Time to do the same job on the office's Pentium III 650: 7 min (times 10 for each of the 10 molecules on the homework)

Guess which one I chose? And that because I'm still contemplating to ask current object of (misguided) affection, or anyone else for that matter, for a tip on how to run the Unix system. Is it pride or is it simply ignorance? There's a thick boundary layer of stupidity in between.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Sigh

And the little asteroid asks the Red Giant..."Why does everything have to still be revolving around you, my dying celestial? Aren't you almost out of your hydrogen supply? Will a supernova ever pick me out to become a bright new star?"

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Happy Love Thursday

HOOONNNN

woui

why weren't you answering me?

hah

dari tadi huh!

i went to albertson's

for what?

buy cough medicine

are you still sikc?
oh poor babi
I mean baby
:P

i can't stop coughing
kurang ajar babi
dasar babi panggang

babi hutan

dan kusaksang kau nanti mampus kau

kujadiin babi merah enak kau

ku BPKkan kau mampus kau

ku masak rica-rica mampus juga kau

dah ah belajar dulu ya

ah kok cuman segitu "pertengkarannya"

ada exam 2 besok

otay...good luck

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Lesson of Life

You know what I have learned these past few days?

When got pushed to the limit, one can be oh-so-creative
It's all started when we got a small job from I*n*t*e*l. I was suddenly summoned to stop my own stuff and to immediately work on the l*i*t*h*o*graphy part of the project. The problem is that our lab is not equipped to process anything larger than a 2" substrates. The a*l*i*g*n*e*r , due to the design, is specifically not accomodating. To cater to the size problem, I cheated on the automatic process and made it run semi-manually. We still have the vacuum line holding on the m*a*s*k, a necessary thing in order to achieve a good print.

No good deeds goes unpunished
I then developed the recipe for e*x*p*o*s*u*r*e and d*e*v*e*l*o*p*i*n*g on a bunch of test w*a*f*e*r*s. Just as I thought everything went well, I encountered a problem. The test pieces were a bit smaller than the actual sample. The slight difference in size was enough to deem the vacuum line that sucks on the s*p*i*n*c*o*a*t*e*r to be inadequate. I tried everything from "surgically" cleaned the spinner, to cutting the v*a*c*u*u*m path shorter, to dedicated the whole pump to that specific line. Nothing worked until I further reduced the spinning speed. One of the good deeds was that I spent quite sometime rewiring the power cable of an old pump to make it safer to work with. I was thinking to replace the current pump with this one but it turned out it even provided less vacuum. The next day, I found that I can use this old pump for the a*l*i*g*n*e*r since I cut off the branch from the other pump. It makes life simpler.

Fear can be rationalized and defeated
What happened when there is not enough suction on the s*p*i*n*n*e*r at high spin rate is that the w*a*f*e*r projectiled outward to the wall. In unfortunate situation, that will lead to the breaking of the w*a*f*e*r into unusable pieces. Everytime I put a sample on that spinner, I was hoping for the best while preparing myself for a heart attack in case of sample breaking. I couldn't let this fear to take control of me and decided to turn it the other way around. I turned to the science of gravity (to position the quarter-circle shaped sample on the center of the spinner) and to force bookeeping (to decrease the speed in order to balance the radial and normal forces acting on the sample).

Practice and patience really make it perfect
With the spinner finally working, it was time again to develop the right routine. There was no other way than to be extra meticulous, careful, anal, clean, and organized. For the actual samples, I spent a good three and something hours to work on four actual samples. On a normal situation, those time will buy me d*e*p*o*s*i*t*i*o*n and e*t*c*h*i*n*g as well.

It's more than the monetary reward, it's the sense of self-fulfilling
Okay, the money, it didn't straight to us the workers. On one view, it was such a small amount for the kind of works we've done. But when looking at it from the other glasses, this task has brought the best of me with a sense of achievement as a refreshing twist . I'm sure B knows what I'm talking about.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Fat Tuesday!

A time-appropriate snippet from my newest favorite TV series: M*A*S*H ,
Capt. Father Francis J. Mulcahy: "Walter, I thought you're an atheist."
Cpl. Walter "Radar" O'Reilly: "I gave it up for Lent."
.
.
.

MARDI GRAS!

repent u sinner!
:P

OH NO....what should I give up for lent?

i dare u to give up IM
huahahahaha

OH NO
does appear offline count?

ha ha

Weekly

Loe tau gak, itu gaji bintang pilem porno nggak banyak loh...top-topnya 4000-6000 doang.

Ha? Masak cuman segitu? Kasian banget, udah usaha sampe segitunya, beresiko pula...Jadi yang delapan bilion itu abisnya ke mana yak?

Tau deh. Tau gak loe, gw tau dari mana? Dari nonton Discovery, kalo yang kayak gitu gw tonton, kalo udah yang binatang-binatang, langsung ganti.

Ha ha ha. Ya peningkatan tuh dari seri dan channel kegemaran lu...Golden Girls dan Lifetime.

Ha ha ha...sial.

Eh, gue nonton Discovery nggak pernah nemu yang kayak gitu...

Eh, Discovery apa bukan ya...hm..eh HBO deng.

Ooo..ya tau deh yang punya HBO. Maap, di sini belum mampu...hehehehe...

Ha ha ha. Makanya cepetan lulus cari kerja...

Hu hu hu.
.
.
.
oh ya
katanyeee ini tahun keberuntungan kita loh
yg lahir tahun '79

oh yah
emang knp

At pig's table, sheep has the seat of honored guest. Luck and good fortune in romance and business are the gifts offered to the lucky sign this year. Gifts of money may surprise the sheep. The pig smiles on family and will shower the sheep who becomes engaged or married during this year with many blessings. Sheep born in this year will receive good fortune from the banquet host. The shy sheep or one who cannot decide may miss the advantage of all the opportunities that this year brings.

ohhh sip sip
mudah2an bener

I just couldn't wait for the romance part :P hahahaha

hahahaha

Sunday, February 18, 2007

By Invitation and Approval of the Highest Degree

Opening Fall 2007
Hon Honor Society, Beta Tau Alpha Chapter Sorority House.




Chief Architect cum Interior Designer: Nadeea Bee

Selected Pictures CNY 07



Saturday, February 17, 2007

One-Liner

To be loved, nurtured, catered, pampered, and idolized...sometimes those are just the things this a girl needs.

Sopas

10 AM, still in pajamas and ready to work on my quantum homework. NY and I just finished our brunch of Mexican "delicacies" from the close-to-downtown-Bryan panaderia (yes, we went in our pajamas. "Tapi kan kita harus turun, Kak Yada Hon" "Ya ini kan daerahnya agak-agak geto, jadi boleh lah, kalo di Shipley's tadi kan nggak enak, bisa turun pasaran."). The sopas were killers, tasted better than Arandas'. The bakery products, on the other hand, could do bettter if they had a drop of moisture.
.
.
.
you are such an influence
awalnya gimana sih kalian..

awalnya...

wah
longgggg story
ntar deh...

one breezing afternoon, five years ago
there was a shadow of classic beauty walking by in front of my apartment

o ya
some tall italian guy or something?
lol

I can only hold my breath
and wondering...who is this personification of Aphrodite

LOL
i bet nobody thinks that way about me... palingan... what does she SEE in him??
lol

udah jarang mandi
LOL

nah

elu kan ternyata anak baik2
homeboy gitu loh

that i am...maybe TOO homeboy
hahaha

hihi
punya bakat nyanyi
bisa jadi center, I mean, joke of the party

i wouldn't go THAT far hahahaha

hahahaha
yeah...what does she see in you?

hell if i know

Thursday, February 15, 2007

A Valentine to Remember

"Hi, Bob! I need to heat up this rice dish, pronto." Said I.

It was an hour before the dinner specially prepared for thirteen religious priests and nuns who had been helping with a retreat at church. I just want to make sure the Suffron Rice I made the night before is ready to be served on time.

"Hang on, let me look at the salmon", he took out the two baking sheets full of the fish out of the oven.

I always love this kitchen. The gas stoves and oven, the oversized vessel to cook pasta, rice, soup or anything that requires large amount of water, the bread warmer, the steel top island, the ice machine, the industrial size fridge, the oversize sinks and the 90-sec per load dishwasher.
"Does it taste cooked to you?" He asked.

"Yeah, it does. What did you put? Lemon pepper and... We're not to supposed to overpower the fish, right...I mean it is salmon."

"I just put that stuff, it says 'salmon herbs' on it and some butter."

We then put the rest of the dishes out of the warmer to the serving table outside. There were an aluminum tray full of Bulgogi, some Tandori Chicken, and corn breads. There were three different kind of salad: avocado, spring mix, and lettuce & pineapple. Venezuelan shortbread with guava jelly and Maza Blanca (sweet corn and tapioca) from the Phillipines were for desserts. Warm apple cider with cut apples, oranges, and cinnamon sticks was personally served in little punch glasses. It was soothing with the 30 degrees weather outside.

Out at the dining area, linen covered dining tables were positioned to form a square so that everyone was facing each other. Glass of water with more than ice half full was on the right side of each plate, decorated paper napkin and silverwares were on the left. Square mirrors plates were used for decorations with candles and a bit of sprinkled Valentine themed stuff. There were even fresh flowers. It seems everyone enjoyed the eclectic menu. A couple even went for seconds.

"What kind of rice did you use?" A Sister from Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate World asked me. She is originally from Vietnam and is ten years into the order. She just grabbed a handful of the golden rice and ate it like snack while telling us how she missed on eating rice.

"Well, I'm using Jasmine Thai. I know I'm supposed to use something like Basmati. It should be better texture wise."

"Nah, I like it like it better like this. It's like sticky rice." She exclaimed.

"What did you put for the spice?" asked the other Sister, I think she is an Ursulin.

"Garlic, some butter...and Saffron."

"Ah, that explains the color."

I distinctly remember when I was nine or ten years old, there were two nuns on a visit to our church. One of them talked to me enthusiastically, we sat next to each other at Mass, and I really sang my heart out. I never asked my mother about that Sunday, but I have a strong feeling that she didn't want me to be exposed too much to that kind of religious life. It has crossed my mind once or twice lately.

"Are you looking for something, Father?" I saw an older priest wandering towards the kitchen.

"Coffee." He smiled.

The coffee machine did not work properly. It dripped water without even let it to boiling. We had to transfer it from the pot and heated in the microwave. I remember there was a real deal capucinno machine somewhere around. I wonder why no one ever uses it.

"Oh, yeah, we have coffee. I'll bring it right up." I said. We didn't have much coffee other than that 10-cup pot, but turned out, it was just enough.

At the end, the small congregration gave us an ovation, some even personally came over to say how delightful everything was.

That was one Valentine to remember.

It Costs Her Money, Too!

THE sequel is set 2009 release!
Kal-El returns...once again!

terlalu lama
tapi bagus buat semangat hidup?

hahaha

by then...probably Kal-El Jr. will be watching with you


hellll nooo

why no???

Being single is da bomb
serem kawin2
besides...i get to spend my money on the most important person...me
hahahaha

haha...wait till the moment comes...and I suddenly get that invite in the mail
oh how's the SO?

she's fine

jsut fine? already passing the honeymoon??

she gave a shirt that's too small for V day

err...guess it's not her fault

maybe that's a hint?
huahahahahaha

hoaohaohahoa exactly
what did you give her?

a medium sized bear

hihihi medium sized kayak kentang goreng aja

with a big belly
it's not too big

hahaha...so that she'll remember you everytime she sees that bear?

yup

kayak si itu tuh..yg American Idol?

i keep missing that show
skrg...all the wackos are gone :(

hahahahaha
ikutan dong...yg versi Indo
you'll be one of the wackos!

huahahahaha
yup

hihi

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The Day of Love as We Celebrate It

It was 8 AM. I couldn't wait to open my Valentinr. "Who are these five people?" I wonder [hahaha, not really wondering, I badgered all of them to send me one. "Anonymous aja ya, males sign up," they said, I mean, typed. Those lovable bastards. j/k.].

The website was apparently bombarded by too many V-day enthusiasts, waiting to pick up their Valentine's day greetings. After several trials, I got to read mine. So, so, here they are. Ranging from sweet and demanding (haha)...
Roses are red
Violets are blue
You are rad
and I am too...

Roses are red
Violets are blue
You make me mad
But I still love You

Love you KIH
Although we cancel our Valentine's dinner, I still expect a box of chocolate.

Happy Valentine's Day. May next year be a better Valentine for all of us.

Love you KIH,
XOXO
KYH
to a lamentation on one fund-ery fact of a made up holiday, no less...
Valentine's costs me money!
to a pitiful remark...
nih gw kasi kartu :p
and last but not least, to a very heartwarming with nothing but a Thespian-like quality poetry...
To my really, really good friend.

Oh how I adore thee!
How my finger shakes as I log on to MSN,
while fervently whisper a short prayer,
in hope that thou art there, on the other line!

How heaven rejoices when thou art not busy!
And willingly spare some of thy precious minutes
to converse to a lowly peasant such as I!

With sweet short statement thou always reply,
a yaha to my yuhu.
With great patience thou listen,
to all my ramblings and misfortunes.
With great care and compassion,
with astounding humor and wittiness.

Oh, I cannot imagine life without thee!
Thou art my provider of sanity,
in the midst of parking spaces to count!
Thou also accompany me,
during those dark nights
when there is nothing better to do!

Indeed a fool I am,
but a fool may hope,
and hope is all I have.
That thou may receive my Valentine today.

-Anonymous-
Still from the world of the internet, I got a "Happy Valentine Day, Babe" in the e-mail. Well, you too, Babe. And an MSN one in the chat. And a fish in the water text message.

Kak Ika Hon tadi mampir, ternyata mo surprais dengan kartu yang taunya ketinggalan...hihi...Thank you, dear!

Ade Hon, hmmph...there goes that dinner.

Happy V-day. Hope yours is as swell as mine. I'm serving dinner to the Men and Women of God tonight, with my very own...Saffron Rice! More of this later.

Maybe Indomie and TV are not bad too, after a Rec trip, of course. Who knows I might encounter my own buff knight (kalo kata Bu Didi) in shining armor.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

This Is A Very Big Step

...for someone who doesn't believe in Valentine's. Uhuk. :p

Send me a Valentine?
My Valentinr - chichester
Get your own valentinr

.
.
.
Hey, sorry I didn't have time to say hello yesterday
I was so swamped, I was teaching from 9 to 6.

Ho..you got two sections on Mondays?

Yeah...hey, I've got to ask you something.

What is it? (Please say, "Would you be my Valentine?")

How do you measure the thickness of an ultra thin film, I have this...blablabla...

Oh...(*disappoinment ensued* hoaohaohaohaoh) we usually just do a T*E*M on it.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

This Week's Baked Good

Baking from scratch is so much fun. I need to venture out to a "real baking", which in my definition involves precise amount of ingredients, no moisture can be present, requires the use of a mixer, timing, that kind of thing.

These brownies was a modified version of Nigella Lawson's Triple Chocolate Brownies. Really, hers should be called Sudden Death by Chocolate (and butter) since it requires way too much chocolate. I'm a chocolate lover, and to me it was just crazy to use that much amount (total of around 24 oz). I substituted the 1/2 cup chocolate chip and 1/2 cup white chocolate chip with 1/2 cup chocolate-white chocolate morsel and added some walnuts into it. The 8 x 8 pan was not enough to hold everything, and the extra mixture was then poured into muffin pans.

Tastewise, this is the best brownies I've ever had. Texturewise, it was a bit on the dry side. Modification to my liking should involve using more of the bittersweet chocolate and maybe some rum instead of vanilla essence.


Some narcisistic pictorial: NY straightening her hair for no reason and yours truly posing for no reason.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Pictorials



Jepangawi

Ka, eke juga ternyata Jepangawi kok, cuman beda generasi aja...hahaha...Tapi serius, kalian harus dengar lagu ini!!!! Yang nggak patah hati pun bisa jadi patah hati. Huhuhu...besok pagi bengkak deh mata....

Nih fonetik liriknya...
Moshimo anatato aezuni itara
Watashiwa nini o shiteta deshouka
Heibon dakedo dareka o aishi
Futsuuno kurashi shiteta deshouka

Tokino nagare ni mi wo makase
Anatano ironi somerare
Ichidono jinsei soresae
Suteru kotomo kamawanai
Dakara onegai sobani oitene
Ima wa anata shika aisenai

Moshimo anatani kira ware tanara
Ashitato yuuhi nakushite shimauwa
Yakusoku nanka iranai keredo
Omoide dake jya ikite yukenai

Tokino nagare ni mi wo makase
Anatano muneni yorisoi
Kireini nareta sore dakede
Inochisaemo iranaiwa
Dakara onegai sobani oitene
Ima wa anatashika mienaino

Toki no nagare ni mi wo makase
Anatano ironi somerare
Ichidono jinsei soresae
Suteru kotomo kamawanai
Dakara onegai sobani oitene
Ima wa anatashika aisenai
--Teresa Teng, Toki No Nagare Ni Mi Wo Makase
[norak]Oh ya cuman mo bilang (pengaruh lagu juga kayaknya), walopun nggak pernah ada ato bakal ada "apa2" di antara kita (ajegile bahasanya...muntah), gue terharu elu masih inget nelpon tiap minggu. The curse of being a (pathetic) melancholic romantic. He he.[/norak]

Friday, February 09, 2007

Jackass

"I still have my job because, first, the first derivative with respect with time, and second, x squared."

--Prof. Somebody while giving a talk on drug delivery (and by that I don't mean mules)
I'm generally an impressionable person. Nevertheless, it really is impressive, first, to see mathematics in all its glory used to formulate and to solve such a complex system. Second, that it opens my eyes on the complexity of cancer treatment: between toxicity and efficacy, dosage and time, clinical and pharmaceutical, hypocratic and modelling, physician and patient. And to think that not every cancer patient will have the luxury to be treated effectively.

[I didn't mean to attend the lecture until last minute. I went because I was getting so hungry in between meals and they served coffee, cookies and such there. It was just my bad luck that I happened to ride in the same elevator with the one person I've been trying to avoid for the longest time. We caught up just enough on stuff and just in time I thought I succesfully diverted myself from him, he managed to secure the seat next to yours truly. I'm glad we went separate ways afterward.]

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Monitoring

...Now, if I can find a better monitor somewhere. There are too much saturation, scratches, and ghost shadows around.
It took me until today to get the light bulb on. The problem with the monitor most probably is due to the BIOS downgrade. Since then, my eyes have begged nothing but to replace the troubled display. I finally switched the Brachiosaurus CRT with a T-rex one (17" vs. 15") from the lab hoping that everything will be okay once and again. [Do you know what irony is? To spend a considerable amount of my life working on devices that make up the backbone of flat panel displays and to possess none of latter.]

Except for its scratch-freeness, the second CRT still flickers with the same symptomps. For sure the problem is not on the settings that one can adjust manually from the monitor. My guess is that I just need to find the right kind of driver for it.

On a Rec note, B, I did a couple sets on chess (40 lbs), increased the weight on my shoulder press (by 10 lbs), and finished with a couple minutes of stretching. The stretching eased out the tense on my left calf I had in the middle of the workout. Thanks, babe.

Happy Love Thursday

A favorite chorus...
I have loved you with an everlasting love,
I have called you and you are mine;
I have loved you with an everlasting love,
I have called you and you are mine



Fr. Michael Joncas, I Have Loved You

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.
.

Posting kali ini diakhiri dengan...kalo Ade sukanya pake
random pics...eke pake random cet aja deh...hoahaohao.

oiii oiii
tumben loe lagi mabuk asmara?

dah pulang

ud

hoaohaohahoahohaohoa
enggak cuman
ehm..cuman clbk lagi kayaknya

hahahahaha
what happend
cmon tell me

ya nggak ada sih...

hahhahahaha
saran jujur dari gw
pls jangan lah

oh mai
iyah enggak emang enggak

tp kl mo iseng2 doang
dan buat nyeneng2in hati doang
terusin aja
and like always... never give all your bullets
keep it in your guns

aiyah..emangnya main Russian roulette

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

O tempora, o mores

It just slipped my mind that my mama's birthday was on the sixth! I texted her immediately this morning thinking that she would probably already be asleep. "Trims ya, semoga kalian baik-baik semua," her reply a few minutes later. Such an ungrateful daughter I am.

Other than that, February is just one long dreaded month. What else is there to look for? Summer is still too far away. Valentine, you said? I don't believe in Valentine. Denial denial.

But wait, I'm actually waiting in vain for one piece of news that will guide my steps (profesional or otherwise) for at least this year. O tempora, o mores.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Music to My Ears

Have you ever pondered about the way people speak English, specifically about their accent? On one of Newsradio episodes, an old favorite I might add, Mr. James recognizing an accent that belongs down to a very specific local area, "(some city), South Florida, by the (somename) railroad." On a more macroscopic view, there are the most notable of them all: the Bronx accent, the Boston accent, the Southern accent, the Midwest accent, etc., as opposed to the standard American or British English. From experience, it is also fairly easy to pick up the populace of non-English speaking (or English as a second language) countries from their way of speech. For instance, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Vietnamese, and Korean all have distinct accents, unless he/she sucessfully disguises it by speaking general English. I have an Indian friend who speaks perfect American English when engaged in a conversation with non-Indian. He switches smoothly to an Indian accent otherwise.

What made me think about this thing is the way I unconciously building sort of an opinion on people based on their speech. Take for example today in class. Due to his travel, the professor has delegated both class sessions this week to his colleague, Dr. S --a fellow Latinos judging from the physical appearance and name. As Dr. S started the lecture, I picked up the way he pronounced his words. It was like listening to NPR news, clean, complete and controlled. Also unlike most Latinos, he didn't have that distinct way of pronouncing "L".

Further into the lecture, I was kept mindboggled by his accent or rather multiple accents. He sometimes demonstrated the way the Russian-speaking people speak English ("not at all"). Other times, he spoke as if he had spent enough time in England ("don't"). The usual clues that should give in his Spanish speaking background never really came out ("again"). Also, his choice of words was excellent, ranging from using the informal "stuff" to the big word "reverberate". He ended the class with a question, "any questions, criticism, suggestion, verbal abuse?" I'd say, the good doctor is a linguist.

On with a curiosity towards his background, I went ahead and googled him after class. I expect ed a CV but instead nothing meaningful popped up. It was contributed by his generic name, since it rather synchronices with a Spanish John Doe. Oh well, I could use the literature database to find out about his affiliation or just asked around.

Enhancement

A chat as I recall...that B is always...helpful
what do you do for lower leg?
(looking at your routine)

ha ha...cuman betis

i don't see any chess

yeah, I am still thinking about it

muscles before your breasts...
good for enhancing cleavage

good point!
as I don't have one


what? cleavage?

yeah..ha ha..

what about push-up bra?

doesn't really help...

i'll write comments about your routine in the e-mail

cool! thanks

Monday, February 05, 2007

Sunday, February 04, 2007

This Week's Muffin


Don't even know what to name it. I took a base recipe for coffee cake muffin and modified it to my liking. There are so many things that went wrong from the start (hence no recipe):
  1. I was planning to substitute chocolate powder for the coffee since I stupidly assume that coffee cake has coffee on it. Everyone should know that coffee cake , much like tea biscuit (but nothing like Sea Biscuit), was named for its suitability to accompany the namehold beverage it carries. In the end, I threw a couple tablespoon of flour from the recipe and mixed the same amount of chocolate powder into it.
  2. The recipe calls for a cup of buttermilk, in the liquid form, to be exact. I already put a whole cup of powdered buttermilk into the egg mixture, until my eyes caught the dilution instruction on the back of the buttermilk can. I spooned out very rough approximate amount of the excess powderand then added a cup of water.
  3. The recipe also calls for granulated sugar, which I don't have, which I substituted with confectioner sugar. The muffins do not taste as sweet as I imagine it should be. Before baking the rest of batch, I added about two tablespoon of molasses.
  4. The mixture was too lumpy for a muffin, I ended up adding more and more milk into it.
I am not proud of these muffins and decided to put creme cheese icing to compensate for the mediocre taste.

NY loves it, though. I prefer the Bran Muffins from last week.

Mea Culpa

Forgive me Father,
That I have sinned through my own fault
For messing up my priorities
For not attending Mass two weeks in a row (although I resumed this week)
For enjoying the rides (and for questioning the motive)
For other false pretenses
For breaking the vow of poverty
For this act of narcissim
And last but not least
For being this blasphemous

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Carpe Diem

All these years, as a part of emanating byproduct, I've let people to build such an unnecessary high expectations on me. When facing the prospects of failures, my first instinct is to protect myself from such public exposure. Forget about what people say, truly the downest of it all is the fact that I fail myself.

All I need is to be reminded again and again. Carpe diem. Fight, fight for my future.

I'd just have to quote the whole post of a certain Miss Tangerine Mangifera.
To fight, perhaps. To survive. To hold on until the end. To push forward and to stand tall. To hold my chin up and to keep my eyes dry. To smile with each passing day. To embrace the mornings with praise. To be happy. To pretend to be happy. To be sad, or upset. And still pretend to be happy.

I never knew adulthood is not as much about accomplishing as it is about enduring.
So help me God.