Remember that blog excerpt comparing cooking and baking the other day? So, last week, I determined to relive the experience and do my own cooking. First time in a few months, really.

For days, I had been craving for Macaroni Schotel (partly thanks to Bu Didi and her pasta-caserole dish thingie) . Finally, on Sunday, I went grocery shopping for the ingredients from my made-up-on-top-of-my-mind recipe.

Onion, got it, garlic, got it.
Ground beef, wait, 80/20, 90/10, or 95/5? Aha, the more fat, the better, I thought, 80/20 it is.
Cheese, what about the cheese? Cheddar, American, Swiss? Hey...this quesadilla cheese look tasty. Then, a package of elbow macaroni and a pint of milk got tossed into the cart and I was all set.

In the kitchen, I started with tossing liberal amount of the garlic and the onion and browning the whole pound of ground beef. The milk was next with a couple of eggs, followed by dashes and dashes of nutmeg and black pepper. And it started to taste good. By this time, there was water overflown from the boiling macaroni pot. I should start cooking more often, I forgot all about this water thing.

Something still missing, though. The salt. I started with some sensible amount, but it never got salty enough. I put more and more of it, until my common sense finally knocked and I stopped.

Then, the pastas were drained and immediately tossed into the liquidy part and baked. Well, not after I sporadically put some of the cheese on top.

30 more minutes and that would be it. The apt started to get infused with the cheesy nutmeggy smell. "It's gonna be good", I said, and emotionally patted myself for achieving something that night.

But sometimes, you set too much expectation on your liberal way of cooking. The schotel turned out tasted nothing but the salty part. It was still edible --with a lot of help of sambal botol. I ended up consuming it for the most part of the week.

zit or cold sore
Not bad, on top of Google search for this.

caffeinated cheerleader
It was one of Miss Didi's personas that came up thanks to the integrated commenting system.

working in a bridal shop flushing queens
Yes, I was a big time The Nanny's fan.

nirmala oki ratu bidadari
Top search at Yahoo! for these beloved characters of Bobo magazine.

quit phd
Hmm, yeah, why not?

Brevis esse latoro obscurus fio
Apparently, lots of people share my interest on popular Latin quotes...

tuna melt description
and on tuna melt.

cute emails
sometimes the internet is way boring without the exchange of any of these.

quid quid latine dictum sit
See what I said about the Latin quotes?

eagles no more stormy nights
Should stop posting lyrics, but I really love that song...

No way November will see our goodbye
or should use the other place for posting lyrics.

houston chinatown haircut
Ah..should be getting one these days, ya, De?

hahaha
Huh?

gambar anak smp cowok
pr0n? Indonesian style?

right eye twitching omen
Nah, it's just you're too tired or something...

gambar nenek wanita muda
Must be interesting if this search term and the one before the twitching omen came from the same person. They were independent.

scrapbook frenzy
Aha...I've grown over it.

pescador de hombre
Wanna be one?

Alea iacta est. Gosh, what have I done?

X says:
hahaha What Would Superman Do?

SUPERMAN RETURNS says:
hell yeah....
u see it yet?
i saw it yesterday
4 more times to go

oh..you crazy
is it that good?

it is SPECTACULAR
he looks like a Greek God

oh man
huuummmmm *slurp*

* ok that was kinda gay *
it's really a sad chick flick
that happens to involve the man of steel

hihihihi
ogah ah kalo gitu

ha ha ha
it's got everything... chick flick moments...lots of action for the dorks... guy wearing tights for the gay crowd

hoaohaohaoha
hoaohaohaoha

and a Christ impersonation for the church looneys

ohaoahohaohaoah

WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR?

okai okai..I will go tomorrow

*thumbs up*

need to find a date first :p

ha ha

This is long overdue. I'd better write it down before totally forgetting all about it.

The Ordination Mass for Fathers Alberto and John was performed at San Jose Church, Austin in the morning of Saturday, June 10, 2006.

The church herself was built in the style of a Spanish Mission with a couple of Italian glass windows and big dark painted chandeliers. There is a running fountain for Holy Water in the terrace area. The two rows of pews in the center form a 120-degree section with another row on the left and right with the raising altar as the center. Our Lady of Guadalupe statue is positioned on the Gospel side. [Couldn't recall other details.]

Fully attired order of Knight of Columbus formed a guarding line before the procession of school of 70 priests, seminarians, and the bishop. It seemed that most of the bright and brightest of the Diocese of Austin were on attendance for this holy ceremony. Definitely mindboggling.

Some of the interesting part of The Rite of Ordination were the Laying of Hands and Kiss of Peace from attending priests to the two newly ordained, not to mention the investiture of stole and chasuble and the presentation of chalice and paten.

The music was a combination of Mexican and contemporer style. What made it special was when the concelebrants chanting the Eucharistic prayers, the Alleluya, and the Amen in unison.

What interesting about the communion line was that it was divided into two: the one going in front towards the altar and the one going towards the door. Bishop Aymond himself was giving communion at one of these back posts.

The 1.5 hour ceremony ended with a recessional.

The reception followed was catered by the Le Cordon Bleu program of the Texas Culinary Academy. Good food!

Your Brain is 40% Female, 60% Male

You have a total boy brain Logical and detailed, you tend to look at the facts And while your emotions do sway you sometimes... You never like to get feelings too involved

...is a powerful word, isn't it? I am not even sure if this is hate that I am feeling. All I know is that it goes well with turned up rock metal songs and with breaking something or somebody into pieces.

But then again, what is this all about? You, me, things, circumstances, You up there?

Rational has never been the keyword these days.

HHHRRGGHH.

I think, I'm on that point of realization that all of these have always been a total waste
why did I keep thinking about it?
because you care
yeah, but does he???
in a platonic way, maybe
not sure about that either
we'll see

KYH, you probably won't be proud of what I did just now.
I was hungry and craving for anything junky.
I blamed it all on the hormonal cycle.

I consulted an omni-online friend of where to go for this kind of craving.
"At this hour?" he said, "denny's IHOP or McD"
"(the first two) take too long (and too much memories)," I griefly replied.

So, there, at almost 1 in the morning I drove The Rage to Jack in the Box ( the one in Bryan) .
I planned on getting a burger, some curly fries and strawberry milkshake.
It felt like one long ride with only me and the radio.
Suddenly, they played this Kanye West's, the one you always sing along to.

I gotta testify, come up in the spot looking extra fly
For the day I die, I'mma touch the sky

I smiled and realized how much I miss you, Hon.
Pulang lah cepat, okai!

What I really want to do these days are to pack the camera with enough baterries and memory cards and a tripod and go on a picture hunting trip to West Texas...alone.

The dusty towns, the landscape, the sunsets, the forgotten places, the churches.

Two words. Solitary fun.

PS:
Ah, how I long for the day when thing finally passes and we all can laugh about it.
Ya, Bu Didi, ya Adindas.
It is hellish.

Kadang, belajar dari alam itu penting...banget. Contohnya, tadi siang, sewaktu hujan yang bolak-balik mengucur itu akhirnya berhenti, lalu bagaikan tirai yang tersibak, di atas sana tergores sang pelangi.
Aih...He he he. *garink*

Dan sekedar penghormatan buat lagu-lagu sakti di album satu ini:

NB:
Dengan ini diputuskan, udah cukup Telor Paskah-nya. Basi lama-lama.

Goodnight, to every little hour that you sleep tight...
Halo, udah nyampe SG pasti ya, ato udah di rumah? Lidah ini selalu kelu mau bilang, jadi pake ini aja, mudah-mudahan kebaca di Blog Search.
Gue sayang elu, you know that, right? Ya udah, gitu aja. Baik-baik di sana.

I just did something I had not done in the past, oh, 7 years?

I used facial scrubber foam andapplied a certain 10% Benzoyl Peroxide containing cream all over my face. Good thing NY has it stocked somewhere beneath the mess of vanity stuff.

Hormonal episode has never gone this bad. Was it something I eat or was it that thing inside my mind? ...leaning towards the latter.

Come to think that I should be free of acne by this age.

Bu Didi...tinggal hari ini!

Gemini emang ajaib.
Oh, ya, Bu Detsky, met ultah juga ya. Telat 2 minggu..maap..
Tadi pagi gue bangun dan secepatnya bergegas ke Misa mencari ketenangan. Bingung sama perasaan sendiri yang turun naik kayak gini. Kemaren malem ada yang bilang, "Woi kinda jgn kaget..Td ya si mama nanya if **** likes you. krn he keeps looking at you when dy ngomong." Ada-ada aja, bukan harusnya sebaliknya?

Curi ya, De...

My Adenda and I at our first mirror shot ever. Love the endless reflection the mirror made.

People see V for Vendetta and took its message of revolution in the face of tyrannical government even when it necessitates violence.

What I identified with was the romantic side of the movie.

There it was, Julie London's Cry Me a River to which the mysterious masked V and Evey Hammond slow danced to.

And then this murder scene...

Delia: Are you going to kill me now?
V: I killed you 10 minutes ago, while you slept.
Delia: Is there any pain?
V: No.
Delia: Thank you. . .Is it meaningless to apologize?
V: Never.
Delia: I'm so sorry. (dies)

and the rose fell on her side.

This is also why I like cooking better than baking. Ah, need more of that, more of this. Voila!

Beginning as a baker taught me to be structured and orderly about what went into my pot. Baking does not tolerate things just being instinctively thrown around. If baking were a country, it would be Switzerland or Germany. Cooking would be Italy or someplace nice where you could lounge with a glass of wine. In baking country, the trains run on time.

Udah over apa...kemaren malam aja tidur sambil rada-rada menitik mandangin gambar yang dia buat. Ck ck ck.

I rather like the writing style of this gentleman here and wish he writes more frequently. This post cracked me up really.

He mentioned a certain Chesterton four times here which since yesterday has sparked my own interest on the old fella. Who is he, I wonder.

As I am quite incapable of grasping the meaning behind poems, which most of the time resulted in minimum level of appreciation on them, what would be a recommended book to jump start a sense of familiarity with the works of he who has been claimed the greatest writer (and thinker) of the 20th century?

I will run to B&N anytime to pick up one. Sure, Project Guttenberg has it all online. I prefer an actual copy to hold on to and to enjoy anytime I'm not around a computer.

I bumped into G at the grocery store yesterday. What planned as a quick trip to pick up the essentials was strecthed into 1.5 hours of exchanging more facts about people we both know and, worst, chatting with people she knows (there were a lot). Well, we also spent some portion of the time walking around the aisles for "hard-to-find" stuff, most notably, Ovaltine and honey spread.

.Kalo gue bilang gue udah "over" dia, kalian percaya nggak?
.Mulai dua malem yang lalu di konser lalu barusan tadi ini...waktu gue dan dia lagi bedua...gue ngeliatin dia dan bingung sama perasaan gue. Kok rasanya udah terbang hampir tak berbekas aja ya? Secepat itukah? Ya bagus deh, buat menyongsong Rabu.
Meanwhile, several guys were spotted wearing the Brazillian soccer uniform, which given the circumstances, was a real good conversation starter. You should see how their eyes suddenly sprinkled with joy with a light touch and small talks about the game.

We forgot to strike some poses on Friday and Saturday, these are all for Sunday before we left for CS. I mean, I'm still cameraless since the Princess took it for her trip, G forgot hers, we had to use Andrea's boyfriend's. Stories...later. I've got a mountain full of them.

Ada beberapa hal yang cuman mendem di pikiran gue dan berputar di situ-situ aja--kayak NASCAR. Pengen ditumpahin ke tulisan, semacam psiko-analisis diri sendiri gitu kali ya, kali gue bisa jadi lebih tenang menghadapi hidup (Ratu Drama). Ntar deh dimulai kalo udah mulai surut kerjaan. Paling pas mungkin di pagi buta dan lampu kamar yang udah padam, dengan suara TV di latar belakang dan musik melankolis di komputer.

Dan kalo gue punya nyali, I'll put it here for the whole world to see.

Arrgh...why does it have to be this way?
you'll find someone
hope so
that's relationship, you take what you can get
he will always be remembered, though
the one who got away
the one you couldn't have
the one that has no clue
hahaha

12 hari lagi, lalu hidup gue bakal jadi hampa.
Sampe kapan rasa ini tetap ada?
Udah hampir setahun sejak saat pertama gue ngeh elo eksis.
Kenapa elo nggak bisa untuk gue?

An e-mail with "Indonesian Cummunity" in the title almost went to the trash bin without my futher glancing on it. Turned out it's inquiring if I'm still the Indonesia representative at church.

Eh, how bad spelling could affect your attitude toward something.


OOT:
Dan Conner character of Roseanne co-wrote and sang this for a country song writing contest.

There's a river high in the mountain
That's been flowing since who knows when
No one sure just how it started
And it's never gonna end

Our love is like that river
Flowing through all time
Heaven knows I need you
And I'll never change my mind

Heaven knows I love you
and I'll never change my mind

Tadi setelah kita makan siang rame-rame di India situ, gue ajak elo ke Half-Price. Masa' elo blom pernah sih ke situ? Sayang banget, kalo kita "deket"nya dari dulu, pasti asik ke situ bedua wiken ya. Elo baca-baca WW II, gue berburu literatur, lalu kita pinjem DVD pilem klasik. Ahhh....

This Friday at around 4, Giselle and I will be leaving for Austin. We will stay at Andrea's and have some good girlfriends reconnecting time and be introduced to her beau. The next morning, we all will attend the Deacon's ordination as a priest, which will be followed by a small reception. The rest of the afternoon and night will be spent for more of the girls only stuff. We will spend the night again her apartment before driving back to CS on Sunday morning.

I'm gonna miss you so much this weekend. Gue pengen kayak wiken kemaren lagi, liat elu hampir tiap hari. Minggu depan itu ternyata udah wiken terakhir elu ada di sini. Jadi anggep ini latihan buat perpisahan? Kirain udah bisa mulai hilang rasanya, ini kok makin tambah parah. Haduh.

I said, nope, with a capital N.

Really, what I meant was that I'd never thought of the kind of reception I --I mean we, if there is ever a we to begin with-- would have. That, and anything else for that matter. But in turn, I already have a general picture of the ceremony or at least its musical selection; presented here as a collection of MIDI files, just in case you guys are curious.

Prelude: Schubert's Ave Maria
Parents procession: Bach's Wachet Auf
Bridesmaid/ Maid of Honor procession: Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus
Bride Procession: Mascagni's Intermezzo
Gathering: Morning Has Broken
Responsorial Psalm: Joncas' I Have Loved You
Alleluia: Celtic
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen: don't know yet
Presentation of gift: Ubi Caritas
Lamb of God: Haugen's Dona Nobis Pacem
Communion: Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
Recessional: Bach's Gigue

Lately, I wonder what to do with my life (outside school). It hit me harder since you've been away, Princy.

Really, I should not be the least worried. I used to volunteer here and there, I could start involving on those kind of stuff again. There are also personal goals to reach by the end of the summer. And plus, it's about time --overdue, to be honest-- to have a wider social circle.

Anyway, I woke up this morning at nine and went back curling under the blanket. I could always attend a later Mass, I thought, abusing the many Masses offered to my own liking.

Turned out, I forgot that I'd been invited to a lunch for an old friend who's flying all the way from Detroit to attend a wedding here at St. Mary's. G's phone call woke me up, reminded me of such engagement.

I half-heartedly went an hour later and not before finishing chatting online with NY. It turned out to a bless in disguise. I met a former Campus Minister who is entering a formation with the Marianist Sisters down in San Antonio. It's been entering my mind once or twice about joining some type of religious life. Still, don't think it's my call.

"What's a typical day in a convent? I've never met someone who's actually on discerning," I said.

She first described the different type of religious life for the Sisters: cloistered, semi-cloistered, and active. She belongs to the last one. For this year, she's still having a full time job but will be on a noviciation for two years before taking a vow of poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability. She then described the type of life they have, their activities and such.

Then, all of us bantered funny stories about one of the parish priests. Yesterday turned out to be his birthday.

Once upon a time, Fr. D spoke at the Spanish Mass and asked the people to distribute the paper to their fellow neighbors along the pews.

"Pase los ojos," he said as opposed to las ojas.

"O, Padre, pase tus ojos" said one of the ladies. Everyone agrees that the Father has the most beautiful blue eyes, as blue as the ocean.

Then, it was followed by short fact exchanges, things that would not let you to believe this kind of person is Priest material:
"He had girlfriends...a lot..."
"He rode motorcycles...the big one..."
"He's more flamboyant..."
"...and don't forget those eyes"

All in all, it was refreshing, a meet up like this.

PS:
Udah lama pengen nanya...70.17.187.# Macintosh MacOSX Safari 1.3, do we know each other ?

[sappy]
It's a lie when I say I am over you.
I guess I just pass that stage of raising heart beats.
Still, my treasured moments are the moments when you're around.
The question is, how am I going to deal with you leaving in less than three weeks?
And that's why I'm jotting this down, albeit the camouflage here and there.
I don't have the courage to stand for it.
I'm afraid I will lose you as a friend too.

Like my favorite movies, I keep rewinding every scenes on it in my head.
They're all I've ever had.
Memories.


.
.We stayed after everyone else's gone. Just the four of us, chilling. I shut down the offer for that margarita bash with the other, I like this crowd better, and foremost, I just don't want to miss every last moment to spend with you.
I feel special when you remember the small things I thought you took for granted or when you confide your plan for the future. I couldn't help it, I just act as if we are more than friends. Fictious. Fool.
...isn't it obvious how I feel about you? It's been like this for eight months.
But then if you did notice, what would you do?
If it were reciprocal, it will never lead to a "we".
As things would never logically work out between us.

My head never ceases telling it to my heart.
What I need is more time to accept and sink in.
[/sappy]

[snippet]

should I tell him?
what?
your feeling ?
i am thinking....
trust your heart or trust your brain....hmm
yeah
I'm afraid I'll lose him as a friend too
that's the risk.
oh, I couldn't do it then
better not
I didn't expect anything in return
so what's the point of telling right?
yup
other than aggrevating your relationship
yup

[/snippet]

More than a tremor - News

Earthquake resistant housing: http://www.atmi.ac.id/sm.htm

Anju ahu sai anju ahu ale anggi
(Bujuk aku, tetap bujuk aku, oh Adik)
Dinamuruk manang marsak rohakki
(Di waktu marah atau sedih hatiku)
Na so hu paboa arsak na di roha
(Tak kuberitahu kesedihan di hati)
Holong ni rohakku sai hot doi
(Kasih sayang di hatiku tetap tak berubah)

Anju ahu sai anju ahu ale anggi
(Bujuk aku, tetap bujuk aku, oh Adik)
Engkel mi mambean pasonang rohakki
(Tertawamu membuat senang hatiku)
Tungsaleleng ahu di lambungmi
(Selama aku di dekat mu)
Anju ahu sai anju ahu ale anggi
(Bujuk aku, tetap bujuk aku, oh Adik)
Anju ahu sai anju ahu ale anggi
(Bujuk aku, tetap bujuk aku, oh Adik)

--Anju Ahu

Hahaha...pas banget yak! Ini jadi lagu resmi gue deh.