the Time Traveller

“Ikhlas”.
“Kuncinya ikhlas, Aisyah”, kata Fahri dalam film Ayat-Ayat Cinta

~Doeee AAC! :-).

A friend once told me to abandon fiction books as they let you drift away from the reality into each writer’s fantasy. I could not remember what was my response to the statement. I am guessing my response went along the line of a careless shrug or a meek smile.

Balance. That is the word. Even the yogis of India have known for centuries. They have divided their time between meditation, body-stretching, and worldly life. The yin yang symbol materializes the culmination of the ultimate balance. The white ellipsoid engulfed by the black ellipsoid. Each of them contains a dot of the other color. A complete neediness of its counterpart.

I personally think that everyone needs to pick up a fiction book once in awhile. Life needs imagination (in the right proportion). It is like when you ask a kid a question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” That exact question let the kid to wonder. What are the available possibilities. It led them to imagine various roles of life. An imagination that will turn into an aspiration. An aspiration that will let them to live their life to its fullest.

I finished up two books within the span of six days. It was a good dose after –what I called– a barren reading season. I had not taken up a single book in four months.

Eat Pray Love: One woman’s search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia (Elizabeth Gilbert)

Nothing works better than an oprah’s book club stamp. The stamp means only one thing: big bucks! It came to me as a no-surprise when I spotted the “#1 New York Times Bestseller” written on the book’s cover. Aside from the marketing commotion, the book is truly an enlightenment. The story of one woman’s journey to piece together her life after a bitter divorce. It may sound like a good story for a soap opera. But, –trust me– it does not resemble one bit to a collection of a big-girl’s whining. The book is so compelling because of its honest narration. The author did not only find back her soul at the end. she found what she wants, not what her ex-husband wants nor her relative wants nor her coworker wants. But, it is what she wants. She, her, hers.

The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)

I waited around four years before reading this book. It was not due to some cosmic or odd reasons. The book was never in the top list of my to-read books. The 2 euro price tag did the job. I grabbed a copy and ushered it into the cashier’s desk.
The story is centered around the murder of Suzie Salmon. The author chose an interesting narrator. A first person narration of the dead girl. It is like the narration in the desperate housewives (the serial). I particularly like the author’s style in spilling her stories. It is beautifully written.

***
I usually close off my book review with a quote. This is my favorite quote from these books:

I was with Luca the first time I ever tried eating the intestines of a newborn lamb …
“You don’t like it?” asked Luca, who loves the stuff.
“I bet Gandhi never ate lamb inestines in his life”, I said.
“he could have.”
“No, he couldn’t have, Luca. Gandhi was a vegetarian.”
“But vegetarian can eat this,” Luca insisted. “Because intestines aren’t meat, Liz. They’re just shit.”

HAHA!
Coincidentally, my favorite dish is the “gulai usus” (intestines curry). I wonder if Gandhi ever tasted it ;)

A new regiment of books is able to sooth even the most troubled upper east-side soul.

p.s. I found a great book store that caters for English readers. It even has a section for second-hand books: treasure hunt! It currently tops the list of my hang-out places ;)

Due dates for:
-final report
-presentation
-mini defense (why do they have to call it “mini defense”? It is such an intimidating word)
are … less than two weeks.

I am drowning … gulp gulp gulp drowning … gulp gulp

The weird thing is, no matter how many hours you’ve put into it or even nearly went nuts about it. The response was still “average”. How the heck did that happen?

At the end, I’ve tried my best. Well, in this case, I am still trying my best.
Study well, God willing, we will prevail.

~ego crushed
~berserah saja.

For those of you who dont know about tole, let me fill in the details.

Not so long time ago, Dewiy made a trip to Holland. I managed to inspire her to bring me something from Korea. Hee Hee. Well– to be fair– I did not aspire her to bring me only one thing. But, quite a few things =). That “quite a few things” includes this solar-panel-powered little boy that always shakes his head. It is super coooool! We named him Tole. (update: I am not sure if tole is a little boy now. I discovered that he grows his own flower! Maybe he is just a feminine little boy)

Tole and his identity crisis.

Tole sits on top of my computer desk, where he gets all the sunshine he needs. It is quite fun to watch him continuously shakes his head. But, Tole wasnt too happy. He wanted a friend.

Tole need not to wait for long. Uke was planning a one-month trip to Europe. She immediately knew what to bring. She knew what a little boy in a foreign country and a foreign owner needs: a familiar face. And that’s how gendhuk came to our life. A solar-panel-powered little girl that always nods.

Gendhuk came along

Tole and gendhuk are hanging out near the window

They are so right for each other. Whenever tole shakes his head, gendhuk immediatly follows it with a nod. If gendhuk starts to get weary, tole will tone down the speed of his shaking head. Until they both stay still after watching the sun set. Truly, they are MFEO.

Tole and gendhuk are doin’ their crazy thing (nodding and shaking heads)

p.s. thanks you uke & dewiy ^^;

Few days ago, I found myself flipping through the latest issue of wired (the magazine). It was quite an interesting issue. They ran the editorial titled “Blogging is so 2006″. They basically said to bloggers out there that we need to get out of our broken time machine, and start living in the “now”. Heuheu.

Apparently, blogging has been replaced by twitter, plurk, and the likes. It went on to state that the reason why blog will soon become obsolete because it is loosing its charm. The reason why blogging went big in 2006 was that it let the average joe to voice his opinion. It lets anyone to be their own journalist. Now, if you type anything in google, the top hits are dominated with wikipedia and big sites. Wired editors argue that as it gets harder for blog entries to be shown as top hits in internet searches, blogging will loose its essence. Why would you write something if no one will read it?

Well, wired can say anything they want. As for me, I dont really give a wack if no one reads my blog. I just like to keep record of what happens in my life. But, yeah we will see.

I have been feeling agonizing pain both in my fingertips and right elbow for the last three weeks. The pain used to creep up after continuous typing for one or two hours. It has been getting worse. Now, it only takes a maximum of 40 minutes of typing and using hands for me to actually start feeling pain. I’ve forced myself to take breaks. It helps a bit. But, it is such a hassle when you have a  zillion things to finish.

I have been toying with the idea of buying one of those Microsoft natural keyboards. They are still qwerty-style keyboards, but the keys are placed such that they follow your natural wrist alignment. The thing is, it is so big that it wont fit in my locker; and I am not willing to bring it back and forth to the lab every single day. So, I’m back again in square one. Though, I haven’t completely rule out the idea of buying the keyboard.

As for now, I try to “save” my hands as much as I can. I refrain myself from typing whenever it is not needed. No worry, I’ll save it for this blog too ;)

Remember, always have a good posture when working with the computer!

~beat RSI~

It took me awhile to recompose this entry. I came very close for not letting it go out of my draft folder. I was afraid on how would it come out. But, as someone who is learning to appreciate honesty, I will not hinder you from experiencing the full spectrum of my life. I think it is inimitable for one’s life to be always bubbly. That would be somewhat on the dull side. The core part of being human is having to experience every hues of emotions. Let it be the sweet and pinkish, all the way to gloomy and blackish. Absorbing and being conscious for each and every color changes, which makes you lively. It makes you human.

***

I certainly hope that I am someone that is easy to be acquainted with. At least, I’d like to think so. I don’t stick my nose up on other people’s business and I am highly uninterested on asking detailed questions on how others run their live. It should not be taken as being indifferent to others. I truly care about people around me. I am more than happy to be someone that you’d pour out your heart’s content to. But, I certainly will not make you do so. A more elaborate question than “how are you” should not be expected from me, unless it is hinted that you want me to plow in. That is what I call a boundary.

I uphold others’ boundaries as I expect others to uphold mine. I guess you can sense which of the two has been overly trespassed. In most cases, I managed to stay quiet and answered curtly. In some unfortunate times, a woman’s bitchiness was awakened. A bitchiness which was properly provoked and rightfully deserved. Of course, I would end up feeling guilty, which makes matters worse. The genuine remorse that nags you like a bad backache. As you are feeling pity and sorry for yourself, the trespasser(s) have been stomping their feet all over the lawn.

Therefore, I have invented what I termed as my 30-minutes rule, which says I only have a maximum of 30 minutes to chat up with people after the main purpose of the invitation is fulfilled. I observe that, after 30 minutes, the ‘catching up with each other’ s life’ conversation should be finished and one will start to resort to another kind of conversation. A kind of conversation that you will regret later. It is a struggle in itself to follow the rule. But, as they say, prevalence comes with the steadfastness.

As for the bitchiness, luckily, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. A recent article showed that women get less bitchy after 50.

Women become less bitchy as they get older, scientists claim. They say those aged 50 and over are more likely to warm to other females because they no longer see them as rivals.

As I am about halfway to 50, please bear with me ;)

Respect others! yaa!

p.s. If you are trying to forge a connection between the picture and the post, there isnt any. I just like the idea of putting pictures of food on my blog.

It is somewhat inherent of how well someone knows me in the way they refer to me

Tisha (What’s written on my birth certificate): People who doesn’t know me or someone whom I met in a formal setting.
Tisa (my childhood nickname): neighbors or schoolmates (those who know me a little bit better)
Sha (my nickname at home): family members, friends, relatives.

I generally prefer to be called either by Tisa or Sha. But, I wont mind that much if you call me by my birth name.

Funny Sign(s) 1*: The Barbar Shop
Place: within the 500 m perimeter of Masjidil Haram
When : 2006

I think we have finally solved the mystery that haunts our childhood memories. Now, we know why TVRI canceled Conan –an animated series titled Conan the Barbarian, which was run on TVRI during the early 90s–. Oh boy, didn’t he get quite a change of heart? He became a barber ….or… barbar ! It’s all good though.

Bring on those swords uh eh scissors!

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Notes on the category “Funny Signs”
I have been collecting intriguing signs or photos over the years. They are mostly kept in a personal travelogue. It is mandatory that they are enjoyed with a high dose of humor. No mockery or whatsoever is intended.