In the beginning, I found this very appealing. Partly because of the New Orleans-Louisana settings (I love the state), or the telling-a-story style of a movie-going person (my kind of people), and maybe because of the Catholic values burried deep there somewhere. In the end, I was just lost. What was it about again? I need to get back to reread it carefully.

Anyway, here's a paragraph from the book I found most interesting, you see, *cough* because I could relate to it in too many ways.

"The poor fellow. He has just begun to suffer from it, this miserable trick the romantic plays upon himself: of setting just beyond his reach the very thing he prizes. For he prizes just such a meeting, the chance meeting with a chance friend on a chance bus, a friend he can talk to, unburden himself of some of his terrible longing."

Today in class, instead of listening to the professor's usual mountainous amount of misleading information, ignorant description and whatnot, I was mentally composing what I will jot down on her teaching evaluation come the end of the semester.

It was a pretty long list, from the superficial --the annoying way she pronounces "ion" ('I(-&)rn instead of 'I-&n)-- to the heavyweight (blatantly copying some material from the internet and saying way too many blank words about it, which of course doesn't add to your comprehension of the matter at hand).

Gagh.

And then, I received this forwarded e-mail (not related to the stuff above):

G******,

It will be fine for the Indonesian choir to sing the entrance hymn for the Procession of the Nations.

Then another choir will lead the opening hymn.

OK. What does it mean? Is the "entrance hymn for the Procession of the Nations" just another name for the Prelude?

I sent the Choir Director a friendly e-mail to clarify the situation. But if my premonition is proven right, that's one unfair situation. We were asked to sing for the entrance and is reduced to a mere prelude. Actually, it's not so much about the singing, it's about the way this Director treating people without respect. Every semester, I have to deal with this kind of treatment from him and I'm just tired.

Singing for the Entrance Procession or bust!


Oh, oh, one more thing while we are being negative today,

Mulder: "This... this place that they took you to, can you describe it to me, tell me what it looked like?"

Schiff: "It was white. A white place. It was featureless."

Ha, what do I know, just like this blog.

These past two days:

• Getting a taste out of questionable meat product

• Reliving the co-ed streetball experience (last time was almost 9 years ago)

Getting a paper accepted on a(n obscured) peer-reviewed publication

Di hapus aja ya, terlalu narsis sepertinya..huehuehue

A question from this person followed by "Oh, come on, you've been here too long" is all it takes to ruin my mood for the day. Ah, all things shall pass adventually eventually, I hope. Si Dios nos presta vida.


*I started reading Walker Percy's The Moviegoer last night.

"2. It has become a tradition for the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue to send a message to our Muslim brothers and sisters on the occasion of the end of Ramadan. The message has usually been signed by the president of the Pontifical Council. In 1991, on account of the first Gulf War, the good-will
message was signed by His Holiness Pope John Paul II. He wrote about the need for "a sincere, profound and constant dialogue between believing Catholics and believing Muslims, from which there can arise a strengthened mutual knowledge and trust". These words are surely still relevant today. "
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"Then, making reference to the conflicts, violence and wars present in our world,
the Pope emphasized that it is the duty of every one, especially those who profess to belong to a religious tradition, to work for peace, and that “our efforts to come together and foster dialogue are a valuable contribution to building peace on solid foundations”. Pope Benedict XVI concluded by saying: “It is therefore imperative to engage in sincere and authentic dialogue, built on respect for the dignity of every human person, created, as we Christians firmly believe, in the image and likeness of God” (cf. Gen. 1: 26-27) (L’Osservatore Romano, 26 April 2005)."

• Flights and (roach) hotels have been booked for December 27-January 1.
• Chinatown bus from DC to NYC looks promising.
• It's now a matter to schedule time to maximizing chances, while minimizing spending, for more attractions on both cities and to save up for something extra.

DC and NYC, here comes the three little piggies.

Tomorrow (as in a couple hours from now), I am conducting a solo battle towards a certain collective lack of personal hygiene. It will involve a generous spraying of air freshener product in a classroom at 12:40-ish PM. These past few weeks, the situation has escalated and resulted in a massive breathing disfunction in the form of "I would rather die than breathing that kind of air".

So, wish me luck.
Huh, dasar orang Bawang, bau' kali pun, satu aja udah bikin mampet, apalagi segerombol.


In other news, I found this AP piece about the Nobel price for Literature quite hilarious and conforms to a rather enjoyable style.

"Recent picks such as V.S. Naipaul and Guenter Grass were established authors whose Nobels were greeted by knowing nods from the literary community. Others, including Jelinek and Italian playwright Dario Fo, inspired a collective scratch of the head. "

And speaking of Nobel, why don't you check out this year's Ig Noble? Or better yet, watch the livecast. I am still LMAO just from glancing through the short description for the winner of each category.

Flashback, freshman year, Spring 1998. I was walking to a Math 152 recitation vowing myself to lose some pounds, because otherwise, that pair of great corduroy I was wearing wouldn't fit any longer. Freshman 15 (in my case, more like Freshman 30) is not a myth, you see.

Many many semesters, two degrees, and six years later, it was impossible to even slide myself knees up on the said pants. I, on the other hand, didn't realize --well, more like couldn't careless-- over the fact that I had gained so much weight over time...until last year, due to the planned three-week trip home that December. It's been a personal crusade ever since.

So here I am, 16 months into getting-back-to-the-highschool-weight routine, 60% onto the targeted weight. I have learned that it's not about the diet as much as about being active and having a balanced life-style. This semester, however, it reminds me of just how easy it is to fall down into the same trap. What with the working until the wee hours of the morning, not having enough exercise time to be squeezed in, and the insensible eating.

So, wish me luck.

PS:
Surprisingly, today, I found out that the pants fit me almost perfectly. Yippie!

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I don't mind you coming here
and wasting all my time
'cause when you're standing oh so near
I kinda lose my mind
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--Just What I Needed, The Cars

I wish.