One prominent Geminian girls' trait is: we get bored very easily.
Those who're close enough to me know that I can be 'dangerous' when I get bored (which happens far too often). I will disturb people, talk/write/blog nonsense, suggests to do some crazy things, and DO some crazy things or at least THINK about improbable things, like, start learning to sing. Don't worry, it has never happened.
I spent almost my entire weekend churning over my PDE assignments, where I need to prove and prove and prove nasty and long equations.
If you can't imagine it, I'll try to describe:
let your brain be a wet laundry which is compressed and squeezed and squeezed until no liquid can be juiced out of it.
Now, I have to write the report. Fuh, not a good timing. I am a bit sick and bored to death with those equations.
Before anything 'dangerous' happens, I e-mailed my friend yesterday asking what should I do. She was, apparently, doing her own 'equally-laborious homework' in System Optimization.
This may sound silly, but what she wrote in the e-mail kinda lifts my mood up:
-- start quote --
If it's any comfort to you - I'm bored too (the homework is boring) ;)
-- end quote --
Friday, April 27, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Uuugghh..
Ugh, it seems that I have no other activities than attending classes, torture my brains with PDEs, writing reports for my assignments and do homeworks. I feel lucky (inappropriately) that I still can't access the (bigger) database for my research. At least that's a valid reason to stop working (for a while).
I slept later than my roommate everyday and have left the room even before she wakes up. Blaaahhh...
At this time, I almost scream when looking at LaTeX or MATLAB page. I am craving for shopping. It's dangerous though, as when I go shopping after craving for it, I'll do the REAL shopping. In other words, I tend to spend more than usual as I think "Oh Gosh at least I deserve a good break and little rewards of my hardwork." See how dangerous is that?
What I crave are:
- cheesecakes with fresh strawberries
- running around barefooted at the beach
- shopping
- a good, long, deep slumber
- admission for PhD here next year (please do pray for meeeeeeeeee.....)
Current accompanying CD: Agnus Dei II, which self-proclaim as the music to soothe the soul...
I slept later than my roommate everyday and have left the room even before she wakes up. Blaaahhh...
At this time, I almost scream when looking at LaTeX or MATLAB page. I am craving for shopping. It's dangerous though, as when I go shopping after craving for it, I'll do the REAL shopping. In other words, I tend to spend more than usual as I think "Oh Gosh at least I deserve a good break and little rewards of my hardwork." See how dangerous is that?
What I crave are:
- cheesecakes with fresh strawberries
- running around barefooted at the beach
- shopping
- a good, long, deep slumber
- admission for PhD here next year (please do pray for meeeeeeeeee.....)
Current accompanying CD: Agnus Dei II, which self-proclaim as the music to soothe the soul...
Monday, April 23, 2007
purge out
My code still doesn't work =(
I have checked and rechecked for hours, until I have memorized everything (well, almost). I am pretty sure they are correct -- so my hunch is that the formula given is wrong (yea, finding a culprit). As yesterday, after spending hours in proving something, I found that a kappa is missing in the equation given-- so there went my hours. I am hoping the same thing happens now =P.
Anyway, I still have other homeworks and reports -- I know I can't just focus on one assignment especially when you've read it for SO MANY TIMES -- but it is still buggy huhuhu :'(.
This assignment needs lengthy proofs. So practically my Sunday was gone yesterday. The black board that I used to derive them is still not cleaned, yea I forgot to do so =P. Everytime I passed it by, the min max max min lambda vh uh psi blablabla rather haunt me.
Geez, I hate it when my code doesn't work and my friends haven't started. I feel like checking the code with someone, right here, right now.
I feel my head is "crowded" now. That's why I blog, though I may write nonsense here, simply to purge out the "crowd".
Wish my luck, guys... Life is never easy indeed.
I have checked and rechecked for hours, until I have memorized everything (well, almost). I am pretty sure they are correct -- so my hunch is that the formula given is wrong (yea, finding a culprit). As yesterday, after spending hours in proving something, I found that a kappa is missing in the equation given-- so there went my hours. I am hoping the same thing happens now =P.
Anyway, I still have other homeworks and reports -- I know I can't just focus on one assignment especially when you've read it for SO MANY TIMES -- but it is still buggy huhuhu :'(.
This assignment needs lengthy proofs. So practically my Sunday was gone yesterday. The black board that I used to derive them is still not cleaned, yea I forgot to do so =P. Everytime I passed it by, the min max max min lambda vh uh psi blablabla rather haunt me.
Geez, I hate it when my code doesn't work and my friends haven't started. I feel like checking the code with someone, right here, right now.
I feel my head is "crowded" now. That's why I blog, though I may write nonsense here, simply to purge out the "crowd".
Wish my luck, guys... Life is never easy indeed.
my life -- this time
Everytime I wake up, I think: Oh, tonight I should sleep more.
Every Monday, I think: Next week I should rest more and have more fun.
But it never happened =( I believe my blood is blackened from caffeine now.
On a happier note: sun comes out, flowers start blooming and I can wear my short.
But today it's too much!! 81F/27C!!! I don't really enjoy it though, I've had enough share of it in Jakarta/Singapore...
*ngantuuuuuuukkk*
Every Monday, I think: Next week I should rest more and have more fun.
But it never happened =( I believe my blood is blackened from caffeine now.
On a happier note: sun comes out, flowers start blooming and I can wear my short.
But today it's too much!! 81F/27C!!! I don't really enjoy it though, I've had enough share of it in Jakarta/Singapore...
*ngantuuuuuuukkk*
Thursday, April 19, 2007
live once
From an MIT t-shirt:
People say you live only once, but if you live like us, once is enough.
S.O. T.I.R.E.D.
But I say: Life is tough but we are tougher.
Oh Gosh...
People say you live only once, but if you live like us, once is enough.
S.O. T.I.R.E.D.
But I say: Life is tough but we are tougher.
Oh Gosh...
Monday, April 16, 2007
hiburan belajar
Sebenernya ga ada yang penting sih. Lagi belajar di Hayden library, abis lunch break (emang rada telat lunchnya). Hari ini Patriot's Day holiday jadi gak ada kelas. Kayaknya cuma di MA state yang libur, entah buat apa. Cuma emang katanya di MIT suka diselipin long weekend -- untuk mengurangi suicidal rate, ini beneran lho.
Hmm, cuma...
yak ampun cowok di depan g ganteng banget!!!
Anak kecil, masi undergrad pastinya. Haduh tapi dia kalo jadi aktor pasti laku deh. Rambutnya keriting dan item -- bukan bule. Nampaknya pandai dan serius sekali. Kayaknya majornya Math -- kalo ngintip coret2annya sih. Huhu jarang-jarang lho g bilang cowok yang tidak berkaca mata ganteng. Jadi ini beneran ganteng.
Gebleknya, tadi pas dia dateng g gak nyadar kalo ada Arjuna mendarat di depan gua -- gua masih berkutat dengan PR gua ma... -- pas mau lunch break, baru liat -- alamak ganteng pisan.
Kalo di film2 Indo jaman doeloe, adegannya tiba-tiba berganti jadi gini nih:
pantai, angin sepoi-sepoi, matahari terbenam, 1 cewek (pake rok panjang kembang-kembang) dan 1 cowok (lengan baju disingsingkan) lari-lari senyum sumringah dan di slow motion kan, cowoknya bawa mawar merah. Background sound nya debur ombak plus Kemesraan kali ya.
Yah gitu deh, kebayang kan.
OK, back to work!
Hmm, cuma...
yak ampun cowok di depan g ganteng banget!!!
Anak kecil, masi undergrad pastinya. Haduh tapi dia kalo jadi aktor pasti laku deh. Rambutnya keriting dan item -- bukan bule. Nampaknya pandai dan serius sekali. Kayaknya majornya Math -- kalo ngintip coret2annya sih. Huhu jarang-jarang lho g bilang cowok yang tidak berkaca mata ganteng. Jadi ini beneran ganteng.
Gebleknya, tadi pas dia dateng g gak nyadar kalo ada Arjuna mendarat di depan gua -- gua masih berkutat dengan PR gua ma... -- pas mau lunch break, baru liat -- alamak ganteng pisan.
Kalo di film2 Indo jaman doeloe, adegannya tiba-tiba berganti jadi gini nih:
pantai, angin sepoi-sepoi, matahari terbenam, 1 cewek (pake rok panjang kembang-kembang) dan 1 cowok (lengan baju disingsingkan) lari-lari senyum sumringah dan di slow motion kan, cowoknya bawa mawar merah. Background sound nya debur ombak plus Kemesraan kali ya.
Yah gitu deh, kebayang kan.
OK, back to work!
wet wet wet
Conclusively, today is a day that is -- in my dictionary -- worth-blogged.
What happened today stems from an unwritten agreement among some of us to:
- work crazily hard during week days
- have some time off on Sunday
So, our agenda on Sunday is like:
- attend 9.30 am mass
- socializing after mass until around 11 am
- start walking (yes, by foot!) and find some place to have lunch
- chit chat, battle of the wits, gossip, talk about music and everything under the sun
- go back at around 4~6 pm
- get back to work!! The mad routine starts all over again
It works! In fact, I think we increase our working efficiency significantly. This kind of Sunday is a day worth slaving ourselves away the entire week.
Before I start reciting our today's encounter, let me introduce you the actors and actress for today's drama:
- me: you've known me
- sw: the towering Austrian girl, who makes my research life less uptight -- also in aero/astro
- mv: the Indian girl, studying Computational System for Biology (CSB)
- bs: a malaysian guy, also in CSB, who knows Sheila on 7 and Peterpan much more than I do
- nb: an Indian guy, also in CSB
- ap: a Colombian guy, in Architecture
- rv: a American-Philippino girl from LA (her cousin went to high school with Kirsten Dunst - ga penting si), also in Architecture
To start with, the weather today was soooooooooo horrible. It was even worse than last week! The weather comprises everything to describe a 'bad weather'. Rain, merciless wind, strong wing, crazy wind, mad wind, lunatic wind, and cold. To make things even worse, I forgot to wear my winter boots -- thus waterproof -- how stupid was that. My toes literally froze and the shoes-socks-feet were soaking wet. Far from comfortable.
The first adventurous thing to do was: to WALK all the way to Super88 market -- went to the end of MIT, further, cross the Boston University (BU) bridge, walked along Commonwealth Ave, until the junction with Brighton Ave. In total, it was more than 30 minutes... in SUCH WEATHER!!!
The bottom half of my jeans and my shoes (and everything underneath) were soaking wet when I entered the Food Corner. We planned to get our lunch from Bali Kitchen, i.e., the Indonesian food stall but it was only opened at 12:30 pm. Typically, it was late for almost half an hour. So meanwhile, we looked at other stalls around and get some bubble tea (Thai Iced Tea without boba -- in Singapore 'pearl').
Honestly, I've never dared to ask somebody to try Indonesian food. Well, you know, not all stomach can take spicy (a lot of spices, not only chilli) or thick (coconut milk-y) food. But they were determined -- oh I am so proud of them -- to try it anyway. As an attempt to abate my responsibility of whatever aftermath that may come out, I suggested something 'mild' or at least not too shocking. Like for the Austrian girl -- I almost forcefully restricted her choice to Ayam Kalasan. I suggested Ayam Bumbu Bali only to the Malaysian and Indian guys. The Colombian insisted to take Sayur Asem -- only to sweat afterwards *padahal udah g bilangin lho*. I took Soto Betawi, mv Rendang, and rv didn't buy Indonesian food as she was too hungry to wait.
For appetizer: Pempek Palembang, Siomay Bandung,Satay Sate Ayam.
The one who stole the ABSOLUTE limelight: Pempek Palembang. *hip hip hurraaaayy* *applause*
The runner-up: Sate Ayam. *keplok-keplok*
sw and mv were sooo crazy of pempek's vinegar that they pour the vinegar onto their rice *geleng-geleng kepala*.
Trivia for today: I am the only one who even think that the vinegar is too hot (spicy). sw even ate her ayam kalasan with the chilli *terkadang saya malu ngaku orang Indonesia karena ga bisa makan pedes*.
Stomach full, we start chit-chatting: girls and guys. The girls talked about DURIAN. sw was soooo curious about this king of the fruit. During a dinner with our advisor, our advisor described durian in the meanest way: smells like *....* (omitted as I don't want to hurt any durian lovers), tastes like onion, illegal to carry around in Singapore's public transport. Only me and rv have eaten durian before and love it. bs has, too, but is neutral.
What's next?
We found durian in the supermarket! It was a long and complicated decision-making process until we came to the conclusion that we'd buy it and eat it and everybody has to try <-- imposed by rv.
Walking back was the first drama as the wind was doubly strong as before (though I thought the morning's one was already at the upper bound). Halfway through BU bridge, my umbrella flapped up. I also saw some other people's umbrella having the same problem. To prevent any further damage and permanent deformation, I closed it and relied on my cap instead. Not long after, sw's umbrella badly -- sooo badly --- flapped up. It's so funny looking at a very tall girl wrestling with a small umbrella and she'd never given up. We laughed so hard until we cried. The kind of laughter that can wash away all your worries -- if you know what I meant. The strong wind disable you to close the umbrella -- seriously it was that bad, you really can't close it. To complete the agony, a car passed by and we had a free shower. We laughed again -- now I think about it, I think we were simply lunatic.
Walking back to Tang Hall (sw's dorm -- as she's the only one with the gigantic chopping knife a.k.a golok) we started fantasizing about sunny beach in Santa Monica, Texan desert, etc. rv -- the Valley girl <- remember "Clueless" -- was enticing us with tantalizing description of the beauty (and sunny) side of US: west coast. Arriving in Tang, we were soaking wet, my feet froze and our hairs were so entangled *kayak tikus kejebur got*.
The next highlight of the day (second drama) was (in fact the brightest highlight): cutting open the durian!
We were so inexperienced, some of us haven't even seen a durian before, that it was literally a bloody encounter. We took turn (umm well, some of us were just cheering them up) to try to open the stubborn grenade -- wrestling is the way rv puts it. I kept on saying "that's not the right way, it should split automatically after a right cut" but couldn't tell them how-to. It was a long fun-filled process...
Well, finally we did it! After a long encounter, we had our durian BADLY deformed, all the seeds were chopped (geblek kan) no single piece has the shape it should have. The living room was full of debris from durian's skin, really they were everywhere. And the guys talked about durian in words like cavity -- so engineering -- and compartmentalized -- so archie and urban planning.
Next question from them was: what will happen when a durian falls down from a tree?
The Colombian guy shared that in Colombia, there's a statistic for people died from fallen coconut!!
And you know what? They like durian!! I was sooo surprised. *beaming* They can beat Fear Factor contestants now...
We also talked about few games and decided to have a game-night one day, only among us.
We tried to persuade the Colombian to do a rendition of Shakira: spanish song with some belly dancing but he refused, too bad.
I'm sleepy now so I'll stop here.... Good night! *3am now*
PS: the weather when I walked back from Tang to Green Hall was even worse than the precedences!
What happened today stems from an unwritten agreement among some of us to:
- work crazily hard during week days
- have some time off on Sunday
So, our agenda on Sunday is like:
- attend 9.30 am mass
- socializing after mass until around 11 am
- start walking (yes, by foot!) and find some place to have lunch
- chit chat, battle of the wits, gossip, talk about music and everything under the sun
- go back at around 4~6 pm
- get back to work!! The mad routine starts all over again
It works! In fact, I think we increase our working efficiency significantly. This kind of Sunday is a day worth slaving ourselves away the entire week.
Before I start reciting our today's encounter, let me introduce you the actors and actress for today's drama:
- me: you've known me
- sw: the towering Austrian girl, who makes my research life less uptight -- also in aero/astro
- mv: the Indian girl, studying Computational System for Biology (CSB)
- bs: a malaysian guy, also in CSB, who knows Sheila on 7 and Peterpan much more than I do
- nb: an Indian guy, also in CSB
- ap: a Colombian guy, in Architecture
- rv: a American-Philippino girl from LA (her cousin went to high school with Kirsten Dunst - ga penting si), also in Architecture
To start with, the weather today was soooooooooo horrible. It was even worse than last week! The weather comprises everything to describe a 'bad weather'. Rain, merciless wind, strong wing, crazy wind, mad wind, lunatic wind, and cold. To make things even worse, I forgot to wear my winter boots -- thus waterproof -- how stupid was that. My toes literally froze and the shoes-socks-feet were soaking wet. Far from comfortable.
The first adventurous thing to do was: to WALK all the way to Super88 market -- went to the end of MIT, further, cross the Boston University (BU) bridge, walked along Commonwealth Ave, until the junction with Brighton Ave. In total, it was more than 30 minutes... in SUCH WEATHER!!!
The bottom half of my jeans and my shoes (and everything underneath) were soaking wet when I entered the Food Corner. We planned to get our lunch from Bali Kitchen, i.e., the Indonesian food stall but it was only opened at 12:30 pm. Typically, it was late for almost half an hour. So meanwhile, we looked at other stalls around and get some bubble tea (Thai Iced Tea without boba -- in Singapore 'pearl').
Honestly, I've never dared to ask somebody to try Indonesian food. Well, you know, not all stomach can take spicy (a lot of spices, not only chilli) or thick (coconut milk-y) food. But they were determined -- oh I am so proud of them -- to try it anyway. As an attempt to abate my responsibility of whatever aftermath that may come out, I suggested something 'mild' or at least not too shocking. Like for the Austrian girl -- I almost forcefully restricted her choice to Ayam Kalasan. I suggested Ayam Bumbu Bali only to the Malaysian and Indian guys. The Colombian insisted to take Sayur Asem -- only to sweat afterwards *padahal udah g bilangin lho*. I took Soto Betawi, mv Rendang, and rv didn't buy Indonesian food as she was too hungry to wait.
For appetizer: Pempek Palembang, Siomay Bandung,
The one who stole the ABSOLUTE limelight: Pempek Palembang. *hip hip hurraaaayy* *applause*
The runner-up: Sate Ayam. *keplok-keplok*
sw and mv were sooo crazy of pempek's vinegar that they pour the vinegar onto their rice *geleng-geleng kepala*.
Trivia for today: I am the only one who even think that the vinegar is too hot (spicy). sw even ate her ayam kalasan with the chilli *terkadang saya malu ngaku orang Indonesia karena ga bisa makan pedes*.
Stomach full, we start chit-chatting: girls and guys. The girls talked about DURIAN. sw was soooo curious about this king of the fruit. During a dinner with our advisor, our advisor described durian in the meanest way: smells like *....* (omitted as I don't want to hurt any durian lovers), tastes like onion, illegal to carry around in Singapore's public transport. Only me and rv have eaten durian before and love it. bs has, too, but is neutral.
What's next?
We found durian in the supermarket! It was a long and complicated decision-making process until we came to the conclusion that we'd buy it and eat it and everybody has to try <-- imposed by rv.
Walking back was the first drama as the wind was doubly strong as before (though I thought the morning's one was already at the upper bound). Halfway through BU bridge, my umbrella flapped up. I also saw some other people's umbrella having the same problem. To prevent any further damage and permanent deformation, I closed it and relied on my cap instead. Not long after, sw's umbrella badly -- sooo badly --- flapped up. It's so funny looking at a very tall girl wrestling with a small umbrella and she'd never given up. We laughed so hard until we cried. The kind of laughter that can wash away all your worries -- if you know what I meant. The strong wind disable you to close the umbrella -- seriously it was that bad, you really can't close it. To complete the agony, a car passed by and we had a free shower. We laughed again -- now I think about it, I think we were simply lunatic.
Walking back to Tang Hall (sw's dorm -- as she's the only one with the gigantic chopping knife a.k.a golok) we started fantasizing about sunny beach in Santa Monica, Texan desert, etc. rv -- the Valley girl <- remember "Clueless" -- was enticing us with tantalizing description of the beauty (and sunny) side of US: west coast. Arriving in Tang, we were soaking wet, my feet froze and our hairs were so entangled *kayak tikus kejebur got*.
The next highlight of the day (second drama) was (in fact the brightest highlight): cutting open the durian!
We were so inexperienced, some of us haven't even seen a durian before, that it was literally a bloody encounter. We took turn (umm well, some of us were just cheering them up) to try to open the stubborn grenade -- wrestling is the way rv puts it. I kept on saying "that's not the right way, it should split automatically after a right cut" but couldn't tell them how-to. It was a long fun-filled process...
Well, finally we did it! After a long encounter, we had our durian BADLY deformed, all the seeds were chopped (geblek kan) no single piece has the shape it should have. The living room was full of debris from durian's skin, really they were everywhere. And the guys talked about durian in words like cavity -- so engineering -- and compartmentalized -- so archie and urban planning.
Next question from them was: what will happen when a durian falls down from a tree?
The Colombian guy shared that in Colombia, there's a statistic for people died from fallen coconut!!
And you know what? They like durian!! I was sooo surprised. *beaming* They can beat Fear Factor contestants now...
We also talked about few games and decided to have a game-night one day, only among us.
We tried to persuade the Colombian to do a rendition of Shakira: spanish song with some belly dancing but he refused, too bad.
I'm sleepy now so I'll stop here.... Good night! *3am now*
PS: the weather when I walked back from Tang to Green Hall was even worse than the precedences!
Monday, April 09, 2007
rekan-rekan sebangsa setanah air, bersiaplah untuk pingsan!!
Here at MIT, I join an Acrylic painting class which I enjoy soooo klin bersih cemerlang much. The teacher is an artist -- an American guy who is still quite young, walau diduga dengan kuat dia ada darah Italy-nya.
Nah kelas painting ini adalah saat-saat yang paling ditunggu-tunggu -- setiap Kamis jam 4.30 sampe jam 7 malem. Biasanya kita menggambar sendiri-sendiri (ya iyalah masa keroyokan) terus sekitar jam 6-an akan ada critique session. Nah seru kan? Sekelas ada 5 orang, 2 undergrad, 2 grad students and 1 oom2 (ya ga tua-tua banget sih benernya, cuma metuek -- Jawa Timuran here -- entah dia termasuk kriteria mana).
Pas Kamis kemarin, cuma ada 3 orang. Si oom-oom tersebut tiada ada, bagus deh... soalnya kalo dia ada, sesi kritik mengkritik nya jadi serius banget. Soalnya dia ngomonginnya tuh energi lah, gelombang lah, mood lah, pokoknya yang gitu-gitu deh. Ngomongnya pun menggebu-gebu kayak ahli-ahli di tipi tanpa topi pet. Sementara kita yang muda-muda *ehm* kalo komen paling soal warna dan komen-komen kayak "eh coba dibalik, jadi kayak miki mos" (ini komen g terhadap lukisan g sendiri) terus g juga pernah komen-in gambar si oom2 tersebut: "eh coba dibalik, jadi kayak Mighty Ducks yah" eh dia cemberut lho. Padahal beneran kayak bebek pake helm. Tapi dia ngakunya futuristic something lah. Emang sih kelas kita alirannya abstrak, jadi suka nongol gambar aneh-aneh bin eksperimental. Tapi kan itu serunya yah?
Nah minggu lalu dia sakit kepala, mungkin kena morning sickness soalnya istrinya lagi mil-ha.
Jadi suasananya nyante banget... kita ngomonin soal film, buku dan Bob Ross' happy little painting.
Terus nyasar sampe soal liburan -- karena sang guru lagi pengen jalan-jalan ke Asia, tapi dia gak tau apa-apa tentang Asia! Jadi g semangat 45 sampe mulut berbusa-busa dan cat di palet kering -- promosiin Bali! G selalu promosi Bali ke orang-orang, ada tuh MIT professor yang pas dia bilang mau ke Bali g kasi list-list tempat yang dia kudu datengin (KuDeTa, Dreamland for example).
Nah, temen American girl g, dia pernah tinggal di Singapore selama 3.5 taon (bokapnya expat). Jadi dia pernah ke Bali dan she loves it sooooklin memang untuk anda much. Terus cowok yang satunya, orang Jerman juga tau karena brother nya mau menghabiskan 6 bulan di Bali.
Jadi lah kita bertiga semangat promosiin Bali -- dan g bertanya-tanya dalam hati: ni ngaku-ngaku artis masa ga tau Bali?
Ketika cat g udah beneran mengering di palet (emang akrilik tuh cepet banget mengeringnya! catat!!) sang guru udah bener-bener tertarik dan excited sampe melonjak-lonjak (boong deh) tentang Bali.
G udah smug aja -- bangga bo, Bali gitu lhoooo... Pulau Dewata kita!
Sampe....
Detik berikutnya...
Dia nanya...
*rekan-rekan sebangsa setanah air, bersiaplah untuk pingsan!!"
"Oooohh... Bali, is that the Bollywood thingy?"
GUBRAK!! KROMPYANG!! GEDOMBRANG!! HOMPIMPA ALAIUM GAMBRENG UNYIL KUCING!!!
masaolo.... kok Bollywood yak? Jadi mulut g dah berbusa, cat g udah kering, dia masi ga tau gimana nyepel Bali... yaolo yaolo tobat pak.
dan kita bertiga pun segera mengajari dia cara nyepel BALI. B-A-L-I!! Bukan Bolly!!
g ngakak keras banget saat itu.... ya ampyun ya ampyun...
pesan terakhir: sayangilah lingkungan anda! ini bukan basa-basi tapi masalah penghangatan global sudah menjadi topik paling panas (no pun intended) di sini! Jadi, kurangi penggunaan CO2, dan kurangi frekuensi (maaf) kentut anda. Jokes aside, g bener-bener peduli terhadap masalah lingkungan hidup sekarang. 2 minggu lagi Earth Day!!!
Nah kelas painting ini adalah saat-saat yang paling ditunggu-tunggu -- setiap Kamis jam 4.30 sampe jam 7 malem. Biasanya kita menggambar sendiri-sendiri (ya iyalah masa keroyokan) terus sekitar jam 6-an akan ada critique session. Nah seru kan? Sekelas ada 5 orang, 2 undergrad, 2 grad students and 1 oom2 (ya ga tua-tua banget sih benernya, cuma metuek -- Jawa Timuran here -- entah dia termasuk kriteria mana).
Pas Kamis kemarin, cuma ada 3 orang. Si oom-oom tersebut tiada ada, bagus deh... soalnya kalo dia ada, sesi kritik mengkritik nya jadi serius banget. Soalnya dia ngomonginnya tuh energi lah, gelombang lah, mood lah, pokoknya yang gitu-gitu deh. Ngomongnya pun menggebu-gebu kayak ahli-ahli di tipi tanpa topi pet. Sementara kita yang muda-muda *ehm* kalo komen paling soal warna dan komen-komen kayak "eh coba dibalik, jadi kayak miki mos" (ini komen g terhadap lukisan g sendiri) terus g juga pernah komen-in gambar si oom2 tersebut: "eh coba dibalik, jadi kayak Mighty Ducks yah" eh dia cemberut lho. Padahal beneran kayak bebek pake helm. Tapi dia ngakunya futuristic something lah. Emang sih kelas kita alirannya abstrak, jadi suka nongol gambar aneh-aneh bin eksperimental. Tapi kan itu serunya yah?
Nah minggu lalu dia sakit kepala, mungkin kena morning sickness soalnya istrinya lagi mil-ha.
Jadi suasananya nyante banget... kita ngomonin soal film, buku dan Bob Ross' happy little painting.
Terus nyasar sampe soal liburan -- karena sang guru lagi pengen jalan-jalan ke Asia, tapi dia gak tau apa-apa tentang Asia! Jadi g semangat 45 sampe mulut berbusa-busa dan cat di palet kering -- promosiin Bali! G selalu promosi Bali ke orang-orang, ada tuh MIT professor yang pas dia bilang mau ke Bali g kasi list-list tempat yang dia kudu datengin (KuDeTa, Dreamland for example).
Nah, temen American girl g, dia pernah tinggal di Singapore selama 3.5 taon (bokapnya expat). Jadi dia pernah ke Bali dan she loves it soooo
Jadi lah kita bertiga semangat promosiin Bali -- dan g bertanya-tanya dalam hati: ni ngaku-ngaku artis masa ga tau Bali?
Ketika cat g udah beneran mengering di palet (emang akrilik tuh cepet banget mengeringnya! catat!!) sang guru udah bener-bener tertarik dan excited sampe melonjak-lonjak (boong deh) tentang Bali.
G udah smug aja -- bangga bo, Bali gitu lhoooo... Pulau Dewata kita!
Sampe....
Detik berikutnya...
Dia nanya...
*rekan-rekan sebangsa setanah air, bersiaplah untuk pingsan!!"
"Oooohh... Bali, is that the Bollywood thingy?"
GUBRAK!! KROMPYANG!! GEDOMBRANG!! HOMPIMPA ALAIUM GAMBRENG UNYIL KUCING!!!
masaolo.... kok Bollywood yak? Jadi mulut g dah berbusa, cat g udah kering, dia masi ga tau gimana nyepel Bali... yaolo yaolo tobat pak.
dan kita bertiga pun segera mengajari dia cara nyepel BALI. B-A-L-I!! Bukan Bolly!!
g ngakak keras banget saat itu.... ya ampyun ya ampyun...
pesan terakhir: sayangilah lingkungan anda! ini bukan basa-basi tapi masalah penghangatan global sudah menjadi topik paling panas (no pun intended) di sini! Jadi, kurangi penggunaan CO2, dan kurangi frekuensi (maaf) kentut anda. Jokes aside, g bener-bener peduli terhadap masalah lingkungan hidup sekarang. 2 minggu lagi Earth Day!!!
Easter Songs
Inspired by Mbak Okke's post recently, allow me to share some beautiful songs that I always love to listen to especially in Easter's Holy Week.
I Only Want to Say (Gethsemane)
from Jesus Christ Superstar -- the Musical
(my fave being the one sung by Colm Wilkinson)
I only want to say
If there is a way
Take this cup away from me
For I don't want to taste its poison
Feel it burn me,
I have changed
I'm not as sure as when we started
Then I was inspired
Now I'm sad and tired
Listen surely I've exceeded
Expectations
Tried for three years
Seems like thirty
Could you ask as much
From any other man?
But if I die
See the saga through
And do the things you ask of me
Let them hate me, hit me, hurt me
Nail me to their tree
I'd want to know
I'd want to know my God
I'd want to know
I'd want to know my God
I'd want to see
I'd want to see my God
I'd want to see
I'd want to see my God
Why I should die
Would I be more noticed
Than I ever was before?
Would the things I've said and done
Matter any more?
I'd have to know
I'd have to know my Lord
I'd have to know
I'd have to know my Lord
I'd have to see
I'd have to see my Lord
I'd have to see
I'd have to see my Lord
If I die what will be my reward?
If I die what will be my reward?
I'd have to know
I'd have to know my Lord
I'd have to know
I'd have to know my Lord
Why, why should I die?
Oh, why should I die?
Can you show me now
That I would not be killed in vain?
Show me just a little
Of your omnipresent brain
Show me there's a reason
For your wanting me to die
You're far too keen on where and how
But not so hot on why
Alright I'll die!
Just watch me die!
See how, see how I die!
Oh, just watch me die!
Then I was inspired
Now I'm sad and tired
After all I've tried for three years
Seems like ninety
Why then am I scared
To finish what I started
What you started
I didn't start it
God thy will is hard
But you hold every card
I will drink your cup of poison
Nail me to your cross and break me
Bleed me, beat me
Kill me, take me now
Before I change my mind
Via Dolorosa - by Sandi Patti
I actually sang this song for Good Friday 2002 when I was still in St Francis of Assisi choir.
I did tremble when singing this song, so beautiful =)
Down the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem that day
The soldiers tried to clear the narrow street
But the crowd pressed in to see
The Man condemned to die on Calvary
He was bleeding from a beating,
there were stripes upon His back
And He wore a crown of thorns upon His head
And He bore with every step
The scorn of those who cried out for His death
Down the Via Dolorosa called the way of suffering
Like a lamb came the Messiah, Christ the King,
But He chose to walk that road out of
His love for you and me.
Down the Via Dolorosa, all the way to Calvary.
Por la Via Dolorosa, triste dia en Jerusalem
Los saldados le abrian paso a Jesus
Mas la gente se acercaba
Para ver al que llevaba aquella cruz
Por la Via Dolorosa, que es la via del dolor
Como oveja vino Cristo, Rey, Senor
Y fue El quien quiso ir por su amor por ti y por mi
Por la Via Dolorosa al Calvario y a morir
The blood that would cleanse the souls of all men
Made its way through the heart of Jerusalem.
Down the Via Dolorosa called the way of suffering
Like a lamb came the Messiah, Christ the King
But He chose to walk that road out of His love for you and me
Down the Via Dolorosa, all the way to Calvary.
How Beautiful - by Twila Paris
This song was sung by a duet (one of them was a Singapore Idol finalist) for Eucharistic Congress, Singapore Indoor Stadium 2004. I joined the choir but of course not among the soloists =).
This song is sooo serene.
How beautiful the hands that served
the wine and the bread
and the sons of the earth.
How beautiful the feet that walked
the long dusty roads
and the hills to the cross.
How beautiful, how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.
How beautiful the heart that bled
that took all my sin
and bore it instead.
How beautiful the tender eyes
that chose to forgive
and never despise.
How beautiful, how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.
And as He laid down His life
we offer this sacrifice
that we will live just as he died:
willing to pay the price
willing to pay the price.
How beautiful the radient Bride
who waits for her Groom
with His light in her eyes.
How beautiful when humble hearts give
the fruit of pure lives
so that others may live.
How beautiful, how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.
How beautiful the feet that bring
the sound of good news
and the love of the King.
How beautiful the hands that serve
the wine and the bread
and the sons of the earth.
How beautiful, how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.
I Only Want to Say (Gethsemane)
from Jesus Christ Superstar -- the Musical
(my fave being the one sung by Colm Wilkinson)
I only want to say
If there is a way
Take this cup away from me
For I don't want to taste its poison
Feel it burn me,
I have changed
I'm not as sure as when we started
Then I was inspired
Now I'm sad and tired
Listen surely I've exceeded
Expectations
Tried for three years
Seems like thirty
Could you ask as much
From any other man?
But if I die
See the saga through
And do the things you ask of me
Let them hate me, hit me, hurt me
Nail me to their tree
I'd want to know
I'd want to know my God
I'd want to know
I'd want to know my God
I'd want to see
I'd want to see my God
I'd want to see
I'd want to see my God
Why I should die
Would I be more noticed
Than I ever was before?
Would the things I've said and done
Matter any more?
I'd have to know
I'd have to know my Lord
I'd have to know
I'd have to know my Lord
I'd have to see
I'd have to see my Lord
I'd have to see
I'd have to see my Lord
If I die what will be my reward?
If I die what will be my reward?
I'd have to know
I'd have to know my Lord
I'd have to know
I'd have to know my Lord
Why, why should I die?
Oh, why should I die?
Can you show me now
That I would not be killed in vain?
Show me just a little
Of your omnipresent brain
Show me there's a reason
For your wanting me to die
You're far too keen on where and how
But not so hot on why
Alright I'll die!
Just watch me die!
See how, see how I die!
Oh, just watch me die!
Then I was inspired
Now I'm sad and tired
After all I've tried for three years
Seems like ninety
Why then am I scared
To finish what I started
What you started
I didn't start it
God thy will is hard
But you hold every card
I will drink your cup of poison
Nail me to your cross and break me
Bleed me, beat me
Kill me, take me now
Before I change my mind
Via Dolorosa - by Sandi Patti
I actually sang this song for Good Friday 2002 when I was still in St Francis of Assisi choir.
I did tremble when singing this song, so beautiful =)
Down the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem that day
The soldiers tried to clear the narrow street
But the crowd pressed in to see
The Man condemned to die on Calvary
He was bleeding from a beating,
there were stripes upon His back
And He wore a crown of thorns upon His head
And He bore with every step
The scorn of those who cried out for His death
Down the Via Dolorosa called the way of suffering
Like a lamb came the Messiah, Christ the King,
But He chose to walk that road out of
His love for you and me.
Down the Via Dolorosa, all the way to Calvary.
Por la Via Dolorosa, triste dia en Jerusalem
Los saldados le abrian paso a Jesus
Mas la gente se acercaba
Para ver al que llevaba aquella cruz
Por la Via Dolorosa, que es la via del dolor
Como oveja vino Cristo, Rey, Senor
Y fue El quien quiso ir por su amor por ti y por mi
Por la Via Dolorosa al Calvario y a morir
The blood that would cleanse the souls of all men
Made its way through the heart of Jerusalem.
Down the Via Dolorosa called the way of suffering
Like a lamb came the Messiah, Christ the King
But He chose to walk that road out of His love for you and me
Down the Via Dolorosa, all the way to Calvary.
How Beautiful - by Twila Paris
This song was sung by a duet (one of them was a Singapore Idol finalist) for Eucharistic Congress, Singapore Indoor Stadium 2004. I joined the choir but of course not among the soloists =).
This song is sooo serene.
How beautiful the hands that served
the wine and the bread
and the sons of the earth.
How beautiful the feet that walked
the long dusty roads
and the hills to the cross.
How beautiful, how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.
How beautiful the heart that bled
that took all my sin
and bore it instead.
How beautiful the tender eyes
that chose to forgive
and never despise.
How beautiful, how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.
And as He laid down His life
we offer this sacrifice
that we will live just as he died:
willing to pay the price
willing to pay the price.
How beautiful the radient Bride
who waits for her Groom
with His light in her eyes.
How beautiful when humble hearts give
the fruit of pure lives
so that others may live.
How beautiful, how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.
How beautiful the feet that bring
the sound of good news
and the love of the King.
How beautiful the hands that serve
the wine and the bread
and the sons of the earth.
How beautiful, how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.
gawat
When doing my research today, I need to access the code that I've written earlier, and see what I've found:
if flight.descent(1,22) - flight.cruise(1,22) < 0
disp('gawat');
end
Haha I believe I just wanted to do some debugging when putting that in. I've forgotten to remove that line afterwards.
Can't imagine if my advisor/project mate read that...
if flight.descent(1,22) - flight.cruise(1,22) < 0
disp('gawat');
end
Haha I believe I just wanted to do some debugging when putting that in. I've forgotten to remove that line afterwards.
Can't imagine if my advisor/project mate read that...
Sunday, April 08, 2007
the girl who makes me look like a lilliput
In my family, I am the shortest one.In Indonesia, I am considered tall.
In Singapore, I am considered very tall.
In some circle of friends, I am towering.
In the United States, I am normal.
Beside this girl, I am a lilliput.
None of us was wearing high heels in this photo.
I had so much fun today!After the morning Easter mass, we joined the rest in Easter Brunch. I didn't eat much though as I know I'll be going to Quincy Market Hall and I had had my breakfast this morning. Afterwards, we walked to Quincy, passing through Boston Public Garden and Boston Common. The weather was just S.O. U.N.F.R.I.E.N.D.L.Y!!
It is supposed to be Spring already, for my goodness sake! The wind was blowing like there's no tomorrow. Like today is its last chance to blow. The wind was just to strong, it's even worse than some days in winter. Worst of all, I have shoved away my gloves, scarf and beanies -- winter attribute.
Though Quincy is as vibrant as ever, the food is as glorious as ever (we did spend some time just to decide what to eat -- I had lobster roll and clam chowder), the hightlight of today is the companionship.
MV is an Indian girl whom I've actually known since in Singapore, but only each other's name. We come to the same weekly mass here so that's how I met her again. We were even roommates in retreat.
SW is an Austrian girl who is my best companion in the lab. She is working under my advisor also and both of us (SW and I) admire our advisor S.O. M.U.C.H!! We both assent that she is a superwoman.
SW and I spend some time together during lunch and coffee break, which we consider as our survival essentials =). She is so fun and can be animated sometimes. I found a lot of similarity with her, including having a sister who is always much more relax and always confused why we can be so uptight. I am really lucky to have a lab mate like her =).
Colada Twist
Saturday, April 07, 2007
tampan, pandai, bersuara emas dan berbakti pada Tuhan
Hahaha... tampan. Baheula banget ya kedengerannya?
Jadi inget, kalo ada cowok yang ngaku-ngaku tampan, biasanya g tanggepin dengan "Apa? Jamban?"
terus tampang yang diakui secara sepihak tampan itu pun seakan mau menelan g panjang-panjang (bukan menelan bulat-bulat karena orang-orang bilangnya gua panjang bukan bulet)
eniwei, tentang atribut yang tertera di atas. yak orang tersebut memang eksis. jarang banget kan? ya setidak-tidaknya g sendiri jarang menemukan makhluk langka yang patut dilestarikan itu.
Sebenernya g udah denger tentang dia udah lama. Temen g ada yang pernah nyebut. Tapi karena gak tertarik dengan pria baru sama sekali *haha* jadi ya cuek beibeh aja deh. Apa pentingnya coba?
Sampe akhirnya pada Pekan Suci ini, hampir tiap hari liat dia. Dia tak lain dan tak bukan adalah dirigen (bukan tempat aer -- jurigen, tapi konduktor yang mimpin koor) paduan suara dan anggota tetap misa minggu jam 5 sore. Secara kebetulan dia adalah seorang professor di School of Mathematics di MIT sini. Secara kebetulan lagi dia masih sangatlah MUDA. Dan lumayan ganteng. Ya ganteng sih sebenernya *kok kesannya mau muji ga rela gitu* tapi udah menunjukkan tanda-tanda kebotakan di kepala bagian depan *professor gitu lho*. Tapi ya tampangnya itu typical keluarga terhormat gitu deh, hidung mancung, pakai kaca mata, rapi bersih tinggi pula. Kalo winter gini pake kemeja plus sweater. Rapi jali.
Tapi man, suaranyaaaaaaaaa..... Oh ya Tuhanku *omigod* keren buanget. Sampe meleleh-leleh dengernya. Seakan-akan Marius Pontmercy meloncat keluar dari Les Miserables musical (I am referring to Michael Ball). Huhuhuhu keren banget deh. Jempol keangkat semua.
Ayo kalian yang single-single mari ke sini wuakakakkakakakka =D just kidding.
Yakin deh, dia tuh salah satu produk langka di dunia. Suaranya itu lho. Plus otak. Plus tampang. Tinggi pula. Mungkin ntar kalo g hamil suatu hari g akan dateng misa yang jam 5 deh *seakan-akan g pasti akan masih di sini*. Liatin dia nyanyi sambil elus-elus perut: "Nak, ntar keluar jadi kayak gitu yah. Dijamin kamu tidak akan mengalami ketidaklakuan, nak."
Jadi inget, kalo ada cowok yang ngaku-ngaku tampan, biasanya g tanggepin dengan "Apa? Jamban?"
terus tampang yang diakui secara sepihak tampan itu pun seakan mau menelan g panjang-panjang (bukan menelan bulat-bulat karena orang-orang bilangnya gua panjang bukan bulet)
eniwei, tentang atribut yang tertera di atas. yak orang tersebut memang eksis. jarang banget kan? ya setidak-tidaknya g sendiri jarang menemukan makhluk langka yang patut dilestarikan itu.
Sebenernya g udah denger tentang dia udah lama. Temen g ada yang pernah nyebut. Tapi karena gak tertarik dengan pria baru sama sekali *haha* jadi ya cuek beibeh aja deh. Apa pentingnya coba?
Sampe akhirnya pada Pekan Suci ini, hampir tiap hari liat dia. Dia tak lain dan tak bukan adalah dirigen (bukan tempat aer -- jurigen, tapi konduktor yang mimpin koor) paduan suara dan anggota tetap misa minggu jam 5 sore. Secara kebetulan dia adalah seorang professor di School of Mathematics di MIT sini. Secara kebetulan lagi dia masih sangatlah MUDA. Dan lumayan ganteng. Ya ganteng sih sebenernya *kok kesannya mau muji ga rela gitu* tapi udah menunjukkan tanda-tanda kebotakan di kepala bagian depan *professor gitu lho*. Tapi ya tampangnya itu typical keluarga terhormat gitu deh, hidung mancung, pakai kaca mata, rapi bersih tinggi pula. Kalo winter gini pake kemeja plus sweater. Rapi jali.
Tapi man, suaranyaaaaaaaaa..... Oh ya Tuhanku *omigod* keren buanget. Sampe meleleh-leleh dengernya. Seakan-akan Marius Pontmercy meloncat keluar dari Les Miserables musical (I am referring to Michael Ball). Huhuhuhu keren banget deh. Jempol keangkat semua.
Ayo kalian yang single-single mari ke sini wuakakakkakakakka =D just kidding.
Yakin deh, dia tuh salah satu produk langka di dunia. Suaranya itu lho. Plus otak. Plus tampang. Tinggi pula. Mungkin ntar kalo g hamil suatu hari g akan dateng misa yang jam 5 deh *seakan-akan g pasti akan masih di sini*. Liatin dia nyanyi sambil elus-elus perut: "Nak, ntar keluar jadi kayak gitu yah. Dijamin kamu tidak akan mengalami ketidaklakuan, nak."
*iseng*
Iseng nih. Lagi nunggu 7.30. Ada apa dengan 7.30? Karena aku sudah berjanji pada temanku kalau aku akan tersedia (haha apa sih bahasa indo nya available) di e-mail sampe 7.30 pm so 7.30 pm it is. Padahal belum tentu dia bakal cari gua sih. Yak, 5 menit lagi.
Capek nih *mengusap peluh*. Sebenernya gak keringetan, karena seperti di post sebelumnya, Spring belum dateng-dateng juga! Huh kurang ajuaar emang. Tapi peluhnya di otak. G udah ngetik seharian. Gak cuma seharian, kemaren-kemaren juga. Semalem tidur berapa lama ya? Gak nyampe 5 jam yang jelas. Badan pegel-pegel terutama bahu kanan. Diapain yah? Hmm mungkin mesti minta pijet Bibi Marni *kalo kata Ebiet G Ade: Aku Ingin Pulang*.
G laper nih. Hmm makan apa ya enaknya? Mungkin chicken quesadilla. Tapi masalahnya, kalo gak makan di kamar rada males. Quesadilla suka dripping gitu jadi kan susah menjaga kebersihan dan keanggunan kalo makan di tempat umum. Kenapa hari ini gak makan di kamar? Karena abis ini mau langsung ikut misa malam Paskah di MIT Chapel yang berada di antara Student Center (gua lagi di reading room-nya) dan Green Hall (my lovely dorm). Jadi ya tunggu aja di sini.
Eh rekomen donk CD yang asyik dan bisa menemani belajar dan ga bikin bosen. G kan males bawa CD banyak-banyak ke sini, dan pada kenyataannya g udah rada bosen dengan CD2 tersebut dan MP3 list g. Mau beli tapi ga tau beli apa =P
Yak udah 7.30 pm! Dia gak e-mail juga, berarti g makan sendirian dan ketemu dia di chapel aja langsung. Chapel sini rada kecil, jadi g ga mau dateng mepet-mepet. Capek juga kan kalo berdiri sepanjang misa!
Capek nih *mengusap peluh*. Sebenernya gak keringetan, karena seperti di post sebelumnya, Spring belum dateng-dateng juga! Huh kurang ajuaar emang. Tapi peluhnya di otak. G udah ngetik seharian. Gak cuma seharian, kemaren-kemaren juga. Semalem tidur berapa lama ya? Gak nyampe 5 jam yang jelas. Badan pegel-pegel terutama bahu kanan. Diapain yah? Hmm mungkin mesti minta pijet Bibi Marni *kalo kata Ebiet G Ade: Aku Ingin Pulang*.
G laper nih. Hmm makan apa ya enaknya? Mungkin chicken quesadilla. Tapi masalahnya, kalo gak makan di kamar rada males. Quesadilla suka dripping gitu jadi kan susah menjaga kebersihan dan keanggunan kalo makan di tempat umum. Kenapa hari ini gak makan di kamar? Karena abis ini mau langsung ikut misa malam Paskah di MIT Chapel yang berada di antara Student Center (gua lagi di reading room-nya) dan Green Hall (my lovely dorm). Jadi ya tunggu aja di sini.
Eh rekomen donk CD yang asyik dan bisa menemani belajar dan ga bikin bosen. G kan males bawa CD banyak-banyak ke sini, dan pada kenyataannya g udah rada bosen dengan CD2 tersebut dan MP3 list g. Mau beli tapi ga tau beli apa =P
Yak udah 7.30 pm! Dia gak e-mail juga, berarti g makan sendirian dan ketemu dia di chapel aja langsung. Chapel sini rada kecil, jadi g ga mau dateng mepet-mepet. Capek juga kan kalo berdiri sepanjang misa!
wahai engkau yang tak setia, mana janjimu?
Kau janjikan aku matahari,
kau janjikan aku angin sepoi-sepoi,
kau janjikan aku burung berkicau,
kau janjikan aku bunga indah berwarna-warni,
mana janjimu?
Kau katakan kau akan datang,
Paling lambat bulan April, katamu
Kutunggu dan kutunggu
Jendela kamarku adalah saksi
penantianku yang tak kunjung tiba
mana janjimu?
Tidak biasanya engkau tak setia
Tidak biasanya engkau lupa
Tidak biasanya engkau biarkan aku,
bertanya-tanya dalam hati
mana janjimu?
Kau hancurkan mimpiku
Untuk berlari bebas di taman bunga
Bercelana pendek dan bersandal jepit,
bersahabat dengan alam,
biarkan angin membelai lembut tubuhku
Kau masih berani bertanya apakah aku kecewa?
Huh, tahu diri donk!
Cukup sudah penantianku
Menguap sudah impianku
Musim semi, mana janjimu?
Ketika kau datang sehari-dua,
Apakah itu semua hanya basa-basi?
Sebuah formalitas belaka?
Tidak sayangkah kau padaku,
hingga kau biarkan Musim Dingin tetap menyelimutiku?
Oh, aku lelah!
Lelah dengan jaket yang tebal ini
Lelah dengan baju berlapis-lapis
Lelah mengenakan kaus kaki dan sepatu terus-menerus
Lelah dengan anginmu yang tidak berperikemanusiaan
Kalau kau memang lupa,
kan kuingatkan sekali lagi
Ini sudah April!
Sudah tiba saatnya engkau datang!!
Musim semi datanglah,
Datanglah dan seribu maaf akan kuhaturkan
Tertulis oleh seonggok jiwa,
yang merindukan kehangatan...
terutama celana pendek dan sendal jepit...
kau janjikan aku angin sepoi-sepoi,
kau janjikan aku burung berkicau,
kau janjikan aku bunga indah berwarna-warni,
mana janjimu?
Kau katakan kau akan datang,
Paling lambat bulan April, katamu
Kutunggu dan kutunggu
Jendela kamarku adalah saksi
penantianku yang tak kunjung tiba
mana janjimu?
Tidak biasanya engkau tak setia
Tidak biasanya engkau lupa
Tidak biasanya engkau biarkan aku,
bertanya-tanya dalam hati
mana janjimu?
Kau hancurkan mimpiku
Untuk berlari bebas di taman bunga
Bercelana pendek dan bersandal jepit,
bersahabat dengan alam,
biarkan angin membelai lembut tubuhku
Kau masih berani bertanya apakah aku kecewa?
Huh, tahu diri donk!
Cukup sudah penantianku
Menguap sudah impianku
Musim semi, mana janjimu?
Ketika kau datang sehari-dua,
Apakah itu semua hanya basa-basi?
Sebuah formalitas belaka?
Tidak sayangkah kau padaku,
hingga kau biarkan Musim Dingin tetap menyelimutiku?
Oh, aku lelah!
Lelah dengan jaket yang tebal ini
Lelah dengan baju berlapis-lapis
Lelah mengenakan kaus kaki dan sepatu terus-menerus
Lelah dengan anginmu yang tidak berperikemanusiaan
Kalau kau memang lupa,
kan kuingatkan sekali lagi
Ini sudah April!
Sudah tiba saatnya engkau datang!!
Musim semi datanglah,
Datanglah dan seribu maaf akan kuhaturkan
Tertulis oleh seonggok jiwa,
yang merindukan kehangatan...
terutama celana pendek dan sendal jepit...
Monday, April 02, 2007
Butterfly's Kisses - Daddy's Little Girl
(entah kenapa lagi suka lagu ini)
Faith Hill:
Daddy take me with you
I promise I'll be good
Daddy, this is next time
And momma said I could
Sittin' in the front seat ridin' down town
An ice cream cone I'd wrap him around
My little finger
Tighter then my baby could
You can make a tear go a long long way
When you're daddy's little girl
Well he tightened my bike chain from 7 to 13
Taught me to drive when I was a wild thing
Reached and he prayed while I made some mistakes
That I wouldn't have made if I'd have done it his way
Now he hugs me when he sees me
We talk about the past
He tries to give me money
And I try and give it back
He's a book of advice
More than I need
The look in his eyes is saying to me
Let me help you all I can
While I'm still in this world
What will you do when your daddy's gone
And you're daddy's little girl
Tim McGraw:
There's two things I know for sure
She was sent here from heaven
And she's daddy's little girl
As I drop to my knees by her bed at night
She talks to Jesus
And I close my eyes
And I think God for all of the joy in my life
Oh, but most of all
For butterfly kisses
With her momma there
Stickin' little white flowers
All up in her hair
Walk me down the isle daddy
It's just about time
Does my wedding gown look pretty daddy?
Daddy don't cry
With all that I've done wrong
I must have done something right
To deserve her love every morning
And butterfly kisses for life
Faith Hill:
What'll I do when my daddy's gone
sebuah ketololan
Yak, ada sebuah ketololan yang terjadi minggu lalu di PDE assignment g. Bukan, bukan code nya yang salah (phew) kalo code nya yang salah mungkin g sekarang udah bakalan ngepak dan hengkang ke pangkuan ibunda saking malapetaka-nya kalo kudu ngulang coding lagi.
Jadi, code g bener.. terus apa yang salah? G salah nge-plot! To'il kan? Untung ga semua seh. Jadi sekarang g mesti ngulang melarikan (hihi kenapa di inggeris pake verb 'run' ya) simulation g. untungnya sih ga major2 banget tapi TAKE TIME banget, gelo... Jadi kayaknya emang tujuan utamanya adalah melatih kesabaran gue.
Anyway, moral of the story: jangan lupa TIDUR CUKUP. Rupanya memang bener kata orang kalo TIDUR CUKUP ITU WAJIB HUKUMNYA.
Jadi, code g bener.. terus apa yang salah? G salah nge-plot! To'il kan? Untung ga semua seh. Jadi sekarang g mesti ngulang melarikan (hihi kenapa di inggeris pake verb 'run' ya) simulation g. untungnya sih ga major2 banget tapi TAKE TIME banget, gelo... Jadi kayaknya emang tujuan utamanya adalah melatih kesabaran gue.
Anyway, moral of the story: jangan lupa TIDUR CUKUP. Rupanya memang bener kata orang kalo TIDUR CUKUP ITU WAJIB HUKUMNYA.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
strawberries
I just tasted the strawberries I bought in Haymarket yesterday and they are SO GOOD. So big, juicy and sweet despite being carried away for hours in my bag.
And they are so cheap... unbelievable. At least one third of the supermarket's price.
Oh, I almost forgot to say: HAPPY PALM SUNDAY!! Let us enter the Holy Week, the most sacred week of the year, with peace and love...
And they are so cheap... unbelievable. At least one third of the supermarket's price.
Oh, I almost forgot to say: HAPPY PALM SUNDAY!! Let us enter the Holy Week, the most sacred week of the year, with peace and love...
Covering Almost Half of Boston by Foot
This is the story that I promised last night.
It started on Monday night when I had dinner with my fellow Indonesian friend here at MIT. We did undergrad in the same university at the same time, so we've known each other for years. In addition, both of us speak Jawa Timur-an.
Before we bought our dinner, we had an argument in front of the counter. I said we'ld order 1 10-inch pizza and a salad and share. He said 10-inch pizza is for one person only and that sharing wasn't a good option. 10-inch size is a bit intimidating for me to finish it alone, to tell you the truth. But in the end, we ordered one 10-inch pizza EACH. Hawaiian for me and Dynamic Duo for him. Tandas!! We both finished our portion. OK, so I also finished the 10-inch pizza alone without feeling klempoken (too full). That's another thing I wondered here in the US. Everytime I saw the serving size of any food (esp those with rice) I always wonder "Who on earth can finish that much?" But I've never asked for less rice though *malu kan*. And somehow, I always finished it. Bersih. Licin. Tandas. Emang bener kali ya kata temen-temen SMA g kalo g makannya kayak abang becak.
And NO... my walk is not to lose weight because I ate so much carbohydrate and other junks in the pizza. In fact, the walk was unintentional.
So he asked me "Why don't you travel during this break?"
Me: "I have too many works to do".
He: "But you have to travel one day. I bet you haven't really explored Boston either."
Me: "Hmm..." thinking whether this is considered as exploring around.
He: "Have you gone to Haymarket"
Me: "Hmm well, we passed it by"
He: "Then let's go this Saturday morning."
So we reached Haymarket at around 10 am on a bright Saturday morning. To put the icing on top of the cake, I was so delighted that my Spring Break has eventually come *grin ear to ear*. He is a good cook (Indonesian, Chinese, Western, you name it) so he really went for a purpose (he was going to cook soto ayam and perkedel for a potluck with his lab group-- how nice). On the other hand, I was there only to disrupt, disturb, see see, sniff sniff, taste taste (of course not!) and to have a good time.
Anyway, I also learned some vegetable names hahahaha *gak malu kok*. The vegetables and fruits there look SO FRESH. SO TANTALIZING. The green is very green, the red is very red, the yellow is very yellow and the fish smells really fishy. But according to the experienced cook, the seafood and meat sold there are guaranteed to be very fresh. He bought garlic, carrots, cilantro, green pepper, some fruits where I only got 1 pint of bright, shiny, red, juicy strawberry and two pints of blueberries for my breakfast cereal's toppings. Yummy. And they are so cheap, too. What a good bargain.
After we (he) finished with our (his) shopping, we walked to North End, Little Italy (I don't know whether it's an official name or not). We saw rows and rows of Italian restaurant, pastry shops, gelateria, cafe, etc etc etc. It even smells so nice (especially when you walk near some pastry shops). Afterward, we separated because he needed to start preparing for the food and I had to continue my day off =). I had a lobster roll for lunch at Neptune Oyster. Not so kicking, considering the imbalance between of the food and the price. I think I should order the cold with mayo instead of hot with butter =).
It's S P R I N G!!!
Some street performers were showcasing their abilities yesterday. A young boy played drums with buckets that are stacked and arranged strategically. It may look simpler in the photo but a lot comes beneath those buckets to get the music right.
Children were crowding around a baloon-maker clown and they were in awe. Really. Four black guys occupied a large area for "Black Guy Dancing". They even invited people to come in line and learn the steps together. I didn't join them, of course =) Dancing has never been my cup of tea, really.
As I was already there, I thought why don't I follow the red line of Freedom Trail. As I was in the middle of the track, I had two options: go outbound to Bunker Hill Memorial or go inbound to Boston Common. I decided the latter, as it's in the direction of going back =).
Reaching Boston Common, I walked around the park (and actually was looking for a restroom haha). It was soooooooooo nice. I like it, I love it!! I enjoyed looking at the birds, people carrying anti-war and anti-bombing banner, children running around the now-dry frog pond... Oh it really reminds me of something. That something is a song, and to cut my story short just check the lyrics for Saturday in the Park, (My Girl's soundtrack).
I spent some time to sit down at a bench and read Priestess of the White. Going to Boston Common is not complete without dropping by Cold Stone. Well, I need a rest anyway. A rest with an ice cream sounds perfect, eh?
It started on Monday night when I had dinner with my fellow Indonesian friend here at MIT. We did undergrad in the same university at the same time, so we've known each other for years. In addition, both of us speak Jawa Timur-an.
Before we bought our dinner, we had an argument in front of the counter. I said we'ld order 1 10-inch pizza and a salad and share. He said 10-inch pizza is for one person only and that sharing wasn't a good option. 10-inch size is a bit intimidating for me to finish it alone, to tell you the truth. But in the end, we ordered one 10-inch pizza EACH. Hawaiian for me and Dynamic Duo for him. Tandas!! We both finished our portion. OK, so I also finished the 10-inch pizza alone without feeling klempoken (too full). That's another thing I wondered here in the US. Everytime I saw the serving size of any food (esp those with rice) I always wonder "Who on earth can finish that much?" But I've never asked for less rice though *malu kan*. And somehow, I always finished it. Bersih. Licin. Tandas. Emang bener kali ya kata temen-temen SMA g kalo g makannya kayak abang becak.
And NO... my walk is not to lose weight because I ate so much carbohydrate and other junks in the pizza. In fact, the walk was unintentional.
So he asked me "Why don't you travel during this break?"
Me: "I have too many works to do".
He: "But you have to travel one day. I bet you haven't really explored Boston either."
Me: "Hmm..." thinking whether this is considered as exploring around.
He: "Have you gone to Haymarket"
Me: "Hmm well, we passed it by"
He: "Then let's go this Saturday morning."
So we reached Haymarket at around 10 am on a bright Saturday morning. To put the icing on top of the cake, I was so delighted that my Spring Break has eventually come *grin ear to ear*. He is a good cook (Indonesian, Chinese, Western, you name it) so he really went for a purpose (he was going to cook soto ayam and perkedel for a potluck with his lab group-- how nice). On the other hand, I was there only to disrupt, disturb, see see, sniff sniff, taste taste (of course not!) and to have a good time.
Anyway, I also learned some vegetable names hahahaha *gak malu kok*. The vegetables and fruits there look SO FRESH. SO TANTALIZING. The green is very green, the red is very red, the yellow is very yellow and the fish smells really fishy. But according to the experienced cook, the seafood and meat sold there are guaranteed to be very fresh. He bought garlic, carrots, cilantro, green pepper, some fruits where I only got 1 pint of bright, shiny, red, juicy strawberry and two pints of blueberries for my breakfast cereal's toppings. Yummy. And they are so cheap, too. What a good bargain.After we (he) finished with our (his) shopping, we walked to North End, Little Italy (I don't know whether it's an official name or not). We saw rows and rows of Italian restaurant, pastry shops, gelateria, cafe, etc etc etc. It even smells so nice (especially when you walk near some pastry shops). Afterward, we separated because he needed to start preparing for the food and I had to continue my day off =). I had a lobster roll for lunch at Neptune Oyster. Not so kicking, considering the imbalance between of the food and the price. I think I should order the cold with mayo instead of hot with butter =).
Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market was my next destination. As I've been there before, I didn't really roam around. But something is different now from the previous...
It's S P R I N G!!!
More people were seen outside. People eating ice cream, people not bundled up in blanket =D -- I mean down jacket, people wearing sandals, flip flops, shorts, colorful t-shirts...
Some street performers were showcasing their abilities yesterday. A young boy played drums with buckets that are stacked and arranged strategically. It may look simpler in the photo but a lot comes beneath those buckets to get the music right.
Children were crowding around a baloon-maker clown and they were in awe. Really. Four black guys occupied a large area for "Black Guy Dancing". They even invited people to come in line and learn the steps together. I didn't join them, of course =) Dancing has never been my cup of tea, really. As I was already there, I thought why don't I follow the red line of Freedom Trail. As I was in the middle of the track, I had two options: go outbound to Bunker Hill Memorial or go inbound to Boston Common. I decided the latter, as it's in the direction of going back =).
I also got myself a pocket of hand roasted cashews. I always love cashews and this one is really gooooood. It's hot and sweet and everything you need when you are walking alone enjoying a bright Saturday afternoon =)
I also stopped by the biggest Borders I've ever seen =). So I walked along following the red line and visited King's Chapel, King's Chapel Burying Ground and Granary Burying Ground where I saw the memorial for Josiah Franklin, Benjamin Franklin's father.
Reaching Boston Common, I walked around the park (and actually was looking for a restroom haha). It was soooooooooo nice. I like it, I love it!! I enjoyed looking at the birds, people carrying anti-war and anti-bombing banner, children running around the now-dry frog pond... Oh it really reminds me of something. That something is a song, and to cut my story short just check the lyrics for Saturday in the Park, (My Girl's soundtrack). I spent some time to sit down at a bench and read Priestess of the White. Going to Boston Common is not complete without dropping by Cold Stone. Well, I need a rest anyway. A rest with an ice cream sounds perfect, eh?
Next was Public Garden, which is just next to Boston Common. There is nothing much there, but I saw this Boston Police riding a very handsome horse!!! I always like horses since young and even always asked my late dad to buy me one!! It didn't occur to me at all then that they cost so high. Haha I though, even people in Puncak can own horses, why can't we? You know what's his name? SHORTY. What a name. I fell in love with this horse. It's big, defying its own name, sturdy, shiny, clean and doesn't have that horsey snort and smell. It is really a kind of horse that the Famous Five will describe (when it belongs to the protagonist, of course). I touched and patted it *grin grin I was so happy*.
Then, I had another walk... to go back. I walked through Newbury Street. Not a good choice as it will decelerate your walk.. It's Boston's shopping paradise!! People were eating outside in cafes... A clear sign that Spring has come.
What a day. I really enjoyed the walk. My steps were light and delightful and I was happy. For once I forgot everything about my research, assignments and projects... I wish I could spend another day to really follow Freedom Trail and visit the place one by one. And eat the cashews again =) And have lunch at Quincy's food court. Then get some pastries and espresso and gelato at Little Italy (North End). That sounds perfect!! But when can I have the time?
You know what, when I reached my room, I almost believe that all my body parts started disintegrating...
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Spring Break
Which part of a break that you like best?
Normally people will say the beginning, when they are hopping on a short trip or getaway, etc.
But for me, it's the end!! Well, only for this Spring Break may be.
As mentioned in the previous post, I had to be away from school for one week. So, after coming back from Jakarta, I had barely enough time to balance out. In other words, almost all my time was used up for studying, doing assignments, doing research, attending seminar, meetings, etc. Almost no time for myself, to rest, to relax, to have a normal sleep.
Within the last one month before Spring Break, I felt very pressurized. I've mentioned before about the notorious 16.930 course so I won't repeat telling the same here. Hmm, not that I don't like the course though. The course is amazing, the professors are great. This course is my best education experience that I've ever had so far. But remembering the days I ran my simulations and debugged the code... hmm no thanks.
Not only I had no enough sleep, normally my sleep was disturbed and not deep so I feel tired almost the whole time. Until...
On Friday before the Spring Break (23 March) in a research meeting I realized that I have lost focus and did discourse. I know what the goal to be achieved but somehow I drifted along the way (luckily not much and not very severe). On that Friday afternoon, I felt like being awaken after a long sleep. Suddenly I could open my eyes and see the flaws in my research work. I felt bad to my advisor (though she can understand me), I was at a mess, I was tired but I don't know what to do. My mind was clouded more with PDE (16.930) rather than my own research which supposedly bear more importance.
I stared at the data, my code, the numbers but couldn't find anything. I simply couldn't think at all.
Then, I did what my mom has suggested few times in the last month: go shopping, get a nice meal and go back and study again. So I walked to Newbury Street, Prudential Center and Copley Square. Not a long getaway as I know what to see/buy and I didn't wander elsewhere. Among the things I bought was Melatonin from GNC. I did need help to get a good night sleep, OK... =D
I went back home and still suffered from a brain dysfunction =( I still forced myself to work though. On Saturday, I worked nonstop until 4 am. On Sunday, I went to morning mass at MIT Chapel but couldn't concentrate well either. I continued working until around 6 pm when I got myself ready to go to Harvard Square. My friend has a free concert ticket (chamber music orchestra) at Sanders Theatre, Harvard Memorial Hall. All my friends urged me to go: to refresh, they said. So off I went.
The concert was marvelous. The concert hall are all in wood! Nonetheless, as it was only instrumental, after some time my mind did wander again. After coming back, I did work a bit but still went to sleep =D as I need to go to Davis Square on Monday morning. Monday was the day I slept only for two hours and remained at a zombie state the next day... =D
On Thursday 2 am I sent a writeup to my advisor. Actually I promised her to submit by end of this week or next week but I was too afraid that I did another blunder that I submit as soon as possible. And... my nerve only loosen when on Thursday night, she replied and said that my work and proposed next steps are good. At that moment, I told my roommate: "I can now officially go out this weekend"
At noon on Friday I officially finished my PDE report so I went to Pepper Sky to have the best Shrimp Pad Thai I've ever tried. I don't usually fancy Thai food but my friend (who is trusted in gourmet related stuffs) recommended this place and I like it! On Friday night, I have finished what I wanted to finish in Spring Break.
So I have two more days for Spring Break that will be (relatively) free. But I had with me:
1. body aches
2. shoulder strain (my roommate told me it must be from typing too much -- I have a bad posture in typing because I tend to look at the monitor as closely as possible)
3. pain and tiredness in my eyes... yesterday my right eye felt almost like exploding
And today... is my REAL SPRING BREAK!!!
I had a wonderful day today... I want to tell you know but I guess it's late and I want to SLEEP!! Tomorrow I have to wake up early for morning mass.
My roommate is asleep now, when she switched off the mainlight she reminded me to sleep and asked "Why do you not like sleeping, not like me?"
Haha I guess she wondered because last week I always slept after she did and already left the room before she woke up.
OK. So I'll sleep now, wait 'til tomorrow for the story, OK?
Normally people will say the beginning, when they are hopping on a short trip or getaway, etc.
But for me, it's the end!! Well, only for this Spring Break may be.
As mentioned in the previous post, I had to be away from school for one week. So, after coming back from Jakarta, I had barely enough time to balance out. In other words, almost all my time was used up for studying, doing assignments, doing research, attending seminar, meetings, etc. Almost no time for myself, to rest, to relax, to have a normal sleep.
Within the last one month before Spring Break, I felt very pressurized. I've mentioned before about the notorious 16.930 course so I won't repeat telling the same here. Hmm, not that I don't like the course though. The course is amazing, the professors are great. This course is my best education experience that I've ever had so far. But remembering the days I ran my simulations and debugged the code... hmm no thanks.
Not only I had no enough sleep, normally my sleep was disturbed and not deep so I feel tired almost the whole time. Until...
On Friday before the Spring Break (23 March) in a research meeting I realized that I have lost focus and did discourse. I know what the goal to be achieved but somehow I drifted along the way (luckily not much and not very severe). On that Friday afternoon, I felt like being awaken after a long sleep. Suddenly I could open my eyes and see the flaws in my research work. I felt bad to my advisor (though she can understand me), I was at a mess, I was tired but I don't know what to do. My mind was clouded more with PDE (16.930) rather than my own research which supposedly bear more importance.
I stared at the data, my code, the numbers but couldn't find anything. I simply couldn't think at all.
Then, I did what my mom has suggested few times in the last month: go shopping, get a nice meal and go back and study again. So I walked to Newbury Street, Prudential Center and Copley Square. Not a long getaway as I know what to see/buy and I didn't wander elsewhere. Among the things I bought was Melatonin from GNC. I did need help to get a good night sleep, OK... =D
I went back home and still suffered from a brain dysfunction =( I still forced myself to work though. On Saturday, I worked nonstop until 4 am. On Sunday, I went to morning mass at MIT Chapel but couldn't concentrate well either. I continued working until around 6 pm when I got myself ready to go to Harvard Square. My friend has a free concert ticket (chamber music orchestra) at Sanders Theatre, Harvard Memorial Hall. All my friends urged me to go: to refresh, they said. So off I went.
The concert was marvelous. The concert hall are all in wood! Nonetheless, as it was only instrumental, after some time my mind did wander again. After coming back, I did work a bit but still went to sleep =D as I need to go to Davis Square on Monday morning. Monday was the day I slept only for two hours and remained at a zombie state the next day... =D
On Thursday 2 am I sent a writeup to my advisor. Actually I promised her to submit by end of this week or next week but I was too afraid that I did another blunder that I submit as soon as possible. And... my nerve only loosen when on Thursday night, she replied and said that my work and proposed next steps are good. At that moment, I told my roommate: "I can now officially go out this weekend"
At noon on Friday I officially finished my PDE report so I went to Pepper Sky to have the best Shrimp Pad Thai I've ever tried. I don't usually fancy Thai food but my friend (who is trusted in gourmet related stuffs) recommended this place and I like it! On Friday night, I have finished what I wanted to finish in Spring Break.
So I have two more days for Spring Break that will be (relatively) free. But I had with me:
1. body aches
2. shoulder strain (my roommate told me it must be from typing too much -- I have a bad posture in typing because I tend to look at the monitor as closely as possible)
3. pain and tiredness in my eyes... yesterday my right eye felt almost like exploding
And today... is my REAL SPRING BREAK!!!
I had a wonderful day today... I want to tell you know but I guess it's late and I want to SLEEP!! Tomorrow I have to wake up early for morning mass.
My roommate is asleep now, when she switched off the mainlight she reminded me to sleep and asked "Why do you not like sleeping, not like me?"
Haha I guess she wondered because last week I always slept after she did and already left the room before she woke up.
OK. So I'll sleep now, wait 'til tomorrow for the story, OK?
Splendor in the Grass
February 19 2007 is a day to remember for us. That is the day when my beloved father went up to heaven,
five minutes to midnight,
on the second day of Chinese New Year,
at 57 years old.
He drew his last breathe, peacefully, in his sleep. On his own bed, by his beloved wife's side, witnessed by his wife and his only son. Painless, as best as it could be.
He is bright, brilliant, kind, funny, humorous, loving, hardworking, and all the superlative words you can attach to a father figure.
I am happy for him, though. At last, he will again meet his beloved mother whom he had lost at a very young age. I know he missed her all his life. I dreamt about her once, long time ago, a dream so vivid that I can't forget.
I flew half the globe to pay him my last respect. I took another long flight in the same week to catch up with my studies. I know he does not like me to take a time off from school. I had HEAPS to catch up so I ignored my blog =)
I attach here a passage from the movie "Splendor in the Grass" (1961). A passage I so love for years, but whose meaning becomes so clear just recently...
What though the radiance
Which was once so bright
Is now forever taken from my sight
Though nothing can bring back the hour,
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find,
Strength in what remains behind...
Which was once so bright
Is now forever taken from my sight
Though nothing can bring back the hour,
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find,
Strength in what remains behind...
If this can be considered as a small tribute, click this, but with ammendments =) :
1. change the February to January (find from the text)
2. I have no chance at all to watch American Idol now...
On a lighter note, I am now officially the shortest member of the family...
Final picture: when we had a sauna in our front yard... Haha =D Be prosperous in heaven, Pa.. I think we have burnt enough money for you to build few companies... one for each child, OK? Deal!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
I can fall asleep anytime now...
Sumprit gua ngantuk banget.
Pardon my rough start =). I only had two hours of sleep last night, so please harap maklum. Haha jadi inget Buku Penghubung jaman SD dulu. Terkadang isinya sebagai berikut: "Tono/Tini/Tuti sakit dan tidak bisa mengikuti pelajaran. Harap maklum." Masi kepake gak ni bahasa sampe sekarang?
Anyway, after struggling for weeks in coding the Discontinuous Galerkin in MATLAB (refer to my previous post), I've finally come to the less strenuous but still brain-wrenching: report writing. And the length of report is limited to 12 pages! Not a good thing, as you are expected to explain about the codes for higher order time-integration, higher order discretization, higher-order geometry representation AMONG OTHER THINGS. I typed all the matrix and lengthy equations (like, two lines of integral equation?) in small fonts.
To complete the agony, only LaTeX is the acceptable 'standard' in report writing here. The coding (or typesetting, as they put it) is quite OK and you'll become intuitive very soon, BUT... when you missed out one '$', or one '{' or one '}', you'll get error and you have to DEBUG!! Oh please, I think we've got enough DEBUGGING already? This morning I missed one '}' and I got 47 errors at an instant. Depressing. This morning, at 5.30 am, I had to stop working when I had to type the two lines of integral equation. I started enjoying LaTeX-ing though, and started to see its comparative advantages over Microsoft Words.
OK, enough story for now. I wanted to take a nap today but I guess that idea will go to thin air... No wonder my mom insisted me to get some eye cream.
More stories later... hopefully
Pardon my rough start =). I only had two hours of sleep last night, so please harap maklum. Haha jadi inget Buku Penghubung jaman SD dulu. Terkadang isinya sebagai berikut: "Tono/Tini/Tuti sakit dan tidak bisa mengikuti pelajaran. Harap maklum." Masi kepake gak ni bahasa sampe sekarang?
Anyway, after struggling for weeks in coding the Discontinuous Galerkin in MATLAB (refer to my previous post), I've finally come to the less strenuous but still brain-wrenching: report writing. And the length of report is limited to 12 pages! Not a good thing, as you are expected to explain about the codes for higher order time-integration, higher order discretization, higher-order geometry representation AMONG OTHER THINGS. I typed all the matrix and lengthy equations (like, two lines of integral equation?) in small fonts.
To complete the agony, only LaTeX is the acceptable 'standard' in report writing here. The coding (or typesetting, as they put it) is quite OK and you'll become intuitive very soon, BUT... when you missed out one '$', or one '{' or one '}', you'll get error and you have to DEBUG!! Oh please, I think we've got enough DEBUGGING already? This morning I missed one '}' and I got 47 errors at an instant. Depressing. This morning, at 5.30 am, I had to stop working when I had to type the two lines of integral equation. I started enjoying LaTeX-ing though, and started to see its comparative advantages over Microsoft Words.
OK, enough story for now. I wanted to take a nap today but I guess that idea will go to thin air... No wonder my mom insisted me to get some eye cream.
More stories later... hopefully
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
crazy course
Almost everybody in our lab (Aerospace Computational Design Laboratory) has been the victim of this crazy course called 16.930 (Advanced Topic in Numerical Method for Partial Differential Equation).
Now is my turn.
Its first assignment is extremely EXHAUSTIVE and INTENSIVE.
I've been spending much more time on it than my own research project.
In the problem set given, there is no formulation at all. It's also an open ended question where there may be many approach and even the professors don't know exactly what the result will be like. As my seniors put it, it's like a research of its own. And it has to be done in one month. Tell me about that.
This assignment has successfully robbed me from all weekends and all spare time that I may have or deserve.
The worst part of it is how time consuming it is. To know whether your code is right or not, you need to wait for at least 3 hours. One time I let it run overnight, and I woke up at almost 5 am just to find that my result has blown up to millions from the supposedly 3 and 2.4 in values. Tell me about that.
I am at the Student Center now, because I just had discussion with one of my classmate. I want to wait until 500 iterations before I go back. It is already 1 am here so I guess I'll be back by 2 am. My friend has left as he has morning classes tomorrow.
I did all my coding alone, but you definitely need someone to cross-check your modification with. They are just too much and it will take even longer time if you want to do it alone. Last saturday, I spent hours to debug and right after midnight I just found that I put multiplication (*) instead of division (/) in my MATLAB code. Tell me about that.
And the least you need is a MORAL SUPPORT.
At least if you know that there's another PDE fighter is also working, you'll feel better.
OK, I guess that's all for now. I am extremely worried with my simulation now...
Now is my turn.
Its first assignment is extremely EXHAUSTIVE and INTENSIVE.
I've been spending much more time on it than my own research project.
In the problem set given, there is no formulation at all. It's also an open ended question where there may be many approach and even the professors don't know exactly what the result will be like. As my seniors put it, it's like a research of its own. And it has to be done in one month. Tell me about that.
This assignment has successfully robbed me from all weekends and all spare time that I may have or deserve.
The worst part of it is how time consuming it is. To know whether your code is right or not, you need to wait for at least 3 hours. One time I let it run overnight, and I woke up at almost 5 am just to find that my result has blown up to millions from the supposedly 3 and 2.4 in values. Tell me about that.
I am at the Student Center now, because I just had discussion with one of my classmate. I want to wait until 500 iterations before I go back. It is already 1 am here so I guess I'll be back by 2 am. My friend has left as he has morning classes tomorrow.
I did all my coding alone, but you definitely need someone to cross-check your modification with. They are just too much and it will take even longer time if you want to do it alone. Last saturday, I spent hours to debug and right after midnight I just found that I put multiplication (*) instead of division (/) in my MATLAB code. Tell me about that.
And the least you need is a MORAL SUPPORT.
At least if you know that there's another PDE fighter is also working, you'll feel better.
OK, I guess that's all for now. I am extremely worried with my simulation now...
Saturday, February 17, 2007
taking a break...
One thing I love about MIT is the library.
Very quiet, loads of books, high ceiling (important to create the mood) and my spot today is just perfect.
There are many libraries in MIT, my favorite being the Hayden Science Library. And yes, especially my spot today. A single desk (not a carrel though just a simple wooden desk), with two wooden chairs and a couch just nearby, overlooking Charles River!! That's the highlight. White snow on the ground, people jogging, dog-walkers, cars, snow-covered Charles River, Boston and the sky that almost never fails to amaze me.
This has certainly made my Chinese New Year's eve sans the reunion dinner more bearable.
The plan to go to a Shanghainese restaurant in town with a couple of friends went into thin air after realizing the tasks I need to finish before Tuesday. We'll have a meeting with our counterpart from Georgia Tech University on Tuesday and our advisor won't be around. Thus it is on my shoulder now to ensure that the meeting will result in juicy fruits.
My tolerance level would not be this lenient if I am in a stuffy, crowded and dingy library.
Other library I like is Rotch (Architecture and Urban Planning). Less grandiose, more minimalist, smaller and quiet also. The only minus point is that being too close to Massachusetts Ave, sometimes the sirene (police, ambulance, fire) is just too loud. But the location is pretty good actually, you just go down one level and you're already in Main Lobby. Practical when you stay late.
The library in my department (Aeronautics/Astronautics), on the other and, is very small and rather hot. It also overlooks Mass Ave so the sirene problem also happens here. This library really comes in handy when: 1) I'm lazy to walk (nearest to my lab), 2) I need any aero/astro specific materials and 3) when I just get bored/too sleepy in lab.
Anyway, highlights of the previous week:
1) I just went back from a short retreat in Bethel, Maine and it was just awesome!
2) I have started my acrylic painting class every Thursday and it is so much fun!!
more about them later...
And the lowlights:
1) I got a patellar tendonitis on my right knee without knowing the exact reason. It may be due to carrying too heavy a backpack (laptop, folders, notes, textbooks) and climb up and down the staircase too often or a hidden injury when I ski-ed last Saturday. In any case, I am avoiding staircase as much as I can now.. I did an X-ray and there's no rapture *phew* though it still needs weeks to fully recover.
2) Ugly snow on Wednesday, 14 February 2007. Incessant pouring: snow, heavy rain, drizzle for the WHOLE DAY!!. And they have made such an inclement weather, filthy road, many road accidents and extremely slippery ground with the ice (not only snow). Yesterday when I went for a meeting in Volpe US Transportation Center, the front ground was practically an ice skating rink. You have to walk like a duck to keep save and firm on your two feet. Thanks God for Timberland.
I guess now I have to get back to work *sigh*.
Very quiet, loads of books, high ceiling (important to create the mood) and my spot today is just perfect.
There are many libraries in MIT, my favorite being the Hayden Science Library. And yes, especially my spot today. A single desk (not a carrel though just a simple wooden desk), with two wooden chairs and a couch just nearby, overlooking Charles River!! That's the highlight. White snow on the ground, people jogging, dog-walkers, cars, snow-covered Charles River, Boston and the sky that almost never fails to amaze me.
This has certainly made my Chinese New Year's eve sans the reunion dinner more bearable.
The plan to go to a Shanghainese restaurant in town with a couple of friends went into thin air after realizing the tasks I need to finish before Tuesday. We'll have a meeting with our counterpart from Georgia Tech University on Tuesday and our advisor won't be around. Thus it is on my shoulder now to ensure that the meeting will result in juicy fruits.
My tolerance level would not be this lenient if I am in a stuffy, crowded and dingy library.
Other library I like is Rotch (Architecture and Urban Planning). Less grandiose, more minimalist, smaller and quiet also. The only minus point is that being too close to Massachusetts Ave, sometimes the sirene (police, ambulance, fire) is just too loud. But the location is pretty good actually, you just go down one level and you're already in Main Lobby. Practical when you stay late.
The library in my department (Aeronautics/Astronautics), on the other and, is very small and rather hot. It also overlooks Mass Ave so the sirene problem also happens here. This library really comes in handy when: 1) I'm lazy to walk (nearest to my lab), 2) I need any aero/astro specific materials and 3) when I just get bored/too sleepy in lab.
Anyway, highlights of the previous week:
1) I just went back from a short retreat in Bethel, Maine and it was just awesome!
2) I have started my acrylic painting class every Thursday and it is so much fun!!
more about them later...
And the lowlights:
1) I got a patellar tendonitis on my right knee without knowing the exact reason. It may be due to carrying too heavy a backpack (laptop, folders, notes, textbooks) and climb up and down the staircase too often or a hidden injury when I ski-ed last Saturday. In any case, I am avoiding staircase as much as I can now.. I did an X-ray and there's no rapture *phew* though it still needs weeks to fully recover.
2) Ugly snow on Wednesday, 14 February 2007. Incessant pouring: snow, heavy rain, drizzle for the WHOLE DAY!!. And they have made such an inclement weather, filthy road, many road accidents and extremely slippery ground with the ice (not only snow). Yesterday when I went for a meeting in Volpe US Transportation Center, the front ground was practically an ice skating rink. You have to walk like a duck to keep save and firm on your two feet. Thanks God for Timberland.
I guess now I have to get back to work *sigh*.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
keliling kota
Setelah berminggu-minggu di sini, baru hari ini ngomong Indo seharian. Biasanya cuma sebatas ngobrol di telpon aja sama mama dan orang-yang-dekat-di-hati.
Jadi gini ceritanya. Kapan itu entah gimana caranya g ada nyebut di salah satu mailing list *tau gak milis yang mana* kalo g tinggal di sini. Entah g lagi nanya something atau ada yang nanya lupa deh. Intinya, ada yang bales lewat japri dan berlanjut jadi ngobrol-ngobrol dan ngocol-ngocol di e-mail. Tepatnya, g ada korespondensi dengan 2 orang alumni Sanur yang tinggal di sini/daerah sini.
Mereka angkatan 94 sih jadi g ga kenal sama sekali sebenernya. Dan entah gimana caranya lagi, g ngajak mereka untuk ketemuan hari ini di Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall. Dan ternyata dua-duanya bisa tuh. Akhirnya jadilah hari ini kita kopidarat.
Jam 11 g ketemu sama si E, dia tinggal di Rhode Islands sebenernya, 1 hour bus drive to Boston. Ngider-ngider di Quincy Market sampe jam 1.30 pm, waktu preman Boston G dateng dan gabung sama kita. Prime rib was the lime light huehuehueheuhueheu =D
Dan sebelumnya g sempet 'shopping' di Godiva lho heuhauheuhauheuhua *syedap* buat siapa lagi kalo bukan untuk diri sendiri (dan bagi-bagi ke rumet tentunya). BUKAN hadiah/dalam rangka Valentine lho sodara-sodara. Give me a break, I am a big non-believer in Valentine's day. Cuma g lagi rada stress mikirin project g dan juga course (one of most killer course here) yang bakal g ambil and starts next week. Aneh ya, itu kan pilihan g sendiri tapi kenapa juga g tetep stress (banget). Soalnya g pernah bilang ke diri g sendiri, g ga akan berasa di-ordained jadi murid MIT kalo g belum conquer tuh subject. So doakan daku yah sodara-sodara.
Jadi karena g stress dan kemarin sempet uring-uringan sendiri (rumet lagi di NY) dan ga bisa tidur berhari2 mikirin minggu depan pas kelas dah mulai, so g pun memutuskan untuk belanja di Godiva huehuehaihaiuheuiheuhihehiahiuehuii =D =D =D *alesan*
Jadi gini ceritanya. Kapan itu entah gimana caranya g ada nyebut di salah satu mailing list *tau gak milis yang mana* kalo g tinggal di sini. Entah g lagi nanya something atau ada yang nanya lupa deh. Intinya, ada yang bales lewat japri dan berlanjut jadi ngobrol-ngobrol dan ngocol-ngocol di e-mail. Tepatnya, g ada korespondensi dengan 2 orang alumni Sanur yang tinggal di sini/daerah sini.
Mereka angkatan 94 sih jadi g ga kenal sama sekali sebenernya. Dan entah gimana caranya lagi, g ngajak mereka untuk ketemuan hari ini di Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall. Dan ternyata dua-duanya bisa tuh. Akhirnya jadilah hari ini kita kopidarat.
Jam 11 g ketemu sama si E, dia tinggal di Rhode Islands sebenernya, 1 hour bus drive to Boston. Ngider-ngider di Quincy Market sampe jam 1.30 pm, waktu preman Boston G dateng dan gabung sama kita. Prime rib was the lime light huehuehueheuhueheu =D
Dan sebelumnya g sempet 'shopping' di Godiva lho heuhauheuhauheuhua *syedap* buat siapa lagi kalo bukan untuk diri sendiri (dan bagi-bagi ke rumet tentunya). BUKAN hadiah/dalam rangka Valentine lho sodara-sodara. Give me a break, I am a big non-believer in Valentine's day. Cuma g lagi rada stress mikirin project g dan juga course (one of most killer course here) yang bakal g ambil and starts next week. Aneh ya, itu kan pilihan g sendiri tapi kenapa juga g tetep stress (banget). Soalnya g pernah bilang ke diri g sendiri, g ga akan berasa di-ordained jadi murid MIT kalo g belum conquer tuh subject. So doakan daku yah sodara-sodara.
Jadi karena g stress dan kemarin sempet uring-uringan sendiri (rumet lagi di NY) dan ga bisa tidur berhari2 mikirin minggu depan pas kelas dah mulai, so g pun memutuskan untuk belanja di Godiva huehuehaihaiuheuiheuhihehiahiuehuii =D =D =D *alesan*
Abis itu keliling kota deh walau bukan pake delman. Si preman Boston G nyetirin kita dan dia berhasil nunjukkin hampir (banget) seluruh penjuru Boston ke kita. Gedung di sini bagus-bagus lho, bener deh. Gerejanya banyaaaaakkk buanget. Bener-bener pemandangan yang syedap dipandang mata.
Perjalanan keliling kota pun ditutup dengan makan pempek dan batagor dengan rasa sangat orisinal *terbukti dengan g sempet berasa kepedesan banget*. Dibuat oleh tangan orang Palembang asli, jadilah ia pempek yang nendang banget. Singapore punya sih kalah. Batagor nya juga uenak tenan.
Selama ini g suka bingung, mau ke sini ke sana cari info di mana. Ternyata, tinggal masuk yahoo terus kirim e-mail ke mailing list tersebut, beres deh. Jadilah g dipinjemin celana ski (g baru mau beli kalo g tinggal di sini lebih dari setaon dan kalo g memutuskan untuk ber-ski tentu saja), dianterin keliling kota, ditunjukkin makanan-makanan syedap (indo, thai, italian, pastry, american, puff, brazilian, afghani, middle eastern, hongkong etc) sampe dikasi tau jadwal misa indo segala dan dikasi tau juga kalo di MIT ada beberapa orang indo yang exist *abisnya selama ini g satu aja belum nemu*.
Ngomong-ngomong soal orang Indo di MIT, di sini ada group musik yang terkenal namanya Gamelan Galaktika. Ini tuh salah satu extracurricular gitu di MIT sini, maen gamelan bali tapi hampir ga ada loh orang indo/asia nya!!! Bule aja melulu. Tapi kalibernya lumayan, buktinya udah sampe ada performance di BALI!!! BALI LOH!! Bule-bule tersebut nunjukkin kelihaiannya main gamelan bali di bali.... sounds cool.
Balik lagi ke cerita keliling kota, ya abis itu si temen kita itu pun nganterin kita ke terminal dan ke dorm *ini g* jam 6an... and that was the end of our sisterly gathering for today!
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