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"

STEPPING OUT OF THE RAIN AND INTO THE CORPORATE WORLD

Apparently, here it is not called "internship", but instead has a much more fancier name. Now when people give me the "who-the-heck-are-you?" look, i don't tell them i'm an intern; i tell them i am "under industrial training". Hah!

Today was mighty interesting though. Except for the part where I had to wake up at 6am and head out the house in a rush to beat the traffic. I ended up skipping breakfast and have mum call dad up (numerous times) in the car to ask if i had everything i needed. She also conveniently reported that i had left my pen on her bed. It turned out that i had not remembered to pack a pen anyway, so how could i have left that one on her bed.

Anyway, despite the stupid rain, I reached IBM at 8:15am only to realize I had no card to enter the office. But it didn't matter much because En. Hasan showed up soon enough, and 5 minutes later we picked up Mrs. Veronica Ong and were on our way to MSC for my first meeting ever.

We arrived at MSC 10 minutes late due to the downpour, but naturally we weren't the last to show up. I had been briefed by En. Hasan about the meeting. As i was only present to observe the meeting, i wasn't terribly worried. However i was afraid that i would nod off and start to snore gently. After all, when was the last time i had participated in anything scheduled at 9.30 in the morning?? Upon entering the meeting room, being the observant person that i am, the first thing i saw were the plates of meehoon goreng; neatly arranged along with bottled water, cups and saucers and pieces of cakes. I asked Mrs. Ong if all meetings were like this - to which she replied with a laugh (evil, to my ears :( ) and a final shake of her head.

Not surprisingly I had to pinch myself to keep awake. But i did get some note-taking done. Back in Damansara during lunch, En. Hasan discussed the meeting with me. It was interesting that i was given the chance to relay my perspective on the meeting. Nicer still, i was able to experience first hand the do's and don'ts of chairing a meeting. Books might have described it similarly, but nothing beats sitting smack in the middle of one.

The weather seemed to be saying stay-in-bed-with-all-the-covers-on. But despite that, it was a great day.

LONDON PICTURES

been back for almost a week now. i've been sleeping at 6am and having midnight snacks with my sis and mum at 2am for the past few days. and i'm still thinking in dollars.

anyway, naturally i have loads to tell but not enough energy to tell it. jet lag you see. but i've uploaded photos from london (yay!) so go see those first.

i have a meeting tomorrow in which i hope to become an intern at IBM. wish me luck yah :D ! also, i've finally started my OCR job which is basically doing stuff on my lappy and sending stuff back to my employer through email. how cool is that. heh :)

oh and before i forget, check out my sister's new website. really cute ;). also read her entry on her encounter with The Cockroach :p

well i better get some sleep. it's 4:30am and breakfast is not til another 4 hours.

Nottingham: Of Pretty Sceneries and Domestic Animals
Madame Tussauds: The Land of Famous Wax
Hamley: The Land of Toys, Toys, Toys!
London Streets: Part I
London Streets: Part II

LONDON BABY!

i'm in london and my sister just received her master's :)

anyway, i finally get to see all the places on the monopoly board again :p

catcha later! toodles!!

FAMILIAR ROADS

hey-ho

...another 7 hours til i leave for home!! whee!!! i can't believe that another year has passed and here i am waiting to go home to see my family again :D

the room is now empty except for a couple of stuff lying around waiting to be packed after i'm all set to head out. i know this might sound crazy (and totally unnecessary) but i feel a teensy bit sad leaving pittsburgh. it is, in some ways, home to me. i've grown fond of the place and it's just so nice to be around familiar faces everyday as i walk to school. like Vera who's always sitting in her chair at the lobby in fairfax, and the little Tibetan old lady who sits at the stair to her shop with her prayer beads, and John who owns kiva at the end of south craig. it's true that routine can be a bore. but it also makes you comfortable. i guess it's true that people don't like change, even if it's nothing really drastic or even new.

so, i guess my next entry will be from malaysia :).
hope everyone has a fun summer!

LIRIT TEN' MELLONAMIN

thanks to all who responded to my last essay. I had no idea it would stir quite an issue. i find many disagree (no surprise there) but i also found a couple of people who kind of allowed the idea to be worth considered. again, thanks for the emails, messages and comments. :)

classes are almost done. and this weekend has been the most hectic yet. funnily enough i did find some time to read about elven and tolkien's many many invented languages. it has always been something i've wondered and awed about - the creation of new languages.

well i decided to experiment and wrote a short poem in elven. it's not exactly poetic since my vocabulary still sucks (not to mention there's bound to be plenty of grammatical errors). i'm not quite sure as to which language it is exactly but it's definitely not Sindarin, which was the language widely used in the movie. so it may not sound as pretty as it did when arwen or aragorn was speaking it. then again aragorn can make anything sound pretty :p. i'm guessing it's an inaccurate version of Sindarin or maybe just common elvish. by the way, it's written in Tengwar, not tamil. if you don't know what i mean, you will when you see the writing ;)

"Lirit ten' Mellonamin"

harthanen le sui ha!

SUMMER SEMESTER

one word to describe summer classes: intense.

And boy are they fast!

Anyhoo, i've finally taken time off to write. I've written a short story which was a result of one of my many sleepless nights. Lately i've been getting only 2-3 hours worth of sleep. And somehow i still manage to stay awake in class. The fact that i dont miss my 1030 class is a miracle itself.

Yesterday i participated in an experiment which paid $25. nyahahaha. i could do this for a living. All i had to do was sit down for 45 minutes and answer some decision making under uncertainty questions. They usually have experiments like this and post them all over the school. The other day as I was staring at the noticeboard somewhere on campus, I technically had made $110. Even if you don't take part in the experiment, fantasizing that you did and pretending you earned all that money is fun enough, believe me.

Point of digression. People who know me know that it seems at times i distance myself from crowds. I've been wondering about that. not such a big thing, but it has raised some questions. Here i wrote a short essay on friends and friendship; which in this case borrows a lot from my personal experience. The essay may seem hostile, but i've decided that i'd take nozick's approach on things: through skepticism. I figured the results of my final conclusion could be interesting if i start off by questioning my topic through pure ignorance and dubiety. Having said that, try not to judge me on the basis of this sole essay.

"Part I: Friend…. Or Entity of Validation"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGAH

hey! i'm still aliiiiiiiiiive!!!

p/s: happy birthday ngah!!!

FOOLISH ARDOR

I can't recall the last time I wrote a poem in it's proper form; with neatly arranged stanzas and rhyming verses. So I decided to try my hand at it today. Excuse the non-imaginative title, but anything else would've been less accurate ;)

"Foolish Ardor" by yours truly