I'm moving my updates to a different blog, http://www.farah-faisal.blogspot.com, since it's an easier address to remember and spell. It's been a great ride updating this blog, hope you'll follow me on to the next chapter!

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum.....

Aiihhh.... had a really long day today, as always. Strange how that seems to be the case everytime I have lotsa things due. Thanksgiving weekend was great thanks to GempitaFest, good job everyone!! I had 4 girls camping out at my place, 5 including me, so that's a lotta girls in one teeny tiny apartment, considering that each one of them packed the way I do... putting half of what we own in large, large bags. So my bedroom was filled with bags, and my living room filled with girls... barely got enough sleep, thanks to the Thanksgiving sale, catching up with my friends and of course, the event itself.

Now that all of us are back to reality, things had gotten a wee bit outta control. The project that I thought was (sorta) done, on my part anyway, turns out has a bug that I can't seem to find a way to get rid of. I've been sitting here in front of my laptop trying to make the damn thing go away, and it's NOT GOING AWAY! To top off my such fantastic day (note the sarcasm people), my voice "broke" during practice this morning with Mas Wasi due to lack of practice during and before the break, and now everytime I speak, there would be this sudden high-pitch squeak in the middle of a sentence. Just perfect, with auditions just days away... crud. Can't a girl have a break?

And now I have two books to read. For class. We all know how that goes. Each professor in this world has a sixth sense that smells out the most boring books ever written on earth... and then assigning them as reading assignments. Imagine my joy upon finding out the abundance of selection I have for my first reading assignment. In fact, I almost peed my pants, such joy filled my heart and the excess went straight to my bladder. Aaahh... I like me when I'm feeling sarcastic, I sound like an obnoxious moron who watched waaaayyyy too many reruns of Friends and Seinfeld. Or maybe just too much Comedy Central, I have a thing for Jon Stewart. Yummy....

The second reading assignment isn't quite so bad. I like science fiction, I grew up watching Star Wars movies (my family has the VHS, that's why all of us are dorks) and Star Trek on TV, and of course, my favorite anime of all time, Robotech (best looking guys I've ever seen in my life, even if they aren't real). The idea of machines one day controlling the world is kinda intriguing, I mean you never know, one day you wake up and your toaster has you at gun point and start shoving bread down your throat, yelling "How do you like them breads now, sucka?!". Men are always trying to improve on things that don't need fixing, and ignoring things that do. Trust me, one day we'll find that elusive thing that makes machines REALLY act like humans, then they take over the world, and we'll be sitting there in our cages thinking how the heck did we manage to fuck ourselves in the ass like that.

See? See what reading all these superflous junk is doing to me?? I'm sitting here in front of my laptop with no better thoughts in my head than thinking about my toaster taking over the world. I DON'T EVEN HAVE A TOASTER! Oh fuck, I'm turning into an oxymoron, which is soooo much worse than your normal everyday moron. Oh well... moving on....

What was I rambling about? Oh yeah, reading assignment #2. Anyway, I watched I Robot in the summer and had a fascination with Isaac Asimov's stuff, so I decided to read his book for this. Which is kinda cool, I've had the I Robot book for some time now after the movie came out, but I decided upon reading the first of his Foundation series for the assignment. Why? I dunno, I just wanna, you jackass, STOP HARASSING ME! I'm so paranoid in my apartment right now, I might as well be smoking weed... or smoking something.

Okay, I'm gonna try and leave all of you with the impression that I still might be slightly sane, and quite typing. I have a nice scented candle waiting to be lighted up, hopefully that will take the tension out of my veins... Ciao babes and babettes!

Wassalam...

Monday, November 22, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum...

Aiiihhh... holidays are almost NEVER a good time for me. I mean, seriously, it feels like the more time I have in my hands, the more likely I find something that would make me wanna go "bunuh diri" and jump off a bridge. Ever heard of the expression "Ignorance is bliss?". If I can go through life being ditzy and not knowing anything, or maybe just go through life not feeling anything, I probably would. But then that would just be stupid, 'cause there's no room for self improvement. Let's just hope this Thanksgiving would go nice and smooth....

Alisa had her first "open house" for raya. Before that, Dayang, Hisham, kak Deng, Mel and Mehrun also had theirs. Food was great, company was great. At Hisham's, we watched Puteri Gunung Ledang. Note to self and everyone: lain kali jgn kasi Alisa makan byk sgt gule. Sgt hyper. No more sodas for you, young lady. I think all of us totally ripped PGL to shreds. Poor Tiara, trying to sound like an Indonesian. Honey, give it up now, it's not happening.

At Mel's and Mehrun's, there was this cute little bundle of joy that I just melted over. No, it's not a gift basket filled with Victoria's Secret undies.... it's a baby. A cute, chubby itty bitty lil' wee thing who's pink face and pretty eyes makes you go "aaahhh... sho cute". I love babies. They're so innocent and cute, and all they do is cry, poop and eat. (this would probably be a good time to make a crack at the men that I've known, but I'm gonna be nice today and not go there). I've always wanted kids of my own when I start a family. Honestly, kalau kate lah kan, ditakdirkan takde jodoh, I think what would break my heart more isn't the fact that I won't have a guy in my life, but that I wouldn't get to go through the experience of motherhood. However, that's a long way to go yet, and I'm nt gonna worry about things that I'm not even ready for.

The MSA newletter is out, and so is my article. They put in the front page, which I guess is kinda cool. The editor didn't recognize me, though, he tried to give me the newsletter and say "there's also this really interesting artcle from Sister Farah". I looked at him blankly and said "I'm Farah". He blushed, and as a saving grace I smiled, said "Thanks, I'll pass this along" and made my exit. I told this story to Alisa, Dayang, Ijat and Hanis at Alisa's house the second time I went there, it bombed because apparently, I don't know how to tell a story. Truth be told, I really don't, I'm more comfortable with writing a story than telling it. It was kinda refreshing to have people laugh with you at your expense, it keeps your feet planted to the ground and you don't get all hoity toity. Of course, that only works if the people doing the laughing does it in FRONT of you, not behind your BACK, 'cause if it's the latter then that would just be plain rude and kind of insulting. It doesn't benefit anybody and dosa pun bertambah bergelen-gelen.

I went senyap-senyap to a "something" and got a callback to host (or co-host) "something". If you've seen MTV or VH1, and you see the VJs talking to the camera about the scene behind them... yeah, that's what I get to do, if I decide to go for the second call and actually got the offer. It's nothing fancy, certainly not MTV or VH1. But we'll see. That's a long way to go yet. Honestly, if any of my friends even ask me about it, I would just smile and say "it's nothing". Wouldn't wanna jinx my chances. But most of the stuff that they want me to do would be during the next semester, the pay isn't all that attractive anyway, and the fact that I don't have a car makes everything more difficult. On the other hand, it would be a great experience. Since I don't even have the offer yet, I'm just gonna sit back and relax :) .

I went to watch "National Treasure with Sophia last night, along with her 2 guy friends, after chapter yesterday. By the way, Ayun and Ijat, associates punye social sgt sedap, sundae sume nyum nyum, great job :) . On the way, we got talking about stuff, and now suddenly I have a workout buddy. Haha! Sophia is really hot, having her there would definitely push me further rather than just me doing it all alone. I noticed that I work better when I have good-lookin' people to inspire me, hahaha, like my instructors during sophomore year. So we're starting off with Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 10 am, and then take it from there. Can't wait, this should be fun :) .

I have class in another hour, so I gotta go and get ready. Hopefully I'll be able to pen in again sooner rather than later..... Ciao!

Wassalam...


Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum...

Such a busy week... I had 2 AutoCad assignments to do, which is more like 4 since each assignment has 2 parts to it. Those were so awful to do, and they were so tedious and not fun that I wondered what the heck did the professor mean when he said "fun 3D assignment"? I should write a letter to my prof:


Dear Sir,
Today, my otak almost go mereng because you gave me an assignment that make me wanna go weng-weng. Calling them fun does NOT make 'em fun. Fun is something that you can snap-snap-snap and they're done. Fun is something that isn't called an "assignment". Fun is something involving me, a couple of good lookin' guys with no shirt on, a roll of one dollar bills and a table top. Your assignments.... not fun.

-Farah-

Here's some other letters that I would just LOVE to dish out:

Dear Bus Driver,
The other day, ya almost langgar me at the bus stop. Why you wanna do dat? What did I ever to you. Dah lah you like to drive laju-laju when the bus is jam pack full of people, like you don't know that it's just not cool, man. Go masuk kelas driving again, or maybe just stop driving the bus altogether.

-Farah-

Dear Neighbor,
Just because you live under my apartment, doesn't mean I hafta like you. And vice versa. You cranked up the volume when I wanted to sleep, the bass almost made me insane. As such, I think I have the right to jump up and down and up and up and down and up and down in my living room just because I wanna. By the way, I DID NOT jump up and down yesterday, you're paranoid.

-Farah-

Dear Tupai Depan Rumah,
My neighbor is getting obnoxious. Sila berak depan rumah die. You're chubby enough.

-A Friendly Human-

Dear "Schtoopid",
First of all, you're not stupid. In fact, I'm hard pressed to find someone more intelligent than you are. But you treated me like crap, you still do, and you complain to ME that other people are crap. And your latest insensitivity today proves my point. Your crappy treatment of me makes you Mr. Schtoopid. Poopy-head.

-You Know Who This Is-

There. I'm actually feeling quit lousy today, I tried to pick my mood up but it's not working. Stoopis Windows Messenger. I solved the problem, but it's still bugging me. I'm all for hos before bros, but this ho is reaaaaalllllyy gettin' on my nerves. Oh hormones, oh history, oh stupid emotions. I'm not making sense to anybody, I better stop now before I start eating my laptop.

Wassalam...

Saturday, November 13, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum......

First of all, HAPPY EID! SELAMAT HARI RAYA, MAAF ZAHIR BATIN. Di sini, saya ingin mengucapkan selamat raya, makan rendang ingat-ingat lah orang kat sini, to cik Dina/Bantut, kate nak hantar kueh raye mane tak sampai-sampai lagi... to mak sendiri, mane pegi baju raye, kate buat empat pasang, jgn kan sepasang baju, benang pun tak nampak ni... aiseh mummy, kite pun nak raye jugak. Moving on....

I just got back from an excellent night at Seva, a comedy club at central. Okay, backtrack for a bit...

So my sorority decided we should do socials with other societies. This semester's lucky winner is SGT, which is Sigma Gamma Tau, the aerospace engineering fraternity. So we've had bowling nights with them, which I didn't go, and trivia night, which I also didn't go. Too busy, since all of them were scheduled during weekdays. But the next event, the comedy club, is on a Friday, Aha! I thought. I decided, what the heck, I'll participate in this one, it sounds like fun. I asked Dennis if he wanted to come, he in turn brought Al along, and everything else is comic history.

Now, to those who were at the Gempitafest meeting and are ready to bash my head in for missing the meeting, keep in mind that I scheduled this WEEKS ago in advance, and they've already booked tickets for me. Plus since I had already asked Dennis along, and Al, I can't very well back out now, can I? Hahah! So there, I have a very valid excuse. Moving on....

I went to Dennis' apartment at around 8.45pm just to hang out and see his place. It's kinda cool, it's right across the IM building and the field where the band practices. I live right across the gym and my ass is still as big as ever. But I digress... The rooms are okay, the kitchen is nice, the rent is not so bad for a place on central, AND best of all, there's a pretty nice view of the Big House a.k.a stadium if you stand on the balcony. The downside: band practice at 8am on game days (Saturdays). According to Dennis, it annoys the shit out of everyone living there. I can imagine, I like my relatively quiet mornings too.

Anyway, we walked to the comedy club from his place in the freakin' cold, and we had to walk fast because it WAS so freakin' cold. When we arrives, Genevieve, Katelyn and Erica were already there, and we had to wait for another round of people to get tickets. Luckily enough, Phi Rhos don't need to pay, it's part of our funding (part of the perks of being in it).

The show was great. Abso-bloody-lutely great. First comic was sorta ho-hum.. and he was the host. I wasn't expecting much. Second comic, a woman, was pretty funny. Her impression of someone high on weed is pretty hillarious. Now, the main attraction, the comic all of us came to see, Mike Armstrong, downright slayed everyone. I couldn't stop laughing, the guy was so, so funny. Well, he should be, he was featured on Comedy Central, but I never laughed that hard watching TV. He's an ex-cop, so he had brilliant stories to tell. There are no words to decribe him. He's just downright funny. This is probably one of the best nights I've had in ages.

As it is, all good things come at a price. Aside from missing the meeting (which I do regret terribly), apparently I missed some good ol' fashioned DDR at Deera's with the other girls tonight. Crud, I guess one can't have it all. I wanted to go straight from Central to Deera's but I had to stop by my place first to wait for Kate to gimme my football tickets. After that I realize that not only is it freezing cold, but I'm much too scared to walk alone to the middle of Northwood all alone at freakin' 1 o'clock in the morning. Brr... and *sob*. Ah well, we win some, lose some....

Tomorrow I'm going to the Big House to watch us cream Northwestern. Look out NU, you're in our house now. Granted, I'm not taking them lightly, since some miracle happened and they did beat Ohio State earlier in the season to give Ohio State their first lost. The again, Ohio State did play some pretty crappy games lately.... or so it seems to me... and I was told so, too. So there. I can't wait to see us play against Ohio State next week. It's gonna be intense. Darn Bush lovers (and may I say, "darn" is a pretty mellow substitute to the word that I originally wanted to use... but since it's Eid I'll lt this one go.... dang Bush lovers). I'm doing the tailgate event for that game, and we're giving out prizes this time, for what I've no clue yet, but I will keep you up to date about it.

I got a nice/sad email today. Nice because I was commended on my writing, since apparently my writing skills "surpassed all of (the) newsletter staff", sad because I asked them to take me off the email list. I couldn't take all the drama that was going on, it's like an episode of The O.C. minus all the hot people or the interesting plot. However, it broke my heart to read the email I got.. so we'll see.... the compliment was nice, I always like hearing nice stuff about my writing. Sometimes I wonder if I really have talent or is it just repressed emotions that I can't say out loud because I'd sound like a pretentious American wannabe, so I write all of it down instead. We'll see about the newsletter, I don't want to take on responsibilities that I can't commit, it would hurt people and damage my credibility (whatever's left of it) and it would just be plain selfish and stupid. Like they say, when you take on any responsibility, just like being a leader, "satu kaki dah langkah masuk neraka". That is how serious things get, and that is how serious I take it nowadays.

My days of just letting things slide and hope that people will pick up after me is kept to a bare minimum. I'm getting older, I'm 22 years old, in 3 years I'll be 25. My mom already had 2 kids when she was 25, my sister-in-law had one. I can't keep screwing around anymore, I can't just take things lightly anymore. Time to grow up and move on.

I'm so sleepy right now, it's ridiculous. Catch you guys on the flip side.....zzzzzzz...

Wassalam....

Thursday, November 11, 2004

MY CLASS WITH PROFESSOR TURNER ... AND OTHER STUFF HAPPENING UP TILL NOW

Assalamu'alaikum.....

"Okay, time to take your stinking quiz."

If that's the first sentence you hear from a professor in class, you know you;re not dealing with your everyday professor. Which, come to think of it, was literally the case for me. He's not my everyday professor, my professor (that's what I call him, even though technically he's not) is currently out of town on a convention. What we have here today, people, is the guy/very-cool-prof who taught this class last semester. And what a character he is.

I am used to coming to class, taking notes and being bored out of my mind. Don't get me wrong, Johnson certainly knows his stuff, but he can hold the attention of the class only for about as long as I can keep a diet (translated: not very long at all). And he's probably the master of all arcane AutoCad commands. Watching him manuever commands on that big screen up in the sky can be painfull, especially when he accidentally clicked on a button, didn't realize it, and started troubleshooting for about 10 minutes (when it could have been solved in 10 seconds had anyone was willing to speak up). Granted, like I said, he certainly knows his stuff, and he's always willing to help you at any time of the day provided he hasn't gone home yet. If he has, the you're pretty much a moron because he's in his office until 6 pm, what the heck are you thinking, trying to disturb the guy when he's having his dinner? Ahh, but I digress....

Today, Johnson isn't here. He's out, goodness knows where. Don't wanna know, don't really care. Instead, today we have Turner. Professor Turner, who goes to school here at the good ol' U of M in the 1970s, got kicked out, then somehow miraculously got back in again. And now he's a professor here. In the land where Bush is legally elected president and there's a Chinatown in every major cities, anything is possible, I guess. Turner talks really fast, and is really funny. So what if you barely managed to take notes because he was talking so fast? He's talking about an old guy snorting lead for fun, for goodness sakes. Groovey, baby. Turner = really cool guy.

So after class, it's off to work, la dee dah. As usual, I'm over worked and under paid, but that's okay. Then off to gamelan class. I then conveniently managed to cut myself in class, and barely managed to keep my finger from bleeding on the carpet. The cut was small, but deep, thank goodness Ayun had tissues handy. Why convenient? Because I have my guitar class right after. I could barely extend my pinky, let alone press strings using it. So today I can't go, which I'm not too sad about because I'm feeling sluggish today.

I went home, watched the O.C, checked my emails and suddenly found myself with a full weekend. Full as in tomorrow, I'm going to the comedy club with the Phi Rho girls and Dennis, and Saturday, to the Northwestern game, the last home game of the season. So I'm all set. Now, if I can find some time to get my pesky homeworks done in between those... and I do have a lot to get done....

Wassalam..

p/s: enjoy the new song

Monday, November 08, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum...

Okay, so I know I haven't updated for about... what, three weeks,give or take a few days. It's all a mixture of being busy with project and finding a new job and work all those other good stuff. Suffice to say, I had other thigs to do, and when I don't, I was just plain too lazy to update. But I'm here now, so turn those frowns upside down :) .

Okay, so on Saturday, Oct 30th (I think), I had my driving test. For someone who hasn't driven in ages, I did pretty well, hehehe :). So I passed. I was feeling happy, so I went to Kroger and the china market, bought a few key ingredients and messaged some people to come and *sahur* at my place. Deera did it the night before, so I thought about waiting until the next week, but I already bought the stuff and they won't fit my fridge, so I had my *makan-makan* thing on Saturday anyway. I walked home from Kroger, pushing my big-ass cart and stopping b y Deera's to get me a couple of big ass *periuk* (I still have 'em, by the way, Dee). It was a looong trip... pushing a cart that loaded with things is bound to test anyone's patience, especially since I found myself being stuck in holes numerous times.

Anyway, I got home in plenty of time to watch the biggest football game of the season: Michigan vs. Michigan State. I spent the entire afternoon cutting veggies and meat in front of the TV. Once, I almost cut my finger because I was so glued to the game, good thing the knife only hit my nail and not my skin. Phew. Anyway, we won the game!! Woo hooo!!! I think most of us were almost resigned to a loss when we were down by 17, but the comeback was spectacular. Okay, I might not know like a whole lot about football, but thanks to Dennis, who painstakingly explained the basic what's-goin'-on stuff to me, I was able to appreciate a good game when I see one. I kept throwing my arms up in the air whenever we scored and yelling..... which I probably shouldn't have done because I was holding a chef's knife most of the time. But everything's cool, I didn't get hurt and that night, people came to eat :) . I made my "sizzling" mee, by requests from some of my friends, however I bought a few packets of a different kinda mee so everyone kept saying *Eh, ade laksa!* . Haiyak.

Sunday was uneventful, aside from the whole Halloween thing. The weekdays after that was hectic, since I had way too much stuff to do and not enough time to do them. Mostly was planning Tech Day, we needed to meet and get the finer details down to pat. Oh, and Tech Day was Saturday, Nov 6th. I was nervous beforehand, I take planning things seriously, of course, you don't want things to go bust on your watch. Thank goodness that the volunteers for Tech Day were awesome. Genevieve, Katelyn, Erica and I did the banner the night before, and it looked gorgeous. Absolutely perfect. "Phi Rho and Nintendo: Two Rad Things From the 80's", that was our theme. Everyone was impressed with our old school Nintendo, hahaha, there was this UMEC representative that kept coming back to play with it. Gosh, I hope we can win best booth... it certainly had a lot of buzz....

And yesterday, Sunday, was chapter. I had a meeting before that with Liz and Kate, and all of us were kinda tense because we had to do a whole document in, like, 3 hours, and it was due this morning. So I was glad when it was chapter time, but then my stomach got into knots when I realize it's voting day for next semester's rush chair. Basically what rush chair is is that you would be responsible in planning the "rush" events, where you recruit new members to the sorority. Now, I was excited about being rush chair, but Katelyn, Erica and Amanda are also running for it, so I had to sell myself to the other girls and hope they would let me take a more active part in the sorority. Well, apparently they were happy with me since Tech Day was a big success (thanks to Genevieve's brilliant old school Nintendo idea), and they think my emails are.. ermm... in Veronica's words, "hillarious" (I was a real dork, apparently dork is in this semester), hehehe..... so I got the position. I'm happy :) . I know that it's gonna be tough trying to balance everything next semester, but I've been through a lot these past 3 years..... I feel like there's nothing I can't overcome as long as I believe in myself and I have good friends around me.

So right now I'm very happy :) ... I wore my Phi Rho sweatshirt today with pride and the confidence knowing that I've earned the Greek letters, hahaha (dork) ... and talking about confidence, I stood up for myself and defended my beliefs, which I'm proud of. Of course, I was a big ball of mess afterwards, but that's what sisters are for.... so thanks again, girlies :) . And hopefully, this feeling will last for for a long time to come.

Here's wishing all of you a great day and a blessed last week of Ramadhan...

Wassalam....

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum...
I just realized that if you use Firefox to view my blog, the you can't hear the song and the tagbord doesn't load properly. Sheesh. You would think that being a CS major, I would have thought about doing some browser debugging before posting anything but nooooo.... I had to just post stuff and assume everything works because it works okay in IE. Note to self: never assume anything, because IE sucks, so even if it works there... it might only work there.
So you guys might wanna use IE (Internet Explorer) to view this page so you can hear the song and see the tagboard.

I love Firefox, debugging my pages using it is such a synch, and I know I don't really have to worry about anything (much) if my pages load properly using it. I love the tab feature, I love being able to look at CSS sheets of those lovely webpages that you wish you know how to do, and see exactly how the elements come together. However, I need to figure out the meta tags, I'm still pretty new to the whole CSS stuff, some of the features still boggles the mind...

I'm currently at work, and I have gamelan class later, guitar class after that, and a Tech Day meeting with Genevieve. Hopefully we'll come up with some kick-ass idea for our display, it would be so great if we can win something. However, it might be kinda hard to compete with the Solar Car team, or those chemical engineers who are probably gonna let people make their own slime again. We need something that appeals to both girls and guys. Hmmm.... what would that be.....

The last time I went to my sorority chapter (meeting), I was on a time crunch, so Ijat and I decided to cross this big road to get to the League. Lo and behold, my cellphone fell in the MIDDLE of the road. I wanted to double back and retrieve it, but a couple of cars came so I couldn't, so I watched by the side of the road helplessly praying that none of the cars would hit my phone. And they DIDN'T! And I got it BACK! And it's not even scrached! Ohh thank you thank you thank you.....

I have to get back to work. I love all of you, even the ones who can kiss my ass for all crappy stuff you did to me. To my girlfriends in the know, hos before bros :) (we are sooo addicted to One Tree Hill... )

Wassalam.....

Monday, October 25, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum...

Oh my gosh, I haven't updated for quite some time now. Sorry for that, been busy lately. Actually, I still have a bunch of stuff to do for this week, but I decided to take a break and pen in some stuff before people start complaining again, hahaha. Shut your yappers.

Anyway, my EECS final project is going on pretty slow, at least on my part. My fault, of course, I've been busy with other stuff, lately, to be exact, I've been busy with my architecture project. It's supposed to be an easy A, and I do not want to mess up. I'm determined to do well, regardless the fact that my lecturer is a tad bit more fussy than last semester's professor. Never fear, I will prevail.

Wish I have that kind of attitude for my final project. Amazing, there are times that I just wanna give up, but lo and behold, suddenly everythng makes perfect sense. And while that's supposed to make me happy, it doesn't, because then I'd feel like the challenge is over and I have nothing to look forward to. Ah, humans, we're never satisfied with anything.

I'm just so confused right as to what I wanna do after I graduate. What I really wanna do is go to grad school. I want it so bad, it hurts. But looking at my results, it's average at best. And I really want to stay in Michigan and do grad studies here. Yeah, like that's gonna happen. I don't want to sound too much like Gloomy Gus, but that dream seems to be further from my reach day by day.

Okay, on to more "sunny" subjects. How about football? Hahaha... Michigan against Purdue last Saturday. I had to do the tailgate at Pierpont on Saturday, so I get to watch the game guilt free since it's part of my job. I get paid to give people free drinks, chips and watch TV. Great life. Dennis told me that I HAVE to watch the game. According to him "Good things seems to happen when you watch". Well I don't believe that, of course, but I watched anyway because I do like watching a good game, and I usually try to catch them whenever work permits. Wish I did get season tickets, this being my senior year and all, but while watching the game on TV is fun (especially when Dennis is there to explain stuff to me over and over and over...) , I can't imagine standing for hours on end in the middle of a big crowd like that. I'm sure it's great fun, but even the thought is enough to make me claustrophobic, I would have probably ended up not going to most of the games. Hats off to those willing enough to brave the crowd.

I'll be manning the Tech Day booth with Genevieve on Nov 6th. Tech Day is basically when students put on displays for little kiddies so that they would be interested in majoring in an engineering field when they get older. I'm excited, I love doing booths. I was really sad when I couldn't help with the Malaysian booth for the South East Asian thingamajig, but I had to work during the whole damn time. Oh well. Sometimes I wish I was an officer, but I wasn't sure what to expect, so I decided to forgo that this semester and slowly ease into the whole activities. Don't wanna overdo it now, do we?

I'm probably gonna get a lot of grief over this, but on the way back home from the Islamic Center just now, terserempak dengan Apu. He reminds sooooo much of Someone, the resemblance is quite uncanny. As a result, I message that Someone to say hi. Don't get any ideas, people, Someone and I are just friends, but we became friends under the weirdest circumstances.Ah, the good old days when the heart is young and everything is rosy and liking someone is as simple as saying "I have a crush..*giggles*" to your roomies.

Okay, I'm rapidly becoming sleepy, and tomorrow morning, I'm driving.. somewhere. Hehehe.. I'm keeping that detail under wraps, *wink wink*. So I better go do my prayers and get some shut eye...zzzzz...

Wassalam...


Monday, October 18, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum...

hahaha.. nothing to reprt today, except I put in a new song. Took me a long time to get this, it's finally full. Enjoy Switchfoot :) , I know I do. This is offficially my new current favorite song.

I have nothing to write about today, it's been slow, I haven't been doing much work, basically slept a lot. I called Tomorrow I have... something.. in the morning :). Now I have to go pray and such :) .

I love my friends and family, hope you guys have the best ramadhan ever!

Wassalam...
Assalamu'alaikum...

My head is spinning so bad..... I'm currently working on the user interface for our online advising website.. wait, did I ever mention this? Okay, for my EECS 497 class (think of it as a senior project, because it is), me, Kate and Liz (we're one out of the two all-girl groups that exist in that class) are working on a web service that lets EECS students schedule advising sessions online. Apart from that, we're letting them view their past advising transcripts and upcoming advising sessions. We're gonna have a website that explains the project itself, but for now it's not up and running yet. So bear with my meagre explaination.

I'm doing the user interface, and so far, my progress has been sloowww. Like really, really, slowww. Today, I finally managed to get the damn navigation bar to appear sorta okay, but it materializes only in IE, not in Firefox or even Netscape. And I haven't tested it with Opera, Safari and all the other browsers that I know I have to test with but for the life of me can't remember. Creating CSS style sheets is such a pain. Having to make everything standards compliance is enough to give me nightmares. I haven't begun to find out how to use HTML Tidy yet yet (more about that later...). Thank goodness for Google, I managed to get out of my predicament by Googling some stuff (like the nav bar). Unfortunately, when something fu***s up, and that something is the one you Googled, then you're kinda screwed because you don't know how to debug the dang thing.

Ahh, the life of a college student. I have to download like 11 browsers into my laptop just for this project alone. I wonder how else I'm going to *hentam* my darling lappy with next semester when I (hopefully) work with Soloway. Maybe he'll let me use a PowerBook. Yumm... that would be niiice....

I love everything and everyone, even though people in general piss me off because we have so much hatred in us it's disgusting. We need to start treating each other better, especially bulan Ramadhan nie. 'Cause if we can't even be civilized during Ramadhan, then we're basically screwed for the rest of the year.

Wassalam....

Saturday, October 16, 2004

FREE STUFF, PIZZA AND SOME SOCIAL CONCERNS... ME RANT YOU READ

Assalamu'alaikum...

First of all, selamat menyambut Ramadhan to everyone!!! Everyone loves Ramadhan, I think the fasting month is just so rewarding. You're just sooo focused on your work and all the important stuff, and you're more calm and collected and you don't bitch quite.. as.. much...

I'm sorry I haven't been updating my blog, I've been kinda busy. And when I'm not busy I'm just basically glued to the TV watching Gilmore Girls or One Tree Hill or America's Next Top Model. Yes, I do love my TV. My living room still looks like a bomb zone. I think I'm gonna have to concede to getting rid some of my furniture, so if anyone in Umich is reading this and they want a sofa, a coffee table or this wheely thingy that you put microwave on, lemme know. I can't get in to Wolverine Malaya from my room, so that rules out advertising there.

I've managed to become a connoisseur of pizza and free stuff lately. My room is peppered with things I got from recruiting talks: Microsoft t-shirts, Google boy and girl t-shirt, Captal One's phone card and pen holder, guitar picks (that's not from a talk, but still, I got them last week), Goldman Sach's jelly beans case (I ate all the jellybeans, they were yummy), Google pens, Capital One pens, some other stuff from goodness knows where..... I have a lot of stuff. And I ate a lotta pizza during those talks. Great way to save money, even though you feel yucky afterward for hours because of all the grease and cheese.

Last Friday, the first day of Ramadhan, Prof. Soloway brought pizza to class. From Cottage Inn. In every single flavor imaginable. The first pizza I ran for (I was gonna keep it for berbuka, don't worry mummy, I'm still fasting and I haven't turned into a complete mala'un yet) was the Tomato Pesto pizza. I love pesto, and I love tomatoes, ergo.... And it was every bit as good as I thought it would be. Who cares it's not meat or it doesn't have a lot of toppings, that is officially the best pizza in the world for me. Domino's Doublemelt comes in second, probably because I've always preferred thin crusts over the normal ones.

Kak Fiza and Abang Amir have been selling food lately due to Ramadhan, so I've been stuffing myself with some really good stuff, like cendol, and today, I had biryani. Yum... biryani. Yum... cendol. Gourmet pizza, good Malaysian food... life has been good to my tummy lately, but lousy to my waistline. Dang it, I'll never get my girlish figure from sophomore year back, hahahaha. Oh goodness, that sounds so ridiculous I almost peed my pants. Oh well.

Prof. Soloway is gonna let me get involved in a project next semester. I'm excited. Talking to recruiters made me realize that I need more than what they're teaching us in the classroom. Besides, since I'm prbably gonna end up working in an office for the rest of my life, I might as well do something meaningful and something I can be proud of right now. If I can do something that would mean anything to at least one person, big or small, I would be the happiest person ever.

Sometimes I wish Malaysia would address the imporatant things instead of sweeping them under the rug. People keep concentrating on the killings or the purse snatching or the rape... no one really focused much on the smaller stuff that are the cause of the bigger stuff. Take drugs for example. People are doing Ecstasy and weed everywhere, in public places.... but the issue is never really addressed. Sure, they have raids, but there's nothing much in the media. No public service message that encourages people to not do drugs, no matter how cool everyone else say it is. There used to be this really graphic commercial about drinking and driving... that went away, I'm not sure why. Nothing about how you're not supposed to have pre-marital sex, or sex without protection. Everything is taboo subject. People are embarrassed to talk about it. Nobody wants to address the issue of condoms because nobody really wants to acknowledge the fact that in a world that is getting more Westernized day by day, pre-marital sex is a common occurance, regardless of where your income bracket is.

But is it really worth it to have all of these social problems just because we're embarrassed, or because some things are taboo? Think about it. What happens when your kid has AIDS from unprotected sex? Or your daughter became pregnant while she's still a teen because one night, she took Ecstasy with alcohol and wound up... preganant? What if you know that you could've prevented it just by talking, but you were too embarrassed to do so? Where would taboo and tradition and embarrassment land you then?

Wassalam...

Saturday, October 09, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum....

Today is Saturday. Aaaahhhh... bliss. My body is still going through the motions of last night. What was last night? Lsst night was Phi Rho's Barn Dance. Yeeehaaa, giddyup! Since I have been duly warned by someone that what happened at Barn Dance stays there, I'm just gonna regale some short bits that only involves me, heheheh.

All of us went to Irene's house at 7pm, got on the bus at 7.30, pm, and arrives round 8.00 pm. It looked like it was gonna rain, but luckily there was barely a drizzle. We got cowboy hats, bandannas (is that how you spell it? Probably not) and I'm going to get a mug at Chapter on Sunday. When we arrives at the barn, it took the DJ a few minutes to hook up the sound system. After that, it was on, baybee, hahahah!

I haven't danced so much since sophomore year. There was line dancing, where you dance to the lyrics of the song, some choreographed ones, and of course, random dances that involves shaking your money-maker however way you wanted to. It was basically more of a girl thing, hehehe, girls having some good clean fun. I absolutely love to dance, so of course I never really left the dance floor. Oh, and in the middle of it, we went on a hay ride. Two humongous horses pulled a cart with us in it. We sat on wet hay, so of course my butt got wet, which I tried to dry out by sitting close to the bonfire.

I had so much fun. It was definitely worth going for me, it felt so good to just let loose and go crazy and not having to think about serious things, and of course, not having to wonder if people are gonna remember what I did because some of them were drunk of their asses anyway. Not that I really did anything, anyway, but still, it's nice to not worry about anything at all and just go and have a good time :) .

I woke up this morning with slept-jeans, my wrinkled "Hot Stuff" t-shirt, hair that smelled like smoke from the bonfire, and a slight headache from the loud music. And now I have to go do some work :)~ . Aaahh, the life of a fun-loving college girl who finally had some fun.


Thursday, September 30, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum....

I'm so sorry, I haven't penned in for about a week, more even. I've had so much stuff to do, I had to put this on the back burner for a bit. Things has just gotten more than a bit crazy, and I just have so much stuff to do that my room feels more like a hotel: a place where I go to change, sleep, and maybe watch a bit of TV, which I always have on but rarely pay attention to. I'm wasting electricity every single day.

Since I don't have much time today either, lemme just give you the highlights of what I've been doing. The weekend before last (so it's 2 weeks ago), on Sunday, UMIMSA had a BBQ at Gallup Park, and a bunch of us went canoeing before that. Funnn..... even though at the beginning, Ayun and I did a few 360-degrees turn in the middle of the lake because we couldn't quite read the sign above the overpass that we were supposed to go under (sentence does not make much sense, but I'm short on time). Anyway, the trip was fun, even though my arms hurt like crazy afterwards. Ade orang tuh kan, siap terjun kolam lagik, jadi pasukan penyelamat. Nguhahahah... jalan pegi BBQ, baju seluar siap jaket-jaket sekali basah. Hahahah...adoi.

The BBQ itself was excellent, though there were a lot of leftovers. People were bringing back uncooked steaks by the bag. Alisa buat cubaan-cubaan tak berjaye nak bawak balik madu, last-last someone mintak balik before Alisa sempat pau buat rete sendiri. Hahahahah... alah, dah sapu satu meja dah, tinggalkan lah botol madu tuh sebijik. Deera and I both went for the BBQ sauce, sebab BBQ sauce mahallllll... Malangnye, bile balik rumah, botol BBQ sauce takleh bukak, last-last kene amek pisau and potong tutup die. Nampak sgt macam tak nak kasi orang gune. But still, BBQ sauce, makan dengan my satu kotak mozarella sticks panasssss... oh my god, time-time hari sejuk, mende tuh feels like heaven.

Talking about cold, my apartment still feels like an ice-box, even though they had the heat turned on yesterday. My hands are numb from the cold. Thank goodness I have my own space heater I bought last summer, so I do most of my stuff in my bedroom nowadays. The FIXIT guy came just now, or maybe I should say, the FIXIT grampa, because the guy is really old. Anyway, he said they're gonna try to have the heat on at 70 or 60 degrees, which is okay, I guess, if my apartment actually feels like 60 degrees. He laughed his head off when he saw how much stuff was painted on in my apartment. Apparently the good people at housing managed to paint shut my pantry closet, my cable outlet and one of my electrical outlet.

Okay, nothing interesting happened during the weekdays, much, if anything did happen, I can't remember them. I've just been swamped with Phi Rho meetings, MDE meetings, going to presentations from different companies (Amazon and Bain and Company, to name a few), submitting my resume to anyone who would take them, doing research for MDE, learn how to code in CSS and XHTML, and of course, working. Did I already talk about Career Fair ? I probably did, but if I didn't, doesn't matter, I'll get to it next time. Suffice to say, I almost peed in my suit when I talked to the first company.

Last Sunday was induction for Phi Rho. Congratulations for our new batch of pledges, you know who you are :) . I don't know how many people know you're pledging, so I'm just gonna shut up and not say anything here. May your pledge period be as interesting as mine was. It took a lot of time and a whole lot of running about town and doing new things, but new experiences are always good.

I remember my pledge semester. In my pledge class, I was the only international student, the only EECS major, and of course, in the whole sorority, the only one who looked different in more aspects than just skin color, ethnicity and religion. Going to a mass meeting wasn't all that bad. Going to rush events was a bit scary. I've never been group with groups, especially with people I've just met a few minutes beforehand, but when you're faced with circumstances like those, you can either run away, or just suck it up and fight your fears. Why did I decided to pledge in the first place? I think it was more of a way for me to branch out and do new stuff, be a part of something totally separate than the rest of my life. Plus it was a great way to make new friends and get to know people.

There were many times that I felt overwhelmed. The girls from my pledge class came from all-American backgrounds, they listen to roughly the same music, know the same stuff, grew up in the same environment. It was hard when you can't relate, so I did what seemed natural to me: I asked. Questions, about things that I didn't know, like a country artist they all love, or what certain phrases mean, or what does it mean when someone does something. In return, they asked about the things that I do, where I went to school, what it was like back home. Bonding experience? You can call it that :) .

Thinking back, I'm glad I stuck through it. I jumped in with both feet, didn't have anyone there to hold my hand, and came out with a better understanding of how people work. People define sororities and sorority girls in a certain way, it's a stereotype that all of us know too well off. By pledging, I think I broke every single mold that defined that stereotype, and in the process realize that, hey, this is nothing like what I saw on TV, and certainly nothing like what I thought it would be. Guys may laugh, and they may tease, and I may be the subject of criticism because people don't understand, but I define myself, not anybody else.

Defying the cookie-cutter world, and making my own standards, however flawed it may be, is probably the best first step I could ever have made to redefine... me :) .

Wassalam....

Saturday, September 25, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum....

It's 9.19 on a Saturday morning. yesterday was the latest that I slept, like 2 something. Usually I'm out cold by 12, hahahah. I'm so not suited to be a CSE student. Anyway, I'm paying for it today. Today is all about homework. I have slides to do, photoshop assignments to make, AutoCad assignment to do (I haven't even figured out the dimensions of my dream house yet), and of course, research for XHTML and HTML and CSS. Holy crap. And best of all, Liz hasn't given me the damn Photoshop CD yet, so now I have to haul ass all the way to the Dude to get my work done. I woke this morning wanting to cry so bad. To top it off, I've been running in and outta my room this week that I didn't have time to do much of anything, and now my living room looks like hurricane Ivan and hurricane Jeanne both went through it.

Last night was spent filling out applications for a job and finding what cell phone. (*Incoming sarcasm*) Yeah, a lot of good that did, the cell phone-searching, I mean. We ended up using the same cells that half of the girls in Michigan are using, hahahah. It was a close call between a Nokia that can send video messages, and the Motorola. Ended up with the Motorola. My second brother would be so jealous, he loves that brand. Nik wanted to get a Blackberry one that looks like the discarded love-child between a keyboard and phone. Yeah, that's not gonna happen. And yesterday I found the Amoi handphone that Deera was telling me about. Yes, the brand name is Amoi, much to my chagrin. The cells themselves are pretty cool looking, a lot of them are flip phones, and unfortunately most of them are dual-band. There is a pretty green one that's kinda cute, but the specs just doesn't compare.

Anyway, enough about that. Yesterday had to go to work, of course, and Erin and I both manned the Mini Courses booth again. So I had the dubious honor, again, to smile at random people and hope that they would come over to sign up. I was telling Erin how I want to learn o type properly, you know, with my fingers on the proper keys, the "reach-and-type" way. Erin told me they learned that in middle school because it's a basic thing to learn, quite a necessity in fact. I wish our schools have that, I'm sick and tired of looking at the keyboard instead of the screen and making grammar mistakes and typos. Spell checker can't get everything, you know.

After that it was off to dance class, and then putting in a deposit for our canoeing/kayaking trip on Sunday (can't wait for that one), then it was off to home. I have a Sara Lee cheesecake in my freezer, which I polished off two slices of it yesterday. But I didn't cook much due to the fact that I wanted to finish my job application before the due date on Monday, and that thing is tedious. Let's just hope they want me after I graduate, working with an established company like that for a few years would probably give me more options on who I want to work for when I do go back home. My sister-in-law told me countless of times, "Tak payah lah nak balik awal-awal sangat kalau boleh carik keje kat US tuh". What I actually wanna do is my masters, but since that's not gonna happen anytime soon.... :( ......

I have to go now, get me some breakfast and then of to work again. Au revoir, mes amis!

Wassalam....


Thursday, September 23, 2004

Asslamu'alaikum.....

I do like this song, Pulangkan by Misha Omar and Ezad. Misha Omar does have an amazing voice, I mean, you need to have a lot of control to sing songs the way she does. Another singer I like is Syafinaz, now that's an interesting voice. And of course, I have a thing for Ning Baizura songs, and I do like a lot of songs by Siti, too. Then again, who doesn't like Siti? Her songs, I mean, I have no idea how she is as a person, so I'm not gonna pass judgement. Yes, people, tonight I'm going to pretend to be mature and not kutuk Siti sampai mati. I'm going to put aside the fact that she's over-rated and over publicize that she's probably just one step away from having her own "got milk?" commercial. Oh man, I can imagine it now.... knowing Siti... "susu ada?"..... yuck.

Anyway, I just got back from Phi Rho game night. It was fun, we laughed a lot and barely got through our games. One of the girls, Genevieve, had just gotten in our varsity cheerleading squad, so she's cheering at Saturday's game. I'm happy for her, she's so funny, and she's smaller than I am, so guys can just pick her up and throw her in the air no problem (we have a co-ed squad). Anyway, game night we played Jenga and something else that I can't remember. It was just fun, I have no idea how to describe it, you just need to be there.

Okay, so today at work, I manned the MiniCourses booth over at Pierpont. I was expecting a lot of traffic, but that wasn't exactly the case. I saw Ali, Travis, Deera, Alisa, Kirah, Sheikh, and some other people, but of course, none of them wanted to register in the mini courses. So I basically sat at the table cursing ITCS because I couldn't log in to my mailbox to check my mails. Stupid ITCS, I didn't go to a quant presentation because of you, did u know that? GET IT FIXED NOW!!! Waaaa.... I want my mails, *sob*.

Today, when I went to my gamelan class, I freaked out a bit, even though I kept mostly quiet, because the seeing eye dog that belongs to one of the students was ridiculously near my bag. I almost jumped from my instrument to save my stuff, it wasn't even funny. I so don't wanna 'cause trouble, but I am having trouble being so near a dog, regardless how well behaved it is.

Tomorrow, we don't have EECS 497. Thank goodness. I can go home early and just sleep. Not that I've been lacking in that department.......

I've been fasting all day and all I had to berbuka was a sandwich, so I'm gonna go rummage through my fridge now. Ciao, bella!

Wassalam....

Assalamu'alaikum....

Hullo people (or hullo to myself if no one's going to read this)!! I know it's been a few days since I've last updated, I have been kinda busy. I've had rush events to attend to, meetings to go, books to read for my design class, dance to practice (yes, I do practice in my room so that I don't forget), and of course, trying to find where the heck AccuCopy is so that I can get my coursepack. Yeah, that last endeavor was completely fruitless, so I'm going to have to ask Vera, my GSI, where it is and just go buy the damn thing tomorrow after dance class. My favorite piece of news this week: no EECS 497 class this Friday. Yeah baby! I can actually spend Friday doing something fun, for once, instead of being too pooped after a week of running around campus.

I have a new gmail account, courtesy of Liz who's going to send my Adobe Photoshop through it, since we have a gig of space. In case you're wondering why do I need photoshop for, I'm supposed to be designing the logo and how our interface would look like for Monday's presentation. Oh... No. I mean, I'm good at spotting what's good and what's "in" (even though my own clothes nowadays look anything but "in", more like "should be out in the dumpster"...*shudder*), but I do like looking around at websites at looking at their codes and stuff, so I got design duty. Yes, I do like looking at websites, I'm just bad at reading other people's blogger, hahaha. I have a terminal case of jealousy, where if I read something cool that other people did, I would be happy for them, but depressed for me, because I wanna do it, too! And if I see something... hmm.... hurtful, yang tak sedap mata memandang (take it how you want to, as long as people who know me best know what it is), that would just ruin the whole day for me. If I can describe this behavior in one word, it would be obsessive. Hahaha... nuts, I sound like a complete fruitcake. I'm really not...

I'm going t barn dance! Yippeee! It's not held in Canada! So I can go! And I'm going to stop now with the exclamation marks! Seriously, I'm stopping..... Yeah, so I'm going, and I'm bringing a friend, and it should be fun :) . Or at least interesting. Thank goodness I'll be going to barn dance, if not I'd have to spend that night in my room counting tiles on my bathroom floor, and maybe shoot myself in the process. I emailed Krystal, and she told me that she's going to try to get a winter formal venue somewhere in Ann Arbor or Detroit, so that I can go to that, too. Yay! Formal! Pretty dresses, big hair, pretty make-up..... I'm such a girlie-girl. But seriously, glad :) . I can't wait to start shopping for a gown, it should be so much fun. So I'm saving up money from now to buy me a gown, and a pretty one at that, maybe something in maroon or pink..... or black.... maybe red would be nice..... hopefully not blue.... green?

Okay, so I have to go get ready for class and then work, so I gotta go, but hopefully if Katharine is outta the office for the day again, I might be able to pen in. I can't wait till this week is over.

Sunday, September 19, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum....

Okay, so this has to be the weirdest Sunday for me ever. I was up at 8 in the morning, and didn't stop doing my assignment until, like, 6 pm, and I only stopped because I had to go to a Phi Rho meeting. Thank goodness for Phi Rho. Luckily enough, I got my assignment done on my copy of AutoCad (ehem ehem), and best of all, when I tried printing it just now, everything came out perfect. Oh, joy!!! And I really mean it this time, no sarcasm intended at all.

Anyway, I was at the Union, where the meeting was supposed to be, when I noticed that the girls left me a post-it that said "farah -> we're at the league, room D", so I had to haul ass there and missed a good 10 minutes of the meeting. Oops, that's what you get when u go out of your room early. Haha... never doing that again. Now all I have to do is to find someone to bring to barn dance... hmm... any takers? I have to get my reply in by Friday, so if anyone wanna go, gimme a holler, if not, then I'll just have to "ajak" random... errr... persons.

Right now my ass is parked in The Dude, next to Wann and somewhere near Nik. I haven't seen Nik for weeks, and Wann for months, so it's nice :) . With the exception of Jen, I managed to see all of my friends this past week, starting from last weekend. That's kinda cool :) .

I want to write more but my fingers are numb from the cold. Let me leave you with this food for thought.... I will try, in one of my subsequent entries, to use the word "ass" in every few sentences so that I, and you, will get sick of it, and then we never have to use it again. Because I'm starting to use that word a lot, and it's sooooo not ladylike, and as someone who holds aspirations to work for Goldman Sachs (wha...? That has nothing to do with engineering even!), I need to not say "ass". Ever. Never ever. Well maybe not ever.....

Wassalam...

p/s: If you didn't understand the AutoCad thing, just know that my AutoCad copy came from Malaysia. That should be enough of a clue. If you still don't get it ..... what, did you expect me to explain further? Hehehe.... find someone who does...

Assalamu'alaikum....

Before I start writing, I just want to say takziah to someone who I know is going through a hard time in his life right now. May Allah always give you courage and strength to go through the rest of your days, and may He lessen the pain for you. Know that you and your family are always in my prayers.

My weekend has been more interesting than the last one, to say the least. My arm started bleeding again yesterday morning. To put it short: pick-up, doctor's visit, had everything bandaged, went to Dennis' house to relax and put stuff out my mind. Luckily, I got my laundry done, and Mrs. Blay cooked spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Unfortunately (depending on how you look at it, I guess, since I did get a lot of stuff done), I missed Hasdi's open house. Very dissapointed (stop laughing, I actually would have liked to go). After that, Dennis and his mom brought me to Meijer's so that I don't have to lug things around by bus, with the arm and all, so I now have cereal to eat, such joy. I bought my normal pick-me-up, Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds. I arrived back home sometime before 9, and spent the rest of the night pondering on some stuff that I haven't really thought about for some time.

I am going to spend the rest of today catching up on homework and stuff that I neglected this past week. And I better start now, I still have a long way to go. Ciao, bella!

Wassalam...

Friday, September 17, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum....

I'm at work right now, and I have nothing to do. Katharine's out to a meeting, I completed her list of task yesterday, and now Erin and I are both just sitting around the office on our computers just waiting for our shift to be over. Such joy. Everyday should be like today. I mean, think about it, I get paid to sit around and I get to boast on my resume that I do actual PR work (which I do excellently, I might add. PR is so much fun). I haven't really got time to pen in these coupe o days, so to those who absolutely live for my writing (*wink wink*), sorry about that. I'll try to remember to pen in daily so that all of you won't feel at lost when looking at the screen and see the same entry over and over and over...... (heheh... note the sarcasm)

Anyway, let's start with Northfest. That was on Tuesday. It was fun, I had a lotta fun sitting at our booth and saying random hellos to people walking by. Sarah asked if I knew all of them, I said no, I only know a few. So we worked out kinda a system to prey on unsuspecting young ladies to join Phi Rho. I would smile, say hi and beckon them to our booth, while Sarah would explain what we do during meetings and the social events we have. Sophia did a great job all by herself due to the fact that she was a telemarketer for 3 years (did I mention from before that I looove her haircut? It's so cute ). Best part was that all of us, and the people who came to our booth, got a free massage from Suzanna, a masseuse from goodness knows where. She's excellent, seriously. My neck and shoulders felt so much better after she had her way with them.

I'm hoping that Nik and Ali wouldn't wanna kill me for setting Rob loose on them... at least I think his name is Rob. For the purpose of this entry, let's just call him Rob. Anyway, Rob is a Triangle alumnus who's trying to get the fraternity back on campus. He was standing near our table with a bunch of Triangle stuff. And who had the misfortune to walk by but Nik and Ali, on their way to ME class. You poor, poor male species, you.... I smiled, told Rob that they're engineering students, and Rob took it from there by giving his schpeel (I think that's the term you use when you pitch your frat or sorority to someone). Poor Ali and Nik.... sorry guys!! Anyway, Rob was so impressed by the way I waylaid people all morning, he kept teasing me ("Am I allowed to give you grief?") and calling me "Miss Fawcett". Fortunately enough I'm a good sport about it .... and I had class to go. So that was that.

Later in the afternoon, Deera and I had our dance class with Mas Wasi and Mbak Oliv. We actually learned something new today instead of the normal blah stuff we did, and later after class we had some french fries and bubble tea at Bubble Island. Yummm.... actually my cheese french fries didn't come from Bubble Island, they came from that place beside East Quad that I never bothered the learn the name. That was the most unhealthy meal I've had for the last 2 weeks. I'm sad that McDonald's is not in Pierpont anymore because I can't get any cheap meals, but it's forcing me to down healthier foods instead of burgers and fries. Deera and I finished half of our fries and drinks at Bubble Island before going back up to North.

Wednesday... let's see, what happened then? Nothing that I can really remember, so it's probably not worth mentioning. Oh wait, I had my doctor's appointment and I had my insurance waived at the International Center. People, get your insurance waived NOW or else you'll get billed for 200 bucks.

Thursday.... I had my Architecture class, and I got my assignment back, with marks I can be proud of, thank goodness. The it was work, and off to gamelan class. Wait, did she write gamelan? Yes I did... I never really had much interest in it in high school, I was always more involved in the choir club, singing was my "thing", heheh.... but I just thought, heck, why not give it a try here since I'll be earning a credit anyway, so it's not a total waste of time. It wasn't that bad, I expected to screw up since I wasn't there for the first class and therefore, missed learning the song, but it only took me a few minutes to get into the rhythm of things. Thank goodness. The only uncomfortable part for me was when a blind student brought her seeing-eye dog into class. I mean, I'm all for equal oppurtunities here, but being that close to a dog, no matter how good he is, creeps me out. But the dog was good throughout the class, so after a while, it was easy to forget he was even there.

Friday.... currently working (yeah, right) , then a doctor's appointment again, then off to dance class, and then to my major design class. Fridays and Mondays creep me out because of my design classes, I always wanna wet myself. Did I really expect it to be quite so simple to get a degree..... err, yes. That's it, if I get to grad school, I wanna do financial engineering and work with money... my passion :) .

Okay, that's long enough, sorry for the abrupt goodbye but I really gotta pee. Ciao, peeps!!

Wassalam....




Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum....

Yesterday we had our EECS 497 meeting, and I ended up working with Kate again this semester and another girl. Yeay!! This would have to be the first EECS class where I have an all-girl team. Chicks rule!! Anyway, we'll be (trying) to develop an online EECS advising service. We were put into groups of three, and the other girl is Liz who seems very techie (well she does work at the CAEN lab). I'm kinda jealous of the other groups who get to do cool stuff like turning a cell phone into a response keypad, or games for PDAs and iPods, in fact, there was this one dude who wanted to work on touch-pad for ordering drinks in a bar. However, I do want to work on something that's more web-related something the students might benefit from, and online advising would be kinda nice :). It won't stop me from drooling over other people's project, but this should be fun.

I had to go chalking at the North Campus Diag yesterday, so everyone walking on NC today would see my amazing talent at .. ermm.. writing. Heheh.... We have Northfest today, and I'll be at Phi Sigma Rho's booth this morning, from 11-12 pm, so if anyone wanna stop by to say hi or get some info about the sorority, you're welcome to do so. Oh, before I forget, if you're interested and would like to meet some of the actives and get more info, we have mass meetings today, Tuesday, at 7.30 pm in 1017 Dow, and another tomorrow, Wednesday, at Mojo, 7.30 pm, main Jordan door. Just pick one time and go. I'll be at the one held at Dow, so maybe I'll see some girls tonight!

Just one more item of interest before we get back to my life (oh joy..). Starting this year, some of the Triangle alumni would like to re-establish the Triangle fraternity here in Michigan. If you're wondering what Triangle is, it's a fraternity for male students majoring in engineering and hard sciences, such as biology, astronomy, chemistry etc. They're currently looking for people of all class standings to help them set-up the fraternity back on campus. So it doesn't matter if you're a senior and you're graduating, you can still be involved. Personally, I think it's kinda cool to be one of the pioneers, you get to have your name in the book as the starting chapter, and frat members will remember you for years to come. And if you're a senior, you won't be in the frat long enough to be sick of it, heheh, but you get the recognition of being one of the starting members. Us girls at Phi Rho are helping to recruit new members, so if you're interested and you're at the U-M, you should know my email address by now, just drop me an email and I'll forward it to my president.

Okay, enough with that item of business. After chalking yesterday, I collapsed on my bed and fell asleep, it was a long day. And I think today is going to go even longer, I have Northfest to go to at 11, then class at 12.30, maybe UHS after that, then dance class at 5.30pm, then the mass meeting at 7.30 pm. Oh, such joy it is to have my days filled with absolute crap. If you're saying "You have that big break between the 12.30 class and the dance class", then you should know that until I've finished every class, there is no break for me. I haven't done afternoon naps for a year, unless one class was early morning, like it ends at 11 am, and the other starts at 6pm or later.

Okay, I am outta stuff to write. so ciao people and havva great day!

Wassalam...

Monday, September 13, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum....

I'm currently trying to schedule a doctor's appointment with UHS, but the damn system put me on hold... for the last 3 minutes. That's long, man... I can crap my pants right now, and the crap would turn to dust... and I'd still be holding the phone, waiting for that special moment in time when someone at the other end would pick up and say "Good afternoo, University Health Service, how may I help you?" ... You can start helping by buying me new pants, that's how, and maybe pencil me in to see a doctor while you're at it. By the way, while I'm typing this... I'm still holding the phone...

I'm too grumpy and sleepy to write anything really good right now, but I was at Amanda's website, and I just thought I'd put this in for fun:

Bold everything that is true!!

01. My hair is still its natural color
02. I have yet to lose my virginity
03. I get annoyed when I don't get to finish telling a story.
04. I like to wear pink
05. Sometimes I wish I could do something really, really amazingly well.
06. I drink a lot of water.
07. I've never taken a hit of a cigarette.
08. I like musicians.
09. I'm such a health freak.
10. I love taking pictures.
11. I have really tiny wrists.
12. I can identify some close friends by smell.
13. I'm far too nice.
14. I hate when people confuse "your" and "you're"
15. I think dorkiness is attractive
16. I've never had a fake screen name.
17. I wish I had a pug.
18. I miss middle school.
19. I have pretty good eating habits.
20. I have a hard time making up my mind sometimes.
21. I wish my hair naturally curled.
22. I can't live without chapstick.
23. I wish I could sing
24. I like classical music. It's not bad.
25. Striped pants are hot.
26. I think Schylar is a really cool name.
27. I usually don't get sarcasm. (yes I do... in fact I contributed to some)
28. I wish I could look in a mirror and constantly be satisfied with myself.
29. I shift between being sleepy and awake when I'm really tired.
30. I hardly ever vaccum. Meaning I personally don't vaccum, other people do..
31. I hate racism and nazi's.
32. I want someone to hold me.
33. I like watermelon flavored things.
34. I'm a snob about grammar.
35. I am a terrible liar (nope, actually really good it at, it's just that I don't do it often.. anymore )36. Axe deoderant smells WONDERFUL
37. I wish I knew how to speak in Italian.
38. I tried to kiss a member of the opposite sex when I was in kindergarten.
39. I am learning to be happy wherever I am.
40. I have no idea what my school musical is about.
41. I appreciate honesty. honesty is the best policy (probably why I stopped lying in the first place).
42. I need a manicure.
43. I love Dr. Pepper.
44. I twirl my hair.
45. I like kissing (*sigh*)
46. i don't own a cellphone
47. I want to learn to play the harp.
48. I'm not old enough to vote.
49. I live in the past far too much.
50. I need to remember to be a teenager sometimes ( some of these don't apply, hello I'm 21)
51. I want to see most of the world.
52. Sometimes I wonder what's going on in other parts of the world.
53. I hate being lied to.(Having things hidden from you ain't no picnic either)
54. I believe in a thing called love.
55. I go shopping usually once a week.
56. Today is Wednesday.
57. I've read more than a 100 books.(heck, I own more than 100)
58. I hate hearing songs that sacrifice meaning for the sake of being able to rhyme.
59. I like feet.
60. I like getting compliments.
61. I want the world to see me.
62. I think it's funny when girls wear so much makeup that their faces become incandescent.
63. I hate seeing kids that think they're different because they like Slipknot and shop at Hot Topic.
64. I have a fear of wearing too much perfume.
65. I wear pants more than I wear shorts
66. I am tactful most of the time.
67. I'm afraid of spiders
68. I get too attached to some people.
69. I'm usually on time.
70. I forgive but I don't forget. (the forgiving part is hard enough)
71. I think way too much for my own good
72. My current relationship is teaching me a lot.
73. I like salads from McDonalds.
74. I read for at least two hours every night before bed.
75. I talk to a lot of people I don't like because I hate being rude.
76. I talk to myself in the shower.
77. Funny guys turn me on.
78. I wish I were asleep.
79. I love Reeses peanut butter cups.
80. I never have enough energy.
81. I have a friend who has an outtie bellybutton.
82.I have driven a car.
83. There is no nailpolish on my nails.
84. I am unafraid to change, but I don't think I realize the boundary between change and utter transformation.
85. I wear brown, thin-rimmed glasses.
86. Goodbyes make me sad.
87. Cold Stone is so much better than Baskin Robbins
88. I love cuddling. (it's just so sweet)
89. I run when I'm bored. (I wish, man)
90. I wish I were more attractive to others.
91. I worry too much sometimes about what people think.
92. I'm a billion times better than I was in junior high school. ( and in high school!!)
93. Compliments make me happy.
94. I like long car rides with certain people.
95. I HATE when people incorrectly label me. in general, i hate labels
96. I wonder a lot who I'm going to end up marrying.
97. I listen to the things no one else cares about.
98. I can't draw from imaginiation.
99. TyPiNg LIeK diS anNoyes mEeeh.
100. This took too long

Grrr... makan orang...

Wassalam...

Sunday, September 12, 2004

Dear Aaron Jeffries (not his real name),

The first time I saw you, it was freshman year. You didn't notice me then, because there were a throng of freshmen around us at Angell Hall and I was a shrimp (translate: person of short stature). I still am, actually. You, on the other hand, stood a good 6 feet tall... okay, so maybe 5' 11" , but the spiky hair that you sported gave you some height, and everyone seemed to be six feet tall to me back then. I thought you were kinda cute in a non-buff-but-not-skinny kinda way. I think it was the baggy jeans that did it for me, since they weren't so big that half of your boxers would be exposed for the world to see , and they weren't too long so that you would trip every few steps. And Angell Hall had a lotta steps.

Back when I first saw you and you didn't notice me, I was single, had just arrived in the US for a week, and was excited at the prospect of meeting new friends, boys and girls alike. You were standing near a wall and talking to a gorgeous blonde, who later turned out to be in the same physics lecture with me. I thought she was your girlfriend. You probably would have said otherwise.

After that fateful day, I saw you around campus a couple of times, but aside from that, no further thought of you entered my mind. My life went on, filled with ups and downs, happiness and dissapointments, and all of them unrelated to you. You were just a memory, a memory of the first guy in Michigan who I thought was "kinda cute".

The first time you noticed me was in the spring of freshman year, 2 semesters after that day in Angell Hall. By then I already made some new friends, everyone seemed like their normal hight and I wasn't so single anymore. I was down on central, had just finished checking out Border's (the bookstore) and was checking out some stuff outside of Sharman Drum (another bookstore). I was bored, I had nothing to do, so I decided to go the newly opened Bubble Island to read the book I bought. I saw you pass me by, but didn't think you noticed me. Later, I found you outside of the bookstore, sitting on one of those round stone benches..... y'know, the one that circles the tree? I didn't think much about it, I just walked pass you and crossed the street to go to get me some honeydew milk tea.

I heard footsteps behind me just as I arrived in front of Bubble Island, and I heard the words "Excuse me...". I turned around, and my heart did a triple sommersault when I saw you, dark brown hair and all. All I wanted to say was "You let your hair grow". What I did say was.. "Yes?"...

You extended your hand and actually blushed. Oh, you gorgeous, gorgeous man... "Hi, I'm Aaron. I, uh, saw you outside the bookstore, and I, eh, just thought I'd come over and say hi. You're a freshman right?". You sped through the whole sentence like greased lightning. I, on the other hand, couldn't help staring at those eyes. Ever heard of the expression in those sappy love songs, "drowning in your eyes". It felt exactly like that... I was drowning by the second, so I tear my eyes off yours , adjusted the strap of my carry-all and said "Yes, I am. How did you know that?". I was hoping you would say "I noticed you from before".

What you did say was "Lucky guess". Oh well, not all fantasies can come true. So our next conversation consisted off...

You: So, are you going somewhere specific, or are you just walking around?
Me : I was just walking around, but actually right now I'm going into Bubble Island to have some tea and maybe read my book.
You: Really? Mind if I join you?

By then I was blushing so hard, I think my whole face was red. I hope you thought I was pink from the sun and not from you. I wasn't sure what to do. It wasn't the first time I was approached, in fact, before you came up to me, someone else di just a week before that. His name was Levi (actual name), he was blonde, nice looking and had a firm handshake. He asked for my phone number, I said no because I was dating somebody .Which was more than true, in fact, that little incident resulted in a quite a few aruguments and tense phone calls with my then-boyfriend. Because of Levi, my ex and I established some ground rules, which involved no giving out phone numbers to random guys on the street. So the obvious thing to do was to brush you off and band you a stalker for the rest of my life.

I looked at you and melted. I couldn't just let you walk away without keeping some memory of you, something I could keep at a time when I couldn't keep you. Besides, I was going to tell my ex about you anyway (honesty is the best policy in a relationship... or so I thought) . So I said "Sure, it would be nice to have some company". We went in, had some drinks and conversation. We talked about everything and nothing at all. You asked me about home, I asked about classes, we talked about guys and girls and if I was dating.... Time flew by until I realized I had to get home and call my ex. I almost cried when I said goodbye, even though we smiled and said "See you around". But I was a good girl, still am, and I wouldn't two-time the person I'm with for anyone, even it was for a 6-foot brown-haired, brown-eyed cutie who blushes.

After that, events came and went, relationships were made and broken, new friendships and bonds were found, laughter and tears mingled with all the things that happened in my life. Even though I was on Central Campus a lot, I never saw you again, all I had was that spring weekend to remember you by.

Then, last Friday, as I was walking back from my dance class , I saw you. You had let your hair grow, it now fall in waves almost touching your shoulders. You sped by me on a bicycle, and I almost stopped cold right there in front of Ulrich's. For 2 years you never really entered my mind, and suddenly there you were. I wear a headscarf now, and you were speeding by me, so I don't think you noticed me at all. It was kind of dissapointing, actually, it would be nice to get some recognition that you remember me, maybe a little....

Aaron Jeffries, if I had really given my phone number to you, would we be friends now? Or would you eventually drift out of my life like the guys before you? Would you be afraid of me now that I have a piece of cloth covering my hair, or would you understand and still want to be near me? Would you be there during those times when I was in pain, or would you just say "Erm.. I have to go.. see ya!" and leave because you hate uncomfortable situations? Would it matter to you now whether I'm single or dating, or would we be such good friends that things like that doesn't matter?

Aaron Jeffries, if I smile at you now, headscarf and all, would you recognize me and remember?

Sincerely,
The girl who blushes, too


Saturday, September 11, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum....

"early mornin'.. she wakes up... knock knock knock.... on the door"

Except for the knocking part, that's how my life has been lately. Dah almost seminggu mimpi bertemakan bende yg same, except mimpi semalam yg almost mati tu. Hari-hari mimpi tema tu. Bukan mimpi yg same, tapi byk melibatkan org yg same. Sorang tuh mmg stok yg everytime mimpi je, macam nak lepuk, yg sorang tu plak complicated sket. Malam tadi mimpi ade pelakon tambahan lah pulak, tapi tak nampak org nye, dgr suare dlm phone jek. Dalam mimpi sendiri pun kene marah jugak, wat de jadah..... That's it, lepas nie nak kene bace sikit kertas side effects ubat yg tgh ambik skang nie, mane tau, tetibe die cakap "Warning: may induce mild psychological effects resulting in disturbed sleep, spontaneous combustion and nausea."

Today is Saturday. Whoopee!! No class, tons of work. I'm gonna have to call home today, and since I got up early this morning, it wouldn't be all that hard to find everyone at home. Best best.... hopefully baby Aishah tak tido lagik so bleh dgr suare die. Sho cute!! Tapi kene tgk dapat beli phone card ke tak. Last semester sgt takde nasib dlm bab beli-beli phone card nie, asyik pinjam phone card Nik, call umah and soh diorang call balik. Buat buang duit je, mahal, though my sis-in-law cakap now dah ade cara nak buat cheap international calls. Waaaa... miss umah, miss borak ngan Kak Yann, miss main ngan Aishah ngan Ajiq.

Okay, 'nuff about that. Semalam pegi Lurie Building hantar resume, on the way balik tetibe nampak patung Wolverine tepi bukit tuh tgh gigit something kaler hijau. Pegi dekat-dekat... baru nampak yg patung wolverine tuh tgh gigit patung leprechaun pakai baju warne hijau. Fighting Irish ain't fightin' that hard no mo'.....Haha..... hopefully we'll cream Notre Dame today. Go Blue!! Clarissa, my Phi Rho president, buat tailgate today at 1pm, and then they're watching the game at Damons, but since I'm not exactly an avid fan of football, I don't think I'm going to either one of those. My Saturday, except for the AGM meeting, is currently very much mine, which is good sebab my Sunday dah kene reserved for Phi Rho stuff (canoeing, pizza, chalking... all in prep for rush events).

Semalam first time pegi kelas EECS 497. I went in laughing, went out wide-eyed and wishing I had stayed in Malaysia and do medicine. At least then I would know exactly what I'm doing, right now all I'm drawing is a blank. Nasib baik ade Ijat jugak dalam kelas tu, so ade someone else yg bleh share ketakutan yg teramat sgt. I mean, what do I know about mem-pomen cell phones? Pomen PDA? I barely know all the components on the inside of my computer, and Dennis dah ajar mende tuh 2 kali dah. Ttib kene buat sume-sume tuh, without the help of a professor, just the other 2 members of your team. Why did I think that I can do this? But I will prevail, even if my butt has to park in the Dude Center every single day and I never see sunlight, I... will... NOT... give... up. I'll just be dead meat ready for roasting.

So to sum up yesterday: went to work, hantar resume kat Lurie, Katharine my boss found out about it (which is making me reaaallllyyyy uncomfy), habes keje gie kelas nari, belajar basic balik (sgt tak fair this year tak ade kelas advance), kluar from kelas nari 1/2 jam awal sebab nak gie EECS 497, naik bas, gie kelas EECS 497, duduk dalam lecture hall, almost peed my pants from fright, balik umah, masak sambil chat (Smart Girls Have Everything... read the t-shirt), habes masak tuh makan (duh!), solat maghrib, then tertido, bangun, solat isya', had my yucky telephone-related dream, bangun feeling pissed sebab dah seminggu tak habes-habes topik mimpi yg same, terus bangun and currently tgh tunggu Subuh. Sekarang nie dah Subuh so now nak gie solat pulak.

Too bad I don't have time to write about Aaron Jeffries ....

Wassalam....


Friday, September 10, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum...

Waking up at all hours in the morning...okay, make that wee hours in the morning.... is starting to become a habit with me. Luckily enough, today it wasn't my fault. No, seriously, it wasn't. At least that's how I see it, if you don't agree with me after reading this next paragraph, well, I don't really give a damn, haha..... Let' start with the freakishly violent nightmare I had (this one is different from the previous night's)

I fll asleep at around 11 o'clock after indulging in a couple of hours of TV, the CSI marathon on SpikeTV, to be exact. Anyway, I feel asleep in the living room, under my comfy quilt, with my head rested on my pillow and my hand clutching the teddy bear Ayun gave me last spring (that thing is so comfy... *sigh*....). Anyway, I must've dozed off somewhere in the midle of a CSI episode, when suddenly I woke up again... or so I thought. Everything was slightly blurry at the edges, I could recognize things but couln't make them out clearly. I realized, duh!, I don't have my contacts on, so I tried to reach out for my specs, which I usually put beside my pillow, when I heard this noise (cue the creepy Twilight Zone music). I stood up -- dunno why the hell I did that -- and saw two people crouching behind my couch, the one near the door. I tried to scream, but I couldn't, because suddenly my throat we filled with phlegm (ewwwww..... must be because of the sore throat I'm having). I wasn't sure what to do....so...

I pretended to faint instead, trying to buy time. I felt one of the strangers come near me and pin my chest to the ground. My eyes flew open. What the f*** .... all the rape-murder stories I read in Malaysia came rushing back, not to mention a few graphic episode of CSI. I saw the stranger hold a power drill (holy shit!), and was aiming it somewhere near the bottom of my throat. The other person, from the sound of it, was ransacking my bedroom.

My only thought then was "Kalau tak buat pape.... I'm definitely gonna die". Damn bastard was blocking my airway with one arm and holding the drill with the other. Stupidly enough, he left my arms free, probably because he thought I was too paralyzed to do anything. I grabbed the power drill, and pointed it away from my body. We wrestled for a few seconds....

Then I woke up. My first thought was... "I'm alive!". I sat up, checked around my room, and everything looked in order. My chest was pounding so loud and fast that I could hear every single heartbeat. My room is kinda chilly, so I didn't wake up sweaty, but I was out of breath, like someone did block my throat. The scary part for me, aside from the nightmare itself, was feeling that if I didn't find it in me to push the drill away and not freeze completely, I really would've died in my dream.... and I wouldn't have been able to wake up in the real world. Freaky...

Okay, so you cynics out there would probably be thinking "Macam-macam.... is she really serious?". But I've been getting bad dreams and nightmares for days in a row, since the weekend, so it's definitely not a game or a sympathy-bait for me. As a result of this particular nightmare, I woke up, read the Yaasin to calm myself down, and couldn't sleep until now. Dang it, I need my sleep! I can NOT go on like this every night.

I'm not looking forward to today. I have work from 11 to 2, then dance from 3 to 4.30pm, then EECS 497 from 4.30 to 6.30pm, and the there's meetings and assignments to do because my weekend is completely filled (UMIMSA meeting Saturday morning, a might-be meeting afternoon, canoeing on Sunday, sorority chapter afterwards). Good thing I had that pesky Arch 411 assignment outta the way.

Okay, better get started on things before work..... ta peeps!

Wassalam....


Thursday, September 09, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum....

I'm so proud, I just read the star online, and apparently Puteri Gunung Ledang received a very, very good response at the Cannes Festival, and it's the only movie screened from Southeast Asia this year. Yeah, baby, Malaysia Boleh! Jom celebrate by sume org minum Milo.... or maybe not (ignore my dweeby ideas). Kutipan PGL: RM 1.6 million dalam masa 6 hari. Wah wah... bagus tuh ( a-cheeeewah!!!). Kutipan terbanyak dalam sejarah filem Malaysia.

So enjoy the song from the PGL soundtrack, called Asmaradana by Tiara Jaquelina. Erm.. malangnye dekat hujung lagu nie, fading die kureng cantik sket, keskeskes. But still... it's a good song, with a smokin' v-clip, so enjoy. Eh, by the way, can someone tell me what the heck does "asmaradana" means? I know what asmara is, so kirenye asmaradana nie romance org zaman Hang Tuah ke? Ermm.. eww... (*muke blank*)

Anyway, today I only have one class (yeah baby!!) , then it's off to doing my ARCH 411 assignment, going to the office to set my work schedule, and maybe Kroger's later... maybe... dunno yet.... maybe. Heheheh.....

I had the worse, absolute worse dream this morning. Had to confront the thing I liked the least (I think I had let it --- malas nak letak jantina sini, figure out for yourself lah--- really have it, and I think some physical violence was involved). But it's okay once I got back to reality. Thank goodness. Too much sleep is not a good thing. Dammit, I hate you when I'm awake, do you have to make me despise you when I'm asleep? Well I guess it's not its fault, after all, dreams are mind games.... but seriously, makin lame makin teruk. I really have to let this grudge go, by far the longest time I've ever really, actually hated somebody, not just upset or geram or merajuk. Hate. Scary feeling, actually.....

"Asmaradana ....asmaradana ... kemuncak cinta.... asmaradana..... asamaradana...."

Hahaha.... hmm... things we do for love... or lack of it...

Wassalam...


Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Ooooo bloody bloody hell.....
Assalamu'alaikum....

It's 6.09 in the morning, and I can't sleep. Surprse, suprise. Seriously, with the flu, slight fever and never-ending ability to not be able to sleep,this is getting annoying. Not to mention my apartment looking like a wreck. I have to acknowledge the fact that I have too many furniture, not enough elec. outlets, and not enough kitchen space. I really, really, really need to get everything organized before all hell breaks loose and I won't even have time catch a quick blink, let alone some sleep.

Yesterday's sorority chapter was uneventful, to say the least. Apparently Michigan is starting a new fraternity, called the Triangle, for men in engineering and hard-sciences (like astronomy, physics, biology, comp. science etc.), and they would like us to help with recruiting members of all classes, even seniors graduating next semester. So Wolverine men, if you're reading this and you're interested (if you're a senior, all the better, you only have to do this for 2 semesters), just tell me and I'll try to forward your info to my pres. It should be easy to get in, especially if you're a senior, because there's no rush activities to do, plus being part of the founder's should prove beneficial.

My sorority sisters wanted to go play frisbee in the reflection pool after chapter, and because of my flu, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and bug my mommy.... except she's not here. So they went, and I went home, had dinner and just crashed at 9.30 pm. Hence the early morning I'm having today.

I'm still a lil' miffed that my parents are going to Korea without me, I would have soooo wanted to go. Apparently everything came through at the last minute, they thought they weren't able to go. These are the times I'm glad I'm not at home, because then I wouldn't be constantly reminded I'm not in Korea, sightseeing with the fam.

I'm not looking forward to today's classes at all ....

Wassalam.....






Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum....

I officially have the weirdest school schedule in the history of my education. My earliest class is at 12.30, and the latest my class ends is at 7 pm. 7 freakin' pm!!! Average time I finish class? 6.30 pm (holy shit!! ). Best day of the week? Thursday, when I only have one class and it goes from 12.30 to 1.30 pm. Why is my schedule so "cantik"? MDE, or Major Design Experience, three EECS courses one has to take as part of the whole torture program. I decided to do it this semester since I couldn't figure out yet what courses I wanna do, and MDE is required, and also because I don't feel like oing out in the middle of the night during my winter semester. Freezing my butt off in a late-evening class in winter is not how I plan to spend my last undergraduate semester.

Last undergraduate semester.... I honestly cannot believe 4 years has already past. I didn't expect to spend 4 years of my life in such an academic and emotional roller-coaster. I was realistic enough to not expect it to go smooth all the time, but to suck a whole bunch of times? I had to work more than I did during my SPM years just so that I can get by with passable results, and even that backfired last semester. This semester I soooo need to redeem myself, or else there is no point of my travelling all this way to go to the US to study when I could have done better at home. Failure, and being average, is not an option. Not this time, when I did so badly last semester. So there you go... studies, work, sorority stuff, and of course, bulan puase (yeay!!!). Sums up my semester....

True to my form, I forgot to pen in last night, and decided to do it this morning. Last night Deera, Alisa, Hanis and I went to the pre-class bash. I think we were jinxed, because as soon as we arrived, it started to pour really bad. Isn't that something. They should put us in the middle of the desert, we'd turn it into a "hutan khatulistiwa" in no time. Keskeskes...... worst thing about it was riding on the bus. Oh... my.... God... (*gag*). Bottom line: susah jadi species2 orang yg same aras dengan ketiak org lain, phuuuh. 'Nuff said.

It's almost 10 o'clock in the morning, my class starts at 12.30, maybe it's a good idea for me to take a bath and relax first before jumping into the whole first-day-of-class thing. Plus, I have a sorority chapter tonight, with the very ominous message of "wear clothes that you don't really care about, or your swimsuit ith shorts". Aaaa? Am I gonna get wet? Pelted with water-filled balloons? Paint that stupid rock again? Mud-wrestling?(start sarcarsm) People at the Media Union would looooove that. (end sarcasm)

I bought the Michigan Planner on Sunday. They have stickers at the back to put in to remind yourself of stuff. There are 27 Test stickers, 27 Project due stickers, 18 work out stickers..... and only 9 Party stickers. Ominous ominous .....

To my darling friends back in the land of Anwar-free Malaysia, "sa rang jae" (I love you in Korean)

Wassalam....

Monday, September 06, 2004

Assalamu'alaikum....

Currently taking a break from "meleperkan" boxes and decided to pen in some stuff before I forgot about them. Okay, to those of you who has watched Puteri Gunung Ledang and know who Dave Chappelle is, did you notice that Tun Mamat looks exactly like Dave Chappelle? The resemblance is uncanny, I was so surprised. It was eerie watching Dave Chappelle be serious and talk in Malay, I kept wanting to giggle in the theatre that it totally threw me off the movie track a couple of times.

I was also looking at an old magazine, and there was a picture of teeny-bopper singer Jojo. At first glance, I thought it was a picture of Lindsay Lohan, except Lindsay had more freckles and the picture was waaaaaayyy too serious looking for a Lindsay pic. Seriously, Jojo looked like Lindsay in that photo, and then like Vanessa Carlton in another.

When will the celebrity resemblance end? (tapi, Tun Mamat yg rupe cam Dave Chappelle tuh jugak yg tak tahan)

Special congrats to Elle for appearing in the Dara.com magazine memperagakan care2 memakai tudung dgn ayunye. And spcial gelak to Bahijah adik Hakim for kantoi masuk v-clip Ada Apa Dengan Gedik, heheheh. Kidding sweetie, you looked fabulous, kalau betul the girl I thought was you really is you (ape jadah ntah grammar, bantai sajaaa ). And to my cuzzy, did they put u in Tatler yet?If they did, I want a copy of it.

Sekarang tgh tgk MTV VMA 2004 and Tony Hawk is skate-boarding on stage while a very frightened Ashlee Simpson looked over. Think she's afraid that she's gonna smushed by an out-of-control Tony, though that didn't happen. And Marilyn Monson presented an award with Mandy Moore.... they might have the same initials, but I think that's about the only thing they have in common. Christina Aguilera seems to have a Marilyn Monroe complex, and Beyonce's outfit looked.... weird. The hot pants are cute, the top.... not so cute.

Okay, my break is up. Can you imagine I wrote all of this in 10 minutes? Be assured, for the lack of anything better to do, I'd write again before going to sleep tonight.

Wassalam....