PROGRESS REPORT: DAY 2 IN DC

Assalamu'alaikum....

Well here I am, day 2 of my mini-internship. Last night after work, Linda and I were really tired from our first day of work, so after watching CSI for about an hour, we were debating between walking around in the cold to the White House or just staying in for the night. Well, we decided that the White House might be too far to walk to in the cold, but we could go out for a while and get some hot drinks at Starbucks. Mind you, this was 9pm. When we arrived to the nearest Starbucks, which was 2 blocks away from the hotel, it was unfortunately closed (apparently DC residents don't drink coffeee after 6.30pm), but there was this huge white building right across the street from Starbucks that we decided to check out. It wasn't the White House, but the building next to it was. Score! The first building was actually the Treasury Department, which is pretty huge. The White House is sort of right next to it. Seeing the White House at night is pretty cool, the night wasn't too cold and the streets were very well lighted. We met up with a group of people who I think were from Australia and swapped taking pictures of each other, heheh.

On the way back, we decided to take scenic route and came very close to The Mall area. No, it's not a shopping strip, it's pretty much a garden area that's surrounded by museums and monuments. Oh, and of course a few memorials, as evident from the Washington memorial and a couple others me and Linda saw last night. Here's the Wikipedia link if you guys want more info on it. It's so near our hotel that walking around at night just to walk around The Mall is so not a big thing. Plus there were police officers all around us. Funnily enough, people were still jay-walking right in front of police vehicles. Huh. I guess it's the same mentality that brought us the "throw-thrash-under-the-No-Littering-sign" phenomenon.

Second day of work, I met with Cindy, who's survey I'm helping to proof-read and fact-check. Right now I've just came out of a 2-hour survey analysis marathon... and it's not over yet. Nyahahaha. Bengong. There's still the report to proof read, which I've already read but am gonna have to do it again because a lot of the terminology is very confusing to me. Oh well, I will prevail! Nyahah! I have to admit, as tedious as it is looking at people's responses and trying to figure out what they mean, I love doing real work. Sure, I had to buy 2 vanilla capuccinos to keep me awake, but the experience is priceless :) . Plus the cafeteria has pretty decent (if somewhat expensive) food.

Okay I better get on with work. Later!

Wassalam.

LOCATION: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, DC

Assalamu'alaikum....

It's Spring Break baby!!!! Nyahahah!! I would've probably been more excited about it if it's not for the fact that as I'm writing this, I am in a cubicle in Washington, DC, trying my hardest to keep awake while reading the stuff that I have to do to analyze surveys. Maybe I should backtrack a little.....

Okay, so about a few months ago, SI's Alternative Spring Break (ASB) people started lobbying for students to volunteer for their program. The whole basis of the program is, rather than spending Spring Break in say Cancun or Tahiti, students would get to intern (voluntarily, unpaid) and gain real-life workplace experience in different organizations that need information and library science students (i.e. us students here in SI). So I thought, what the heck, the ride is going to be free, the hotel is mostly paid for, plus it beats figuring out for myself what the heck I was gonna do for a whole week of Spring Break. Now, bear in mind that all these thought process happened before all the shitty semester work came in.

So about a month ago, I attended the meetings for ASB and started to doubt whether or not I really wanted to go. But after much cajoling by my friends and the academic admissions people, I gave in and decided, what the heck, at least my resume would have extra bulk when I'm out trying to find work. Plus I like the irony of being an international, Islamic student but working oh-so-close to the the nation's capital. Take that, all you customs people at the aiports who keep trying to "inspect" my bags! I'm working at the Library of Congress!

Anyway, we finalized which projects all the interns got, and mine was analyzing four surveys for FLICC/FEDLINK, a division of the Library of Congress (LOC). Yummm... After all the drama that went through making the user survey for my SI 622 class, I wasn't sure how this was gonna turn out. But I need to learn somewhere how to analyze survey results, so this might work out okay. By the end of last week, I was so ready leave for DC and do something other than studying and group projects (for a change).

Nik left for Malaysia on Wednesday, and I was sad, of course, but then I had to get my brain into gear for my exams, homeworks and of course, the trip to DC. After doing horribly on the exam and submitting my homework late (it's been a stressful week, okay? All the unneeded drama going on all around, plus my friend leaving, I was a wreck pretty much), I was so ready to leave for DC.

On Sunday, me, Linda, Sara and Tonia pakced ourselves up in a 2006 Chevy Malibu Max SS (nice roomy car, not that good looking though) and sped down the Ohio Turnpike all the way to DC. Driving through the mountains was certainly an interesting experience, thank goodness Tonia is so used to driving long-distance, she offered to drive the whole way. Whoo hoo! And even though we made a 1-1/2 hour pit-stop in Ohio, we still made it to DC in plenty of time to grab dinner at the ESPN Zone restaurant right next to our hotel.

Linda and I woke up bright and early this morning to, supposedly, take the Metro down to the LOC. After much confusion with the grouping and such, all of us ended up walking instead. It was a 40-minute walk, mind you, and at 8.15am in the morning in Washington weather (slight chill, no wind thank God), Linda and I weren't exactly happy campers. Our resolve: get a one-week Metro ticket and take the train. It'll just be a 5-minute walk instead :). Plus we get to experience the Metro AND maybe go to China Town after work. Woot!

This morning I got my LOC identification card and met with my supervisor. In about 15 minutes, I'm supposed to go to lunch with Karen, the person who will be in charge of my not screwing up (heheh) while I'm here. Right now, I have just finished looking at the survey questions in my own cubicle (!). It's kinda cold back here, but it's private enough that I can do my prayers and not have anyone come and disturb me. It seems like the bulk of my work will be for tomorrow instead of today, so today I might have more energy to walk around DC and take pictures and stuff :).

Okay peeps, I'm gonna try and maneouver my brain into thinking that work is fun, so I'll try and pen again later (hahahahahaha.... okay, so I haven't updated recently, sorry!)

Wassalam.....

P/S: what is up with my chatbox?? Where did everybody come from?

SUPERBOWL SUNDAY

Assalamu'alaikum.....

After no snow and fairly pleasant weather for the past week, Michigan suddenly decided to snow. It started yesterday and by today, we were ankle deep in snow. Best of all, today is Superbowl Sunday! Yes people, even if you don't know what a touchdown is, if you care anything about football or live in Michigan, then by now you would know that the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks are squaring off today in Detroit. The Motor City is filled with football fans and of course, Hollywood celebrities who either love football or love the parties that are being thrown in honor of the event. I couldn't turn on the radio this past week without hearing something about Diddy's Cashmere party or the club that DJ AM (ex-fiance of Nicole Ritchie). The parties even trump out ads about the game itself. Society's obsession with Hollywood has, inevitable, reached a new level. Step aside, jocks, the drama club is moving in.

What am I doing this Sunday? Well, after being sick the last couple of days, Sunday will be spent doing homework and of course, paying an overdue visit to the gym (did you expect anything else?). After downing burritos on Monday AND Tuesday, I really need to shake off the you're-not-being-healthy-how-are-you-gonna-study feeling in my stomach. So I woke up early and paid NCRB a visit. The good thing about Superbowl Sunday: the normally jam-packed weight room was almost empty. Nyahahah! Best gym trip ever! No waiting for equipments!

I have the TV on and it's tuned to E!, which is showing "100 Sexiest Hollywood Bodies". Oooohhhh... nothing brings a girl down than a whole hour reminding you that you can hit that gym everyday, those 100 people are STILL gonna be hotter than you are. But I do like the guys on the countdown, hehehe. A little eye-candy on a Sunday afternoon doesn't hurt now, does it?

I am declaring my absolute love to Matthew McConaughey. So droolworthy :).

Assalamu'alaikum.....

I have been sooooo stressed out for the last week, you have no idea. There's things to do every single day, like literally. Even Saturdays and Sundays. Casing point: right now it's Saturday morning, 8.30am, and I am in a ....... JavaScript workshop. Yes people, I am in school. On a Saturday morning. The best part? I am also going to be in school on Sunday. In the same damn computer lab. But this time, it's for a group meeting. Whoop da-dee.

All I want to do right now is to go home and go to sleep. It's been barely an hour through the workshop and already I'm in dire need of coffee. I have no idea what homework is due next week, all I know is that there's a 90% probability that I'm gonna fuck 'em up. I was so tired on Friday from doing the Information Economics homework that I could barely keep myself from falling asleep in class.

To be perfectly honest, it's kinda mostly my fault today that I'm so tired. I slept at 3.40am, something I haven't done for some time, and had to be up at least 10 minutes before 8.00am to walk over to the computer lab. So under less than 5 hours sleep, I'm trying to go through 2 workshops that last 4 hours each. Shiats! So right now I'm yawning like crazy, trying very hard to look interested even though I'm missing my bed very, very much. I spent the night over at Wann's last night, so I gotta go get my crap out of her apartment before I can even go home. Ho hummm.....

Can't... help... falling ... asleep..... ZZZzzzzz........

CURRENT LOVE : THE CHLOE PADDINGTON BAG

I'm a big believer in one bag for all occasions. Unfortunately, I never had a big budget for bags, and my favorites always end up in shreds (broken straps, hole on bottom etc.). It's extremely frustrating. I've always wanted that perfect, perfect bag where it's big enough that I can put all my junk in it, yet stylish enough so that I don't look like a bag lady carrying a big sack full of s***.

After searching and searching and searching for, I have to admit to this, brand-name bags (I figured they wouldn't have steller reputations for nothing now, would they?), I finally found the perfect one. I was eyeing this gorgeous, cute Dior Girly Boston bag for the longest time, but I forgot all about that when I saw this: the Chloe Paddington bag. Oh...my...god. It's perfect. It's made out of kid leather, which is ALWAYS buttery soft, and it has this wonderful look and feel about it. It is just... gorgeous. Too perfect.

I don't know how popular Chloe is back in Malaysia, but it's a pretty big brand in the UK. In the US... hmm.. not so much I think, even though it does have a steady fan base. People here are still obsessed with Loius Vuitton, Gucci, Coach.... My favorite was, before this, Dooney and Bourke, but the Paddington just blows everyone away. It's just gorgeous. I know Mischa Barton likes it (note exhibit A):




The color that she's carrying is the one that I just bought from Ebay about half an hour ago. I'm so excited. Cost me quite a bit, though it's still cheaper (wayyyyyyy cheaper) than if I had bought it at a retail store or even if I had bought it back in Malaysia. I like it, it should last me for quite some time, Im gonna carry that bag till I wear it out, mark my words. However, it being leather, it should wear out nicely. The only thing that would concern me is the smell, hope it's that nice buttery smell and not the disgusting pungent one, ewww.

I'm excite, I'm a bag freak and if I can get away with owning every single bag I've fallen in love with, I would. But my bank account isn't that big (too bad). Can't wait till it comes!

Here's a few other favorites of mine (in no particular order:

Dior Girly Boston

Hermes Birkin








Marc Jacobs Anouk bag

Louis Vuitton Monogram Cerise (I like every bag they have in this design.. the cherries are so cute)












Marc Jacobs Sophia













Enough for today :) .

Wassalam..

BOWING OUT OF MY PERFORMANCE :(

Assalamu'alaikum....

This is a sad, sad day for me :( . Boo hoooo......!! I have just emailed Mbak Yulisa and Mbak Tera saying that due to schedule conflicts, I would not be able to perform in this Saturday's gamelan performance. I'm sad, I do love performing and the thrill of being on stage, dancing and showcasing something that we've been painstakingly practicing for. It's been my pride and joy for two years now. To be perfectly honest, I'm more annoyed than sad. It's only the first week of class and already I'm swamped with meetings and readings and internship stuff to deal with. To top it off, one my professors is really, realllllllyyy.... "tough". Like make-your-life miserable tough. C'mon, man, I'm a gentle soul, go pick on someone your own size.

My apartment is right now relatively livable. It's not like neat freak condition, but it's enough so that none of my clothes are on the floor and I don't have to step over anything to get around the house. My carpets are now deodorized though, so my house smell faintly of peach and vanilla ... yummm..

On a very, very bright side, someone gave me a Coach wristlet for my birthday (in the off chance that it might embarass the person, I'll keep the name private). I LOVE it! It's purple and small and cute with the Coach logo all over it. Very cool :). I never thought I'd be able to have a Coach bag this early in my life (though I did have a slightly used pink Coach iPod mini case which came with the slightly used iPod mini). So I'm a very hapy girl in terms of the handbag department. Love it, love it, loooooove it :) .

Okay, I'm actually at work, and I have an interview with Bate after this for an RA position, so I'm just gonna stop here and try do some reading before I have to jet off to Baits 1 :) . Ciao babes!

Wassalam.....

p/s: I probably should update the pictures on top of this page because of the false impression it's giving, honestly I'm not that pretty.

First Day of Class

Assalamu'alaikum....

Baru cuti sekejap, dah start kelas. Today is my first day of class, pretty interesting if somewhat packed. This is going to be a hard semester because all of my classes are project oriented (due to my very conscious desire of wanting an internship). This semester I'm taking:

SI 502: Choice and Learning
SI 503: Search and Retrieval
SI 622: Evaluation of Systems
SI 646: Information Economics
... and of course, one dance class (no, not Javanese Dance, unfortunately)

Taking a dance class each semester is so routine that even when I can't fit in the Javanese class in my schedule, the priority was finding something new. And fresh. Preferably a class with not a lot of guys in. Nope, not ballet again (ugh). I picked one, but I'm not telling till much later when I know I'll be sticking to it.

I love being here. So many things to learn, and even though I'm physically and mentally tired all the time, at least I know I'm making the most of my two years. I hope I just don't keel over in exhaustion in the next, owh, two weeks, let's say.

Here's a tip for CSI lovers: do NOT eat dinner, or anything, while watching the show. I was downing a plate of chicken l'orange (courtesy of Stouffer's) when the screen showed maggots.... lots and lots of maggots. A screen FULL of maggots. Crawling on a college boy's face. He FELL into a pit of maggots!! An he was alive... and opening his mouth. A maggot almost crawled into his piehole. Belurghhhhhh. Eww eww eww.... I hate maggots. College boys... not so much :).

After much debating and drooling, I finally got my iPod Video, a slim black thingamajig gadget worthy of infinate care, love and affection. I lovingly named it iPink, despite the fact that it's as black as night. I realize now that it's not that hard to name an Apple-made gadget. Just pick something and put the letter "i" in front of it. For instance, I could've named it "iBoogerinmynose" ... if I was a disgusting boy. Or iAmaskinnyblonde if I was Paris Hilton. You get my drift by now, I hope.

Okay, I have to go to sleep now because tomorrow is an early day. Toodles darlings!

Wassalam...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME :)

(on the left: Nik's red lillies.... gorgeous!)

Assalamu'alaikum.....

Look at what Nik got me for my birthday!! Red lillies and a cute card to go with it! Afzan got me a beautiful pair of pink earrings, while Wann got me this really gorgeous black handbag from Express. Bulan treated me to a bowling game (much thanks :) ) afterwards. After what, you may ask? Lemme start my day at the beginning.

My birthday "day" actually started at 10pm the night before. Nik called me from his cellphone saying that he was outside my door. Unfortunately, I had just finished scrubbing my bath tub and playing DDR for the last 1-1/2 hour, so seeing my best bud while looking like a sweaty dog did not sound too appealing. However, I put a t-shirt and pants on and opened the door.....




(on the right: Nik's birthday card)

.... and there was this beautiful bouquet of lillies propped against the wall of my apartment. So beautiful. Granted, it was a good 2 hours before my official birthday "day", but what the heck, it was already my birthday in Malaysia and probably in other parts of the world too, so it was fine. The flowers were really pretty, I just adore fresh flowers and these lillies couldn't be any prettier.

Anyway, the next day started off pretty normal. Me, Afzan, Kirah and Wahida went to see Memoirs of a Geisha, that new movie with Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi. Anyway, the lady who played the villain Hatsumomo, Chinese actress Gong Li, is freakin' GORGEOUS!




(on the left: picture of Afzan's gift, earrings and card).

It was a really good movie, the cinematography was excellent... wish it had stayed closer to the book and developed more of Mameha's character, but I guess you can only do so much in 2-1/2 hours of movie time. To tell the truth, I like this one better than King Kong. Tgk org bercinte ngan beruk, buat ape. Pompuan tgk beruk, beruk tgk pompuan, main ais skating kat mane2 ntah. 3 jam plak tuh kene tgk beruk ngan pompuan tgk each other. WTF?





(on the right: Wann's gift... an evening bag from Express)

Anyway, after getting back from the movies, I got ready to go out to my "surprise" birthday dinner... in that the location was a surprise. Nyahahaha.... Nik got this one right, definitely. They brought me to Olive Garden, probably my most favorite restaurant in Ann Arbor. Yay! There was a pretty good crowd.. there was me (of course), Afzan, Wann, Joe, Fer, Zul, Bulan, Kirah and of course, Nik. Dinner was excellent (in my opinion), and conversation was good. Nik terhantuk kepale kat gelas air... LoL! Padan muke, gelakkan org punye kete lagik, pandai. And although I wished somebody else was there, too, I have to admit it was a really good crowd and I couldn't have planned it better myself.

Afterwards, Nik, Bulan and I went bowling with a few other friends of Bulan's... me like bowling velly mooch :)~ . Bulan, as usual, was good at it (what can he NOT do? He's good at everything), Nik had a somewhat off night, and I did... average. As usual.

Loved, loved, loved my birthday :) . So glad to celebrate it with friends :). Thanks guys! Love ya all!

Wassalam...

Assalamu'alaikum....

Nyahaha.... I haven't updated in a really, really long time. One month, in fact. Been really busy lately, school has been weird. There's presentations, projects, proposals and of course, final exams. I also had Nik, Wann and Kirah's graduation to go to, which was last Sunday. It was alright, I guess, unfortunately I can't attest to that much because I came a bit later. Afterwards, we went to eat at Raja Rani later that night.

It is currently Winter Break, and like all grad students, I am broke and staying at home for the whole two weeks. Nik and Wann have been staying over for the last couple of days because their new apartment has no electricity. We've been watching DVDs for the last couple of days, so tonight we're going out to the movies, probably King Kong (even though I'm aching to watch Chronicles of Narnia). We'll see :) .

On Friday we celebrated Nik's birthday at TGI Friday's. It was a mostly guys affair, and I have to admit I was more stressed than usual because there was just a lot of stuff to do and people to coordinate. While I was stressed, Nik had a great time, so it made all the panning worth it. I have to admit, I actually dropped the cake upside-down but somehow nothing happened to it. Must be something in the air, lol :).

Anyway, I'm a little sleepy, and not making much sense, so I'll be off now and maybe update a wee bit later.

Wassalam...

Me singing "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia, if you can't see the video then go here (in case you REALLY do not know what the above sentence means.... click on the "here" word... the underline means it's a link... aiyohhhhh)



Assalamu'alaikum.....

Turkey Weekend is over.... people are done giving thanks and devouring giant ugly birds. Turkeys everywhere can now breathe easily as they mourn their brethren who got eaten. Poor lil' bastards. As Merry said, "Turkeys are the dumbest birds on earth", why she said that I dunno.

Thanksgiving day was a bust, I won't go into details but here's a little advice: never go out in 7 degrees weather wearing a short black dress. So not a good idea. The day after Thanksgiving was better, Nik, Afzan and I upheld the Black Friday tradition and went shopping at Tweleve Oaks mall. There goes my paycheck. I bought 5 tops, a pair of gorgeous earrings (I know someone likes 'em *wink wink*) and a matching necklace. I also bought two pairs of sunglasses, one for me and one to replace Kirah's that I broke :( . Sorry K. Anyway, while waiting for our food, I managed to get a job.. sorta. This lady gave me her card and wants me to translate a bunch o' stuff from English to Malay. Score!

The day after was even better :) . It was GempitaFest 2005, and although the turn out wasn't spectacular, it was a pretty fun event. I met up with one of the coolest (and prettiest, I might add) girl, Adriana from Western Michigan, who has this amazing voice and pretty excellent showmanship, I might add. I wasn't expecting to see any of my batch, but lo and behold, Abe from RPI was there, doing his thing on stage in a red t-shirt with a turned up collar. Apparently he hasn't graduated yet, it's all details really, so I won't get into them. Suffice to say... glad to see someone who's about as old as I am, LoL. It made me feel less old meself. Also got to see the freshies, whom I never get to see 'cause their asses live on Central. Kak Fezah masak beriani sedap, as always. Wann and Nicholas went home early, so they didn't get to hang out with me, Travis and Nik at Travis's place later that night. I, of course, the party animal, promptly fell asleep and hijacked Travis's bed about a half hour after I got there, LoL. Poor thing had to go sleep outside with Nik.

And now, it is back back back to the grindstone... ho hum...

Wassalam...

HAPPY TURKEY DAY

Assalamu'alaikum.....

Today's Thanksgiving... Happy Thanksgiving Day to all who celebrate it. Aihhh... it's so freakin' cold outside, I really don't wanna go anywhere. Think I'm just gonna stay home and leave the turkey eating to other people. Me too sleepy to do anything.... ni pun baru sgt bangun.

Lepas bangun, check email, pastu ade org mesej kat Friendster. So of course, gi lah check Friendster pulak kan. Lepas balas mesej, saje tgk nak update profile sendiri. Tetibe nampak korner yg tulis Top Network Searches tu. Tgk lah Melayu carik ape.. :

1. nokia 8800


2. hazliana


3. menindih tubuhnya


4. selak kain


5. terlondeh baju


6. terangkat angkat
   
   
7. isterimu isteriku jua


8. kak lina


9. robert pattinson


10. pakcikku

Bongok... time-time camni lah rase malu gile ngan network sendiri. Carik lah mende lain yg ilmiah sket, kalau nak tak senonoh pun, jgn lah buat kat Friendster tuh. Adoooiiiii.....

Okaylah, nak kene tkar baju, satgi mau Thanksgiving lunch ngan Wann, Nicholas and Nik. Ta peeps!

Wassalam.................

HARRY POTTER AND THE CUTI-CUTI MICHIGAN

Nyahaha... dah start cuti dah. Yes yes... boleh berpoya-poya kat rumah, lepak makan tido tengok tv.... bestnye bestnye bestnye. Takde nak terkejar-kejar pegi kelas, pegi keje, pegi group meeting, pegi ntah hape-hape ntah lagik. Bertuah punye Michigan, elok-elok cuti baru nak start, terus snow. Ambek ko, tak kasi can langsung.

Ni baru lepas balik menemuramah Mbak Susan pasal gamelan punye collection. Elok-elok dah sampai ofis die baru sedar interview questions tertinggal kat rumah, tersalah ambik file mase nak kluar umah. Nak tanak kene lah spontan jek, aih malunye. Tapi die pun tak tau byk sangat pasal history of the collection, so interview pun takdelah lame sgt. Tak sampai sejam, mengaku je lah lepas tu yg soklan-soklan tertinggal kat umah. Ni lepas ni nak kene call School of Music mintak cakap ngan dosen gamelan tuh. Erk.... malehnye nak buat research paper ni.

Cakap pasal paper, dah due weekend keje buat paper jek. Asal org lain tanye "Free tak malam ni?", asyik kene jawab "Tak, ade paper due." , "Takleh kluar, paper tak siap lagi". Wtf, asal grad students takde social life ni? Asal asal asal? Kalau tak kene buat paper, kene buat group projects, kalau tak yg itu, ade mende lain pulak. Hampeh, time-time camni lah nak balik umah soh mak kawinkan jek.

Haaa.. Semalam tgk Harry Potter ngan Afzan ngan Nik. Lepas balik kelas je terus amek kunci kete drive gi Showcase (yep, I'm still driving. Takkan baru eksiden sekali due terus nak give up kot... plus sape lagi nak drive kete bertuah tuh). Kitorang tgk show yg start kol 8.30 mlm. Kol 11 tuh baru kluar panggung, by then mate dah separa bengkak sebab sedey tgk budak hensem mati. Wooo.... ape lah nasib ko budak hensem. Sape tak tgk lagi movei and tak bace lagik buku die, pandai2 lah figure out sape budak hensem. Sgt cute, encem encem. Movie tuh lame lah gak, tapi tak rase cam lame sebab best. Sronok gile tgk, budak2 main character sume dah terrer berlakon, okay lah... takdelah bergantung kat special effects jek.

Smalam before tido sempat lah borak ngan sorang kanak-kanak nie, lame tak chat ngan die, plus takdelah rapat sangat pun in the first place tapi boleh lah. Lepas due tige menet chat, baru perasan ayat die almost sume start ngan "Boyfren I... ", sebagai contoh: "Boyfren I cakap tempat tuh best", "Boyfren I datang pick dengan kete die", "Boyfren I itu...", "Boyfren I ini...". Erk... sedikit meluat lepas dah lame-lame chat tuh, sebab ye lah kan, ayat sume same jek. Plus macam org tak kenal je boyfren die sape, bukan best sgt pun. Nyahaha... tak ke mampus kalau budak tuh bace entry ni. Biar... rase kan, setengah jam habes camtuh jek, org nak tau cite pasal pendapat die, asyik2 masuk pasal boipren die. Adoi. May I not become like that ever, amin.

Skarang tgh kat library tunggu appointment potong rambut kat Aveda. Lame dah tak potong, rambut nampak tak kemas, plus rimas sket. Tgh nak figure out nak buat bangs ke idak, salah potong kang muke nampak lagi bulat. Bestnye lahhhhh hari ni dah start cuti, bleh potong rambut, bleh lepak, satgi bleh gi K Mart pulang baju... bleh buat macam-macam.

Cepat laaaaah Thanksgiving sale.

Wassalam...

Assalamu'alaikum....

I don't undestand. I don't understand why. I don't know what to think, what to feel, how to act, how to react. One minute I was dancing and bowling and loving myself and my life, the next minute years of friendship went down the tube, and over what? A misunderstanding? The phone not working? Me not calling back right when I'm supposed just because I was distracted? I don't understand and I'm so confused right now. How is it that just 24 hours before I was dressing up in a pretty sweater, feeling good about myself, and right now I don't even know what just happened? How is this my fault? What did I do to even deserve this?

Assalamu'alaikum.....

It's 3.40 am on a Saturday... I have just gotten back from bowling with my fellow SI-ans and Nik, who was more excited about bowling than I was. Originally I didn't wanna go 'cause I really, really wanted to go out dancing, but I'm glad I went 'cause the bowling alley was shakin', LoL. I saw my groupmate, Kaveri and her husband there. Libby, my GSI, was also there. It was awesome, people were dancing and no one was paying much attention to bowling. What a relaxing night it was, it was so great to just not think about papers and homework and just have fun with a bunch of people and a really great friend :) . LoL ... good thing he's never gonna read this, terpuji plaks, LoL. But seriously, it was great, no drama, no complications, just fun. Too bad Wann wasn't there with Nicholas, it would've been "funner" (is there such a word?)

I'm a little pumped for someone who hasn't gotten much sleep today, LoL. Nik is already out cold by now, I think. I just couldn't sleep and decided to just blog a bit. Two updates in one day, I'm on a roll, hahaha. I'm excited for the football game today, it's supposed to be an easy win but you never know.... Michigan vs. Indiana, at noon. It's gonna be a good day :)

I'm happy right now. Hope it'll last.

Wassalam...

GRAD SCHOOL IS HARD!!!!

Assalamu'alaikum.....

I am at work, half-asleep and going completely insane. Why? Because I slept at 6.30 am today, had class at 9am, then it was off to work from 11.30am to 2pm. And if you even THINK that my day is going to be over right afterwards, you are seriously wrong because at 4pm, I have dance class. Whoop-da-dee.

Things didn't go quite as planned this morning. I had my short assignment due at 9am on CTools and spent the whole night doing it. At 6.15 am, about 400 words short of what the maximum length of the paper should be (which is never a good thing; I used to major in bullshit paper), I decided that I have effectively run out of ideas, points and filler words for my paper. I was also feeling the starts of a pounding headache, which I then put a stop to by taking two caplets of Excedrin.

Now, by that time, my butt has been parked on the chair for about... let's see... 8 hours straight. I'm not kidding y'all, that's like a whole night's sleep right there.... which is not that unusual for a college student. What was unusual for me was... running out of words to write. I had the points... I just ran out of stuff to elaborate. To top it all of, I wasn't supposed to go to sleep 'cause the plan was to stay up, go to class, work, THEN collapse, but the moment I sat on my couch, my body just shut down (probably because of the Excedrin) . I fell asleep. When did I wake up? 11.25am, an hour after class ended and about 5 minutes before I was supposed to go to work. What woke me up? A phonecall from a telemarketer. for once they served some sort of a purpose.

So I came to work, luckily only 5 minutes late, which I apologized profusely to Steve for, and right now my tummy is not feeling that good. I was chain-eating candy all night just to keep the sugar rush up and keep me from getting sleepy while working on my paper. I'm very fortunate that while staying up kinda wrecks my day in that I can't study that well or think properly, I can still function somewhat normally. It's a good thing too that I'm not having one of those major headchaes that usually comes after a whole night of not sleeping.

Man, I so do not want to work right now... Thank god it's gonna be over in 20 minutes...

HALLOWEEN 2005

Aha! Setelah sekian lame takleh nak update blogger, it's finally fixed! Again! Hampeh tol, there goes my multitude of updates....

Last weekend was Halloween.... well actually today is officially Halloween, but that's just a minor technicality. Anyway, a few of us dressed up ..... hehehehe..... yes, I am 23 years old, and I still think dressing up is fun. I thought I was never gonna get my costume(s) in time, but we went on Friday night to Halloween USA, then K Mart, and I found a costume that I liked :) .

So on Friday I was a Dark Princess, while on Saturday I was a Tavern Wench :) (in case you're wondering what a wench is... it's just a girl.... so I was just a girl who worked in a bar LOL). Saturday was also daylight savings time, so an extra hour of sleeping (or, erm, partying) was available. What joy. Oh, Nik dressed up as a Dark Red Knight, unfortunately people kept mistaking him for a Star Trek character (cue the "beam me up Scotty" jokes... and references to the USS Enterprise). Wann dressed up as a cowgirl in jeans, jean jacket and my cowboy hat (my barn Dance cowboy hat sees the outside of my apartment yet again). All in all, the weekend wasn't as crazy as I hoped it would be, but it was pretty cool all the same.

So that was how my weekend went. Hahaha... Raya is coming soooonnn.... Selamat Hari Raya to everyone!!!!!!

Wassalam....

MICHIGAN (27) vs. PENN. STATE (25)

I have never, ever been so happy to be at a game. It was.... awesome. Even looking back at it, man, it was just... awesome. "Awesome" wouldn't exactly be the perfect word to describe everything that happened on Saturday's game against PSU, but it would be the perfect word to use to describe that one last, miraculous, highly unprobable second.

Never mind Henne played like fuck, fumbled the ball and helped them score a touchdown. Never mind that we weren't exactly at the top of our game that day. Never mind that our voices were hoarse from yelling "Get him!" or "Henne, come ON!". Well, okay..... not exactly never mind. But all of the frustration and the "nak-tendang-bebola-orang" tendencies were forgotten the moment that TD was made...... a wooooohooo! Serves the PSU people right, they weren't being nice guests in our stadium. Nik, Seng Keat, me, Afzan, Kirah, Teh and Wahida (nyahah! majoriti pompuan) had the unfortunate luck of sitting (standing) riiiiiggghtttt in front of some die-hard PSU supporters who were loud, rude, mean and lind-stinkin' drunk. And those were just the girls. Throughout the games, they (and when I say "they", I also mean "us") kept getting pelted with random things ranging from water bottles to grapes to balled-up paper. All I can say to my darling fellow Wolverines is ... aim better!!! I'm not your target!! Sheesh.

As I looked at the pictures taken during the game, I wish I have season tickets. Of course, then Henne's many fumbles came into mind and then I thought, maybe season tickets weren't exactly the best idea.....

So anyway, lemme start again with all the stuff that's going on since Friday. Friday, I had my normal lectures, a meeting with a client regarding the SI 501 project, and of course, dance class. I came in to the office in the afternoon to say hi to everyone, then I came again after dance class 'cause Nik working and I thought I left my sunglasses there from my previous visit. Turns out.... everybody, with the exception of Merry who was on vacation, was there. I'd rather not elaborate on what happened but what was supposed to be a 15-minute "hey-have-you-seen-my-glasses" visit turned out to last 45 minutes with me dodging bullets and put into some pretty uncomfortable positions. Oh, such drama.

Saturday after the game, Nik and I went Acapellooza 2005 held at the Rackham Auditorium. Wann and Nicholas joined us a wee bit later. It was pretty excellent, I'm glad I went. The groups were pretty good and extremely funny. Nik bought the CD, and I really like the songs. I'm a little dissapointed with Amaizin' Blue, I really thought they could've been better, but Dicks and Janes were excellent :) .

All in all, a pretty good end to a week wraought with homework, work, and more work...

Wassalam...

Assalamu'alaikum....

Nyahaha... I'm getting pretty regular about the whole updating thing now that Fall Break is coming near. Unfortunately, I'm updating in class (never a good idea to put me in front of a fully working computer).

Just read an email from Ayun. I'm okay, dearie, thanks for asking. Ayun was worried about my mental well-being 'cause I've been acting like a basket case lately. Don't worry laling, I'm frazzled but still (barely) sane. Nik and Wann are keeping me sorta sane (actually they sometimes contribute to the insanity and are detrimental to my mental health, LOL... but it's a welcomed distraction... sort of.... nyahahah)

I cannot wait for Fall Break... classes are insane, I have take home midterms and other long-paper shit.... adoi sakit perut :( . But soon it's going to be RAYA!! (Mabuk, sendiri baru puase 2 hari).

Typing in class is noisy.

Wassalam....

Assalamu'alaikum.....

I'm taking a five-minute break from my homework just to rest my hands a bit, my finger has this pencil identation that came about from holding my pencil for too long. So I decided to abuse my fingers another way: by typing in random stuff to update my blog.

Nik has just finished being an absolute meanie to me... as usual. "Sorry I'm busy" said in an unapologetic voice makes me feel sooooo appreciated (insert your own brand of sarcasm here). Am I worried he's gonna find out I'm writing this? Abso-bloody-lutely not 'cause he never reads my blogger, for one. So if he finds out, I then KNOW FOR SURE that there are busy-bodies residing in Ann Arbor (or Malaysia) who are hell-bent on causing trouble in other people's lives. So there. Here's my little experiment: Is Nik gonna find out that I wrote about him and said he was mean to me? If he is, how? let's watch :) .

School was tough, as usual. So many things to do, so many professors to suck up to, so many classmates to make friends with... and of course, so many people to hate. However, I am loving the School of Information building (it's in West Hall) even though it is 4 storeys high and it has NO elevators. Wow. But the student lounge is absolute heaven. Mini kitchen, TV, comfy couch, two computers (one is a Mac, one is a PC), a printer/scanner/photocopy machine, vending machines..... all in one cozy room that is the perfect temperature. Bliss... ahh... I did my homework there yesterday. I basically parked my ass in the SI building from 10am up to 11pm. By the time I was ready to leave, I was the only one in the building. Spooky. But most of my homework got done, thank goodness.

My car still looks like a wreck, but at least it's still doing it's purpose of transporting me to places that I need to go. I notice that I tend to wake up later because I know that I can drive myself down to central. On the other hand, I'm no longer missing class just because I woke up 5 minutes before class is supposed to start. Ahah!

Dance class is getting more interesting. We're learning the strong style now, so my arms hurt extra every class. And hear I thought flicking the scarf is hard to do, holding your arms up for a good 15 minutes while moving your ass to a song is enough to make you sweat buckets after a 1-1/2 hour class. On the plus side, I am no longer taking my shoulders for granted.

My eyes are sleepy, and I still have to finish up my homework. I'll maybe pen again tomorrow... or later. Sometime..

Wassalam...........

BERITA TERKINI : KERETA DI TANDUK RUSA

Sabtu, 8 Oktober 2005 - Sebuah kereta Ford Contour di timpa kemalangan pada jam 6.30 petang semasa dalam perjalanan ke Westland, Michigan. Sewaktu itu, kereta tersebut dalam perjalanan ke majlis berbuka puasa di kediaman Kak Faezah (dah pindah umah baru dowh). Kereta tersebut (plat nombor -- betul ke idak ni?-- FARRA) mengalami cedera parah setelah di tanduk rusa. Kaca-kaca bersepai di tepian jalan bak pasir-pasir putih di pantai yang dipukul ombak berderai (acheewah!! Pinjam sket Din Beramboi). Rusa tersebut tidak mengalami kecederaan melainkan terpempan seketika di tepi jalan, kemudian meneruskan larian marathon pulang ke rumah.

Setelah menemuramah mangsa-mangsa terlibat iaitu Afzan, Teh, Keju, Awang dan Farah (bukan nama-nama sebenar), polis telah mengenal pasti bahawa yang bersalah adalah pihak rusa and bukan manusia-manusia yang berada di dalam kereta berkenaan. Menurut Afzan "Betul Farah, bukan salah ngko, ruse tu yang lari langgar kete ko". Menurut Farah "Hampeh punye ruse. Rosak kete aku". Menurut Awang "Nasik aku tumpah on the way balik".

Lampu depan FARRA (kereta ye bukan orang) pecah kedua-duanya. Atap kereta juga mengalami kecederaan iaitu kemek sedikit ye. Kereta idaman hati sekarang sudah rupa macam nak mati. Apa yang mampu diutarakan sekarang ialah .... "Alhamdulillah. Nasib baik saya tak drive laju sgt tok. Kalau tak, dah lagi laju langgar kijang... eh bukan kijang lah Wann.. ruse. Haa.. kalau lagi laju langgar ruse, lagi teruk kemek kete, nasib baik airbag tak kluar kalau tak dah Sodaqallah je lah kete tu" ucap Farah sambil berlinangan air mata mengingatkan nasib yang terpaksa mengeluarkan lebih kurang 200 dollar untuk membaiki lampu depan kereta.

Berhati-hati di jalan raya kepada mereka yang pulang ke kampung ber Hari Raya.