'TIS THE SEASON TO SLACK

Ah school is out :)
And it finally decided to snow today. Oh and by the way, I had some time on my hands last night...



Wasted cartridges and a ream of paper designing this. Hoping that somehow the design can compensate for the band's performance :p

I also included a note along with this DVD I'm sending to my mum:
"Ada sumbang banyak, so next time I can't kutuk Akademi Fantasia with you guys anymore :/"

That aside, I have an english paper due on the 20th, and I have yet to decide on a topic to write about. I'm pretty sure there's a reason why it's due a week from now, but I think I will finally figure that out during one of my panic attacks, hopefully at least 3 days before the paper is due. Old habits die hard, I hear.

The good news is though, that I will have 3 weeks worth of acting the goat (for those familiar with Prof. Calculus of Tintin *wink*) and fooling around doing nothing.

Baa.

GEMPITAFEST!!!

I have a bad history of screwing up whenever I'm on stage, but this must've been the funnest one yet! :D

The Malaysian students over at University of Michigan hosted this year's Battle of the Bands. It was a grand event and I must say, the students here are all so very talented :) Hats off!

Anyway, we CMUans (or is it CMUites?), apart from Amir, aren't the most musically inclined. But in the spirit of joining the event (and making fools of ourselves :p) we decided to put together a band and perform. So for 3 Saturdays we would gather in Amir's room and jam away til the wee hours, much to the horror of the fourth floor residents of Fairfax Apartments.

Oh, and our band name? The Mellons! (I had nothing to do with it, I swear.)

First picture, from l-r: me (vocals, guitar), Amir (guitar, bass, drums), Apis (guitar, vocals), Samah (bass, guitar) and Lan (drums, vocals)

Pictures courtesy of Mike Ng, Usamah and Mazran.

The Mellons at Gempitafest 2004!

On the day itself we were a nervous wreck, specially since we were the first to perform. But once on stage, it was fun (even though I played all the wrong chords and sang out of tune. Suara siap pecah-pecah lagi tu :p Then again, I think, I was slightly better than Lan :p huhuhu)! And the crowd was really supportive :D

The other bands were awesome. These people are just born to be rockstars, I tell you! It was a memorable night for me and it was all so very well organized.

Yes, we had fun alright and it was nice to finally be able to get away from schoolwork and meet friends. Alhamdulillah, we got to Michigan and back safely too (thanks to the drivers, yah!). Oh, and here's an awesome picture of Samah banging away to Suicidal Dreams. Hahaha!

Kudos to all the Gempitafest crew and my highest respect to all who performed that night :)
Also to Mike Ng of UMich who took such wonderful pictures ;)

...And of course to my fellow Mellons: Amir, Apis (your goreng was awesome :D), Samah and Lan \('0')/

ORGY WEEKEND

We had a raya party last Saturday. I stayed up all night cooking with my roommate Ksyu (like the nut), and didn't get to hit the tub til after the first guests arrived. About 20-30 people showed up and we ended up having a great time, though of course being host you don't get to pig out with the rest.

At about 4pm, in the midst of all the people standing around with paper plates, I checked my e-mail. Purely out of duty rather than habit. And of course, I would have expected nothing less from my groupmates: "Meeting at 5pm. Bring laptops for coding session." So I excused myself from my party and headed out, cursing my Inbox and wishing the e-mail had never been invented.

Then again, we ended up having cheese and chocolate fondue instead. Yep, a fondue orgy it was. Don then suggested that we should have a beer party. To which somebody said, "But Yazmin doesn't drink" and to which I replied, "Hoho, but I can watch you guys drink". I figure I could get them to do stupid stuff whilst they drown themselves in alcohol. Muahahah.

That night we had a jamming session and I showed up half an hour late with cheese and chocolate stains on my t-shirt.

Oink.

RAYA AND ITS ROTTING EVIDENCE

The sink is piled up with rock-hard rendang, day-old laksa bubbling up and that foul smelled slab of something red (ayam masak merah, probably?). It's maybe about time to roll up the sleeves, clean up and brave those regular days where food is not abundant nor rotting in the house...

The end is near and I can smell the sweet sweet scent of graduation scrolls locked up in President Cohen's metal locker. Thanksgiving is the final hurdle I need to face this semester (on a lighter note, I have two major systems to deliver too, but that's not important...) and I'm hoping to God please, please, please don't make me cook that dratted turkey again.

For three years running I have spent Thanksgiving day with either a burning or an over-basted turkey sogging away in the oven. Those turkeys you see on telly are fake: they don't always turn out all nice and golden like in movies. You'd be surprised to see the many ways they can look like at the end of the day. I shan't go into details. And yes, feel free to doubt my cooking skills now :p

This year I hope to sit back and priss over some other unfortunate lass/lad. Hopefully I'll get to pass my culinary wisdom ("Baste every half an hour", "Don't let the turkey swim in its juice or the bottom won't be crisp", "Leave the legs tied together", "Fetch me another glass of juice, will ya?"...).

It's nice how all the holidays are crammed together: Deepavali, Raya, Thanksgiving, Christmas. It reminds you how much you have to do in order to have a little fun and then end up a) not being able to celebrate because of all the work piling up b) not finishing your assignment or studying for an exam that'll be counted 50% towards your final grade. Celebrations give new meaning when you're rushing to meet deadlines and then forcing yourself to have fun just to make up for all that hard work you had to do. Then of course there's that guilty pleasure you enjoy and the lengthy argument you have with yourself the next day to justify that these holidays come once a year.

Ah, to be back in high school when catching up meant studying the night before exams ;)

p/s: Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir Batin!

GEEK FACTOR 10

Somehow along the course of the semester, my groupmates and I seem to have lost our vocal chords. We spent our meeting sitting across each other communicating through AIM. Either that, or turning away from the monitor has become a strenous task. We spooked a fellow IS major when he entered the room and saw all of us sitting in a circle without speaking to each other, silently tapping away at our keyboards.

We've finally decided that all meetings should, from this point onwards, be done this way.

It was also weird how Bruce couldn't communicate with us given that he was in the room too. Maybe it was because he didn't have his laptop with him?

[21:52] dmosites: what's up buddy
[21:52] toadiemon: he can't hear us???
[21:52] toadiemon: wtf?
[21:52] yazmin1701: aww hes not replying
[21:52] dmosites: wtf mate?!?
[21:52] KimInGroup8: Yeah.
[21:52] toadiemon: bruce???
[21:52] toadiemon: BRUCE?!?!?!
[21:52] saplee8: BRUCE!

...??

BLOODY MOON

...any excuse to use vulgarities...

We stood on the roof of fairfax apartments and got a clear view of the lunar eclipse. Amazingly the sky was clear and the moon shown really bright. Earth's shadow started creeping around 9:20-ish and we stood there making comments about the wonders of nature. Yeah, it was pretty uneventful, save that of the phenomenon unfolding above us, and yeah we did get a little bored (someone left the roof to go play PS :p). But it was a nice moment just sitting there watching the sky and doing absolutely nothing. An hour of craning my neck to see the moon turn red? Totally worth it.

It must have been the longest I've ever been away from my laptop :)

TIDES ARE IN...

Apart from the confusing weather, a lot in my life has been confusing lately. Monday, Tuesday..eh? eh? it's Monday again, you say?

These past few weeks have been a mixture of programming, apple cobblers and data diagrams. It's all very well, but I am also torn between being the grumpy senior i should very well be and actually enjoying these last couple of months as a student. I emailed Kim last night in the midst of debugging my brain: "Kim I couldn’t sleep last night thinking abt your apple cobbler. Can I have the recipe please please pretty please?" and it may be a sign of utter craziness overtaking my faculties.

I also stood outside in the cold for a whole half hour late last evening, waiting for an eclipse due tonight.

It must be the alignments of the planets...

DRUNKEN MASTER MONKEY

Jayce disrupted the class on Monday. Made a commotion about not having a place to sit and then telling Stephanie off for having too much elbow room ("You! Yeah, you! You moved like, not at all. Thanks a lot!").

The rest of us were confused more than anything else. Morning classes rarely spares us the surprise of any event, save that of people trickling in 10 minutes late. So yeah, we were pretty shocked.

So Jayce starts whispering to the girl next to him, who in turn looks like she's squirming in her seat but is trying to humor a psychological child killer. Apparently he wasn't quite finished aiming daggers at Steph.

15 minutes into the lesson, Jayce slips off his chair and falls onto the floor unconscious faster than you can say "John & John!". We're all a little surprised, then start looking at each other, giggling.

One of two things:
1. Jayce was on some sort of medication/some large dose of valium gone wrong for his relief of skeletal muscle spasm and tremor suffered through cerebral palsy
OR
2. Jayce was drunk

Professor Cramer continued class and we all left him in his vegetative state, no doubt dreaming of chasing rabbits in lush green meadows.

NEW VENTURES

Has it really been a month? Strangely, I'm still enjoying myself this semester. Normally the excitement wears off near the second week of school. Fishy, fishy :)

Had my official meeting with Ken the tech guy yesterday to get things sorted out. First day at work was ok. But now i have to re-read my JAVA notes and brush up on my programming, though I doubt I'd be doing anything that tough. I'm still a little scared. Then again I can't complain: who else gets to do work related to their major and at the same time with the Language Department :)

Pittsburgh is getting chilly. It's that time of year. Two weeks ago Kim and I made dinner at her place. We made fish with stir-fried veggies (what else? :p) and baked potatoes. I must say it was really yummy. Plus it was fun going to the supermarket to choose the fish. But nothing beats the wet, smelly pasars back at home :)

Ah, to have a serving of ikan bawal putih...

Oh, and by the way, I saw Metallica last week :)

I XINGHUA. I KICK YOUR ASS.

We spent Sunday cooped up in PH217 to finalize Milestone 1. But we weren't only equipped with laptops and use cases - Alex brought his Xbox yeargh!

We started the meeting with Alex and Don killing each other off in SoulCalibur. After much concentration and vigor, we all took a break eating Chinese takeout and fortune cookies. It was well after an hour before we started anything on our phase report.

Then we were all brain-drained and Sam had a serious attack of gaming-deficiency. It was pretty chronic since he had been away from his CounterStrike for almost 12 hours. So we all took a well deserved break and began kicking each other's asses again.

It was dark out when our meeting adjourned. Eventhough we were exhausted, it was clearly a productive meeting.

EH?

Exactly my thoughts about the first week of school :p Things are going full steam ahead, too soon for my liking. But it's either that or being left behind wallowing over summer's past.

We've had meetings just about everyday with our clients. Not such a bad thing since they treat us to pizza and drinks :) But as early as 9:30 in the morning? So much for showing up in professional attire. PJs and bunny slippers will have to do :p

CASTLES MADE OF SAND...

That's how my holidays appear to be like...But no regrets :) I've had one hell of a time this summer. And I think I would be as bold as to say that this may have been the best ;)

I fly back this evening at 10:45PM, my tummy fiercely protesting the airline food we are bound to be served tonight. But i guess it'll be singing a different tune once we arrive in Pitt and all I can feed it is my own cooking :p

I can't believe another summer has come and gone. And now i'm left to ponder about what the final two semesters have in store for me. Torture, no doubt. Professor Mertz emailed me a couple of days back and offered a job with the TechBridgeWorld project. It consists of database management, naturally, and i am very much tempted. But with my final year ahead of me and a major project to look forward to (whee..), i think it might be best to turn the offer down :( I hope such an offer will present itself to me next Spring when I am much more available *crosses fingers*

So, today I fly back. Arrive, Sunday. Senior project meeting, Monday. A little preview of what's to come, eh? :p

But at least I know that I had a holiday well spent :) And that I had an awesome last couple of days :D

Plus it helps to know that i have a box of sand, somewhere...

A WRITER'S REWARD...

...is seeing his/her first by-line printed on paper :)

SUMMER SHOOT

Couldn't bring my SLR since it was too bulky :( But mum had her camera handy and we shot about 9 rolls of film.

Dig in :)

Eastern Europe Tour

FINAL STRETCH...

Home sweet home! Where rice is abundant and the meat is halal :) Also where the curry smell sticks to your hand and the chilli is actually hot.

Travelling eastern europe was a blast. 15 days crossing borders and encountering various cultures and languages. Thank god for the Euro.

We had a German tour guide and a Belgium driver, and lots and lots of Ozzies, Brits and Americans. Apparently the culture sampling began right there :)
Ute, our tour guide, imparted much knowlegde on us all and made the entire trip a living history. Stories of Kings and Queens, empires and wars made the whole journey much more eventful. I can hardly even begin to relate back all the places and people I have met and leanrt of.

The last 2 days were spent in London where we busied ourselves car-boot shopping and walking through Oxford Street (keyword being 'walking through' :p). You can't help but love London with their small roads and small cars that fit about 4 to 5 people the size of rugby players. Simply amazing :)

Am still a little pooped from all the travelling. But happy, all the same :)

You can travel to the edge of the world, meet all the people that make up this crazy place we call earth, and still find yourself happiest when you're back at home.

Long live Malaysia ;)

EUROPEAN ESCAPADE

'Tis the season to travel!

Tonight I'll be off for an 18-day-tour around the imperial capitals of Europe. I'm so excited but so far I've been able to compose myself and not get too carried away. I think it's starting to kick in though and I really can't wait any longer :)

We'll be visiting London, and then from there head off to Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republik. Maybe France if time permits. But my budget may disagree. Truth be told, I think I've reached a financial cul de sac :p

Well, au revoir all and hope everyone enjoys their holidays! Pray I get their safe and return here with goodies and tons to tell :)
Muahs!

TO THE STARS AND BACK...

My, my how time does fly...

Last week was a wicked ride. I finally completed my Delia Smith piece (due to come up the week of August the 2nd, ladies and gents..) and I also actually interviewed...hold your horses everybody...a cosmonaut! Hell yeah. And who says astronauts only exist on your tv screen :p

It was awesome - except for the fact that I was having a bad case of "runny-nose-dripping-all-over-my-face" flu. But like a true intern, I braved the flu and went on on this intergalactic task of interviewing Colonel Yuri Gidzenko.

I am proud to say that this time around I was a lot more sane and did not stutter at all. I was composed and calm. I was Cool Yazmin. Yazmin the Journalist. Yazmin the Oh-So-Cool Journalist. *grin*

It also helped that this Russian fella wasn't exactly a linguist and English wasn't his mother tongue. So naturally I was a lot more confident and conducted the interview somewhat professionally (with the occasional sniffs, poor me). He was a warm character, I must add, and we had a few laughs during our little session. Russians are funny. In a nice kind of way :)

The Cosmonaut Edpisode was fun and if it weren't for my flu, I would have been celebrating on table tops that night. Unfortunately the flu took over and soon enough I was sprawled on my bed. Two days straight. I developed rashes and went frantic for awhile when my mum (always the all-knowing doctor :) ) suggested it was measles. So the next day we went to the hospital to get my blood checked, just to see if it was dengue. Funnily enough, as soon as we stepped out of the hospital, the rashes magically disappeared.

Hmmm....

Anyway, so at least it got me out of work. Not that I wanted to (work is so fun!). But I did get enough rest. Only three weeks into this journalism field and already I am starting to feel the exhaustion of being in the frontline. And my tasks aren't even half as hard or demanding as Cheryl's or Sheila's. Who says writing is easy?

After the fading of the mysterious rashes, I was back on my feet and at work. How I missed the Zoo and the other ladies. Seriously, The Edge is the best place to hang out :)

Come Saturday, I went to my first squash match. I honestly didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Unfortunately Nicole lost to some other lass. This has happened before, and I'm wondering if I bring bad luck...

Anyway, after all that, now I'm finally in my final week here at The Edge. It's rather sad and yet I know that somehow it's not exactly the end. Don't ask me the end of what, for I surely can't elaborate. It's just that somehow I feel this is probably the beginning of something more interesting for me. And I'm very much happy :)

But for now, I'm coming to the end of this little chapter of my 3-month-summer. And as much as I feel I have almost reached the stars, I know it's time to fly back down for awhile and get on with college.

Life is full of fun :)

ARTICLES, DELIA SMITH, AND AN INTERESTING SATURDAY AFTERNOON

A week with The Edge and I'm starting to feel the pressures of deadlines and interviews. The first week, I was given the task of preparing the Markets section of Options (which will be out tomorrow for the week of July 19th :)). Though it's nothing huge - just 2 short articles "selling" some products and a 500+ word story on juggling careers and parenting - I'm still pretty psyched; my very first byline :D
 
The next excitement was that I attended a pretty posh launching of a well-known beauty product. It was a modest affair with only a couple of journalists from 6-8 selected newspapers. I came home with a goody bag and some serious reconsideration of my current major :p I was later told by Cheryl that they travel a number of places each year, with Switzerland being an annual visit, in order to cover stories. If that's not enough, they actually get a lot of stuff from the launchings they attend. Think Louis Vuitton and Chanel. Drool...
 
Then came my major assignment: I was to interview Delia Smith: national icon, bestselling cookery author and director of Norwich City Football Club. I might as well have entered myself into Fear Factor and chugged a bucket of snails. So great was my fear. However, I came out of the interview in one piece, though my interview notes are another story (I kept forgetting to jot down what she said). And as much as I'd like to brag that I conducted the interview like a natural, I actually froze a couple of times and stuttered like an old jalopy ("S-So h-ho-ho-how, er wh-wh-what inspires you?"). Sheila saved me many a time, filling in the awkward silences that followed when my mind went blank. Oh the agony (Kill me somebody, kill me now). Sheila told me not to kick myself too hard since it was, after all, my first interview. It was indeed a great experience; priceless some might say. And acting a fool in front of Sheila and Delia was actually a decent price to pay.

A WANNABE'S WRITING STINT

As soon as I arrived home, I felt elated that I had a whole 3 months to neglect my brains and stuff my face with real food. But come the second week of hols, I couldn't stand it; it was too dull to stay home, too quiet, and it didn't help that I spent the first weeks shopping with mum all day buying stuff out of pure lust.

So I distributed my writing portfolio and resume to a couple of magazine/newspaper publishers. I figured that since I'd propably be coding for the rest of my life (oh joy..), this would be the only chance for me to try my hand at journalism/publishing.

The Asian Wall Street Journal offered me a 1-week stint and The Edge offered me a month with their paper. I chose the latter mainly because The Edge is well-known locally to the corporate world and because I needed that whole month to occupy myself and the fact that the words 'Wall Street Journal' (brrr...) scares me a little: I wanted to settle on something a little lighthearted and a little less technical. Besides, their HQ is in Hong Kong, so I probably wouldn't get to see the entire workings of a published newspaper.

Upon arriving at The Edge, I was greeted by Ms. Alicia who handled all the formalities which consisted of me signing some documents stating I had to keep company secrets to myself (heh heh heh...no I promise I will, Brownie's honours!). Then I was brought on a tour around the building(s). Apparently they had read my writing portfolio and figured I was best suited at the lifestyle section of The Edge called Options.

No more than 2 minutes had passed as I sat at my desk when a lady came over. She introduced herself as Maryanne and stood there talking with me for awhile. The name struck a chord but I wasn't sure. Then I asked, "Maryanne? You're Maryanne Tan?!?" For the first time in journalism history I was star-struck. I have read her columns before and here she was standing by my desk chatting away about something (I was only half listening because I was flabbergasted). Looking like an overeager amateur writer wannabe, I instantly bombarded her with questions and advice. Maryanne was so nice to actually answer me well and bear my eternal smile I was wearing (so much like an idiot's that by the time the conversation ended, my face was aching).

The entire crew for Options consists of only 3 beautiful ladies: Surinda the Editor, Sheila whose forever jetlagged, the poor thing and Cheryl the sweet and zesty. I finally met them around 10-ish and we all went to grab a drink at the cafe. Surinda had to run some errands before she could head out with us so she told Sheila, "I'll meet y'all at the zoo".
Light dawned when we reached the cafe: above the door was a sign that said FinancialZoo. Oh what fun it was when I found out that staff could have all the coffe, tea or milo they want and all the ice-cream they could eat!

As I sat there with my pelangi Paddle-Pop listening to Surinda talk about assignments and interviews and explaining that they normally come in to work at 10am (you don't say..), I knew that this was the best job ever...

ANOTHER LIFE BEGINS :)

A new niece! Congratulations Angah and Kak As (and Marsya) :)