I found this on my old research notebook. D and I were having so much "fun" a few weeks before that Summer semester ended trying to get as many data as possible before the machine ran out of her mind and started breaking down again. This particular day was apparently that bad D needed to jot it all down.

Events summary:

1. My rice turned out like crap in the morning
2. I was late to my 1st class in semester & same for X (double effect)
3. In spite of the recent washing, my b'pack turned outrageously putrid (so did I & my t-shirt)
4. I spent $ 400 on books
5. I got the worst & diabolic prof in 304
6. X tripped over some crap & levelled the ground flat & got all nasty
7. It's been a real monsoon all day
8. Machine blw up twice & there were fire balls in the air
9. Diborane's leaking, so we'll all die... Uh-huh
10. GRE comps didn't work in the lab
11. X forgot her umbrella & had a trip with her glasses (Note by X: The glasses are kind messed up. Fuih, I'm going home in four months, I hope they'll hold up till then)
12. X started oinking profusely again. Or whatever the sound is. God help...
    

End of entry 6:06 PM
I'm heading to my dwellings fearing I won't wake up tomorrow.

Did I tell you we are going camping this weekend? Out to the wilderness...well, not really, the campsite has running water, and get this, your own private drive-way. Spoiled Americans.

There will be cliff-jumping, hiking, skinny dipping swimming out in the lake, bbq-ing, all the outdoorsy fun stuff, granted that we can handle the piercing sun. It's been freaking hot these days, gotta stock on those SPF 60s or whatever it is the highest now, and it's better be water-proof.

Later.

Someday, I would like to write something about that King of the Hill show, y'know, stuff like what's the significant of it, why I prefer to watch it rather than other popular animated series such as South Park, Family Guy, or even The Simpsons. For now, check this out:

According to Nielsen Media Research, the largest group of ''King of the Hill'' viewers is made up of men between the ages of 18 and 49, and almost a quarter of those men own pickup trucks. ''This is only the second show that's a comedy about the South -- this and 'Andy Griffith' -- that doesn't make fun of Southerners,''

There's nothing ever a bit too ambitious for a Saturday afternoon cooking:

• Crispy tofu topped with ground beef and tomato sauce
  

• Shrimp and tofu cap cay

• Herb-roasted-vegetable-stuffed whole chicken
  

• and for dessert *drum roll* : Banana pudding

I finished everything in less than 2.5 hours, and that's including cleaning, my friend.
Darn, I miss modifying recipes!

Anyway, those home-cooked meals should better be last till Monday. We'll, unfortunately, turn to some store-bought, cryogenically preserved food (pizzas, parmesan battered fish fillets, and hot 'n spicy wings) for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Friday, as usual, is dining out night.

You scored as Roman Catholic. You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you. Roman Catholic 100% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 86% Neo orthodox 57% Classical Liberal 43% Emergent/Postmodern 43% Modern Liberal 29% Charismatic/Pentecostal 14% Reformed Evangelical 14% Fundamentalist 14% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Why is it so hard to be falling asleep?
It used to be simple, you just close your eyes and off you are in lala land.
These days, not so much.
Your body screams tired but your mind couldn't stop devising next day's work plan.
Go get a warm glass of milk, say a prayer or two, maybe a full Rosary, and then relax!
You don't want end up popping pills, do you?

Just so I don't forget to set up time on the up-coming weekends for these:

• A racquetball match with SR
• Driving lesson for SC and his wife
• G's summer party by the pool
• A visit to Austin's live music/stand-up comedy place with D
  
• Clubbing/ladies' night
  

Heh, whatever happens to that prior claim of being anti-social?

"Chi v'ha guidati, o che vi fu lucerna,
uscendo fuor de la profonda notte
che sempre nera fa la valle inferna?"


"Who was it that guided you? Who was your light
bringing you forth out of the pround night
that keeps the infernal valley black forever?"

--W.S. Merwin


"Who has led you, or who was a light to you
issuing out of that profound night,
that always blackens the infernal valley?"

--http://www.tonykline.free-online.co.uk/DantPurg1to7.htm#_Toc64099517


"Who guided you? or who has been your lamp
In issuing forth out of the night profound,
That ever black makes the infernal valley?"

--http://www.online-literature.com/dante/purgatorio/1/

The Merwin translation keeps reciting in the back of my head. It is as if I, instead of Dante, was facing the solitary old man. The other two translations, on the other hand, didn't do justice. What do you think?

I wish I could understand Italian.

Yasmina of Street Are Uneven (hi!) had this interesting post where she uploaded her voice reading the following passage:

Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob. We also need a small plastic snake and a big toy frog for the kids. She can scoop these things into three red bags, and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station.

Well, here's mine.

My linguistic background:

• First language: Rumbaian ( huehuehue....). It's a heavy mixture of Minangese, Malay, Batakese and (some) Indonesian.

• Second language: Bahasa Indonesia

• Third language: English

Languages dreamt to be able to speak (and read) in:

• Mandarin

• Spanish

• Latin

Update:

And here's one from my dear Bangalorean friend, NaYadda Vandana Sivaramakrishnan.

"Exercise common sense when dealing with laser radiation. Do not look directly into any laser beam or its reflection from shiny surface."

Ooopppsss.....

Acquiring one of this thing (the Bosu ball, that is) is so tempting.

and so is a pair of fin that actually fit my feet.

Hee hee, and I never thought that the day would come, but for the sake of fellow swimming pool denizens, I need a new suit oh so badly.

I dressed a bit hippies to school today: old tunic top, a pair of khakis, and against all safety rules, a pair of (Ndoro Yadda's) open-toed shoes. The shoes are the one we need to focus on, as they are the cause of the little drama this half of the post. For starter, it's actually a pair of one of those Birkenstocks limitation. NY's are the classic, brown, two-straps, which, unfortunately, feature a tad narrower left toe. Birks, by the way, is a brand we both redeem quite unaffordable, for some of us poor college students anyways.

Things were just fine the whole day, until I came back to school after dinner. From home, I had a nice stroll through the cooler part of the pedestrian walk on the side of the church. Once arrived at school, I climbed the seven flight-of-stairs to the office/lab and just now I realize that the palm of my left toe hurts. From the feel of things (couldn't see it yet, I'm all wrapped up in clean room garment), it might grow some calluses from all the tear-and-wear of wearing the Birks-wannabe. Wonder if the real ones will cause a similar trouble. Note to self: should wear socks with prolong wear of this kind of shoes.

Next...

How do you feel when a total stranger from an elevator ride gave you his/her (out-of-state) phone number and asking you to please call sometime? Is it better than he/she demanding yours? Does it make you responsible to initiate further socializing with the person? I sometimes couldn't spare myself of baring all personal details in one innocent chit-chat. Oh, the naive me.

....gitu kata Wongiseng ke kita berlima. Nah, berikut jawaban saya...

1. How many books do you own?
Sama kayak Wongiseng, nggak pernah ngitung. Waktu masih di rumah yah numpang ama koleksi gaek cowok, kalo sekarang biasanya minjem di perpustakaan, ato numpang baca gratis di toko buku, ato "nilep" punya temen, huehue. Buku-buku milik sendiri disusun dengan rapi di rak (sesekali dibersihin debunya), tapi rak-nya nggak penuh-penuh gitu udah bertahun-tahun. Kalo buku pelajaran biasanya beli di internet, sedikit lebih murah dari toko buku sekitar kampus, ama kalo sesekali beruntung singgah ke Clementi.

2. What is the last book you bought?
Buku pelajaran buat kelas Mechatronics semester kemaren, selain buku pelajaran, apa ya, ini kayaknya: A Book of Their Own, eh salah, A Book of One's Own: People and Their Diaries karangan Thomas Mallon. Nggak direkomendasiin buat baca, aneh.

3. What is the last book you read?
Ngelanjutin Purgatorio (lupa siapa yang nerjemahin) tadi malem sebelum jatuh ketiduran. Udah berhari-hari belum habis juga. Agak nggak ngerti sih dan juga suka berusaha ngebayangin suasananya gimana, jadi dibaca ulang lagi berkali-kali dari kanto awal (dan masih belum ngerti juga, huehue).

4. Five Books which mean a lot to me.
Nah susah nih, kok banyakan keingetnya buku-buku di jaman dahulu kala ya. Tapi coba dicoba dulu ya:

-Buku-buku Enid B., Agatha C, dan buku-buku dan majalah koleksi Rumbai Library lainnya. Ya, gitu deh, standar anak SD, SMP jaman itu. Inget kalo udah liburan panjang habis renang di Club pasti hampir tiap hari singgah ke perpustakaan, minjem, ngebalikin, minjem, ngebalikin, minjem (, ngilangin, disuruh ganti, nggak pernah nginjakin kaki di sana lagi, aduh maap, hehehe).

-Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Ini ceritanya waktu kelas III SMP. Seluruh pegawai di tempat gaek cowok kerja diwajibkan baca buku ini. Suatu hari beliau bawa pulang buku tu dan digeletakkan begitu aja di atas meja tamu. Waktu itu saya lebih tertarik pada sebuah gambar (di halaman 7, ya, kalo nggak salah) yang mendeskripsikan tentang dua persepsi. Tergantung yang melihat, di situ digambarkan seorang wanita muda atau seorang nenek tua. Lebih bagus lagi kalo si pembawa dari awal bisa dengan gampang mengenali kedua sisi itu.

-Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Ini juga kerjaan-nya gaek cowok ninggalin buku bertebaran dimana-mana. Banyak juga yang dipelajari dari sini buat seorang anak SMP. Yah, layaknya lagi bersiap-siap memerangi kehidupan. Ntar di kelas III SMA, saya bakal berhutang budi ke kedua buku ini. Wawancara untuk beasiswa waktu itu sukses, Bo'!

-Salah satu buku biografinya Soekarno, yang karangan bapak-nya Ingrid Widjanarko, Sewindu Dekat dengan Bung Karno, gitu kali judulnya. Ini buku sebenernya punya gaek cewek, tapi saya yang malah pertama baca sebelum beliau mulai baca (kebayang dikejar-kejar gaek, huehueheu). Untuk anak SD lumayan juga, untuk mengintip kehidupan keluarga presiden jaman-jaman segitu. Kayak nonton pilem Indonesia jaman dulu, menarik.

-Confession of St. Augustine
Yah, ini baru mulai dibaca sih. Biasa pencarian jati diri dari segi religius. Sebenernya tertarik sama biografi St. Agustinus duluan, setelah itu baru mulai cari tau cerita yang benar-benar langsung keluar dari beliau.

5. Tag 5 others
Duh, berhubung Pak Dodol dan Bu Detta udah diambil, syapa lagi ya, hmmm...
-Bu Dwi (ayo, Jeng, ada rekomendasi bacaan bagus buat anak dongg)
-Pak T (nggak usah pake link kan ya?)
-Pak Dion
-Pak Ocier
-Adik saya, Pak Ucok

Gitu deh, semoga diantara yang lima ini punya waktu buat ngebahas. :)

I am bored, with televisions, movies, music, school stuff, exercising, healthy diet, life in general.... Good thing is, when boredom strikes this time around, I find out that I read more: at B&N, Half-price, at school, before bed-time, in the bath room.

List of books completed (and in progress) these past two weeks:

• The Chance to Say Goodbye
  
• The Millionare Next Door
• A Lost Lady
• My Antonia
• Adam Schwartz's A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia in the 90s
• On Becoming a Person
  
• Lives of the Muses: Nine Women and the Artists They Inspired
• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America the Book: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction
• Confessions of St. Augustine (IP)
• Catholicism for Dummies
• The Divine Comedy: The Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso (IP)
• Late Shift: Letterman, Leno, and the Network Battle for the Night

I might need to look at some volunteering, at SVdP maybe, or any other place around.

I am all hungry again. And this is despite of the fact that I just finished big, hearty, yummy, homemade lunch about four hours ago. Now I could get something from vending, but it's less than an hour until the seven o'clock mass starts.

Oh poor metabolism!

Update:
Interesting liturgical and eucharistic music last night in the form of a singer who could almost hit all the too-high-notes, a banjo player, and a priest who sang the doxology perfectly.

Once we finished with our version of summer cleaning, NY and I decided to go on a photo-hunting trip around town. With half-charged batteries and a problematic memory card, off we went to Research Park to capture the mood of early summer days.

Here is my favorite picture among the wonderful ones taken by Ndoro Yadda (she's a natural, I tell you). It makes you realize how grandeur nature is and how small you are compared to it.

And here is my favorite among the ones I took.

Thirst for more adventure and in a rather out-of-the-blue-ish fashion, NY suggested that we test how far and how fast The Rage can be driven. We set our course to Navasota, a town 24 miles due south of CS. It turned out, once it hit more than 60 MPH, the engine quickly overheated. We slowed down to 45, but on mile three out of CS, we gave up and decided to let the car cool down a bit.

We stopped on the closest thing to a highway shoulder available. We found these sunflowers grow wildly by the wooden fence of a private property. However, due to the lack of any interesting objects around, the photo hunt here was quickly turned into yet another bout of narcisistic behavior.

Over the morning of Memorial Day, Ndoro Yadda and I decided to clean up our room. The whole thing had fallen into a resemblance of a two-pig pen rather than a room shared by a 25 year old and her younger sister. Once the beds were not being made up, there was nothing pleasant about it, save for the nice window treatment and the retouched drawers and bookcase .

The blinds, the window sills, and the windows were one of the first things to clean. Next was the under-the-bed area. Several things reclaimed--all gathered up pestilential amount of dust: unfinished bed-time readings, forgotten and doomed to be shoved under, food wraps, mostly candies, scratch paper, unused paper, pens and pencils, a mug, ponytail bands, broken pair of slippers, and missing jewelries. Next steps were dusting off the trumperies, the lamps and all of the electronics, sorting last semester's text books and old stuff, re-organizing the closet, vacuuming the carpet, and installing clean beddings.

There were two plastic bags full of clothing material to donate and at least three bags full of garbage. End results: a clingy clean room and a walkable closet.