Okay, so my last post was like barely 10 minutes ago, but I was bored so I decided to watch some TV. Vanessa Minnillo was on MTV, looooove her. She's so hot! Gorgeous, gorgeous woman. I want her hair, her lips, her skin, her body.... basically I just wanna be her. Lol. She is an absolute hottie! Obeserve:

I also have a soft spot for France's rugby team. The players are .... emmm.... drool-worthy. Observe this one:

Okay, so this isn't the most decent photo on earth, but trust me, this is actually one of the more modest ones from the Locker Room Nudes / Dieux du Stade: The French National Rugby Team coffee table book. Wait, there's book you say? Apparently there is! A few of them in fact. Every year they pose nude for the above mentioned book. There are lots of provocative, black and white photos of 'em. Loads. Just try and find the book on Amazon. Apparently photography afficionados love this book because of the "style" and "lighting". I'm sure women would agree with me that lighting has nothing to do with why I like looking at Julien Aries. Je t'aime beaucoup....

Assalamu'alaikum...

Wah, celake betul, credit card dah max out. How the hell did that happen??? Oh wait... I know.... I spent like crazy in Seattle during the interview.... then I spent some more buying shoes... then some more buying clothes. Dude I got to stop spending so much. So it's off to Marshall's and Briarwood Mall to return the shoes I bought. Damn damn damn. Maybe I can return some other crap that I bought... but I've pretty much worn them all. Ooops.

Congrats to Lynn on the impending marriage. God bless and lots of happy wishes.

Assalamu'alaikum....

Afzan and I went to Great Lakes Crossing smalam.... shopping beli2 barang sume... omigosh satu minggu shopping jek, since I had nothing appropriate to wear to work. Everything either too tight or too short , LoL. Ade satu baju tu, I can't even remember why I bought it, sure tgh sale buy 1 free 2 yg dekat Wet Seal tuh, sgt tak appropriate nak pakai gi mane2 pun, nak pakai kat umah ade labuci lah plak kat colla. What the heck. So terpakse ler carik baju2 yg kurang budak-budak and more mature and at least jatuh bawah bontot instead of cover setengah jek.

Setelah byk2 kali shopping.... found a few stuff to wear :) . Hopefully enough for the upcoming three months (pakai baju yg same je lah). However, I found plenty of shoes!! Omigosh kasut kasut kasut merate. My Nike is so old, it started of as blue sekarang tukar warne jadi kelabu (serious tak tipu). Bosan dah pakai Nike, so I set my sights on these pair of Asics running shoes (senang sket, kene kejar, lari jek). Specifically, Asics Gel-Kayano, one of the better running shoes with lotsa padding. Best-best. Jangan tanye price, suffice to say, bengkrap lah jugak. Tak masuk lagi the pair of Stuart Weitzman's I bought at Neiman Marcus (Prada ngan Ferragamo mahal cam nak rak). Hehehe.... on sale yg teramat sgt kot, barely $100, so I think mmg dah out of season though the newer ones nampak lebey kurang same. Sgt cute. Observe:
My shoes aren't exactly like this, 'cause instead of a buckle, I have a small ribbon, pastu ade black trim around the heels, but the plaid is close enough. I already bought a pair of Nine West and Ralph Lauren yg sekarang nak kene pulangkan so bleh cover these pair of shoes.. lol. Why do like these pumps? 'Cause they're soooo comfy. Sgt sedap. Most high heels, pakai nak try pun dah sakit2 dah, these don't. So terpakse ler sacrifice the other two pairs so bleh afford this one, even though the Ralph Lauren pun sedap gak. Ughh... why can't I be rich. Bley simpan sume.

Beli earrings lagik... and baju (of course). Gabak gile Great Lakes Crossing, though takleh compare Mid Valley. Penat jalan ngan Afzan one whole day. Dah lah on the way there, kene force sesat sebab exit tutup. Mase tuh lah baru figure out yg MapQuest ni bile time-time die bodo, mmg macam sial. Rupe-rupenye takyah pun amek the exit, bleh je straight stay on I-696 E nak masuk I-75. Celake betul, habes kete aku, dah lah freeway cam sial jek byk lubang lah, bump lah, ape2 ntah lagik. AAAAAAA.... ngamuk lah ni. Sesat setengah jam since exit dah tutup... last2 jumpe jugak freeway yg dicarik. On the way balik, dah belajar dah yg Mapquest suke soh pusing2, which isn't so bad kalau bukan sebab Michigan freeway pun cam kambing, construction dah habes2 eloknye tak jugak. Balik tuh suke2 stay on freeway sendiri, sampai jugak umah even tho about 20 minutes longer than "jalan pendek" Mapquest.

In about a week, nak kene pindah. Ughh... bosan nye lah. Seb baik umah baru ni on central, kalau tak, tak kuase nak pindah. Every year pindah, asal summer je kene pack. Crap makin byk plak tuh. Grrr... Umah baru nie, personal space kurang sket, sebab takdek storage, so sume bende cram masuk dalam bilik, siap dgn luggage2 skali. Hopefully muat. Cakap pasal luggage, smalam beli travel bag for 25 bucks kat Burlington Coat Factory. Ingat nak beli yg 10 bucks punye, tapi cipoet sgt lah pulak, even tho mmg nak beli hand luggage saje. So upgrade sket. Nyahahaha... punye excited nak pegi Seattle, beli luggage baru, baju baru, kasut baru.... LoL.

Wargh, kene pegi pack barang.... malasnyeeee.....

Assalamu'alaikum....

I'm officially spending my summer in Seattle!! Woohooo!! I'm so happy. The day that I got my offer letter was the weirdest day of my life, honestly. My mood went from an absolute low to an all time high :) . Here's what happened. I had my offer from the "Small Company" (which shall remain nameless for now) on the table, but I was still waiting for the Big Company because after all is said and done, it's my first choice. Anyway, Smally gave me a deadline to reply by Monday, at 5pm. Biggie, on the other hand, couldn't get to me that early. So I decided that I was going to accept Smally's offer, contingent on a few things of course. But somehow my reply never got to the right people, so the deal fell through. I found out Tuesday morning and was so bummed out, because I did everything that was expected of me but there was a miscommunication somewhere. However, half an hour later, Microsoft called and said "Congratulations!".

I'm excited to go! Seattle is gorgeous, and the job experience of course would be priceless. I know how lucky I am to get this, so hopefully nothing happens to screw this up. I can't wait to go! Dunno yet when I'm leaving, but I'm starting at the end of this month, so probably sometime before or during Memorial Day I'll be flying down there.

I bought the "God of War" game for my PS2, along with the accompanying book. I think Deera played it and told me the game is cool. And it really is, I'm definitely not a gamer but I can appreciate the game. Unfortunately the music on the game scares the shit out of me, so I don't play it at night unless Afzan is there with me. We tagged teamed to play the thing, LoL. Honestly, I can see why the game is rated M (for Mature). Exhibit A: naked boobies all around. Large ones. Exhibit B: one way that you can obtain Red Orbs to upgrade weapons is to have sex with two women on a bed (this is early on in the game). By now you can pretty much figure out that guys are predominantly the creator and purveyors of the game. Damn, it's a good game, but I feel really awkward with the boobies all around. Ugh, why does it have to be so good but be so dirty?

I'm sleepy, and I'm gonna play the game for a bit before I got to sleep. Catch ya later peeps!

Assalamu'alaikum......

I'm so confused right now, I hate when I have to make tough decisions like this... and I'm not even out of school yet! I have one good offer on the table, but what I really want is to work with the bigger company (the subject of my obsession... see pervious post). Don't get me wrong, the small company sound great, the project sounds really cool and I would get really valuable hands-on experience working with them. Instead of just working on one thing, I would be able to expand my role (contingent on my performance, of course). But the big company is.. well... big. It's well established, people I've talked to really like working there, and I also like the project that they're working on, too. I've been down to the campus, loved the atmosphere, enjoyed the people I interviewed with, and generally had more of a sense on what I should accomplish by the end of my internship. Most importantly, I've been trying to score and interview for about 3 years now, and this is the first time that I actually felt like the position and the timing is right. So one party needs an immediate answer, while my first choice can't tell me what they decide yet. I guess this is a good problem to have, but it's stressing me out a bit.

What I really want is to work on something I like during the summer. User research, usability testing, interface design.... things that I worked really hard in class to learn and want to apply. I want to work. And of course, I want to get paid (that way I don't have to take on a lot of hours on my PT job next fall). I want to be where I can be most useful. To top of trying to make my impending decision, my passport is expiring by the end of this month. Blinkin' 'eck. Perfect, now I have to spend more money trying to renew the damn thing. Oh, and of course, there's the CPT-expedite fee thing, hich will set me back another $100. Man, this whole internship thing better have a happy ending.

Argh, I'll be so glad when I get everything settled. Oh, and I found out today that my arms are officially huge. Not even my new pair of shoes can cheer me up now :( .

FULL DAY MICROSOFT INTERVIEW

Assalamu'alaikum.....

The title of this post says it all... I've finished a full day of interview at Microsoft. Wow. I can't believe I actually got this far, it seems so surreal. I've never been one of those people who just... get things. I never was one those people who gets to go and have interviews with Intel or IBM or Apple or of course, Microsoft. So for me to actually be here and to have had the experience of today really means a lot to me. Somehow it validates the hard work I've been putting in for the past few years, LoL. Hopefully I get the job, but if I don't, then it was still a great experience anyway. I wish I had stayed on the campus a little longer to take pictures and stuff, but I was tired because I was up since 5.30am this morning just to prep myself, have breakfast and generally to not be late. So after the interviews, I just headed home and had myself a half hour nap.

Anyway, I had a nice day. Aside from the interviews themselves (which were fun.. and fast), I met with Pat from the Microsoft videos (click here for the link, Pat is in Part 2 of the vids) . Pat drives one of the shuttles that basically takes us recruits to the different buildings on campus. I was hopingI would see her, but I wasn't sure if I would or not, so I was pleasantly surprised to see her in the last shuttle I had to take for the day. She knew of course where I recognized her from. I had a nice chat with her, as well as a picture of her in her shuttle in front of Building 19, where my interview process began.

I won't go into details about the interview process itself, there's a lot of info about that already on the web. Suffice to say that my technical questions were more user research/usability testing oriented than programming oriented (due to the nature of the internship). I really hope that I get it, it would be so fun to spend the summer in Seattle. But of course, if this doesn't pan out, there's always Knoxville, Tennessee (more on that later).

Just got back from Nizam and Didee's house for dinner, thank you so much for the hospitality :) . The baby is so cute, can't wait till he's older. Bleh main, LoL. I love babies, pro'lly 'cause I'm such a kid myself.

Tomorrow, off to Pike Place and the world's first Starbucks. Woohoo! Then off to go home... awww...

Assalamu'alaikum....

I'm curently in Seattle, trying very hard not to freak out for tomorrow's interview. Also, I'm meeting up with Didee, Nizam and the baby (yes, there's a baby) for dinner. Dinner should be fun, and I hope the interviews would be fun, too. Hopefully I don't psych myself out too much. Tgh-tgh study all the concepts, tetibe jumpe lah gambar nie sejibik, tak sabor nak jugak letak skang jugak! Anyway, Deera, here's a picture especially for you:


Haaa.... tgk betul-betul, gamba pakcik yg pakai baju biru tuh. Guess who? Ni hint: bukan Sheren. Hahahahaha! Now do you still think die ngan *ehem* muke cam same ke? How about gaye main bola? Ade same?

Assalamu'alaikum.....

My friend is absolutely ga-ga over this guy, Ashraf Sinclair. Admittedly, he's pretty cute ... comel lah jugak, though kening sgt bushy, LoL. But I feel weird looking at him sebab muke die cam familiar, as in serupe cam muke someone else. Tapi tak boleh nak pinpoint sape, wth? Aarrgghh... penat lah pikir semalam, mamat nie features die sgt familiar tapi tatau sape.

Anyway, makcik sorang nie (takleh nak sebut name nanti nak kene bantai) tak habis2 bising pasal this guy. Since diri sendiri dah lame tak balik M'sia, dah byk tak tau pasal the local celebrities (local for me sekarang is famous Michigan people, LoL). Tapi apparently he's a model/actor. Can see the model part sebab mmg hensem. Tak tau bleh berlakon ke tak, LoL. Can he?

Anyway, sementare tgh men-research pasal mamat nie sket (kene lah ade topic nak letak kat blog), I came across die punye profile kat Cleo (or something that summarizing a Cleo article, I couldn't tell that well). He was (or is, I dunno) up for the Bachelor 2006 yadda yadda. Anyway, bace lah kan die punye profile (he's younger than I am, baru 21, ngahaha looking at the 21 year olds around me..... hmmm....tak matang LoL). Nothing particularly interesting UNTIL the interview part.....

Cleo: What is a wifebeater?
Ashraf Sinclair: A coward who needs to belittle others to make himself feel bigger.

Awwwww... how cute... and how wrong. Admittedly, it's a slightly unfair question 'cause you have to be familiar with the American slang as well as Kevin Federline to figure out what a wifebeater is. A lot of the bachelors got that one wrong. Umm... it's actually a sleeveless shirt, guys. Singlet lah, kirenye. Bukan t-shirt Pagoda yg beli kat pasar malam tuh, tapi singlet yg mamat2 hip-hop skarang suke pakai.

To be fair, Cleo also asked "What is an antimacassar?". What the heck is that anyway, it doesn't really ring a bell... until you look it up and see the definition: "a piece of cloth place over a sofa or chair to protect it from hair oil". Whutt??? Then I realized.... omigod!! My nanny has a bunch of those!! She has a bunch of these white crocheted square cloths that she would put at the headrests of her sofa. I always thought they were just decorations. Granted, zaman dulu-dulu jek yg org pakai minyak rambut byk gile yg bleh boleh perah pastu buat masak keropok (ewwww...), so forgive us young-'uns for not knowing what an antimacassar is :). Thank goodness that wasn't in the SATs.

I'm actually stalling to do my take home exam, but I'm starting to hyperventilate a bit, so I better get on with it before I get a nervous breakdown. Ciao babes!

Hey guys....

Okay, found this in my bookmarks while doing some computer clean-up, from MindWare, so I took the quiz and here's the result, it's kinda weird how accurate the last paragraph is. Overall it was pretty good at predicting stuff:

Your Brain Usage Profile:

Auditory : 50%
Visual : 50%
Left : 55%
Right : 44%

Farah, you are somewhat left-hemisphere dominant with a balanced preference for auditory and visual inputs. Because of your "centrist" tendencies, the distinctions between various types of brain usage are somewhat blurred.

Your tendency to be organized and logical and attend to details is reasonably well-established which should afford you success regardless of your chosen field of endeavor, unless it requires total spontaneity and ability to improvise, your weaker traits. However, you are far from rigid or overcontrolled. You possess a degree of individuality, perceptiveness, and trust in your intuition to function at much more sophisticated levels than most.

Having given sufficient attention to detail, you can readily perceive the larger aspects and implications of a situation or of learning. You are functional and practical, but can blend abstraction and theory into your framework readily.

The equivalence of your auditory and visual learning orientation gives you two equally effective sensory input systems, each with distinctive features. You can process both unidimensionally and multidimen- sionally with equal facility. When needed, you sequence material while at other times you "intake it all" and store it for processing later.

Your natural ability to use your senses is also synthesized in your way of learning. You can be reflective in your approach, absorbing material in a non-aggressive manner, and at other times voracious in seeking out stimulation and experience.

Overall you tend to be somewhat more critical of yourself than is necessary and avoid enjoying life too much because of a sense of duty. You feel somewhat constrained and tend to sometimes restrict your expressiveness. In any given situation, you will opt for the rational, and learning of almost any type should be easy for you. You might need certain ideas explained to you in order to fit them into your scheme of things, but you're at least open to that!

Assalamu'alaikum....

I read this yesterday when I was waiting at the doctor's office, it's a little snippet from Newsweek:

"In translation to English, it sounds like... the word... you know... sometimes language is not so convenient and sometimes I'm embarrassed."
Fuk King Kwok, a Chinese immigrant, on his decision to change his name to Andy Kwok after people repeatedly mispronounced his name.

The poor guy, of course his name was supposed to be pronounced differently ( see article here ), but as usual the Americans mess up everyone's name. Sorry to those who feel insulted, but you do!! Some of the people I've known for 4 years can't pronounce my name right, and mine isn't that hard to begin with. Other people who have made the same decision to change their names are Monica Pinas and April Showers ( see article here ).

Another person who's name was.. ermm.. made fun of is Jack Abramoff. The perpetrator: George Clooney. Here's what debonair George has to say about Abramoff:

"Who would name their kid Jack with the last words 'off' at the end of your last name? No wonder that guy is screwed up."
Actor George Clooney, thanking lobbyist Jack Abramoff "just because" in an acceptance speech at the Golden Globes. Frank Abramoff, the lobbyist's father, called the speech a "glib and ridiculous attack" and Clooney "an idiot."

Ouch. Looks like not everyone is a fan of Clooney. To be fair, while Abramoff is an embezzling scumbag who pretty much stole money from native Americans and helped raise a lot of money for the Bush campaign ....... y'know what, I don't feel like being fair. Yes, it was a low blow by George , but considering the hatred a lot of people must be feeling for Mr. Jack-Off, whatever that is thrown to him is pretty much well deserved. here's the bit that I read from Wikipedia that I was really shocked about:

Government of Malaysia

Abramoff's team also represented the government of Malaysia, and worked toward improving Malaysian relations with the United States, particularly with trade relations. Because Grover Norquist worked with a lobbying firm that represented Anwar Ibrahim, some have alleged a connection between the two, and theorized that Abramoff and Norquist were running a scam in which Norquist's firm would create issues that Abramoff's firm would then take care of. Abramoff also reportedly wanted to spread his influence deep into the Muslim world through a front group called the Lexington Group.

What a low life. What an asshole. Five years and 10 months in jail isn't long enough for Abramoff. I wish the US doesn't have the plea bargain policy so that he would get what he deserves. I'm just mad right now because for the past few days, I've been reading articles that just tugs on my heart strings. Some things in life are just not fair. Take for example, the marine shooting incident in Haditha. Here's an excerpt from the artical in Time magazine (see the rest of the article here):

Eman says she "heard a lot of shooting, so none of us went outside. Besides, it was very early, and we were all wearing our nightclothes." When the Marines entered the house, they were shouting in English. "First, they went into my father's room, where he was reading the Koran," she claims, "and we heard shots." According to Eman, the Marines then entered the living room. "I couldn't see their faces very well—only their guns sticking into the doorway. I watched them shoot my grandfather, first in the chest and then in the head. Then they killed my granny." She claims the troops started firing toward the corner of the room where she and her younger brother Abdul Rahman, 8, were hiding; the other adults shielded the children from the bullets but died in the process.

Eman says her leg was hit by a piece of metal and Abdul Rahman was shot near his shoulder. "We were lying there, bleeding, and it hurt so much. Afterward, some Iraqi soldiers came. They carried us in their arms. I was crying, shouting 'Why did you do this to our family?' And one Iraqi soldier tells me, 'We didn't do it. The Americans did.'" Time was unable to speak with the only other survivor of the raid, Eman's younger brother, who relatives say is traumatized by the experience. U.S. military officials familiar with the investigation say that after entering the house, the Marines walked into a corridor with closed doors on either side. They thought they heard the clack-clack sound of an AK-47 being racked and readied for fire. (Eman and relatives who were not in the house insist that no guns were there.) Believing they were about to be ambushed, the Marines broke down the two doors simultaneously and fired their weapons. The officials say the military has confirmed that seven people were killed inside the house--including two women and a child. The Marines also reported seeing a man and a woman run out of the house; they gave chase and shot and killed the man. Relatives say the woman, Hiba Abdullah, escaped with her baby.

It hurts to even think about grown military men shooting towards a 9-year-old girl and her younger brother. while the whole artcile is heart wrenching, here's the portion that shocked me:

The U.S. has paid relatives of the victims $2,500 for each of the 15 dead civilians, plus smaller payments for the injured. But nothing can bring back all that was taken from 9-year-old Eman Waleed on that fateful day last November. She still does not comprehend how, when her father went in to pray with the Koran for the family's safety, his prayers were not answered, as they had been so many times in the past. "He always prayed before, and the Americans left us alone," she says. Leaving, she grabs a handful of candy. "It's for my little brother," she says. "I have to take care of my brother. Nobody else is left."

You can barely live 6 months on $2,500 dollars. Some would argue that due to the exchange rate, it might be more to the Iraqis. Really? Unless USD$2,500 translates to, oh say 20 million in Iraqi currency, I still think it's an unfair trade. A US Court awarded 2.7 million to a woman for simply spilling McDonald's coffee on her lap. When did the chilhood trauma of seeing your family killed weigh less than the trauma of being burned by coffee?

Life isn't supposed to be fair, yes, but it's not suppose to suck like this either.

Assalamu'alaikum...

I have my first exam this Friday.... I should be freaking out more but I'm not, and that's kinda worrying because I know the exam is gonna be hard... plus I have a homework due on the same day too. So I really should be bucking down and studying, but unfortunately, I'm not. Uh oh....

I can't wait until the my exams are done. My last exam is on April 25th, and I'm flying out to Seattle on a 9.35 am flight. I'll be there by 11.30am Pacific time (I think), so that leaves me quite a few hours to explore the 'burb a lil bit and also prepare for next day's interview. On the 27th is a full day of interview (I still can't find Nizam's email to ask for tips :( ) , then the next day I leave for Detroit at 10.25pm. I purposely asked for a late ticket so that I can see Seattle a bit more, but traffic is congested there between 3pm and 7pm (or so I've been told) so I dunno how the see-Seattle plan is gonna go, but I'll pull something, I'm sure :) .

As for the rest of the summer.... we'll see how everything goes. I think I screwed up my ESPN interview really, really bad when I told my interviewer that I won't be able to make any decision this week. Hey, I was only being truthful, I have exams coming up and will barely be in my right mind to make any work-related decisions. Plus I need to discuss stuff with my parents, because that's just what good daughters do when they're a continent away from their parents, LoL. Seriously, there's some serious stuff to discuss, and I just need more time. Considering that the guy needs to make his decision quickly..... I guess that kinda jeapordized my position. Also the fact that I was horrible at answering all the database technical questions ("You have a baseball team roster. Describe the columns you would need in a table" ... "Umm..." --> that's basically how most of my answers started, it's been 2 years! And I was in the middle of cooking! LoL)

Actually, I don't think I would be too dissapointed if I spend my summer in AA.. more time to dance, to recuperate, maybe even go home at the end of summer. That would be nice :) . I did tell my mom that if I'm not home for the summer, then come rain or shine, I WILL go home for winter.... my visa would have expired by then so I need to renew it anyway, I wonder how long it takes to renew it? Hopefully not that long....

I better go and do some work.... ciao babes!

Assalamu'alaikum.....

Omigosh, I can't believe I'm having my first final this Friday! Crap! I can't believe it's already been 2 semesters of me in SI.... it felt like yesterday I was still negotiating with the admissions office regarding my scholarship and now I'm almost halfway done. It feels a bit surreal sometimes.... it should feel like time is moving slower since I'm bored all the time but it's not... of course the fact that I tend to sleep in half the time might have something to do with this. Oh well....

I got nominated as VP Operations and External Affairs/Social Chair for the SIGN (SI Global Network) organization. Woah! Hahaha.. it's kinda funny when you think about it. I mean, I was Rush Chair for Phi Rho, yeah, but that was the last time that I was ever active in something. Wait a sec, come to think about it, Phi Rho, UMIMSA and the SI organizations are the only ones that I participated in .... so being an officer in 2 out of 3 things isn't that bad now, is it. UMIMSA never nominated me for anything, boo hoo (yeah right... with all the "drama" that I keep seeing or even getting involved in... I think I can safely say I'm not too dissapointed now), hahahah, main jek. Of course there were more qualified people than me. But I'm excited to get nominated, even if I'm no picked. It shows some vote of confidence in me :) . And I'll get to plan fun social stuff again! Yay! That would be awesome :) , I hope I get it.

On a not so fun side.... I'm hating my SI 503 class. Everything goes so fast, it's like a blur. I would be lucky enough to even be able to do half of the stuff in the take-home midterm, let alone all of 'em. My classmates keep saying "Oh, you computer science people should know the portion that D is teaching right now".... ermm... so not! People have different methods and interpretations in teaching things, even in technical, quatitative areas like CS. The new stuff that I'm learning is clashing so badly with the "old" stuff that has been hammered in my head for 4 years. It's insane! And with finals coming up! Aiyoh!

If I'm still in AA for the summer, I am definitely gonna plan on going out of town for Memorial Day. Miami maybe? I dunno, I'm trying to convince Afzan to stay longer for the summer and not go home that quickly, since once you're back home and "stuck" in Malaysia, it's hard to get "unstuck" again. We'll see how that effort goes, LoL. Afzan, balik lah lambat2 sket! Waaahhh! The rest of the people are going to the Midwest Games, which is held this year in Wisconsin. Honestly, I really don't know anyone in Wisconsin, so there isn't any point really in me going now, is there?

Just wanna tell my lil' ol' buddy who's gettin' screwed by his sponsor to hold on to his sanity and pray that everything goes okay :) . Hopefully they'll be reasonable.

Now, off to work!

Asssalamu'alaikum....

Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh.... I feel so blessed right now, you have no idea. I got through to the second of interviews! Oh yay! I have to call back Menlo Innovations (in good ol' Ann Arbor), ESPN (in Baltimore), I have an interview with Jewelry TV this Friday (dunno where this is gonna be yet, but I like TV and bling bling is always good), and Microsoft wants me to come down to Redmond, WA (sometime at the end of April, hopefully, after the exams are done and over with). I'm overwhelmed and excited and very, very scared. I usually botch up my interviews so bad that I never get through to the second round, so this is an improvement, definitely. Now I have to hope and pray and work really hard so that I don't mess up my finals... or pass out during interviews.

My friends ask me if I wanted to intern locally or go out of state. As much as Ann Arbor can be a boring town at times, I've been here long enough to figure out ways to entertain myself during the summer. Plus I get to live in my new apartment for the summer, which would be nice. On the other hand, I haven;t been able to see a lot of the rest of the US, so a change of scenery would be nice. Plus ESPN and Microsoft are HUGE corporations, and I've always wanted to see how large corporations work, see if my skills can really thrive in an MNC. Most of all, I'm just excited to dip my toes in the working pool, so to speak. See if all these years in school paid off or if the workplace really is the place where you develop most of your skills.

Here's a little tip for phone interviews.... for God's sakes calm down, just because he can't see you doesn't mean you can't seem nervous. However, BECAUSE he can't see you, you can splay your portfolio and cheat sheets and past projects all over the floor so that you have easy reference. Here's something I learned from the ESPN interview (the hard way... I sounded like a moron on the phone)... brush up on past projects, especially if it's been a while (like 2 years), and when I say brush up, focus on what YOU did on the project as well as the overall goal (like which part did you do, how much you contributed, how did the codes mesh together.. stuff like that). Trust me on this one.

I'm so sleepy, and someone just said something kinda mean to me.. I know he probably didn't mean it the way it came out, but it still sucks all the same. What the hell ?

Nik, did you call me? The voice mail was pretty bad, I had no idea what you said.

Assalamu'alaikum....

Today is April Fool's Day ... Heppy April Fool's Day to those who celebrates it. Much ado were made a while back about Muslim's celebrating the holiday, though there are so many conflicting stories about the origin of the celebration, who really knows what's right . What I do know, however, is that everyone in the media, regardless of race, religion, culture ... too the oppurtunity to play pranks on the rest of us poor souls.

Take, for example, Google Romance. Okay, so I guess if you're not really in the information science field, or don't know much about anything "contextual", then the joke wouldn't make quite that much sense to you. But some of the stuff everyone can relate to, so I would suggect exploring the site a bit more. Here's another bit of Google news that got me laughing, China to buy Google. I think this lil' bit of prank has something to do with the fact that Google is working with the Chinese goverment in making the Chinese version of the popular search engine to be "goverment compliant", meaning that it is restrictive information (certain sensitive material will not be returned by the search result). Here is a take by a Google insider on the plan. Personally I think it's selling out, no matter how you spin it, but of course, I don't own Google.

Aside from pranks, people are taking the oppurtunity of having April 1st on a weekend to do other cool stuff. Take me, for example :) . Yes, I am working at the front desk right now, but at about 9pm, I'll be off to the Heidelberg for the SI Prom (it's a dance held by my department to raise funds for student activities.. or something like that). This morning, I went to Aveda eXchange to get my hair cut by a tattooed hairstylist named Scott. Have to admit, I like the cut, well worth the $40 I spent on it. All I have to figure out later is what to wear.... I'm excited to go out, I haven't been able to just go and have fun in ages.

Last Thursday, I had an interview with Microsoft. I though it was gonna be at 9am. Turns out it was 9 am Pacific Time.... which is about 12pm here in good ol' Michigan. Woke up early and freaked out for nothing :( . Anyway, while waiting for Microsoft to call me, I got a phone call from ESPN. They're looking for interns to work on some web development stuff. He asked me if I like sports or not. Yes, I do like sports (watching sports is more my style though, hehehe). And the has asked if I know a lot about fantasy games. Okay, I've seen friends who are crazy about fantasy football or basketball or whatever, but I've never been into those. So we'll see how far the whole ESPN interview thing goes for me. As for the Microsoft interview... as usual, it went horrible. Dunno why I even tried.

Anyway, I'm working on posting some of my recent pictures up soon :) . That would be fun :) .

Assalmu'alaikum.....

I got this from my friend Linda, it's so moving that I thought it would be nice to share with other people.

THE BRICK

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?" The young boy was apologetic. "Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do," He pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop..." With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. "It's my brother, "he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."

Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him
back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay. "Thank you and may God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy! push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: "Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!" God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It's our choice to listen or not.

Assalamu'alaikum....

So it's been a week since the unfortunate Group Incident. Yet I'm still getting questions from classmates other curious people. Comments and questions ranged from "So what happened there?" to "I knew something was gonna happen". I tried keeping my answers as vague as possible 'cause I don't want to explicitly embarrass anybody, but I guess the incident was public enough that people came to their own (correct) conclusions. Oh well, whatever, man. I'm just glad that things didn't drag on until the end of the semester.

Speaking of dragging on, I'm still unsuccessful in the whole internship department. I got a nice lil' rejection letter from Xerox (I'm guessing because I don't have a lot of design experience, and it was a User-Centered Design internship). I'm dissapointed, of course, but there's nothing much that I can do about it aside from wait for other opportunities to open up.

Linda and I are actively searching for an apartment for next year. It's kinda hard because 4 of us have cars (!), so we need four parking spots. On Central Campus, parking is a rare commodity. What I am happy about right now is the fact that whatever apartment we get, the overall cost is definitely going to be cheaper than living in University housing, even if they do ask me to pay the lease contract fee. I'm excited to try and live off-campus for the summer and next year. Granted, I haven't had to live with anyone since my sophomore year, but hopefully everything goes well and all of us can just get along.

The apartment hunt is going fast, but not a lot of stuff fits our requirement. So in a way, I haven't found anywhere to live yet for the summer. I'm actually thinking about going back home for then whole 3 months... until I remembered that I would be bored senseless 'cause all my friends would be working. Dammit.

Okay, my lunch is ready. Gotta eat and get back to work. Ciao!

Wassalam...

Assalamu'alaikum....

My life.. when it's boring, nothing happens. Nothing. When it gets interesting, it got to be a little too interesting for my liking. Take for example, my Evaluation of Systems class. See, I LOVE that class. Before this, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life. But now I know. I'm not that good at designing from scratch, however, I AM good at figuring out when something is easy to use, or when something needs to be fixed. I love learning and reading about Gestalt principles, usability testing, cognitive psychology...... these are the things that really makes sense to me.

Okay, so I just said I love the class. However, we were assigned a group to work with on an evaluation project, and I wasn't liking the issues that was happening in the group (the fights, arguments, blame... let's just say things weren't going well). As much as I would love to rant and go into details, I'm not gonna. Simply because I don't want a written proof that I just went off on a specific person/people. I'm not gonna embarrass him/her/them like that. Of course, I also don't wanna get sued down the road after I become famous (how will I be famous? Dunno, haven't thought that far yet. )

I am, however, going to generalize. I have too much anger to just let it sit and simmer. Hypocrisy, no matter how much all of us try to avoid it or deny it, lives in all of us. And yes, I do mean all. Try and count the times that you have said one thing then did the total opposite, or when you criticize someone for doing something but then found yourself doing the exact same thing. I know I've done it, and I've seen all of my friends do it, too (how do you suppose people find topics to gossip about?). Now while hypocrasy is a universal trait, there's a diference between that and being a full-blown hypocrite. A hypocrite doesn't recognize he/she is a hypocrite. Hypocrites tend to impose their opinions on others. Worse of all, what they say tend to hurt and in some cases, have a long lasting effect. And in my experience, hypocrites also tend to be able to talk their way out of a lot of things, or make it seem like what they say or do is totally right and in reality, it's not.

Certain things, you just shouldn't do. You shouldn't make jokes that hurt feelings (then try to pass it off as "he/she's too sensitive"). You shouldn't embarrass people in public. You shouldn't steal. You shouldn't discard people's ideas all the time in favor of our own. You don't gang up on people and then pretend that it's okay, it was "for their own good". You don't attack a person when their down. You don't impose opinions on others. You don't pretend you're doing work when you're not. These are some of the stuff that all of us shouldn't do, we know this; yet one time or another, we caught ourselves red-handed doing one of these Unforgivables, and the only way to make things better is to repent and apologize if you had hurt somebody.

Sometimes even that doesn't work. Although I try not to let it consume me, I still find myself getting angry time and again over a mean word a friend said, or a mean thing someone did, or being bullied in school. The thing that calms me down is to remember that most of them don't mean to be cruel, and to also remember that somewhere out there someone else might still be hurting over what I did, too. Of course, that doesn't stop me from breaking friendships whenever I feel like I couldn't take it anymore (it's a vice of mine, not good, I know. I'm not the best role model LoL).

Sometimes when things don't work, it's better to part ways. And that's exactly what happened to my class poject group. Some of the group members had to split ways with others so that the yelling would stop and the work could be done. It's not the most ideal situation, but at least it's a step to a better direction. You can't treat people poorly and not expect repercussions. There are times to pick battles, and there are times to just shut up. There are ways to get around annoyances without airing out your (and our) problems in public. People aren't meant to be perfect, that's a given. But we are given the choice to not appear as jackasses. So why choose to be one?

At least the group issues are pretty much resolved. And I learned an important lesson: to not be afraid to admit when a situation isn't working. I thought I learned that some time ago, guess this was a "refresher" course then. If it doesn't work, and you've given it your best shot, then it just doesn't work.

I'm starting to babble, and I need to pee really bad, so I'm just gonna sign off now. Ciao!

Assalamu'alaikum....

Omigosh, this thing is the funniest ever!! Meet Isolatr, the thing that helps you tell other people you don't know to get the f*** off your site. Perfect for those who wants their privacy on the web. Now, just in case you think Isolatr is a real thing, it's not :) . While it's real easy to opt-in on the web to get newletters and stuff, it's really hard to opt-out. Hence why we keep getting SPAM everyday. There's also the issue of social computing, which pertains to the issue of "networking" sites, like MySpace, Friendster, facebook and countless others. Seriously though, people, how many networking accounts do you need? Yes, you have 500 people on your "friends" list, but do you really KNOW any of 'em? Do I HAVE to get thosse insidious friendster emails everyday saying "So and So has updates his/her friendster blog". Honestly, I don't really care if he/she updated her blog or not, in fact, I barely care if I update my blog or not.

So until the whole process of opting out gets easier, I think I'm going to refrain myself from registering with any more social networking accounts. Oh, the pain of trying to remember all the passwords... It's enough to drive a woman mad. Mad I tell you!

On another note, I'm feeling much better after a one week demam-fest, right now I can actually do work without wanting to puke, sleep or bash my brains out. Oh, wait... I still want to do those stuff, but at least NOW it's all in my head instead of actualy physical ailments. Ah, my head. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in there. I can sit in front of the TV, complain that there's NOTHING to watch and yet then realize I had just wasted 5 hours of my life watching ads and junk. Like the M 'n' Ms commercial goes.. Amazing.

PROGRESS REPORT: DAY 4 AND 5 in DC

Assalamu'alaikum.....

Omigosh, I can't believe it's my last day interning at the LOC!! I mean, a couple of days ago I was still trying to get used to the fact that I'm an "intern" and today we're already taking pictures of our last working day here in DC. I'm so sad :( . I like being in DC, the work has been tough but I've had loads of fun at the office and of course seeing all the beautiful buildings. This is probably the first time I go somewhere and not buy a whole bunch of touristy souvenirs, which is just as well because we're spending major cash in terms of eating.

Last night me, Tonia, Nancy and Linda went Jaleo, a Spanish restaurant on the corner of 7th Street and E (I think, or it D?). We ordered a whole bunch of tapas (Spanish hors d'ouvres) and had a Spanish coffee drink (cajillo) and dessert (Basque cake and lemon-lime ice-cream.... yummy) to end the meal with. Total cost per person: a cool 25 dollars.... just for dinner. And it wasn't even a special occasion, it was just... dinner. After work. After the 10 bucks I spent on lunch, total spending on food, just for yesterday, was a cool 40 dollars, not including Metro tickets. Oh.. my.. bug. I think somewhere between the tapas and coffee, I must've caught something 'cause today my head feels a wee bit heavy and I feel like I'm coming down with something. Bleurgh.

My digital camera is busted (it fell and the case broke open, buggy bug bug), so I have now discovered the wonders of disposable, one-time-use cameras. There's pretty easy to use, and decent enough but I do miss being able to zoom on things. However, I have now discovered the new wonder of technology: disposable digital cameras. Observe, the CVS Digital One-Time-Use camera with Picture Preview:

What you do with one of these thingamajigs is:

1. Take a picture
2. Preview the picture by pressing on the "Display" button
3. Keep the picture, or delete it by pressing the delete button twice
4. If you get confused, refer to instructions on the camera.

These things are pretty handy. However, since they're disposables (and only cost 20 bucks), there's a few limitations:

• The camera can only be processed at a CVS center, where you get a free CD with digital prints along with (paid) hard copy prints.
• The camera can only delete the last picture that was taken.
• There is no way to turn off the automatic flash, which is pretty bright that it even made my tan skin look a litlle wash out (this jusdgement is based on the display image only, not the actual prints yet)
  
• No way to download the images into your computer, the only way to get the digital prints is to send it in to CVS.

I tried taking a few pictures yesterday, and it looks pretty decent. I like being able to delete images, even if the capability is pretty limited. Some reviews also mentioned that the pictures usually turn out better than normal disposable film cameras. We'll have to see, today is certainly the day to try it out. The interns are meeting at the Jefferson Building (part of the LOC) for a tour of the library. We might get to see some rare manuscripts and books (apparently some US presidents are notorious note-takers and annotators, and the US's first cookbook is somewhere in the library) and also take pictures all around the building.

I hjave to say this before I forget: I love the food in Washington. Firehook Bakery and Coffee House is my favorite breakfast place (a cafe near the LOC), and of course there's Penang and Malaysia Kopitiam, and Jaleo, and Kramer's Books and Grill (the crab rigatoni is so good, so is the Chocolate malt milkshake). Linda and I are gonna check out Teaism today, which is supposed to have all kinds of tea (hence the name) and of course, food. Reminds of Bubble Island, except on a more posh scale. The only funny thing that I noted was that the map I bought before coming here showed an abundance of McDonald's and Burger King, but we only saw one Burger King and No McDonald's, and the only place DC have an abundance of is Starbucks. There's one in every freakin' corner, sometimes 2!

Okay, I need to take a walk to clear my head and warm myself, I'll pen in again when I get to AA!

Wassalam...

PROGRESS REPORT: DAY 3 IN DC

Assalamu'alaikum....

It's close to 3 pm right now, and my brain is slightly out of whack right now. I just had a huge cup of vanilla capuccino to keep me awake, but alas my lunch today cost $9.25, so I'm in a bit of a shock. I mean, I've had dinner that cost me more than that, but lunch??? I need to pay at a different counter the next time, yesterday the cashier was kind enough to waive the 25% price increase for non-LoC employees because I'm an intern. Today I wasn't so lucky. Darn. Oh well, no use harping about it, I guess what I can do is buy something near my hotel tonight and just heat it up in the office tomorrow. Seems like a good enough plan, heheh.

Linda, Andy and I walked to the LoC today. Took us freakin' 30 minutes again. I'm not exactly happy about coming in to work at 9am because that means I have to leave at 6pm (if I have a one-hour lunch). Technically I wasn't late, because we can come in anytime between 8.30am and 9.30am, but I'd rather come early and leave early so that I can see more of DC. So instead of taking my usual one hour lunch break, I cut it back to about 40 minutes, not an easy feat considering that the cafeteria is in another building and it takes 10 minutes to walk there. Somehow I managed, heheh. However, the walk to work was really nice, 'cause we got to see more of the Capitol Hill area, which is very pretty. Linda and I are gonna walk home in a couple of hours so that we can take pictures near the US Capitol. Hopefully we'll have more time later tonight to go and see The Mall as well as visit the Smithsonian.

There's so many things that I want to see while I'm here, 5 days really isn't enough to go around DC especially when you're working normal 8-hour days. I love going on the Metro and navigating through the streets of DC, I think I would be really happy if I get to intern here again for the summer (if they have any openings). Last night Linda had to go to an alumni meeting, so me, Tonia, Paul and Woo Yong went to Penang for a nice Malaysian dinner. I had Paul try the roti canai, while the rest of us traded entrees of koay teow, mee goreng and nasi lemak. Yumm... However, I have to say the DC Penang is somewhat dissapointing, the service wasn't that great and it didn't feel anything like eating in a Malaysian restaurant. The ambience just wasn't there. However, there's a Malaysian Kopitiam next door, so since Linda hasn't tried any Malaysian food yet, we might go there tonight.

I'm loving my time in DC, I guess the fact that our hotel is smack dab in the middle of everything plays a huge part in why I'm loving this trip so much. Yes, the food is expensive but considering I'm only paying 5 dollars per night in a $85/per night hotel, I would say it's well worth the food cost. And I love the work I'm doing at the LoC.

Okay, off to work again! :) ... Maybe I'll have time to pen in again tomorrow

Wassalam.....