Kisang seorang 'Megawati'... oh.. I mean, 'Meta Vashti' :P

Hehehehe.. this is funny.
Gw baru pulang kelas malem gw (10pm). Trus dijalan gw papasan sama cowo Vietnam yang dulu pernah sekelas. Gw ngenalin dia sih. Tapi gw cuekin karena gw nggak inget nama dia, and dia udah bapak2 [hehehehe..], and gw juga capek, gak niat ngomong. Berhubung gw lagi ngedengerin MP3 player, jadi gw sok sibuk sama MP3 player gw, sambil sok merhatiin jalanan. Oh dan gw juga nggak berharap dia masih ngenalin gw.

Eh.. ternyata tiba2 gw denger...
"Megawati...Megawati"
Gw pikir, apa gak salah kuping gw?! Kok bisa ada yang manggil2 Megawati di sini. Setelah ditelusuri arah datengnya suara, ternyata si Bapak Vietnam itu yang lagi manggil2.... ke arah gw.

Hueheehehehe.... sampe kaget gw dipanggil "Megawati". Dulu pas masih sekelas emang gw setengah mati ngajarin dia nyebut "Meta Vashti" (my name). Eeeh.. ternyata usaha gw ngajarin dia sia2. Nama gw jadi "Megawati"...

Hehehehhe.. close enough ^___^

"Sorry, you can't be my friend, because your cellphone signal is low."
One of the radio commercials here goes something like this...

A: So, how was your date yesterday?
B: His outfit said "Helloooo.." *in a flirtish, 'hey cutie, check me out' tone*

B: But his cellphone signal said "Hello..Hello are you there? Hello?" *in a frustrated, I-can't-hear-you tone*

A: Oh, he should move to **** (a cell-phone provider name)

*and the commercial continues*

So, the latest addition to the requirements of being a socialite, or being 'in' on your social life is having strong cellphone signal. Ridiculous, but so true.
I was unfortunately one of the victims. About two years ago, not sure if it was just my phone or the cellphone provider just didn't have any relay station near where I stayed, but I never had any signal at my home. So many times, I was often left out for many social gatherings, because I could not be contacted.

Me: Whaaat? You guys went to ********* mall yesterday? How could you?? *dissappointed* I wanted to comeeee...

Them: We wanted to take you, but we couldn't get through your phone

Me: *staring hopelessly at my cellphone, wanting to feed it to the dog*

Yeah, so boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen. If you want to be with the 'IN' crowd, make sure you have a strong cellphone signal.
As long as you have a strong cellphone signal anywhere, anytime, your life is perfect.

Meta's Book Club

Book: Ms B: "Panggil Aku B" by Fira Basuki.
Aight, so.. last week finally finished this thin book (telat banget yaa...:P). This is definitely different than previous books by Fira. And definitely a good change of mood from Fira's Rojak that I finished some time before this one, which storyline I think was so depressing. Yeah so, "Panggil Aku B" tells the story of a 24-year-old cosmopolitan girl, named Beauty Ayu Pangestu, or simply called B, who just came back to Indonesia after getting her Bachelor's Degree in US. It's told in the form of a journal. So the book consisted some sort of entries of her day-to-day life. The storyline of most of these 'journals' are simple, witty, and interesting. It's one of those books that does not require any thinking while reading it. So you can just chill out, put on some 'Nude' music, and enjoy the book. I really suggest everyone to read this book, especially for one of those Lazy Sunday afternoon.

Currently: waiting for Cintappucinno, which is on the way to my mailbox. Thank you, Daniel for being so kind sending it to me. :)

weekend etc.

Huaaaa.... gw genduuuutttt. Makan melulu seharian kemareeen.... :(

Apple Ranch
Aniway, yeah.. so Sabtu kemaren pegih ma Lia, and my two Korean friends, Gina, and Julia, to this Apple Ranch di Yucaipa.


Nama tempatnya.. .. and di ranch itu emang isinya apple semua. Kita bisa metikkin apple dari pohonnya kalo mau. Trus mereka juga produce all things related to apple. Mulai dari yang normal2 kayak apple cider, sampe yang aneh2 kayak Apple Butter, Jalapeno Apple Sauce.. and other weird Aplle-y things. Tempatnya juga luas, banyak orang picnic2 di situ. Trus katanya sih ada beruangnya di situ... but it didn't show up yesterday. Yah.. dunno buat apa juga ada beruang di situ? Buat metik apel kali yah?

Aniway, here's some more pics.
[Halloween's coming soon!!]
[Barbeque pit where they cook the steak]
[A little old-school-cowboy enterntainment for people who were waiting.. Complete with the little helpers]
[Hey, Who's that girl playing the bass? Yeah, that string and stick is a bass. And it can actually produce different tunes]


Grandpa's B-day
So, after all those caramel apples, Apple pie, and steak, I went to my Grandpa's Birthday Dinner at night. [ckckckc.. makin gendut lagi]
Aniway, here's my little cousin, Sarah, with an orange on her mouth. Ain't she cute?

One Girl on a Friday Night

One girl on a Friday Night

Once the sky went dark
Thousands of tiny lights departed to the West
To the Angels' Place they went
To see the moving pictures they went

One girl on a friday night
Her heart wanted to go to the West
Her heart wanted to see moving pictures
Her body wanted to sink into the softness of the cottons on her bed

One girl on a friday night
No friend. All by herself.
Her friends were all engaged in their own little activities
People around her were all engaged in their own little activities

One girl on a friday night
Her body sinking into the softness of the cottons on her bed
Hugging her soft pillow, munching on chocolate chip cookies
Accompanied by Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte

One girl on a friday night

--vashti

^_________^
happy weekend all!!!

I am an earthling with the word "tutor" printed on my forehead.

On being a halfling..
So I went shopping today. The initial purpose was to look for gifts for my Grandpa and my two aunts who were going to have birthdays soon. But of course, I /have/ to go on a tangent and look for things for myself ^____^.

Aniway, my two little feet finally stopped at the best store there is, Abercrombie&Fitch. Turned out that they have this new line called Ezra Fitch, which has truly amazing, low-waisted, dark-washed, jeans. I went frantic. I've been searching for this kind of jeans for a few months now, and I finally found it. So I took a pair and tried them on. Aaand...the pair looked grreaat. It hugged my butt so well I almost cry!! But..there was like 20 inches long trailing under (Read: I am so damn short that my feet stopped at the part where the calf is supposed to be). Even wearing a pair of 7cm highheels would not be sufficient. I probably need to use a pair of 'egrang' just to fit into the jeans.

Yet, I was persistent. I kept trying other pairs of jeans. I almost gave up on my third visit to the changing room. None of the amazing jeans in the store fit me (lengthwise, of course)!!!!

What am I, a halfling?? [Oh ok, I shouldn't be too harsh to myself. I shall describe myself as petite instead. Oh okay.. , i'm not exactly petite. I'm just simply.... short.]
So...where should short people like me shop??

Finally, after the fifth visit to the changing room, I found myself my perfect jeans. The store has an older style in "short". [Halleluya! *Angels singing*]. But guess what? Even that was still too long for me. Well, at least now I don't need an 'egrang'. A 7cm high-heels would be sufficient.

Sigh.

On the word "tutor" printed on my forehead..
Somehow, I always get a job, or a volunteer task to tutor kids. Back in my community college, I joined a training that prepared people to become Math tutors. I also had a community service component for my English class, where I got to be a tutor for a day. Two quarters ago, I signed myself up for volunteer work. And they sent me to be a tutor for Kids from 4 to 5 years old.
And guess what? I've just been interviewed for a tutoring position. Out of all of the various jobs that I applied, I was called for /only/ this tutoring job. The possibility of that happenning is 1/20. Amazing. Well, I don't know if they'll hire me yet. But do I really look like a teacher? Do I have that 'teacher' quality?

Do I have the word "tutor" printed on my forehead?

Oh well, the next time any of you need a tutor, you know who to call. -_-

Ready Steady Go

READY STEADY CAN'T HOLD ME BACK
READY STEADY GIVE ME GOOD LUCK
READY STEADY NEVER LOOK BACK
LET'S GET STARTED READY STEADY GO

fukitonde yuku fukei korugaru you ni mae e
kurushi magure demo hyouteki wa mou minogasanai
ate ni naranai chizu yakute shimaeba ii sa
uzumoreta shinjitsu kono tenohira de tsukami torou

muchuu de (hayaku) kake nukete kita
urusai kurai ni harisake sou na kodou no takanari
hibite (yonde) iru kimi no koe
koko de tachidomaru you na jikan wa nai sa
READY STEADY GO

kazoe kirenai kizu kakae konde ite mo
chotto yasotto ja tamashi made wa ubawasenai
ano oka no mukou de kimi ni deaeta nara
nani kara hana sou sonna koto bakari omou yo

muchuu de (hayaku) kake nukete kita
urusai kurai ni harisake sou na kodou no takanari
hibite (yonde) iru kimi no koe
koko de tachidomaru you na jikan wa nai sa
READY STEADY GO

READY STEADY CAN'T HOLD ME BACK
READY STEADY GIVE ME GOOD LUCK
READY STEADY NEVER LOOK BACK
LET'S GET STARTED READY STEADY GO

kokoro wa (hashiru) ano sora no shita
karamawari suru kimochi ga sakebi dasu no o tomerarenai
kimi made (todoke) kitto ato sukoshi
atsuku hizashi ga terasu kono michi no mukou
READY STEADY GO
PLEASE. TRUST ME.

--L'arc~en~Ciel


The current soundtrack of my life. Can't get this song out of my head. Sumpah lagunya enak banget!!! Been playing this song over and over and over again ^____^

Big

Have you ever seen Professional Ladies Volleyball team?
Today I had the chance to walk past the Varsity Ladies Volleyball team while they were training in the gym.
Well, one word to describe their bodies is BIG.
I mean, wow. I never knew Ladies could grow to be that BIG. What I mean by 'big' is not the 'Fat' kind of Big. But as in literally 'Tall' and 'Big'.

Honestly, I was intimidated walking past them, who at that time were training on their serves. Their heights were probably 1.5x of mine and they were VERY powerful. They looked like they had the ability to swat me easily, as easy as swatting those balls.

"Hey... look at that tiny girl there!"
"Do you think we can throw her across the court?"
"Yeah sure. Let's give it a try!"
..and there goes me flying across the court. xp

"Errr...", "Ooops...", "Eugh..."

Lemes. Paper internship report gw tadi gw bawa ke writing center buat diperiksa. Dan... duh.. it turned out rather ugly. Well, the tutor who checked it bener2 know what he's doing sih. Which is good. And he's really detail-oriented. Which is good. Aaaaand.. also which make my paper looked really bad. And he kept making runny responses on what he read.

So every few seconds he would go like...
"Eugh....", "Errrr....", "Uhmmmmm..", "Ewww...", "Ooops", "uh-oh", "pwwt..." and other funny noises, like those noises made when your character in the videogame got killed.
Yeah, he kept doing that, as if he was watching this really bad film with this picture of The Rock dancing in tutu and pointe shoes being repeated over and over and over again.

Huaaaaaaa..... kenapa suddenly gw nggak bisa nulis inggris. Huaaaaaaa....
Sigh. Baru ninggalin US 3 bulan aja dampak nya dah begini besar.

Now I gotta fix lots of things.

I thought I was fine...
I thought I'm over him. I thought now he's just a history. A sweet memory that I can look back and smile at when I'm daydreaming. But I guess I was wrong.

I've been overly social in the past week. Not sure if I am now suddenly becoming a really social person (which is good), or I'm just trying to find a diversion for my mind. I met so many new people, and I'm enjoying it. Been more talkative than I've ever been. Trying out many new things. Doing this and that. Planning to sign up for this and that. And It was all working. No more thoughts of him.

But suddenly today, not sure how the devil is this possible, I'm thinking of him again. And it hurts really bad this time. I thought my feelings for him was just a momentarily thing, a short chemistry, a 'puppy love' you may say, an illusion even, ...but why does it feel like I just fell so hard?

Damn it. why do I start thinking of him again? Why do I feel like crying?

Please let this be my hormone acting up, not my heart.

07:30-13:30
Woke up early this morning. Got ready. Dan ternyata.. wuaaah.. Jeans gw yang udah gak muat setaon sekarang muat lagi!!! Without the breath-sucking, the jumping around, and without any bloodshed!! Yaaay!! Set up for campus. Made copies of resume for today's Job Fair. Went to talk to a teacher, and had a blast in my morning class. The weather was great. Applied to some jobs. Met some new people, including new Indonesian friends. Abis itu jam 1 an karena dah kelaperan, makan Pizza ditemenin Lia. That was my first junk food after so loong. Tapi selama makan siang itu gw ada this little feeling as if I'm missing something, or not doing something right. But I brushed it off. Gw pikir.. ah apaan sih. And I just thought what a beautiful day today..:).

13:30-14:00
Well, the day turned out not so beautiful after all. So gw sampe kamar sekitar jam 2 kurang an. Dan as usual, gw langsung online. Cek email. After browsing here and there a while, gw jadi ngantuk karena malem sebelonnya gw tidurnya agak2 telat. Ngeberesin paper. So.. I decided to take a nap. That I-think-I'm-missing-something feeling muncul lagi. Soal nya gw mikir kok gw santai banget ya hari ini?? Aniway sebelon gw tidur gw ngecek e-mail sekolah dulu. And I got one email from my instructor yang subjectnya soal kelas dimana kita harus ketemu buat meeting kita berikutnya. Pas gw buka subjectnya. Dia bilang kita harus ketemu di kelas itu hari ini dan Kamis.

14:00
Waaaiiiiitttt... kelas itu tuh mulai nya jam 1. Hari ini?? Mana mungkin, kelas itu kan hari Se.....lasa. Shoooooot!!!!!!!! Hari ini kan hari Selasa!!! Dodoooollllllllllllllllllllll Gw lupa hari ini ada kelas!!!!!!!!!! Duh.. kelasnya kan beres nya jam 14:50 sih. So I got like 40 minutes left!!! Duh gimana????

The thing about classes here is that sometimes if you don't attend the first two meetings, your name can be dropped out of the class by the teacher. Today was the second meeting, and I attended the first one. But still, the teacher might still drop you. And hell no! I can't afford to drop this class.

Jadilah gw muter otak mikir gw harus ngapain. Apa gw mending tetep dateng ke kelas yah? Bilang kalo gw ada traffic tadi di jalan. Tapi masak traffic sampe 1 jam sih? Oooh.. gw bilang gw ada kecelakaan aja. But.. no.. gw kan live on-campus. Mo kecelakaan apa? Ketabrak Kuda?? (FYI kampus gw punya farm jadi banyak kuda dan sapi dan domba di sini. Well, mereka dikandangin smua sih). Ntar malah gw kualat lagi bilang gitu, beneran ketabrak Kuda nanti.

Sigh. Akhirnya gw decided buat bolos. Langsung nulis email ke gurunya saat itu juga. Ngaku2 kalo gw flu sambil minta2 maap. And I decided to take a nap instead. Heheh..*nyengir*.

Dodol.

Having a class from 8-10pm after taking a Kickboxing Combat class is a baaad idea. Duh rasanya mo tidur aja tadi dikelas. Why did I take this late-nite class in the first place? Oh yeaaah, because people said the teacher is good. Teler. And I still have a paper to finish. Sigh. And my job search still returns me no result. Pleaaaseee someone give me a job.......

Hehehe.. kalo dipikir2 why am I complaining bout these trivial stuffs so much? There are other people in this world who's worrying bout not being able to eat tomorrow.
I should stop complaining.

Oh but btw, Kickboxing Kombat class was so much fun! I HAVE to buy a sandsack once I have my own home. Man, punching that thing felt so good. *Hulk mode on*.

Love, love, love
Being amidst the current state of the world, between the war, the bombings, the anger, the politics, the terrorists, have you ever wonder "What can I do to make the world a better place?".

In today's mass, the priest was answering that same exact question. He said that the only way to stop terrorism and the war and those other cruel inhumane things are by spreading Love. Why is the War in Iraq still going on? Because people there have forgotten about Love and forgiveness. So if we start with ourselves by loving, caring, and forgiving others, and set examples for others, hopefully others will follow, and the community will soon be filled with lots and lots of Love. No more hatred.

I know that it's such a naive idea. In today's world, who can expect everyone to be so nice,.. to be all so caring and forgiving. "That's all bulls**t" you may say. But there's no harm trying, right? It doesn't take a lot of effort to be a little more caring and forgiving towards others. You never know what Love may bring you ^____^ [and Yes, I am and optimist!]

So, start spreading the Love virus Y'all!!!!!!


In-the-middle-of-the-Storm Reporters
I always have deep respects for all in-field reporters. Especially those covering for crisis situations, such as the war. And this is the latest one, ... covering for the Jeanne Storm in Florida. Maaaan, those who sent them on this mission are just crazy. I mean, when everybody is flying away from their homes to another place, even another states, the news channels are actually bringing reporters IN to the area. Yep so now every few hours on the screen we get to see those reporters reporting the latest state of 'Jeanne' in their drenched i-dont-think-they-are-of-use raincoats, trying so hard to open their eyes against the hard rain. For me, they are supermen and superwomen just being able to utter a few words in between the gallons of water entering their mouths everytime they open them. Some of these reporters are lucky enough to find signpost that are still intact to the ground to hold on so that they are not blown away by the wind. But some others couldn't find anything to hold their lives on to. So in the middle of the live feed you can see them suddenly flown away out of the camera for being blown by a sudden gusty wind, just like Dorothy flying home to Kansas. And no I'm not lying. The storm /is/ THAT strong. And these news channel still put people in location to give live feeds. I mean, with all the technology nowadays, is it not possible to put a stationary camera there, and use blue screen to include the reporter in the shot??? *Geleng geleng*. For goodness sake, these reporters' and cameramen' lives are at stake!! And honestly it would not be glorious to die while covering the 'Jeanne' storm. *Sigh* Yep, and I believe they get paid much lower than those anchors sitting comfortably in the studios with their nice designer suits and make up. Life is unfair.

.....Of course if being there is the journalists' and cameramen' own inisiatives, I have nothing to say about that. My hats off to them

Beautiful

Yesterday was Beautiful
The day before yesterday was Beautiful
The past several months was Beautiful
The past three years was Beautiful

Yet Beautiful is not flawless
In between Beautiful there's silence
In between Beautiful there's supressed feelings
In between Beautiful there's pain

Beautiful was maintained
Beautiful was preserved
Because Feelings was ruling
Yet Logic also wanted to rule

One day Beautiful dissapear
Feelings moved back, Logic ruled
Hearts were broken, Minds were shaken
Bearings were gone, Decisions were as clear as a swamp

Who knows what's right? Who knows what's wrong?
Decisions were made. No turning back.
Will Beautiful return?

Glad or regret?
No turning back, decisions were made.
Will Beautiful return?

..to my dear friend Lia, and those others who are on the same crossroad

Meta's Book Club
Ok, here goes another book review from me.
On books that I read in the past month....

Angels and Demons: Brilliant! I love it! Dan Brown is amazing. Well, I must admit that Da Vinci code is still more intense compared to this one. But the plot and the twist in this one is as interesting. The ending is a little slow and streched. But yeah, this is another good book from Dan Brown. One of my friends said that Deception Point is the best out of all Dan Brown's book. So.. gonna go look for that next.

Mereka Bilang Saya, Monyet!:Yeesss akhirnya saya baca ini juga. Hehe.. lama banget yah. This is also one good book. Gilee.. keren banget. Djenar Maesa Ayu is one brilliant writer! The way she used perumpamaan2, trus analogi2. My favorite is the one titled "SMS". It's about several people that have affairs with one another and thus all of them are related in one way or another without realising it. And Djenar lets the sms s that they sent to convey the story. Brilliant! Though to tell you the truth I don't really like the tone in the book. It's very depressing. But overall it's one good book.

Currently reading Fira Basuki's "Panggil Saya Ms. B". Gak maju2 nih bacanya. Trus masih ada buku Jangan Main-main (dengan Kelaminmu) nya Djenar, and Hari Kunzru's The Impressionist. Man, when will I have all the time to read these books?


First day back to college
This is why I love going to college here. The first-day-vibe is just so strong. Just 1 minute you're being among the students and all other campus goers (plus a great weather) you are just ready to rrooolll!!!

Yeah, I'm back, baby!!


Would you call it,.... discrimination?
I didn't hang out much with other Indonesians at my campus in the past year. One reason is because I was very occupied last year. Other reason is, sometimes I don't feel comfortable being among other Indonesians. I have no idea why,... but I guess it's because we, who come from the same country, already have a certain perceptions and pictures of how one another would behave. And I sort of assume that Indonesians like to judge other a lot. (Not that other nations don't do that, but at least I /know/ better how the people of my country is. I /know/ that I do judge others, too). Yes, and because of that I become self-concious being among other Indonesians, and thus made me suddenly shy and quiet. Oh well, I'm not exactly talkative around people of other ethnicities either. What I meant was.. I just don't know how to start a conversation or to simply introduce myself to other Indonesians. Goooddd what the hell is wrong with me?? I hate being like this. Today, I had two encounters with Indonesians. But tho I wanted to just walked up to them and say Hi, I didn't! The first one was because they both left before I finally summed up the courage to walk up to them. The second one, when I finally had the courage to walk up to them, they looked at me with weird look, and they both looked so snotty. So i decided to walked past them, instead. *Sigh*...Aarrrggghhh.

Unlike with those Indos, I don't have any trouble at all making friends with other ethnicities. Infact, all my friends that I still say-'hi'-to these days are all Bules. I just feel more comfortable and more at ease with them. Talking with them, I don't have to be worried of what they would think of me. Cause I know, unless I'm very extreme, they just don't care. And another thing is, if they know you. They don't expect you to hang out with them. Being friends with Bules is like this...

"Hi Jess..." *hugs* "Heeeyy.. Brent" *hugs* "So How's your summer?".. and yadda yadda yaddda.
"Ok, gotta go to class. See you later" *hugs*.

And we just move on without thinking that we /need/ to make the effort to contact each other again. When we meet, then we talk. When we don't meet, then we don't talk. That's simple.

But what I feel with Indonesians is that there is some sort of pressures to hang out with them and do things with them. They would want you to come to this basketball practice, then to this church event, then to go clubbing with them and so on.. and so on. I understand that as people of the same country, we should bond together. But I want it to come more naturally. Not forced. Just like normal friendship. If I like you and we connect together, then of course naturally we'll go out together more often, right.

Yeah, so by feeling more comfortable in making friends with people of not my country, am I discriminating my own people?

I just want to make more Indonesians Friends. I really really want to... *sigh*. What the hell is wrong with me?

Capek

bangun jam stengah7 siap2 ngangkut2 koper ke mobil ke storage ngangkutin barang dari storage sampe calpoly lagi cari parkir ngantri checkin didorm ngecek kamar ngambil konci bolak2 naik turun tangga bawa barang berat2 for a good 7 times atleast (untung dibantuin Lia)beresberes kamar lagi sampe sore sekarang jam 10 gw dah siap naik ranjang.

Sighbesokkuliahmulai.

zzzzz...

Things that you never thought could happen

The beheadings that continue in Iraq. And this time they used small kitchen knife instead of those large huge 'algojo' knife. Mu uncle watched the short clip, and he said it was truly gross and horrific. He watched it several days ago but the image is still clearly imprinted in his head..(and he watched it with no voice. Can't imagine how the impression will be if he watched it with the voice on).. he can't forget it. It's exactly like beheading a chicken. His friend watched it too and he threw up right away. Oh Lord, forgive those barbaric humans, please. I don't know what happen to the world we're living in but I truly hope that these series of stupid inhumane ridiculous intollerable series of events will stop someday.


Now.. to lighten things up.. For those of you Gilmore Girls' fans..
Rory MADE LOVE to Dean!!! And Yes, he's still married!!!! And Lorelay KISSED Luke!!!!!! I never thought these things could happen.

The Glory of Reality TV Shows........................is Over.

The last addition to these bunch of similar reality shows is called...
"wifeswap".

Guess what's it's about? Yep, it's about two families swapping their wives for ten days to experience how other families run their lives. Unbelievable! So now wives, or mothers are something that you can trade-off? I can't believe the husbands who let this happen. Is it that one day these husbands think..."Oh, I'm so bored with my wife...It would be great if I can just swap my wife for a few days..."?
Or is it the wives that are actually fed up with her life, her husband and kids?

Ah.. I don't know. I'm complaining for nothing. It's their lives, right. What do I care. I'm just one of those people that thinks that a family is very sacred. You don't fool around or play around when it comes to things that has anything to do with the bond within a family. So for me such reality show is outrageous.

And another latest reality tv spin is taking place on the much-loved "The Bachelor". I guess the producers has finally seen that the audience is bored of the same thing, same concept.. so they decided to put a twist on it by.....

... having TWO bachelors at once!!!

Hurray... now all the girls have two guys to hug and kiss and fondle! How wonderful life is!

I honestly don't know what to say on that one. It's just.... well,.. It's... I don't know....Whatever.

Ok Mr. Producers, Here's the thing. If you found it really hard to find another thing that you can make into reality TV show, that you start using crazy ideas such as swapping wives and having two (or maybe 5) bachelors for all the 30 girls to share, then stop making reality TV shows! For goodness sake, there are so many other things that audience will be eager to watch. Just use that thing on your head called your brain. I'm sure it'll give you some brand new, not-lame, ideas.

Please,... I think the reality TV shows era is over.

Signs and another crushed feelings

The book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho [one amazingly good book], tells us to heed the omens around us. In other words, simply read all the signs around us, and you shall be guided towards your destiny,...towards the right path.

It certainly funny how life unfolds. Some of you might already know, I fell for this guy with whom it's not possible to have relationship with. Why? 1st he's got a girlfriend, 2nd. distance. I went from simply liking, to being possessive (wishing he was mine instead of hers), to accepting the fact and being happy to let him go. Despite my feelings, I never wanted him to break up from his girlfriend because they look perfect together, they care for each other and they are happy with each other. So getting him to break up with his girlfriend is the last thing on my mind, yet I want to confess to him my feelings. I have no idea why I could have such thought. This is honestly the first time I'm so eager to tell someone that I like him. And I don't expect him to do anything (if I ever tell him how I feel) about it. I just simply want to tell him. It would be great if [after all those signs, i-hope-it-wasn't-only-me chemistry, and not-so-normal body languages] he felt the same way. But I don't want him to do anything about it. I just simply want him to listen, to know that I've been thinking bout him all these times, and that I like him. Somehow I had the feelings that if I do so, I can get over him and move on. Yet I was not sure if it's worth telling. So, I waited for some signs....

Yes, I actually prayed, asking God to help me decide what to do...and so He sent the signs...

...through sms and friendster. [Yes... talking about modern!].

And...
It seems confessing my feelings to him would just be a waste *sigh*. Hehehe... so this is it. The end of my short quick summer love story. Will there be a sequel to this? Let's wait and see. I still have hopes reserved for the future. As always, I will simply say.....

Who knows what the future holds? (",)

One of the greatest inventions of the century.....

... is Starbucks Mocha Lite Frappucino! (Also come in Coffee, and Caramel)

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. This version of the original Frappucino contains only 180 calories.

Hahahaha.. now we calories-conscious individuals can enjoy the same wonderful taste of the best ice-blended drink there is on earth, GUILT-FREE!

Finally! What took these guys so long?

*grinz*

anotha change
heheh.. ganti lagi...:D. Beginilah kerjaan orang insomnia.

..and here I am again
After so many hours crossing over many borders, countries, high seas, and time zones, I'm finally back here. Back to my normal life, the same ol' routines, the same ol' place. After one amazing and interesting holiday, i'm definitely /not/ too excited bout continuing with my regular life. One reason is because there is soo much changes that I need to make to my daily activities. E.g... need to be more active here and there, need to be lebih gila2an nyari kerja, dll. All for my future life, education, and carreer. Aah.. the efforts you have to give to ensure a good future.

One thing that I'm happy about coming back here again is....the driving. God.. how I miss driving on those large wide empty roads. No angkots, no becaks, no motor, and no crazy drivers who feel driving is not complete without honking every few minutes. Yeah... I always miss those crazy street users after months not seeing them, but give me 5 days being among them, and I'm sick of them already.
Aniway, when I got up this morning and was ready to cruise along in my car....my car's battery was dead. Yep, my luck. Fortunately, we have those jump start cables here.
So finally around 10:30am I got my car out, windows down, cruising down the street.... me and my car.

Things here have changed so much. There are so many new buildings. People here build their buildings as if they're building them using Legos. One minute you see an empty ground, the next minute... Boom!... there's already a mall on it. Yep...on average, it takes only 3-5 months probably to build a housing area here. [And we take years in Bandung to build this 1 kilo strectch of jalan layang. How pathetic].

...*siiiiiiighhhhhhh*....... Gw masih di holiday mood neeeeh... Gimanaaaaaaaa???? Gw masih belon bikin 1 paper. Gw musti ngurusin housing, ketemu guru gw, musti ke LA, musti ini dan itu dan ini dan itu.. AAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
And my body cycle is still not normal. Last night I only slept for 1 hour. And now it's already 10 pm but I dont' feel deadly tired yet (Usually on my normal jet lag period, I'm dead down on my bed by 6pm). But gotta sleep aniway.

So nighty night everyone. Sweet dreams tonight. (",)

St. Teresa and me
I was christened for my confirmation with St. Teresa's name. It was given by a priest to me.
So, my full name including my baptism an confirmation names is Maria Teresa Meta Vashti Setiawan. I never knew who exactly was St. Teresa is. But today I got a snippet on why she decided to convert to serve the Lord from Dan Brown's Angels and Demons that I'm currently reading.

So the story is, she decided to serve the Lord after one night she was visited by an angel while she was sleeping. And in her own words she described her encounter with the angel as below...

"…his great golden spear…filled with fire… plunged into me several times…penetrated to my entrails…a sweetness so extreme that one could not possibly wish it to stop."
- St. Teresa

Erhm.. yeah.. more like a description of somebody having a great sex, eh?

Then... around the 15th century, a master artist named Bernini created a sculpture called "The Ecstasy of St. Theresa". Depicted in the sculpture is the angel standing up holding a spear and St. Teresa laying on her back with expression as if she was having a toe-curling orgasm....[you can check the picture here].

Heheh... wondering why that priest confirmed me with her name? xp

.just some interesting facts.


pondering...
Your feeling is the most honest expression of yourself. Yet often times it has to be ignored and extinguished by logic and situation. One overly common example is when you fall for someone you can't be with...... I wonder if one day in such situation, feelings will triumph over logic and situation and manage to change the situation so that feelings can be preserved and let to grow freely without any restriction?

*Damn.... can't get him out of my mind*

Grandma saga
...third day of a series of kerja bakti and ngurusin oma. Well, second day actually. Starting on Saturday my mom, my cousin's mom, helped by the children, are on a mission of cleaning my grandma's house. I only joined the 'kerja bakti' on Sunday. But maaaaaaaaaan... That house is terrible. Udah cocok dijadiin setting buat film horror aja.

So I was hungry by the time I got there. I went straight ke ruang makan nyari kueh. Begitu nengok ke rak makanannya................. ada mickey mouse yang lagi lewat. Ilang deh nafsu makan. -_-

Yeah.. the house is a total mess. Banyak bareng barang yang nggak guna2 dimana2. Belon lagi barang2 itu penuh tai2 tikus yang udah kering. Mayat kecoa2. Dan serangga (lipan kali yeh) yang berdiam di situ. Ckckckcckckck.. By the end of the day rasanya kita dah ngebuangin berton2 sampah dan ngebersihin semua debu2 nya. Tapi rasanya tu rumah masih tetep aja berdebu dan masih banyak banget sampahnya. *Sigh*

And today, my dear grandma manjanya makin menjadi2. So... I'm totally exhausted physically and mentally. Tapi gw tulus kok ngerjain smuanya ^_^. Yah harus tetep sabar lah ngadepin Beliau, kasian udah tua. Memang orang tua begitu kali yah. Kalo nggak anak cucunya sendiri, siapa lagi yang sayang sama Beliau.


Friends
[lanjut dri atas]. Yaaah... but fortunately, I had some time to meet some friends this afternoon!!!!! SEnaaaang!!! So I met Vie, Arief, Nur, and David at CiWalk. Kita cuman ngobrol2 ngalor ngidul nggak jelas sih. Tapi yah it was really2 nice. We gossiped, talked about people around us.. took sum pictures. :D. Damn. gonna miss them when I leave.

a guy and a piano.

who could resist?

I can't believe how I have fallen for you.
And I was not looking, was content to remain.

--Fallen, Lauren Wood

"Horeee.... ada bom!"

Do you realize that we've been having at least one bombing incident every year for a few years now? It's like this annual thing that people might soon grown rather accustomed to. I wonder if we maintain the regularity of the bombing to once or twice a year, if in the future people would see these bombings as entertaiment, and would joyfully scream "Horee.. ada bom!", everytime another embassy is being blown off.

My mom checked wih her bank the rate of US Dollar against Rupiah. The account manager said that it went up for a while but it went down again soon after. 'guess even the currency has grown accustomed to be fluctuated now and then everytime an incident occurs.

Just like other people, my question is simply "WHY??"
"What exactly is the purpose of all of these stupid incidents?" I mean, none of the foreginers are killed this time. So... is this just like a sensation thing? Or just another political mind games to make somebody looks good or bad? When is it going to stop? Is it going to be when these sick guys finally decided to stop making explotives and move on to make soft toys and barbie dolls instead? WHY?

"So Faith is random?"
"Hardly. Faith is universal. Our specific methods for understanding it are arbitrary. Some of us pray to Jesus, some of us go to Mecca, some of us study subatomic particles. In the end we are all just searching for truth, that which is greater than ourselves.
--Dan Brown, "Angels and Demons"

If only all people think that way.

New Layout!

Finnaly got time to nguprak nguprik template yesterday. Hehehehe..New Look everyone!! Mind you, it's still very much a Work-In-Progress. Hehehehe...Keliatan banget kerjaan amatiran.. :). Still need to touch up on the picture on that left hand corner above. Need to change that pink background for the heading above [by the time you read this it should already be changed to murky yellowish creme]. Very simple layout... tapi lebih 'bersih' keliatannya.. Atau jadi makin riweuh gara2 ada tablenya??? Akh aniway,... still working on that.

Meta's Book Club

Here goes another review from me. Well, this time it's not exactly review. Just want to share what I just read.

Finished reading Bertanya Atau Mati! (BaM!) a few days ago. This is a new book by a fellow blogger and a friend of mine Isman H. Suryaman. The book questions the simple things around us in a very witty way. It's very funny. A good laugh is guaranteed! A personal note from me, just be cautious to read it among people that you can share the jokes with. Because you will be laughing by yourself like crazy and people will want you to share what you're reading. So.. unless you're ready to share the copulating behaviour of a whale to respectable adults in a salon.... careful in picking the place where you read it. *grinz*. Aniway... This is a must-read. Go get this book! For those of you in the States and would like to get a hold of one. I can help you getting the book... on 1 condition. That is if I still have space in my lugage. ^__^

I finally read Jomblo, too!!!! Hehehehehe... This book by Adhitya Mulya is now already in it's 8th editions. Another must-read!! Satisfaction guaranteed! And yeah.. be prepared to be starred by people when you're laughing your head-off by yourself in the middle of a crowd...hehehhehe. Same thing with BaM. Those in the States and would like to get a hold of one, contact me, I'll see what I can do ^____^.

Mom's coming home!!

Senaaaang...My mom's coming home tonight! Haven't seen her for a loooong time.
She's been away for several days now. Leaving my home (including two grandparents who quarell all the time, one young boy who very much needs guidance, a crazy driver and a bunch of other logistic issues, oh and also a father that sometimes can act like a baby boy) to myself.
That's why I've been away from any significant blogging activities lately.

Aniway, a million hats off to my mom and any other mothers in the world who are working full-time but still need to manage and take care of her family. I don't know how mothers do this. I believe that I could burn almost a few hundred calories only trying to get everybody to the lunch/dinner table. It always feel more like getting everybody to be contestants on Fear Factor than getting people to have dinner together. Oh.. and...the actuall eating together process is worse!! It's more like an intense political discussion than a nice harmonious family dinner/lunch.

Oma: "Dit.. makan ni sayur. Pap, iki lho ayam..."
[trying to forcefully make my grandpa eat it. When she failed...]
Oma: "Ta... niiih.."
Me:"Nggak Oma makasih."
Oma: "Dit.. nih"
Me:"Oma, adit nggak mau tuh"
Oma:"Pap.."
Me:"Oma, Opa nggak mau, .. udah oma makan aja. Kita nggak mau. Oma nikmatin lah.. Enjoy.. enjoy. "
.
.
.
[Selang beberapa detik]
Oma:"Dit.. ayam"
...
[and it goes on and on...and on..and on]

I've been doing these only for several days, and this almost driving me mad. Especially in keeping my heads cool in dealing with my grandparents. Believe it or not, the only time the stop quarelling is while watching this 'jadul' horror movies. Instead of quarelling, they are busy discussing who killed who, how did they get killed and by what, and who will be the next victim. Honestly, they look so perfect and harmonious (is ther such word?) together at that time.

Oh how I love them so much (and no.. this is not sarcasm. I really /DO/ love them. If they're not acting like that, they're simply not my grandparents). ^__^

But... how I'm glad my mom's is coming home today. At least we can share the burden. Yaaay...
But definitely, mothers are amazing!! I doubt if I can be a supermom like my mom someday. We'll see....

Sum stupid guy stating one of the things that he hates of his girlfriend, after he broke up with her, is because his girlfriend won't cook for him everyday (so that he can enjoy home-prepared food everytime he came back from work). Even after his girlfriend has been the one who always do the rest of the house chores (e.g. doing both of their laundry). [Wake up, dude! This is not Ibu Kartini's era anymore!]