...

"What's that?"
"Milk."
"Why's it say 'experiment'?"
"So nobody'll drink it."

LOST IN OHIO

i think i'm ready to be rich now.

you see, i have my eyes on a powerbook. it's not something i need. no. not at all. but it's something i really really want. mainly because it's cool. rich people get cool stuff they don't need all the time. which is why i should be rich.

something awful happened on saturday. i went to watch the Sixers play against the Cleveland Cavaliers. We went all the way to Ohio to watch it. it was bad enough that we were surrounded by cavaliers fans, so that we couldnt cheer that much for the Sixers. I'm sure they would have let us, but then again i dont think it was worth getting beaten up for.

and of course the Sixers had to lose that day.

the game ended pretty much around 1030. and the two and a half hour trip back didnt sound that bad since i planned on sleeping anyway. however, the bus driver drove WEST FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF before someone realized that we heading further into ohio rather than heading back home to pittsburgh. what was that all about???!! getting lost is fine, but driving in the opposite direction altogether????!!

so, we ended up taking about 4 hours to reach pittsburgh instead. the best part of the entire journey was when we stopped to eat, only to find that Wendy's doesn't have fish sandwich. So Lan and I pigged on 2 large fries each. i am so close to being a full-time vegetarian.

oh well, it was still an interesting experience. now if someone asks me for a funny story at least i have something to tell. i'm sure a lot of people are tired with my knock-knock jokes anyway :p

BASKETBALL TREAT

i wonder how long a person can be deprived of sleep before they finally crack up and become insane? i know i'm most certainly heading there :p

it's 838am on a saturday and i've been up since 3am. programming, naturally. it's probably not as hard as i make it to be, but then again programming is not something im best at.

i code by my window and it's quite a pleasant thing being able to see the day turn from dusk to night to dawn. i miss the chirping sounds that use to accompany the turn of a new day. obviously the birds are busy packing up to fly south now. it's still a bearable kind of cold. but soon i know i'll be putting on sweaters on top of sweaters and be walking around like a multicolored sack of potatoes. who says winter isnt colorful?

i cant wait for the afternoon to arrive though. i'm heading off to watch a basketball game. woohoo! of course there's the dreaded program i have to trudge over before and after the game. whoop-dee-doo.

so, apparently Idd thinks i am evil. heh heh heh. i have somehow managed to lure her into buying stuff that she most probably doesnt need. i gave her a link to this coat i liked a couple of days back. and she ended up browsing through the net looking for one too. she ended up buying one, while I, didnt get anything. nyahaha, my work is done. Idd girl, have some self control. muahahahahhaa (evil laughter).

to nabe, i love you dearly!! thanks so much for the chicken pie recipe :D. i'll let you kno how it turns out (when i finally do get down to doing it of course :p)

amir, happy birthday!

oh and by the way, i'd like to introduce everyone to some new-comers: my mentor from IBM, Encik Hasan, and of course, Irfan.

take care all, and enjoy the remaining days of this holy month :)

TIME GOES ON...

sorrow is such an agonizing emotion. it's puzzling how it can exhaust both mind and body. the past few days have been filled with confusion as i still try to comprehend the tragic event. yet i would be lying if i were to say i am not envious of the two arwahs, for they are surely blessed. (Al-Fatihah).

it is snowing outside, much to my amusement. it's sunny and the wind is blowing at 28mph. almost seems like all the seasons are playing up today. if i had less work and more time i would just sit outside and feel the wind against my cheeks. then again it's too comfy in my chair, now that i've warmed it up.

it's a busy day out there and i am enswathed in indolence. i darent puzzle over what tomorrow brings me.

one thing's for sure though: life is ephemeral, time is incessant, God is eternal.


... and programming is due on Sunday.

AL-FATIHAH

Al-Fatihah to nanim and teh of Michigan.

MOTLEY CREW

there's an interesting mix of people in my photography class: there's andrew the architecture student with his precise and "Architecture Digest" cover pictures. Amul who photographs models (and body parts...hmmm), mark the almost-pro who has only like 4 or 5 SLR cameras, jeremiah the CMU CS graduate who left IBM to study law (what's up with that?), and of course dear ruth, the sweet grandmother who snaps photos of her pregnant daughter-in-law, puppies, little muppets and baskets of fruits :)

the perfect motley crew.


btw, does anyone agree with me that Vinnie Jones is the next Arnold Schwarzeneggar?

SHORTLIVED SURPRISE

how bizarre!

i thought i was late for class this morning. it was exceedingly hard to leave my bed today since i actually did wake up at 5 for sahur. however i did get to class at a reasonable time.

just as everyone was settling in their seats, craig comes in, makes small talk, lets alison announce her charity event held tonight (where KJ summarized it to be somewhat of a "don't give a man a fish, teach him to fish" and where jason replied "dont give a man a duck, teach him to duck") and finally tells us,

"Since it's a nice day outside, I don't think we should be sitting inside. Which is why i'm giving you the day off"

yay! now i can... study... for tomorrow's test?!

AN I.S. EVENING

here we are, a bunch of IS majors sitting in front of our laptops frantically coding away before 11pm. On a Sunday too :(

kate, alex and i are examples of where bad things happen to good people. this project is due tonight and since any other 2 heads are better than mine, i managed to drag kate to The Underground and work on it. eventually i got alex to join. i should be a negotiator.

we still have 6 hours of grueling coding to do.

thank god for all the fries and chocolate mousse bombs.

KATE'S CREATION AND MINE

i'm in class right now and kate is sitting infront of me crocheting a blanket. at the rate she's going, she just might make it in time for christmas :)

later.



my first contact sheet on lines and implied lines

DANCING GOATS

mff was a success, as always :D
thanks all!

as a result of activities preceding the event, i slept as soon as i got home and woke up late. it was 1030am when i gained consciousness, and it was 15 minutes after that it registered to me i had to be in class. i hopped in the shower, gathered my notes and rushed to melwood - arriving an hour late without my student card.

i stayed making contact sheets til 1pm and at 330 Jen picked me up. We headed to Dancing Goats to do some coding and Jen had to bring me home before we could finish because I was starting to fall asleep.

on an entirely different note, online shopping is so convenient that i have to wonder: if it didn't exist, would i have ended up with half the stuff i already have?

THE DARKROOM

i am ecstatic between having too much caffeine and having successfully developed my film.

melissa, paul, chris and i met up at the darkroom. why 4 people? well it helps to have moral support. especially since there's a high tendency to mess things up with the chemicals and all that good stuff.

i am not a fan of being in the dark, and that's what unloading your film entails (hence the term 'darkroom' if you havent figured that out). you basically lock yourself in a room and immerse yourself in total darkness. darkness in which your eyes wont adjust to over time and the type where it wont make any difference whether you close or open your eyes. i got a bit dizzy and am curious how a claustophobic would deal with this.

the trick is to visualize everything you're doing in your head. at this point your touch senses is all that counts. so you unload your film (after having cracked open the film roll out of the cartridge with a can opener), wind it onto the reel, and place it in your tank. all in the dark.

the chemicals are tricky. i had no idea things had to be so precise. and the measurement is nerve wrecking - the chemicals even have to be at a certain temperature to react properly to the film. you literally need a stopwatch for this and keep the rhythm of your agitation. it's hard work i tell you. i feel i should just quit and do an MBA (NOT!!!!)

anyhoo, after all that stuff you dry the negative film (which hopefully if you did it right, there'll be pictures on them). i freaked out because i couldnt see mine immediately. but they showed up after awhile :D

and all that took 2 hours.

all worth it :)

SACRED MARRIAGE

a couple of days ago KJ started talking about her fiance/boyfriend. which obviously brought about the topic of marriage.

to which jason retorted,

"I think marriage is sacred. That's why I'm not doing it."

hmm.

SUMMER CRUMBS

the days have adopted an annoying habit of running into each other i barely have time to distinguish one week from the next. it's already been a month and i'm shocked. fall is creeping up on us and yet people still insist on wearing the thinnest of fabrics and flowers still want to act all pretty like it's summer. time definitely has a personality and currently it's toying with us all.

i've been kept busy with plenty of things. it's been fun grading assignments, but the mass emailing which comes after is pretty challenging.

also had my first taste of film developing last week. we made photograms with the enlarger and played a bit with chemicals.

but right now i need to finish something i've put off just to update.
enjoy what's left of summer!

A NEW DAY

Kiva Han is hiring new people.
John bought the shop beside Kiva, formerly a small ornamental store called History with funky crafts and such. So Kiva'll be expanding to the corner of South Craig and now John's adding more food to the currently caffeinated menu. All vegan of course :)




Starbucks is moving right across the street, by the way.

SUPERSTAR

i am finally a superstar! heheh....

Computimes, 28 Aug 2003 - IBM Hosts Seminar

btw, you can click on the picture for the full article

DEAR OL' SCHOOL

i reached dear ol' pittsburgh at almost 5pm on sunday. my baggage was late. it's so annoying that all the other bags before yours circle the conveyer belt a million times with noone ever claiming them. if only they had the decency to make the walk from the airplane to the baggage claim longer - then by the time you reach it your bag would most probably be there already. the perfect illusion for efficiency you see.

anyway, i got to my apartment at around 7ish pm and was pooped out of my wits. class the next day was at 930am so i was pretty much asking for trouble. all my classes this semester start way too early for my liking.

first class was Writing In The Professions. Apparently most were IS juniors so it was nice to see familiar faces. it ended around 11 so i slept as soon as i got back and woke up at 9pm. today was worse. class was at 9am. the good thing was that it was an IS class i've been itching to start taking. so it was worth it. but i'm actually waiting for tomorrow; tomorrow's the day i get to know if i can get into the Writing and Photography: Magazine Writing and Journalism class. keep your fingers crossed yah!

oh and by the way, say hello to the new 70643 Teaching Assistant!!!

ME THE HANDYMAN

got a delightful surprise this morning when nabe called. thanks lots :) and sorry to cut you off real fast but today i became the handyman and helped dad polish the masonry at the porch. tomorrow it's light bulbs. anyhoo, it was pretty fun polishing, and the water repellant acryllic did make the floor shine. so all that crouching and squatting paid off.

so now i'm half-way through packing (that's a lie. i'm putting it off til tomorrow) and this is when the grief settles in. but i guess i'll enjoy it while it lasts.

anyway, if anyone needs their tiles/masonry polished...you know who to call ;p

SO LONG, AND THANKS TO THE ELEPHANT

today was my last day. and what better way to end such a wonderful experience with a grand event at Sheraton Imperial.

I finally had to return my Industrial Trainee badge; but they let me keep the neck cord. yay!

anyway, it was rather sad when i had to say my goodbyes and i'd like to thank all IBMers and a couple of MINDEF people whom i met during my involvement with the Thought Leadership Seminar held this morning. But most of all i think i had the most fun with my sector (listed right off the top of my head so excuse me for leaving out any names): Pn Khairi, En Hasan, En Jasni (nice voice by the way), En Nizam (for recommending me Arthur C. Clarke!), En Rauf, Kak Ha, Kak Shafini, Kak Rozaidah, Nadia, Pn Faridah, En Radzi, En Hafiz (who i talked to only once but whose advice i really appreciate), and of course the entire 3A floor!!!

sigh. as much as i feel that this holiday surely was a short one, i think its the most rewarding yet :)

also, en hasan recommended i post the speech i drafted for Dato' Suriah. This isn't the final version, but it is the original that i wrote for her and the one she read with a few modifications. don't be too hard on me though, since this is my maiden speech for such a huge event :)

Establishing Security as a Business Enabler

THE END OF GOOD DAYS

Boy oh boy it's been one hectic ride of a summer. a rollercoaster experience, if i may say so myself.
And all of it to end by next saturday :( (sobs!)

well, my days at IBM will end soon enough. it's only been a month and i'd been told that i wouldn't get much out in 30 days. but actually i've gained quite a lot than i had imagined and all of them are undoubtedly precious experiences. I'm also proud to announce that this morning, at a seminar on Infosecurity organized by IBM, Dato' Suriah, Deputy Secretary General I of the Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia, had used the speech I drafted out!

so...tuesday shall officially conclude my internship. boo-hoo. lots of fun, and even more lessons learnt. more on that on tuesday though (i hate goodbyes).

I had to write a report after the completion of Lou Gerstner's book - requested by En Hassan. I'll post that up later I suppose. However, I do have one essay currently written based on my encounter with a lady. Do read it. I'm not giving away the story, so let's just say it's a tribute to all the mothers out there - but specifically those mums who sacrifice their jobs for us :)

The World's Most Noble Job

WHO SAYS ELEPHANTS CAN'T DANCE?

It's my second week and i've been presented with a great gift from my mentor. I would not have looked twice had i come across this book two weeks earlier, but now that i've learned more about IBM, it's culture and most of all, it's history and turnaround, i find this a business bible with all the answers to any business plight (and god knows IBM has faced many of these).

Already ive been exposed to many new subject matters and concepts which without this internship i probably would not have been familiar with until later. I had the opportunity to sit in a press conference on Grid Computing and meet many interesting people during lunch breaks. Apart from that, i also get to indulge in information inaccessible to me had i not become an IBMer (i know my status as an IBMer is temporary, but what the heck, i'll use it as often as i can til this is all over :D). Which also reminds me of the fact that i currently have an IBM email add. nyahahaha. (and a security card to boot :p)

IBM aside, my brother returns this thursday. i can't wait to see him, kak azi and of course my darling nephews. We'll finally be a whole family again soon and it's these rare moments that make all the waiting worthwhile.

Inspirational words from En Hasan:

"To Yazmin the leader,

May God's blessings be upon you
May His peace abide with you
May his presence illuminate your heart
Now and forever more

So be it"