Misnomer: The X-Girl Picayune: 09.04

Misnomer: The X-Girl Picayune

The life (or is it the lack thereof?) stories of a twenty-6-year-old grad student

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Digita-Grafita

I'm starting a photo-blog. *grin* Oh, and pardon the name, couldn't come up with anything else.

So, here is the deal. Before getting myself a digital camera with a better capability and fancier features, I am playing around with a Kodak MDS and a Polaroid Fun Flash. And it's been okay so far, I'm trying to get that initial grip on digital photography.

Shark Tale opens this week. Woohoo hoo!

5:34 PM 0 misnomeree(s)

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Romancing the life

This is one of the many things I have no capability to express. Ms. Headley, as always, said it perfectly.

"the problem, i think, is the lack of romantic things in my life. and i don't mean romantic things involving boys, necessarily, because i'd like to stay away from those things for now. no, what i'm missing is the romance in things like walking down the street in an unfamiliar city, or a really good conversation. like noticing the look on someone's face when they don't think anyone's watching them. like impromptu dancing, or the scrape of a tree branch on a windowpane. like dead birds on the beach."

PostScript:

L, does this, the lack of romantic things in life, happen to you too?
I know T is so full of it right now. Those déjà vus count as one heck of a romantic thing, T. I think. :p

11:30 AM 7 misnomeree(s)

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Nada

Need to do laundry, ASAP. Today, it's down to a mix-no-match ensemble of a pair of baggy man-like jeans and a yucky-colored, pearly-buttoned shirt. Those, btw, flatter neither my poor body shape nor complexion. And why I got them in the first place is still a mystery.

There are days when I feel like wearing some skirt and cute top along with a touch of light make-up to school, but couldn't, due the lab setting and safety requirement (no dangling part allowed and there is the compulsory need to minimize particles generation). So, my sense of lab/school-going fashion is pretty much limited to a pair of long pants or jeans and appropriate top that covers most of the skin.

On a second thought, my social wardrobe also has nothing but those kinds of remotely fancy ensembles. Ndoro Yadda has repeatedly asking me to up-grade it to include some selections of things with colors that will induce a more vibrant life. And I think I should.

Pretty in pink? Maybe not that far.

3:25 PM 4 misnomeree(s)

Monday, September 27, 2004

Hebetude

Is it a phase?
I've disabled misnomer's RSS feed and have blocked Kinjabot from crawling this blog, well, at least for the time being. I feel like to put a little hold on all these ever updated information superhighways.

On another note, it's quite an effort to drag myself back to the lab on Monday nights. No, it's not the Monday night football, there are too many Law & Order reruns on TNT -- starting from 6 P all the way to 12 A-- lulling me to become yet another coach potato. That's what happened when one relies on television for the main source of entertainment. I should go buy those L&O DVDs instead, and that goes for The X-Files also.

Update:
Gosh, what do I know. Kinjabot still crawls here. Trying it again one more time...

11:46 PM 2 misnomeree(s)

Sunday, September 26, 2004

EMHC

After that strike of not attending mass all together for several months and finally experienced that there was something missing from my life, I've decided from then on to again trying to grasp the meaning of the Eucharist --and then to be able to apply it to the day-to-day life. See, all this time, I've always been sort of an ignorant relic.

I've also signed up to become one of the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion for the 7 PM Sunday mass. After last weekend's commissioning, this weekend is our team's turn distribute the hosts and the wine to the congregration.

It was on a summer mass three years ago, when I distributed the wine from the chalice and said "The body of Christ" instead of "The blood of Christ". I didn't catch the mishap until about the half end of the line. No wonder people were looking at me confused but still proceeded to walk back to their pews.

We'll see what's the story this second time around.

4:02 PM 0 misnomeree(s)

test

lorem ipsum blablabla

2:25 PM 0 misnomeree(s)

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Shrimp & NY

On the way home from school yesterday, my mind was busy plotting the way to perfecting the art of deveining and butterflying shrimps for dinner, and then onto formulizing the recipe for a killer Italian-inspired batter. The problem has always been that the deep-fried ocean delicacy won't retain its level of crispiness for longer than 15 minutes. I figure, adding some portion of baking soda and baking powder, both of bicarbonate compound, will alleviate this problem.

It turned out that I found no need to devein and butterfly the shrimps as we bought the ones that had already been deveined ($6.99/lb, no wonder), and that the size would be just a wee bit too small for butterflying.

For the batter, equal portions of the soda and the powder (of about 1/2 tsp) were added onto about 1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour and 2 tbs of maizena, and then came the egg, a cup of water, some salt, garlic powder, and pinches of dried oregano, basil, sage, and black pepper. The shrimps were generously covered with the thick slurry-like batter and were then deep-fried until golden brown.

The result were almost encouraging, some of the shrimps regained their rubber like consistency while I was still frying the next batch, some stayed crispy until the next hour. Maybe I wasn't adding enough of the baking soda and powder, maybe there was too much liquid added, or maybe I should've added some kind of acid to fully activate the bicarbonate compounds. So, onto the next deep-frying time.

On an electrifying note...

Big hearty congratulations to Ndoro Yadda. She has been accepted to TAMU's Electrical Engineering for the Spring semester 2005. She is planning to concentrate on Power Electronics. All these after much thoughtful consideration to ditch Industrial Engineering (her original plan) and Chemical Engineering (thank God, there won't be three chemical engineers in the family). At one point, she was even considering to attend a local Nursing school or some East Coast art institute.

We're all so proud of you, Ndoro!
Thanks for the Shaky custard treat last night. It was yummy.

1:21 PM 2 misnomeree(s)

Sunday, September 19, 2004

Flabbergasting

I occasionally have sudden urges to take gazillion nice pictures of things, events, & stuff and to be able to embelish them with proper captioning. If I could find the right pick of digital camera that accomodates some artistic and practical purpose on the budget. Point-and-shoots, higher ends, SLRs? What about pixels quality and size, optical zoom, sensitivity, speed, battery, storage? Information overload, indeed.

On a trainpassing note,

To: The Texas A&M Community

We have just been informed that the trains passing through campus are now travelling at speeds up to 50 miles per hour. We urge you to be extremely careful when crossing the railroad tracks.

Chuck Sippial
VP for Administration

Although some of us bus riders are still late-bound to class due to the train traffic, at least, it won't be that late anymore. Thanks, Union Pacific!

3:33 PM 5 misnomeree(s)

Sunday morning epiphany

First impression matters, though it might not always be right, especially regarding an attractive of the opposite sex --or otherwise or both, depends on one's orientation. We've learned that a lot, the first impression stuff, I mean.

So I met this person. His attitude eminated nothing but total respectfulness and humility, in a natural way. Such person exist, eh? Still, I was searching for a hint of darkness on him, he might keep it off so deep, it was all clear.

A knowledgeable source later told me his story. He was civilly married to a beautiful lady --it's always the beautiful one in this kind of story. The wife decided to pack the bags leaving him a few days past their extravaganza one year anniversary. He still loves her to death despite of that betrayal. And that he REALLY IS a very nice guy, full of energy, mature, responsible and all that. I thought, ah, affirmative, I *was* catching the wrong signals, he was just being sincerely nice, nothing more and nothing less.

Btw, I have just realized that the best time and place to hear this song is when driving alone 3 hours past midnight on 610 towards downtown Houston, on 21 towards B-CS, or any highway towards civilization for that matter. It'll be a perfect soundtrack to mourn on those unfortunate stories of mine, if they can be categorized into such. But, then again, this is life, the extremeties and anything in between sort of become one's cross.

Y'all can throw up now, I'm off to bed.

We're talking away
I don't know what
I'm to say I'll say it anyway
Today's another day to find you
Shying away
I'll be coming for your love, OK?

Take on me, take me on
I'll be gone
In a day or two

So needless to say
I'm odds and ends
But that's me stumbling away
Slowly learning that life is OK.
Say after me
It's no better to be safe than sorry

Take on me, take me on
I'll be gone
In a day or two

Oh the things that you say
Is it life or
Just a play my worries away
You're all the things I've got to
remember
You're shying away
I'll be coming for you anyway

Take on me, take me on
I'll be gone
In a day

Take on Me, Aha

4:03 AM 0 misnomeree(s)

Friday, September 17, 2004

Let them eat cake

Ndoro Yadda enrolls in an introductory cake decorating course at the local craft superstore. It has 2-hour session each week for 4 weeks. For the second class session, the students were asked to use simple patterns such as flowers, rainbow, or ribbons to satisfy their decorating urges.

Ndoro Yadda and her (name witheld) decorating compatriot went out of their way to create these cute structures. On the left, is an "I love NY", NY shorts for Ndoro Yadda, btw. It seems that our feisty cake decorator still suffers from a bit of self-lovenism. And on the right, is a blow-up version of a Paul Frank monkey head.

NY baked two German chocolate cakes for the base , put them on top of each other, and proceed to decorate it without a Lazy Susan. Meringue powder was mixed with tons of sugar-added, cheap shortening and used as the icings. *me, mentally calculating the calories of those simple carbohydrates and saturated fats*

In any rate, here's a happy Ndoro Yadda. Next week's class will introduce them to the techniques to achieve a more intricate design.

11:11 AM 4 misnomeree(s)

Thursday, September 16, 2004

Mad scientist despair

"Hydrogen, check.
Power, check.
Pressure, check.
Temperature, check.
Plasma, check.
Dopant, check."

After a 60-min dormant period,

"Phooey, even my bod is a better conductor than this (supposedly) highly-doped film. That's phooey E infinity."

11:22 AM 0 misnomeree(s)

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Decision decision

Which one to choose for a Friday night outing? Hanging out with a flock of sport enthusiasts or with a group of religious young professionals --which (quite possibly) have the same ulterior motive as mine.

Oh well, I might as usual end up doing the Mexican restaurant-hopping with the other two family units.

B-CS GRADUATE STUDENTS AND YOUNG PROFESSIONALS—1st Annual Welcome BBQ Graduate students and young professionals (GAP) in Bryan-College Station are invited to a Fall BBQ and Social. This is an opportunity to learn about GAP and the churches in the area. What: Food and Games When: September 17, 6:30 pm to ? Where: Bee Creek Park Pavilion You are encouraged to bring blankets, chairs, cards, dominoes, Frisbees, etc. If you have questions please contact J**** L****(email: l****j@hotmail.com, phone: 7**-1***). This event is sponsored by the churches of Bryan-College Station. GAP is a Christian fellowship for graduate students and young professionals in Bryan-College Station.

1:41 PM 0 misnomeree(s)

Monday, September 13, 2004

Tix home

Hello, readership of, uhm, ten.

Three tickets for Christmas break back home have already been booked and (partially) paid. See, I just found out that there *is* a withdrawal limit imposed by our bank on check-card accounts. To make it a more incovenient experience, the travel agent won't do any direct ACH transfer or accept check-over-the-phone. They insist on getting the rest of the current standing by whatever amount directed by the card withdrawal limitation despite of the number of days they spent waiting. I hope everything will be finalized in the next two or three days. Gaa.

Stop over at NRT to visit Nana & her husband has been rendered impossible due to the short and mixed up schedule. Maybe next time, dear? Instead, I'll be trapped for at least 12 hours at Changi waiting for a flight to PKB or a ferry ride to BTM. *deja vu* Speaking of which, hey T, do you have plan yet for December 18, 00:45 till the afternoon? Kopi darat di Changi atau tempat makan yang masih buka jam segitu?

Whoo, I wish I can fast-forward three months to good food, family & friends.

4:09 PM 11 misnomeree(s)

Saturday, September 11, 2004

The West Wing quote

Season 1

He shall, from time to time

President Bartlet:
You have a bestfriend?
Sec of Agriculture:
Yes sir.
Is he smarter than you?
Yes sir.
Would you trust him with your life?
Yes sir.
That's your chief of staff.

---

Josh:
Are his glands swollen?
CJ:
Damn.
What.
You know what I forgot to do today?
What?
Feel the President's glands.
Do you think the joke reflex you use as a defense mechanism is why you have so much trouble keeping a man?

---

The crackpots and these women

Sam:
What can I do for you, Bob?
Bob:
In a nutshell?
So to speak.
We'd like the White House to pay a little more attention to UFOs.
Are we paying any attention at all right now?
No.
Thank God.

---

A proportional response

Josh:
You know what, CJ, I think I'm the best judge of what I mean, you paranoid Berkely shiksa feminista! Well that was way too far.
CJ:
No, no. Well, I've got a staff meeting to go to and so do you, you elitest Harvard fascist missed-the-Dean's-list-two-semesters-in-a-row yankee jackass!.

---

Bartlet:
CJ, on your tombstone it's gonna read: "Post hoc, ergo propter hoc".
CJ:
Okay, but none of my visitors are going to be able to understand my tombstone.

5:22 PM 0 misnomeree(s)

Thursday, September 09, 2004

Spinsterhood

I won't harbor any illusion for a working relationship much less a romance, not in a foreseable future anyway. Cause it has come to this, one day you had been thinking of spending an eternity with him, the next day, he wasn't even on your friends list.

It's either to not become myself or die a spinster. :p

Current Music:
If I Didn't Care
Words & music by Jack Lawrence

If I didn't care, more than words can say
If I didn't care, would I feel this way
If this isn't love, then why do I thrill
And what makes my head go round and round
While my heart stands still
If I didn't care, would it be the same
Would my every breath begin and end
With just your name

And would I be sure that this is love beyond compare
Would all this be true, if I didn't care for you

And would I be sure that this is love beyond compare
Would all this be true, if I didn't care for you

8:40 PM 4 misnomeree(s)

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Noah's Ark

Yesterday's highlight was the visit to our department's close-to-completion *insert some million dollars here* building/facility. With the Noah's Ark-y shape and the towering 7 floors, it has been boasted as the signature structure this side of the campus.

So, once again, I got a chance to meet up with an attractive innocent looking young Economist turns building contractor whom, btw, was noticing the difference in moa overall shape. ^-^

The three of us started the second to last final inspection of the seventh floor area where our group's laboratories and offices are located. Those included scrutinizing (and taking pictures of) every single detail of power and gas outlets, flooring, manifolds, jacks, and finishes on each of the four yellow lighted clean rooms and the service aisle. For now, there are some changes required, but at least, they are next to minor.

There are three graduate student offices of a 12 ft x12 ft dimension. Each will hold two occupants, has nice carpeting, and will be fully furnished and 'net powered by the time we move in. Being the only girl, I wouldn't mind having the whole room by myself, we'll see if it would be possible. Apart from the three small offices, there is another nicer, much bigger room with a two-side view of the city and the campus. I suppose there will be some commotion to determine who are the lucky three to occupy that office. I won't jump on that bandwagon, though.

Just outside the offices and laboratories across the hallway are panels of glass walls presenting the nicest view on campus. I just couldn't wait for that long night to come, me badgering on the due paper, taking small rests in between enjoying the peaceful sight of the lighted up buildings, and before I know, the new day would come.

But first, we'll be facing, God forbid, a long, unwinding, difficult period of setting up and trouble-shooting the machines to commence our normal operation. The department authorizes the moving-ins to around mid October, following the Fed required full month gassing out period.

1:51 PM 2 misnomeree(s)

Monday, September 06, 2004

School gone e-Bay

Anyone interested on buying used school bus(es)? I heard it's been known to serve as a perfect ground for a "perfect" party.

1. Up For Bids: Texas A&M Using eBay To Sell Used Items

It seems garage sales have gone high tech - even in Aggieland. Texas A&M University will put up various items for sale - including 20 buses used by its transportation services department to move students around campus - on eBay starting today, hoping to take advantage of the international power and attention of the internet, says Rex Janne, director of purchasing services. When the average Texan cleans out his or her garage, there are usually enough items for a small yard sale. When Texas A&M, with its 45,000 students and 10,000 faculty and staff, cleans out the attic, you're talking about the mother of all garage sales, and those usually occur 2-3 times a year. But those sales, conducted by a professional auctioneer and termed "public auctions," usually draw 250-300 persons looking for furniture, bicycles and office equipment. Janne is hoping that by placing items on eBay, the interest will grow by the thousands or even more. For the full story, go to:http://rev.tamu.edu/stories/04/090604-13.html

11:06 PM 0 misnomeree(s)

Sunday, September 05, 2004

B-days pics

From Ndoro Yadda's b-day celebration.

B-day cake

Setting up display for St. Mary's 100 years celebration.

9:04 PM 4 misnomeree(s)

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Last day, part I

So much for last night's WM(B)D plan, work circumstances hinder that kind of effort most of the time. And to make it worst, when I finally got home at 2, I managed to devour through a banquet size meal consists of a thin-styled omelette, a full size of the lightly pan-fried perch, along with a bowl of white rice. It was followed by a single serving of cookie dough ice cream with Twix magic shell on top.

No doubts, that through the commotion of the lavish weekend eatings, the scarce weekdays feeding, and the occasional post-midnight cravings, the fat cells are --once again-- multiplying at their greatest rate.

Blah.

On a lighting note...

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
Double cross 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 don’t 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
The street heats the urgency of sound
As you can see there’s no one around

5:24 PM 9 misnomeree(s)

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

F & R

Am planning to attend this lecture tonight. Weapon of (Body)Mass Destruction aka jogging slot has been moved back to either 11 P at the Rec or 12A for the usual route.

CREATION AND EVOLUTION: UNDERSTOOD THROUGH FAITH AND REASON

Everyone is invited to a public lecture by Father Ismael Narbesla this Wednesday (1 September 2004), starting at 7:00 pm.

Father Ismael Narbesla is a graduate of the University of La Sorbonne in Paris, France. He has worked in Europe, America, and Africa and is a member of the Brothers of St. John. He is currently completing his doctoral work in Paris at the Sorbonne on creation and evolution.

Admission is free for this lecture.

9:33 AM 0 misnomeree(s)