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?

Thursday, August 31, 2006

LoU

Apologize for the lack of update. I've been busy slacking around writing paper, going to the gym and preparing some TA-ing stuff. And by preparing, I mean, I've been on a meeting for it everyday since yesterday with another one coming up tomorrow.

NY (and her baggage full of foodstuff and whatnot) is here in one piece. She's still suffering from the swimmer's ear (from two months ago, she said) and a bit of cold. In any rate, "glad to have you back, Princy," my goodnight "kiss" to her the first night she was back. Oh, do I need to mention that NY also bought me a certain type of wired undergarment that has never been among my "collection" before? Surely boosting confidence level a bit, if not more. Ha ha ha.

Other than that, yesterday marked the lunaversary of the running program. I have lost some weight but it is still below what I expected, way below. The partner didn't even feel any improvement on his part, body fat percentage or otherwise. We concluded, it's probably due to the lack of sleep since we have to be up early for the morning session.

We are switching routine, instead of the 25 minutes morning-40 minutes evening running outside, we are doing 30-30-30 treadmills and stationary bike once a day. He's doing the bodybuilding thing every other day. I opt out of this one. And of course, a little more straight on the calories intake department, which is a challenge all on itself with all those food NY brought.

That's all folks.

Oh, here's an actual but retouched picture of NY and mom. He he he.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Princess BaekLucuKyutAje

I was five years old. We were living in a rented house smacked dab in the middle of South Jakarta. One morning, I heard my mother vomiting in the bathroom. I ran downstairs. "Mama, are you sick?" My little hand rubbing the back of her neck.

Fast forward nine months. This time we moved to another rental house, still in South Jakarta, in the neigborhood of Karbela. I always think it was too cute a name for a neighborhood. The house was airy and spacious. There was a flag pole in the front yard. My brother and I, we pretended that we were on the Paskribaka team. Marching, folding, hoisting and what not.

One of those days in August, when the school year was just started, my father picked my brother up from his kindergarten. They then picked me up from my school. I remember it was still early in the morning. School would not be over until many hours later. The three of us, we went to St. Karolus hospital to see my mother and a what can only be described as the most beautiful baby girl in the whole wide world.

The baby was NY. The day was today 21 years ago.

What used to be the cutest baby in the whole wide world has turned into one feisty (still cute, though) girl. I am suspicious that she is not yet a woman, what's the difference anyway? All in all she's suited with a firecracker, heck, dynamite personality and adventurous too.




The birthday girl is spending her birthday alone in Singapore right at this moment, waiting to hop on a plane back here to good ol' College Station.

Happy Merry Joyful Birthday, Princy.
Since you are legal now, shall we do something R-OH related next weekend?

Friday, August 25, 2006

Tak seperti biasanya

Tadi malam anggota tim pelari bertambah satu. Bertiga, kita tempuh jalur baru memutari lapangan golf. Lari tidak secepat biasanya. Jadinya lebih asik, karena bisa sambil mengobrol, mulai dari hal-hal sepele sampai berita heboh di media.

"Morning after pill supaya nggak lagi perlu pake resep lagi diributin tuh. Trus, masak dikategorikan sebagai obat lagi. Apaan sih, memangnya hamil itu penyakit. Definisinya aja udah salah." Ujar saya, seperti biasa, dengan sedikit pengaruh doktrin Katolik.

"Katanya juga ada pil yang bisa diminum pria, fungsinya sama kayak pil itu. Tapi..ha ha ha..perempuan mana yang percaya pasangannya sudah meminum pil sebelum berhubungan, apalagi yang modelnya one night stand."

Kami bertiga tertawa.

"Tau nggak, katanya sejak aborsi dilegalisasi, tahun 60-an kan ya, tingkat kejahatan di sini menurun."

"Oh ya, kenapa?"

"Yang punya teori bilang kalo kelakuan kriminal itu bisa jadi faktor turunan, yah nggak harus genetik tapi juga lingkungan keluarga."

"Masuk akal sih. Maling kan nggak mungkin jadi maling kalo belum ngelihat contoh maling."

"Iya, atau orang nggak mungkin jadi maling kalo sempet ngelihat maling ketangkep massa."

Semua tertawa lagi.

Aroma masakan Cina cepat saji sekilas memenuhi udara. Berganti dengan bau saluran pembuangan kendaraan-kendaraan jago minum bensin. Untungnya cuaca tidak sepanas biasanya. Bintang bertaburan tapi bulan yang lagi sabit tak kelihatan. Di kejauhan, mulai kelihatan kompleks asrama dan tempat parkirnya yang mulai penuh. Beberapa kendaraan diparkir di pinggir jalan. Terlihat beberapa penghuni asrama menurunkan barang-barangnya. Ya, semester baru dimulai lagi minggu depan. Saya masih tidak bisa melepaskan masa santai-- tapi produktif-- semester musim panas.

Ah.

Semenit terakhir, yang dua sepakat buat sprint. Saya sih ogah.

Sesampainya di rumah dan sehabis mandi saya kembali mengerjakan data-data eksperimen yang baru terkumpul. Lalu saya lanjutkan membaca Saman. Dari jam 12 sampe jam 1-an mungkin. Dari halaman 84 sampe ke halaman terakhir, pake sistim baca cepat. Jadi wajar, tidak terlalu menghayati. Tapi ada satu bagian yang agak mengena karena terlalu dekat dengan pengalaman. Halaman itu tentunya dibaca ulang berkali-kali.

"Tapi mencari suami memang seperti melihat-lihat toko perabot untuk setelan meja makan yang pas buat ruangan dan keuangan. Kita datang dengan sejumlah syarat geometri dan bujet. Sedangkan kekasih muncul seperti sebuah lukisan yang tiba-tiba membuat kita jatuh hati. Kita ingin mendapatkannya, dan mengubah seluruh desain kamar agar turut padanya. Laila selalu jatuh cinta pada lukisan, bukan pada meja makan. Ketika remaja ia tertarik pada seorang pemuda Katolik. Laki-laki itu menjadi pastor dan pergi mengembara. Sepuluh tahun temanku tak bisa melupakannya, ia kirim pemuda itu puisi-puisi, padahal orang itu mungkin sedang asyik menggembalakan domba-dombanya. Kini, ia memulai cerita dengan pria beristri. Kamu juga tak akan bisa menikah dengannya, kami menasehati. Tapi aku cinta, katanya. Ya sudah."

Hah. Di mana dia sekarang, ya? Kabarnya tidak jadi masuk seminari, malah bergandengan tangan dengan seorang perempuan. Saya, seperti Laila, juga selalu tertarik pada lukisan. Saya lalu jatuh tertidur dengan suara televisi di latar belakang. Timer-nya saya pasang sehingga akan mati setelah saya lelap.

Jam 6:45 pagi, alarm telpon genggam membangunkan. Waktunya lari. Saya siap-siap, turun ke dapur untuk mengambil air botolan yang sudah beku, dan setelahnya bergegas menyetir ke rumah partner lari. Sesampainya di sana, saya lihat mobil dia tidak ada di parkiran.

"Yo, Pak, elu di mana? Gue udah di depan nih." SMS ke dia.

Pastinya lagi menginap di suatu tempat dan saya tidak mau membangunkan orang-orang di sana dengan dering telpon saya. Tidak sampe semenit kemudian, saya ditelpon.
"Nda, I'll be there in five minutes."

"OK, elu di mana sih?"

"Di tempatnya X."

"Oh.."
Tidak jelas, ini kecewa karena jadwal yang sedikit rusak atau lebih karena cemburu, sepertinya yang terakhir. Ternyata sebagai teman saya posesif, apalagi sebagai pacar ya, aih, tak disangka.

Sepulang lari, saya diminta menemani si partner belanja kebutuhan sehari-harinya. Lebih tepatnya, kebutuhan higienis sehari-harinya: sabun badan, muka, shampo, deodoran, dan pisau cukur. Hei, stroberi lagi murah loh. Tapi saya tidak beli. Nanti saja lah, tunggu si Nona balik. Saya tidak sabar menunggu Selasa.

Sehabis mandi dan sarapan, saya putuskan untuk memberi warna pada kuku-kuku kaki saya. Hari ini saya berniat bersendal jepit ke sekolah. Dan seperti 99% perempuan bersepatu yang memperlihatkan kuku-kukunya, saya merasa mereka (kuku-kukunya bukan perempuannya) telanjang tanpa cat. Saya pilih warna coklat, nude, yang tentu saja tidak kontras ke kulit saya. Tapi saya suka, seperti make up without make up. Tak puas dengan kuku-kuku kaki, saya pulaskan juga di kuku-kuku tangan. Tapi saya baru ingat, hari ini kan saya bakal jadi tukang. Pasti nanti ada yang bocel terkena perkakas.

Masuk di clean room, saya bersiap-siap untuk memasang laser pesanan yang sudah datang dari sebulan yang lalu. Buku manual-nya tidak ketemu. Saya putuskan untuk pakai akal sehat saja. Selama tidak menggores bagian optikalnya dan selama saya pake sarung tangan tentunya tidak apa-apa. Sepasang per yang menahan laser lama begitu susah untuk dilepas. Telunjuk dan jempol saya sampai kapalan. Akhirnya saya temukan cara jitu untuk membukanya. Saya cabut laser lama dan masukkan laser baru. Tapi membongkar sesuatu selalu lebih gampang dari memasangnya kembali.

Di tengah-tengah kesibukan, saya sempat dipanggil keluar oleh dosen pembimbing. Cuman untuk mengatur versi terakhir proceeding volume yang dia kerjakan sebagai editor, saya pikir apa. Saya lihat nama saya di bagian terimakasih. Sayangnya salah eja.

Kembali ke laboratorium, saya membangun kembali struktur pipa udara dan nitrogen untuk mesin IR berlaser baru tadi. Saya kangen juga kerjaan manual kayak gini. Tiga minggu terakhir, saya selalu berada di depan komputer dan mesin pengukur arus, voltase, dan kapasitansi.

Setelah semua selesai, saya segera keluar dari ruangan berlampu kuning itu. Makan siang. Tepat setelah kunyahan terakhir, anggota grup riset di kantor sebelah memboyong saya ke sana untuk berdiskusi tentang hasil riset dia. Saya anjurkan beberapa hal, tapi dia sepertinya tidak mendengar.

Jam empat ada pertemuan riset grup mingguan. Untungnya cuma satu orang yang memaparkan hasilnya. Jadi tidak terlalu terasa menyiksa akhir minggu yang sudah di ambang pintu ini. Tapi tetap, saya tidak sempat ke Misa harian, padahal sudah cukup jadi ritual hari Jum'at. Sudah terlambat sepuluh menit ketika pertemuannya selesai, belum lagi jalan ke sana.

Malam ini saya tidak ada rencana. Tapi saya mengidam ayam goreng. Jadi mungkin berburu itu saja dan pinjam DVD lagi seperti akhir minggu kemaren.

Eh, saya tidak percaya bisa menulis sepanjang ini.

Would you save the last waltz for me?

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Skull and Bone Monstrosity

I came across this picture this morning.



A closer look...



It's...eerie...weird...to think that one is just another bone in the stack.

The horror cut my appetite to zilch. Maybe I would just not eat today. Or so I thought.

Lunch time came. I couldn't wait to nuke my lunch, a ham-and-cheese croissant pocket (340 calories, 40 % of daily fat based on a 2000 cal diet) and ate it quite merrily. I didn't stop there. I nuked another one (pepperoni pizza, 390 calories, similar level of fat). Yum.

What a short lapse of memory I 've got!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Hear ye!

The birth of a new blog. He's pretty cool, I'd say. ;)

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

From my lovely Adenda

1. Cigarette: menthol
2. friends: fun
3. Relationships : exhausting
Where's number 4, btw?
5. Power rangers: I like Walker Texas Ranger better :p
6. Marijuana: hemp jewelry
7. Crack: butt. haha <-- Sama, De!
8. Food: Good for your body and soul
9. Love: and marriage, love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage
10. War: n peace. <-- Lah, sama lagi, De!
11. Car: gas
12. Gas Prices: oh my!
13. Halloween: candies
14. Bon Jovi: sissy
15. Religion: uhm...blank
16. MySpace: just another place to expose yourself in the internet
17. Worst fear: snakes, nosebleed
18. Marriage: yes, please ?
19. Fashion : victim
20. Brunettes: cute
22: Work: schmuck
23: Past time : internet
24: Football: hut!
25: One night stands: yes, I mean, no, please.
26: Pet Peeve: guys in short Madras
27. Pixie Stix: eh, never heard of this
28. Vanilla Ice Cream: good with brownies
29. wehr's 29: huh?
30: High school: next year is the tenth year reunion
31: Pajamas: silk
32. Wood: y Woodpecker
33. Surfing: wish I could do this
34. Pictures: artistic
35. First Love: where art thou?

Me and my questions

B******* * **** says:
My rival, job wise, is here
X (CR) says:
who?

A geeky lanky looking guy.
pasty too?
Light brownish.
how do you know he's a rival? his reputation preceding? or just based on the geeky appearance?
Because we are waiting for the same test
oh...what is it?
Java.
sort of the next step after interview?
I think so.
how many guys?
any girls?

Oh, gosh

I am getting stupider by the minute. How does one actually get the first, or second, or so on derivative from a graphic only function, i.e., the one without readily available function to describe it? *thinking real hard, stomach growls*

Shame on me.

Bu Didi, look what I got in the e-mail today

Dear H****** N*********

A loan that you had requested:

Loan Title: Saman : fragmen dari novel Laila tak mampir di New York /
Loan Author: Utami, Ayu, 1968-
Transaction Number: 930969

is now available for checkout if your pickup location is at EVANS.

If you chose to pick up at WCL,MSL or PSEL when you registered with deliverEdocs, staff will
notify you when the item is delivered to that library.

If you no longer need this item, please reply to us via e-mail. Thanks.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Bad habit is overrated

10:40:52 AM

Astaga W***...aneh banget deh tadi pagi
masak gue mimisan coba...pas baru aja mo bangun gitu
loh kenapa
kedinginan?
trus kan pas gue ngaca gitu...kok ada yang nyempil ya di ujung mata kiri
eh taunya contact lense yang gue bilang ilang itu
ternyata masih ada di dalem mata...udah 2 hari
oh yah
masuk ke kelopak mata ?
iyah
kan mimisannya hidung kiri
kali berhubungan yah, soalnya itu matanya mata kiri
wah ngeri bgt
loe jgn pake contact kl tidur lagi deh
iyah makanya
gila
abis mimisannya berhenti bentar gitu
jadi bukan yang karena alergi deh pastinya
hahah...tadi excuse buat tidur lagi
hahhaahahha
jadi baru ke kantor nih?
enggak udah dari tadi
tidurnya ampe jam 8 "aja" kok..hahaha...