Micchan's Stories

My New Blog

2011-09-04T07:28:00.000+07:00

As promised, my new blog.

Toodle-o,
Maria

This entry can potentially be the last entry for this blog

2011-08-25T05:56:00.000+07:00

It's been two weeks since my last post but it feels like a million years have passed since then.

I guess that's the effect of the holiday.

Here's the bomb. After much thought (okay, not so much... five minutes of thought... in the middle of the night... [blind morning, as the Indonesian phrase goes] for the past couple of days...), I've decided to discontinue this blog.

Not blogging, just this blog.

I don't feel joy like I used to when I post entries to this blog. Suffice to say micchansan.blogspot.com has been the longest blog I've ever held. Almost two years.

I also feel like I've changed a lot. People change. Not completely, but some aspects do change. I feel it in me. I used to hate cooking to the point of not knowing where things are in my own kitchen. Now I cook everyday and I don't feel burdened by it. (Well it's either cook or starve..)

I'm also in college now, stepping into my second year in just a couple of weeks. This blog is a disarray of entries, perfectly showing my messy - yet incredible - high school (and first year of college) moments.

I just feel like it's time.

This blog will always be a part of me and I won't delete it. I guess I won't blog for some time... my next blog must definitely have some sense and a recurring theme. It may be on a different platform. Wordpress, maybe? Or back to livejournal? I don't know.

Regarding recent events in my life...

Holiday has been going on for almost a month but I haven't felt much of it up until this week. Orientation thing - been busy. And after that's over, I still have some committee things to do.

I love doing the committee things - designing stamps, cover for the proposals, the banners...

But I've decided to take a break and submerge myself into the holiday completely for just a few days (starting today, actually... okay... after I send out the revised stamp design...) - not long, just until the end of this week.

By submerging myself completely into the holidays I mean lazing around being completely and absolutely unproductive at home without the guilt. I've been lazing around (I confess) but I feel guilty nearly all the time and I always do some designs at night. Even managed to slip one last night (or tonight, since I haven't slept) before I began to read Alice Academy manga from volume 17 until 24... online.

My biological clock is a mess. And because of that I spend a lot of time in the middle of the night, thinking things that should be thought - things that make me sad - things that I've quite forgotten. And forgetting those things was actually bad for me because I felt like I had been going through my days feeling nothing - completely numb.

Well, some of you may have guessed but the thoughts are about my dad. I miss him a lot. There's a reason my bio-clock is a mess - I want to sleep when I'm extra tired so I won't have dreams. Cause my dreams are mostly about him, and when I have those dreams I really, really wish I won't wake up. Then I woke up and felt miserable for the rest of the day.

I usually delete this kind of entry and start over from scratch but not today. This entry is special because it's my last entry here. ...Or not, but that's totally up to me because I can change my mind anytime.

I need to tidy up my room, write a fiction for a short-story competition, go shopping (need some sort of versatile converse-like shoes), and go through a really nice diet so I can get healthier.

The thing is, I have a love-hate relationship with sleeping. I'd like not to need it that much, but the fact is I need approximately 10 hours of sleep everyday to keep my hyped up and productive for the rest of the day. Why can't I have 5 hours instead? If I sleep now, I'll wake up feeling refreshed at whopping four p.m. It's crazy!

Sorry that I'm diverting again. But anyway. Last post. Yeah.

It's been fun. :)

Toodle-o,
Maria

PS. NOT THE LAST ENTRY! I'll post about my new blog and its address, definitely!

*Waves goodbye*

... Still not publishing this post.

....... Seriously considering clicking the button 'save now' instead of 'publish post'.

For once, I don't want to be burdened with the thought of not posting anything. I'll start anew with my new blog some time in the future. For now, I just want to enjoy the present without worrying whether I'll forget it by posting some events here as a reminder and my personal diary. :))

Snail Mail My Email

2011-08-10T22:17:00.000+07:00

I sent Adi a mail recently, using a Snail Mail My Email community program (click here).

SO CUTE.

Definitely the highlight of the week. Oh and my uncle is coming to Jakarta next week too, so it will be the highlight of next week.

Among other things, at least.

Surprisingly though, the handwriting of that email bears some sort of resemblance with my own (when I'm writing quickly). That 'a' and 'r' are like mine. Lol.

Adi and I were both very excited about this. :D

Toodle-o,
Maria

PS. The community program is free, but only until August 15th, I think.

Regrets, regrets, regrets

2011-08-10T20:34:00.000+07:00

I haven't been in a good mood lately because of... well, let's just call it "something".

This... "something" always puts out something to do at the very. Last. Minute.

I really, really, really hate last minute notices. Last minute add-ons to the name tags, last minute notices to make a banner, last minute text messages for meetings (meeting's in the afternoon, text message arrived in the morning)... It's driving me nuts. I hate last minute stuffs like that because they're a complete disregard of my time management. I'm the kind of person who plans their day the night before. There are arrangements to be made, like the car, with my mom and my sister. I'm a bit squirmy to use public transportation, so I rely heavily on my family's car and the driver. My mom is absolutely paranoid about it, so I guess a sliver of that paranoia has got into me as well. Hmmm.

Suffice to say I've never been so regretful to do... "something".

They've even lost my ribbon. It's not like I deliberately asked my mom to go away for a business trip for days and I have to stay at home because my sister most certainly can't be home alone, making me unable to come into a few meetings.

I don't think I'm best staff. I'm doing all the work grudgingly. This whole thing is a mess. Even the base idea of this "something" is not what I thought it would be. I guess the lesson learned here is to not join "something" based on rumors and sympathy.

But enough of my catharsis. I still do all the job as well as I can, though grudgingly.

Toodle-o,
Maria

PS. Don't comment if you're offended.

A late, late, late post

2011-07-20T00:45:00.000+07:00

I actually had to view my blog first to remember what my last post was. -_-"

Hey, it's been a while. (Not that anyone cares... anyway)

I'm chin-deep in assignments, committee, and organization works. This is the main reason of my loooong absence from blogging. Beside, I really want to blog about the Thailand vacation but the most the photos were taken with my step father's camera and my laptop simply refuses to read the memory card.

It's totally an omen, right? (Of course not.)

So, I'm going to wait for those photo before the Thailand vacation storytelling can begin.

On a darker note...

Last assignments (crude translation from 'Tugas Akhir', a.k.a. the most important assignment, a.k.a. major, major, majorly important assignment, a.k.a. a huge pain in the a**) are taking their toll on me. Most of my friends who are not taking Operation Management and HR Management can relax, I guess, but noooo, I just had to take them both. Meaning double last assignments.

Though I have to say I thoroughly enjoy learning OM and HRM. They're my highlights amidst... microeconomics. That class is a total disaster. I have to catch up. But I've been watching youtube videos and napping this evening. It's crazy. I'm such a procrastinator.

*slaps myself on the face*

Wake up, Maria! Final exams (even bad-der than last assignments!) are NEXT WEEK. *does crazy dance - crazy, desperate, stressful dance*

SLAP.

No, I didn't slap you. I slapped myself.

A little unimportant note about me: I talk to myself a lot when I'm stressed. And my post just reflects that. Okay, I'm going to stop here.

Toodle-o,
Maria

Heyho from Phuket!

2011-07-07T09:40:00.000+07:00

Hello from Phuket!

I'm currently staying at Westin Sirai resort and spa. It's a great hotel, I guess, and everyone in Thailand is just so friendly.

There are two things that I'm going to say in this post.

First, the fact that I forgot to bring my camera charger. My nikon is now sittin idly in my bag with 2/3 battery life for whopping 5 days. I guess that I have to look for a charger at Bangkok, but I'm now still in Phuket.

Second, I can't be reached by email or twitter quickly. My online time is only at breakfast (and it will perhaps change by the time I'm in Bangkok). If there's an emergency or anything, I guess you can reach me through SMS. But I can't promise I'll reply because the tariff is incredibly high.

I'm very excited about thekompek 14 bidding! Even more so than the two classes of microeconomics that I'm missing today. Lol. I guess that's it for today.

Toodle-o,
Maria

Trade Offs

2011-07-05T22:26:00.000+07:00

As some of you may know, I'm going on vacation tomorrow. (Huzzah!) It's not that I'm being unthankful or anything, but I just have to share a few of the things I'd miss because of that vacation.

I realize that in life I have to make difficult choices. Believe me, it's quite hard for me to go but an opportunity to go overseas is not something to say no to. It's once in a life time experience, in my opinion, so I must seize it. My other choices were: to attend the KOMPeK 14 (later will be shortened to K14) bidding on July 7th to July 8th, a karaoke team building with friends from BEM tomorrow, a 'kerja bakti' with BEM on July 8th, Andrew's farewell, and sending him off at the airport on July 10th- which I originally intended to do.

It's like all the once-occurring events in college life decide to be in this week. I'm going to miss a lot, including my classes (especially microeconomics, two classes of which were cancelled today and are going to replaced on Thursday... when I'm gone).

Am I sad? Yes. Do I have any regrets? Hmm. I don't think so.

I'm not a person who has much difficulties choosing over things like this. I actually learn (only recently) to set my priorities straight. That way, choosing between going to a family vacation versus coming into K14's bidding is not that hard. Family comes first. But that doesn't make me any less sadder. I do feel extremely sorry for not being able to attend our first team building.

There's also this other thing... *sigh* I'm in the process of dealing with it. It's going well, I suppose. Hard, but well.

Anyway. There's a K13's official disassembling today. There were rewards for best staffs, lots of photographs, and gala dinner. I'm the best staff in the pubdoc division. I feel kind of proud, I guess, but I don't feel like I'm 'best' - me and my friends certainly did our best and they deserve to be the best too. :) K13 has been such a wonderful experience where new families are found. If you're a high schooler going to attend FEUI and happens to stumble on this blog, you must definitely join KOMPeK. No regrets. I promise.

I guess this is the end of my post today. I'm feeling rather 'blue', but the best staff certificate certainly lifts my mood. Rika, Aan, Ara, Fiona, Aklan, Fey, Jennifer, and Ayu - I love them all! Hahaha.

Toodle-o,

Maria

After Mid Exams and Going on Vacation!

2011-07-03T00:55:00.000+07:00

Hello!

<3 my hair today! Lol. I guess 15 hours of sleep did good for my health and hair.

It's been a while.

So the mid exams are finally OVER *crazy dance*. Microeconomics, suffice to say, was a disaster. MO and MSDM on the other hand... well, I have a good feeling about them. :D

The weird thing is that I had trouble sleeping the two days of the exams. I almost didn't sleep. I slept for like, 3 hours, I think, for the whole two days. I tried to sleep early but I was like in hyper-mode. My eyes were open the whole night.

Well the hell-ish experience is over because I slept like a rock the night after the exam. I slept at around nine o'clock (That's early for me! Just look at the time stamp on this post :P) and woke up at six because of my alarm clock. But I was still so dizzy, nauseated, and I had a slight fever. I texted Febrina and Rika that I couldn't make it to the BEM team building, and went back to sleep until noon.

Even then I still felt nauseated, although not as dizzy and the fever was gone. So I managed to get myself up and went to the station, and went home. I stumbled into Yeta at the train, what a coincidence. :)

Moving on to the next topic...

I will go to Thailand on July 6th until 11th. Woohoo! For a vacation. With my family.

Mom's sunglasses. This is me in vacation mood. :9

I'm currently packing my briefcase. Unfortunately, I still have a couple of stuff from my boarding house I want to carry. Namely... clothes. For sleeping. I don't have a lot here at my house because I spend more time at the boarding house than here.

I still have stuff bugging my mind. Namely... a magazine. I haven't started AT ALL. I'm going to. Tomorrow. And there's this form.

Aargh.

Okay, okay. Sleep first. Not having much done being sick.

Toodle-o,
Maria

Blackberry Sh*T

2011-06-25T23:14:00.000+07:00

Last week my Blackberry walked on its own to the edge of my table and decided to commit suicide.

I spent IDR 750.000 for a new LCD.

Today, my water bottle decided that it wanted to give my bag a nice bath - how it did that, I don't know, because the cap was not even open but my bag was slightly wet. Apparently my BB decided that it needed a bath too because it became wet as well. Then the keypad refused to respond. So did the trackball.

I was !@#^%$#@@$%^%$#@!

I felt like throwing that device to a wall. It costs so much money to repair it over and over again. It's like every month I have Blackberry problem. The device wouldn't turn on, became slow, the battery fattened, the LCD thing, and now this.

It's like everything I do to prevent the previous crash to happen again turns out to be the cause of the next crash. The LCD broke because my BB is... well, naked. It only has a slip-on. I then bought a silicon cover for my BB and because I can no longer fit it in my jeans pocket, I put the BB in my bag. Then the water bottle... well, you get it.

-____-"

I have an iPod and a Macbook - both of which never even went to a service center (despite that the iPod had a small encounter with water a while back because of my clumsiness...). My Nokia CDMA also never had a problem.

I want to change back to the usual GSM phone. Not Blackberry. But all my friends use blackberry and the device becomes quite practical.

My mom told me to exchange the BB for a new one. Mine is Javelin, but I don't want to 'downgrade' to Gemini. BB Gemini only has 2 MP camera with no autofocus and flash. If I had the iPod 4, I'd be glad to switch to BB Gemini (LOL). But my iPod is still the 3rd generation and I'm reluctant to exchange it with the 4th generation... and I need my cell phone to have a camera with autofocus.

This BB thing makes my mood totally sour. Graor graor.

A Short Post Created Out of Boredom

2011-06-22T20:18:00.000+07:00

Make that extreme boredom. And hunger.

I'm currently at 4Life Official Office at Cyber 2 Building. The Internet access in the guest waiting room is on - thank God - so I'm browsing around. I don't think what I'm doing is ethical, but I have my excuse(s).

Tomorrow is going to be a hectic day. Microeconomics class at 11, Operation management at 2 (with quiz, which I have studied... only two more chapters to go), additional class for operation management at 4... and a meeting for Kompek 14 at the evening.

So, so hungry.

I was actually going to post about the 'current' issue at FEUI, about the whole OPK thing, but my inspiration just flew out of the window because (yes, you've guessed) I'm so hungry. I'm not even thinking about WRP right now (okay, not technically).

This makes for a very brief, very random post.

Toodle-o,
Maria

Cousin's Visit

2011-06-18T19:20:00.000+07:00

My younger cousin, Vino, came to visit from Surabaya. He's actually here for a seminar today and training (Sunday - Tuesday). He's a hypnosis-slash-high-school-student.

He's staying at my house - my room, exactly. But it's okay, I guess, he's very friendly and doesn't invade my privacy whatsoever... (although I'm a tad embarrassed when my mom put my undergarments right on my table).

Anyway, after going back from Depok yesterday we went to Central Park Mall.

And.. took pictures! I love photo boxes!

Moreover, I think I look pretty good in all these pictures. Lol. My friends also thought that he's my new boyfriend (rofl) when I put the photo on as my display picture.

Toodle-o,

Maria

Nail polishes

2011-06-11T23:59:00.000+07:00

I went to the mall yesterday with my sister. I originally wanted to play Pumps It Up but it was a Friday afternoon and the machine was packed with high school kids. :|

So we went to Etude House instead. :)

There was a promotion there. Buy 3 nail polished for IDR 60.000. I figure it was a good deal and bought myself four bottles of nail polishes. Teehee. These are the two I'm currently wearing - they're such a match.

GR605. For left hand.

GR 601. For right hand.

I also bought a nail art sticker. It was cute! These kinds of things always brighten my mood. :)

Toodle-o,
Maria

New Semester, Start!

2011-06-06T11:43:00.000+07:00

Today is the first day of the short semester. I'm so excited! People left and right are complaining but I couldn't wait for this day almost the whole last week. My sewing machine is broken so I didn't have anything to do at home. I hate feeling unproductive.

Some of the final exams scores are out. I'm disappointed with my result, although it was not that surprising. Meh. Meh. Meh. At least I passed. Phew.

I am currently downloading episodes of Ano Hana anime like crazy. The internet at home is slower than a snail and now I'm at my boarding house - where the internet speed is... well, suffice to say it definitely boosts my mood about the whole bad score thing.

This week is all about deadlines. To be honest I don't feel motivated at all to do some of my tasks... mostly because of my sewing machine. I got so worked up on that I can't divert my mind to anything else. I even have these papers at home where I sadly drew all the bag designs I wanted to work on. I really, really want to go buy some cloths and sew bags for my friends.

So. New semester. First subject: Human Resource Management. At 2 p.m. I've bought a really cute notebook special for this short semester's notes.

Very excited! :D

Toodle-o,

Maria

How I've Been

2011-05-23T23:46:00.000+07:00

Double posts in a day! Sorry for the lack of entries lately, I've been having my finals for my second semester here in FEUI. Gosh, how fast time can really fly...

First, reports.

PE2: I think my final was successful. I was lucky - most of the things I read actually came out. So lucky.

Management: Total opposite of the first day. I wanted to cry. Please, please, please, I can't not pass this course!

Co-op: Multiple choice. It went quite well, I guess.

I have two papers and one final assignment due this week. There won't be any finals tomorrow so Febrina and I are going to UI's Central Library to browse around. We'll be doing some papers and study for Wednesday's English test there.

Today after the Co-op final exam, Febrina and I actually went to Plaza Depok. A friend of mine said they have the Pumps machine there.

Which was not true at all.

They have DDR machine. Which was really old. Eleven years old-old. The mall was lifeless - it was depressing just being inside.

Febrina and I ended up renting a room for karaoke at Inul Vista. We sang out hearts' content. It was two hours of fun.

In the evening, Mario came over to our boarding house and we discussed about our final assignment (Intro to Accounting, which was to be done in groups of max. 3 people).

And now, I'm going to brush my teeth, apply my night cream, and go to bed. I'm damn sleepy. I only got four hours of sleep last night, thanks to my weekly insomnia that seems to occur only on Sundays.

Toodle-o,

Maria

Saturday Calorie Burn-Up

2011-05-23T23:26:00.000+07:00

On Saturday I went to Taman Anggrek Mall. I was originally hesitant to go there because it's still finals week but the finals on Monday was Co-operation. Which was multiple choice. Which was kind of abstract.

I had so much fun there.

First, lunch at Huang Ting to celebrate Angie's birthday.

Standing guys: Andre, Jeremy, Gio
Sitting ppl: Willy, Anne, Angie, Ck, Vivi, and me :)

Left to right: Anne, Angie, Ck, Vivi, me

Ck, Vivi, Me
I look fat in that picture >.<

Amidst the business of final exams, faculty organization, etc. etc. I forgot to congratulate Angie for her birthday. -_- No worries, her present is coming up, courtesy of Ck, Andre, and of course, me. :)

After the talkative lunch when we all caught up with each other's activities, we went to... Timezone.

Ck and I played Pumps It Up. Both of us are very fond of it - she's already an expert while I'm a newbie. Because of her now I can play up to level 7. *Yey* I'm definitely going to keep exercising because I love the game so much.

I remember Pumps was popular several years ago but DDR gained more fame back then. Now that DDR is slowly forgotten...

Love it.

Candid photo. Courtesy of... whoever was holding the camera. I look silly but I love this pic. Teehee!

Unfortunately, Willy, Anne, and Jeremy left after our first round of Pumps (our here means Ck and I). They left while Ck and I went to freshen up - or rather I went to freshen up and Ck accompanied me.

Our next stop was McDonald's. While Angie and Giov ordered some snacks, Ck and I sneaked to Etude House. I bought a nail polish.

Gorgeous shade! (BL 505) One coat provides great pigmentation and pop of color, but the brush is a bit difficult to handle, so the second coat was to neaten the look. It's matte finish, but I added top coat so it looks shiny.

A couple of pics at McDonald's.

Candid picture. We ran out of pose ideas here.

"Okay" pose. Or monocular pose.

Two lovers' scandal.
Giov: "Andre, I love you so much."
Andre: *smirks*

Look at my eyes. I was like, determine to get my hands on those fries...

Left to Right: Me, Ck, Andre, Angie, Giov, Vivi

We didn't know where else to go, or what else to do, so we ended up at Timezone again. Ck and I played Pumps till our hearts' content.

The last stop was Yoshinoya. I drank my WRP Diet To Go while Ck and Andre enjoyed their dinner. The waiter there was quite rude. He smiled, but his smile was cynical. And my right shoe fell apart. The shoes had been problematic all day - they were painful to walk in and the insole was actually torn. When the outer sole gave away, it was the last straw. They weren't my shoes - they were my sister's. They were grey so I figured they'd look good paired with my top. No wonder my sister never seemed to wear those pair of shoes. -_-

Andre brought a car so before he drove Ck home, he dropped me at my house, which was very close to TA.

All in all I had a brilliant, calorie-exhausting day. Happy belated birthday to dear Angie. Great lunch, great company, great time.

Toodle-o,
Maria

WRP Diet and Haul Review

2011-05-17T23:37:00.000+07:00

I've been dieting. (Hooray! Finally!) I've been using WRP's method of diet, which is calorie control. Daily calorie: 1300 kcal. So I basically control my input calorie. To control it I buy WRP's 6 Day Diet Pack which is consisted of the breakfast and dinner replacement chocolate milk and chocolate chip cookies. Lunch is when I can go all out (but not forgetting the important fibers, teehee).

WRP's chocolate milk tastes very good. Just like Ultra Milk's chocolate milk (the regular one, not the low-fat one). Replacing breakfast and dinner with it has been a breeze. The cookies taste delicious too - not too sweet, just the way I like it. I don't feel hunger or dizziness or whatsoever on this diet.

The only challenge is doing this diet while I'm home because my mom kept on nagging me and she makes food all the time. Pies, chicken, etc. While at the boarding house I simply don't keep any snacks in my room and all devil's whispers are nonexistent.

This diet also works on me. :) That's why I'm going to keep doing it until I reach my weight target. Word of caution though: I follow the dieting instruction to the letter. Two sachets of nutritious drink for breakfast, another two for dinner, a sachet of cookie for the morning snack, another sachet for the evening snack. And big lunch. I don't recommend skipping the milk or cookie, or consuming only half of it because we need all the nutritions.

One more thing about dieting.

I don't know why, but I feel a bit judged whenever I rip open a sachet of WRP Cookies. Maybe it's just a feeling, but humans are strange creatures. One time they say that 'you don't need to diet, there's nothing wrong with you', another time they say the exact opposite (politely, of course).

Well, here's a reason why I'm on diet.

One is I want to lose weight. (Duh.) In my family, a little bit of 'fat' is intolerable. Especially my mom. It becomes annoying because she criticizes me about my body and weight all the time; mostly when buying clothes. In contrast, she nags me to eat her food while I'm on this WRP diet. I'll be glad when I go back to my boarding house and be able to diet in peace there. -_-

The second and more important reason is self-control. I used to have amazing sense of self-control (way back in junior high school). I didn't procrastinate, did my homework for fun, and save money on daily basis (and starving myself just a little bit). I've tried on the diet for the first two days before I felt an improved sense of self-control. Saying 'no' to offers of food and trying to sleep early for the sake of this diet are just two examples.

A friend of mine (a boy) once saw me ripped open a sachet of WRP cookies in class and asked whether I was on diet. He then said good luck. It was a definite mood booster. :D Now I know what to say whenever I say someone's on diet too.

Click here to go to WRP Indonesia's website and know more about this WRP diet.

Second topic is haul review.

I recently bought Biore Cleansing Wipes. It works quite well. Remove foundations and such, but has some difficulties conquering my MAC gel eyeliner. Lol. It was hard trying to wipe away all the tight-line I made today, but the cleansing wipe did a great job. No dryness or oily feeling, doesn't smell weird... and the travel pack is very convenient for traveling. Oh, it also works wonders on my waterproof mascara. I won't use it at home because it's a bit expensive (my friend said that The Face Shop made cheaper one, but I haven't tried it), but I'll definitely use it when I travel.

I guess that's it for today's post. I have to study for the final exams. T__T Blogging is a sure way to procrastinate. >.<

Toodle-o,

Maria

P.S. Dieting is a personal thing for me. Unless your comment is to wish my success in my diet, please don't comment at all. :)

UI's Central Library and a couple of other things...

2011-05-16T00:03:00.000+07:00

I'm going to talk about the other things first.

Like, apologize, for not blogging for more than NINE days. *bangs head on desk* Life simply caught up with me and last week was a blur of deadlines and meetings and stress before finals.

I'm still not sure about my finals (H-4!) but then again, I'm a huge procrastinator. Besides, blogging helps clear my mind - if only a bit.

At around six p.m. tonight I just got back from a retreat at Wisma SY. It is a requirement for the MPKA finals. Maybe I'll post more about it later. Perhaps as I do the assignment as well.

On to the main topic of this post. UI's Central Library, or Perpustakaan Pusat UI. This thought has been bothering my mind from the beginning of May.

And by 'this thought' I mean my unvoiced opinion - at least until now. Here goes.

I notice that lots of people do not agree with the fact that there will be Cineplex (movie theatre) and a whole bunch of mall-like features installed at the UI's Central Library. Reasons? Library is a place to study. It is supposed to have some kind of 'holy' ring to it.

I agree with the fact that library is supposed to be a place to study. It should be somewhat sacred; dedicated for those who pursuit education and knowledge to their highest.

But I also like the fact that it has some 'extra features'. I think the idea of making a cinema there is genius. I'd opt for the classic theatre, but old cinema is good enough. Starbucks? Burger King? Awesome! I'd never want to leave!

Here goes the reasons.

In my simple mind, universities get their money mainly from students. There are of course, lots of charity events that help, but we're talking about stable income here. Now, as a student, I spend my money on things like education, food, a place to live, and entertainment. My money for education goes to UI. Some of my money for food also goes to UI, though not directly. Place to live? Not me, but there are others who live in UI's boarding house. My money for entertainment? It doesn't go to UI. It goes to Margo City, Detos, and other malls in Jakarta.

If there is a Cineplex in UI, I'll watch movies there instead of Margo City. Better yet if there's Nav (karaoke place), I'll also prefer spending my money inside UI instead of outside. Ergo, my money for entertainment will go UI too.

I'm sure that Cineplex and the whole other features pay some price to get a place in the Central Library. They may be sponsors; I don't know. With us students spending money there, they will continue to rent the place and therefore, generate revenue for UI.

More job fields are available. Better, they are simple job fields. To work in a library someone has to be educated, or even own a degree. The small people around UI sometimes don't have that. Waiters and waitresses are easier options for them.

I'm not saying that library shouldn't be a sacred place to study - it still is. We can go to UI's Central Library with one of two purposes: to study or to have fun. If our purpose is to study, then by all means, we have to study 100%. If our purpose there is to have fun, we won't go into the library section, right?

It's basically about choices. You're going to the library, after all. What kind of choices would you make?

Remember that this is just my two cents. It's nothing personal and I don't mean to offend anybody here. Feel free to post a counter-argument for the sake of education on the comment section. :)

Toodle-o,
Maria

Rabu: Hari Hedon Bersama... dan SP 2011

2011-05-05T00:26:00.000+07:00

Ada hal yang teramat istimewa di setiap hari Rabu semester dua ini.

Selain kelas satu-satunya hari Rabu adalah kelas Koperasi di sesi 1... selama sebulan belakangan ini gue selalu jalan-jalan (alias hedon) di hari Rabu.

Hal ini berawal dari jadwal gue dan Fey yang sama-sama kosong di hari Rabu. Kita satu divisi di kominfo bem dan terkadang harus 'mampir' ke Arena untuk mencetak spanduk, balihoo, segala macam hal yang perlu dicetak. Ini biasa kita lakukan setelah rapat mingguan kominfo yang diadakan di hari Rabu sesi 3... dan setelah ngedrop file di Arena, kita biasanya mampir ke Margo City atau Detos. Mumpung sudah di daerah-daerah situ. Hehehe.

Menurut gue, kebiasaan yang satu ini sangat patut untuk dilanjutkan. Terserah orang mau bilang kita hedon atau boros atau gimana, tapi refreshing di tengah minggu ini benar-benar me-recharge tenaga kita untuk menghadapi sisa dua hari di minggu-minggu penuh tekanan ini.

Biasanya kita pasti mampir di The Body Shop buat liat-liat (ga pernah beli malah... gue selalu belinya di counter TBS lain pada akhirnya hahaha), makan, lalu jalan-jalan... ke Giant kalo perlu nyetok berbagai kebutuhan ~~mandi~~ hidup di kosan... dan yang pasti adalah main DDR di Timezone.

Gue. Suka. Banget. DDR.

Atau Pumps It. (Apa sih namanya, yang pijakan kakinya lima nyilang-nyilang itu deh pokoknya.)

Daripada disuruh olahraga gue lebih memilih untuk main ini berjam-jam. Lagipula ini udah termasuk olahraga kan? Karena setiap kali selesai main ini pasti gue bersimbah keringat dan deg-degan. Lagu-lagu favorit gue adalah Afronova Re-venge, Dynamite Rave (Naoki), dan Paranoia 180. ...Oke, gue mulai terkesan cukup freak.

Ohya. Untuk SP, gue bakal ngambil 3 dari antara lima ini...

Mikroekonomi 1, Manajemen Keuangan, Manajemen Pemasaran, Makroekonomi 1, Manajemen Operasi, Manajemen SDM.

Yang ga bakal gue gabung adalah Mikro dan Makro. Kata orang dua mata kuliah itu cukup menantang (bahasa kerennya 'susah'), jadi gue pengen cari amannya aja. Untuk sementara ini, gue akan mengambil 1 matkul dari semester ganjil (Mikro/MK/MP) dan 2 dari semester genap (Makro/MO/MSDM). Ini gue lakuin supaya rencana sodok-sodokan gue bisa berhasil.

Rencana gue adalah mengambil yang susah-susah di SP jadi susahnya sebentar. Dan waktu semester panjang bisa cukup nyantai~

Pertimbangan lain adalah kesibukan gue di semester 3 nanti (BEM, Carmail Kuksa, Kompek). Ini menggoda gue untuk mengambil 2 matkul dari semester ganjil.

Tapi takutnya kalau ambil MK dan Makro... gue dibilang sombong.

Rencana gue untuk mengambil makro/mikro di SP aja udah membuat beberapa orang angkat alis dan memperingatkan, 'Yakin, Mar?' (Yah aslinya sih cuma Fey, hahaha, tapi pendapat dia mewakili pendapat beberapa orang lain yang sudah dia tanya-tanya soal SP ini...) Yang menggoda gue untuk mengambil makro di SP sebenarnya adalah Rika, karena ini juga yang dia lakukan waktu SP pertamanya dulu.

'Tapi, itu Rika lho.'

Salah satu 'dewa' (oke, dewi) yang IPnya termasuk 10 atau 15 besar di FE... atau jurusan akun... hahaha gue lupa.

Dan IP gue yang cuma... segitu... *sigh* Sebenernya bukan karena gue ga ngerti pelajaran ekonominya sih, tapi IP gue itu turun-anjlok-terjun bebas-nyaris tewas gara-gara MPKT. Si mata kuliah super nyebelin yang makan ENAM SKS secara ga tanggung-tanggung... dan gue dapet B+. Ya jelas aja sebanyak apapun A gue, IP gue ya segitu-segituan.

Gue termasuk orang yang ga takut menghadapi matkul yang dianggap orang sulit. Ini malah membuat gue makin getol buat nyoba karena gue lumayan suka tantangan.

Plus, gue selalu beranggapan di dunia ini ga ada pelajaran/matkul yang susah dan yang ga bisa dimengerti. Gue selalu yakin gue pasti bisa belajar dan mengerti semuanya, asal gue baca bukunya, masuk kelas, perhatiin dosen, dan NIAT. Ohya, jangan lupa nepsong (buat PR, nanya-nanya, nyari bacaan tambahan,dll).

Sepertinya untuk beberapa minggu ke depan pikiran gue akan dipenuhi oleh SP dan UAS. Ah, inilah nasib jadi mahasiswa~~

Toodle-o,

Maria

Minggu-minggu Menjelang UAS + Ocehan ga jelas

2011-05-03T23:52:00.000+07:00

TIGA MINGGU LAGI UAS.

Mampus gue.

Selain Statu dan Pengantar Ekonomi 2 gue masih buta total. Jadi Statu dan PE2nya gue buta setengah. Itu pun karena statu gue dapat giliran presentasi. PE2 karena gue harus *terlihat* nepsong supaya bisa ambil hati (aka nilai oke) dari sang dosen.

Belum lagi ada tugas-tugas akhir. Dan presentasi final MPK-Inggris. Ini nih yang gue takut banget. Jujur aja speaking gue itu rada ancur. Gue suka ngeblank total di depan karena gue orangnya gampang nervous kalau bicara depan orang banyak. Kadang walaupun presentasi dalam bahasa Indo aja bisa tergagap-gagap... apalagi kalau harus dalam bahasa Inggris yang menarik. Kata kuncinya di sini harus menarik.

*nangis darah*

Sisi positifnya adalah desain spanduk untuk menyambut UAS sudah jadi. Tinggal print. Minggu depan. (Biasanya habis ngeprint kita lalu ke Margo uyeay.)

Gue. Harus. Nyicil. Terutama karena UAS PA2 dan Statu itu dengan kejamnya digabung dalam satu hari.

Tapi ga hari ini. Daritadi gue ngutak-atik Felt dan akhirnya berhasil buat Google Spreadsheet, yang notabene amat-sangat-super-duper-oh-astaga praktis! Definitely recommended buat segala macam divisi, biro, atau departemen. Progress report bisa dilakukan dengan gampang setiap harinya, ga perlu tunggu-tunggu rapat mingguan. <3<3<3

Mungkin gue belum menyebut ini di post-post sebelumnya, tapi gue bakal lanjut KOMPeK 14 sebagai wakil koordinator divisi pubdok bagian desain. (Oke, sedikit curcol...) Yang lucu di sini adalah ada beberapa orang beranggapan gue maunya jadi koor. Well, jadi koor atau wakoor sebenarnya sih sama aja menurut gue. Tapi jujur aja gue lebih seneng jadi wakoor desain.

Alasannya gara-gara gue udah lumayan ngeh kerjaan-kerjaannya, gue bisa berhubungan secara lebih langsung dan dekat dengan para staff nanti, dan gue bisa ga terlalu getol di marcall. Gue pengen banget punya staff ya ampun hahaha. Pasti staff gue nanti manis-manis (boleh dong ngarep). Dan dengan menjadi wakoor, gue bisa terjun langsung sama mereka. Marcall gue juga gue akuin kurang banget. Gue orangnya kalo jam kampus ya kuliah, kerjaan yang laen-laen itu untuk jam setelah ngampus. Untuk duduk di suatu sudut FE sambil menunggu kelas berikutnya dan marcall... lalu melakukan rutinitas ini selama beberapa BULAN... gue ~~bisa gila~~ kurang yakin gue bisa. Jadi saat ditawari untuk jadi wakoor desain, gue langsung 'YES!' dalam hati. Hohoho.

Gue juga berniat ambil SP alias Semester Pendek. Sekarang juga gue mau ngerencanain 9 SKS yang bakal gue ambil itu. Daftar kelas yang ditawarkan udah ada, katalog mata ajar yang super duper penting udah di tangan, tinggal publish post ini dan gue pun bisa mulai merencanakan masa depan gue (yang dekat).

Ini sudah jam 11.51. Resolusi gue untuk tidur jam 11 hari ini dipastikan gagal. Huhuhu. Semoga besok pagi bisa bangun.

Toodle-o,

Maria

Friday haul and short reviews

2011-05-03T23:10:00.000+07:00

Shopping relaxes me. And to be honest, I prefer shopping alone, with the companion of bottled water, trusted iPod, and of course, some cash or credit card. XD

Last Friday was a tough day for me so uplift my mood I went to Taman Anggrek. Bought a couple of things I've been wanting to try...

The Body Shop's Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask

I've used the ionic clay mask for two times and I've noticed huuugee differences. It definitely did what it promised to do - pulling out impurities. Some warning though, I reckon the formula is rather harsh because I can see some progress after two tries. And I stupidly forgot to set some kind of alarm on my second try and put on the mask for 20 minutes instead of the supposed-10. My face ended up kind of red (flushed) and it felt rather hot. But the significant difference was made in this second try. This mask can definitely combat stubborn blackheads or whiteheads. Love it!

I think TBS' seaweed line is worth trying if you have skin like mine; oily on the T-zone and the rest of the face is normal/dry. It is supposed to balance out the oil. I do feel like my T-zone doesn't become as oily as before and my cheeks don't feel as dry as before. I use the day cream, cleansing milk, and now the ionic clay mask. (I bought them all on discount :D)

Tip: exfoliate and steam your face before applying the ionic clay mask. And set an alarm for ten to fifteen minutes.

The Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist

I've been looking for a face mist for the longest time. I had one (Avene's Thermal Water) but it's almost empty now and I can't repurchase it because I bought it in Singapore. T_T I feel so refreshed every time I sprayed it on my face. I figure TBS' face mist would be a good substitute (and cheaper too) so I gave it a go. I used to use the Vitamin E's moisturizer and it was pretty light so in my simple mind, the face mist shouldn't irritate my skin. I've been using this these past three days and it moisturizes my skin well. The only downside of this product is the packaging... the lid kept on popping off inside my bag. And the mist isn't as fine as Avene's Thermal Water's. Other than that, I'm satisfied.

The Skin Food Collagen Eye Sheet

Didn't notice anything different. For IDR 35.000 per pair this is a waste of money. It did feel awesome when I put it on my under eye area. However, since I'm not that old (hehehe), one reason I didn't see any difference is maybe because I still have lots of collagen on my skin. I guess this mask would be great for older people.

I got black sugar mask sample from The Skin Food counter. Haven't tried it, but the rice mask was actually featured on Marie Claire magazine last April. Unfortunately they didn't have any samples for that mask.

Lunch and Shopping

2011-04-28T00:43:00.000+07:00

I didn't have any classes today. I only went to campus to attend a workshop held by a committee Febrina is in. The speaker in that workshop is Ara, who was the vice coordinator of design in the pubdoc team in Kompek13. Suffice to say I've known him for quite a while and it was surprising to see a different side of him today. XD

Great, inspiring presentation. I enjoyed the workshop more when he was the one up front. But maybe because the previous speaker taught us about the most basic stuff in adobe photoshop, which I can already do (by no means I'm not being arrogant or obnoxious... just stating the facts... hehe). With no new tricks to learn I was bored.

I was actually late for the workshop because I thought it began at 8.30 but it began at 8.00 instead. I arrived at 8.15 - at the time the workshop hasn't begun so I was thankful. I also really appreciate the free snack, which was substitute for breakfast. The pastel snack was quite delicious, in fact.

Moving on to the afternoon, we had lunch at Cafe Rotunda in FT (Fakultas Teknik). Kaka and Jason just turned 19 and they celebrated their birthdays together there. Febrina was also invited but too bad she couldn't make it because of the committee. I ate 'empal gentong'. I didn't imagine it would be some kind of soup (um, 'soto', actually) but it turned out to be awesome - after adding up lemons, sweet soy sauce, and some chili.

I'm at the very front, left. The picture is kind of blurry because the waiter was shaking when he took the picture. Nevertheless, a great memory. :)

After the meal I witnessed Kaka being teased for the first time ever. It was actually really cute. She just kept on smiling even though the guys were being rather impossible (for the sake of teasing her).

I took my MPKS (an art class, 'Apresiasi Film') today instead of the usual schedule (Thursdays) because I had nothing to do. And the BEM meeting which is usually held on Wednesdays, is moved to tomorrow because Rika and Andrew couldn't make it today.

We watched the film 'Malena'. It was a beautiful film. I nearly cried at the end, but my contact lenses absorbed all my tears, lol. Definitely a must-watch movie.

Inez, Fey, and I then went to Arena. I simply sat on the sofa there and took a quick nap while Fey helped Inez to print some banners for her committee. Arena offers printing services and BEM FEUI has a VIP member in it so we get 20% discount at all times and they provide free delivery service.

After the printing session the three of us went to Margo City to have dinner. Fey and I went shoe shopping. The three of us also ate ice-cream and played DDR. It was one hell of a fun night! I even learned how to change the speed in the DDR machine by asking one of the boys from the queue. Finally. Lol.

The shoes I bought. Yongki Komaladi, IDR 99.000. It was on discount. I don't normally opt for shoes like these, but they're white. The white ones look extra chic.
These shoes are actually too big for me, but the immediate lower number is too small. I'm planning to add half in-soles soon. XD

I am now in my room wearing a sheet mask, an activity I've been looking forward to all day. I just went to refill my water bottle and I thought, if a boy saw me while wearing this stuff, I'd be able to scare him just for a second. I do look scary with the mask on. Hahaha. I guess enough with the rambling. :)

Toodle-o,

Maria

A very unproductive day... and facial masks ^^

2011-04-26T23:13:00.000+07:00

I'm not feeling well today. My head was spinning when I woke up this morning and I felt so weak.

So I skipped the morning class. And the one right after that... suffice to say I didn't go to campus at all today.

I spent the day browsing the Internet (awesome speed :D) and taking a nap. Then at six-ish I ate dinner with friends, and I can't believe it's 10.30 now.

Time really flies.

I tried on Garnier's self-heating sauna mask in Pure today. It felt really warm and nice. After I rinsed it off my skin felt super smooth. However, it doesn't leave that dewy healthy look. I guess that's because the mask is designed to 'remove impurities and excess sebum to unclog pores and refine skin texture'. The end result should be shine-free. And my face does feel extra-clean without being too dried out. I would definitely repurchase this mask. This mask is suitable for oily to combination skin and comes in pair of doses (6 ml each). I forgot how much this mask is, but I think it's around IDR 9.000. Or eleven.

img source: click here.

To be honest, I love facial masks. Whether it's sheet or clay or whatever, I like giving my skin treats every now and then. I use facial mask every three days or so, or whenever I'm feeling super tired and want to feel refreshed.

Sheet masks are very practical and relaxing (for me), because I can just leave it on my face and do something else, totally forgetting the time, until it feels kind of dry and finally taking it off my face. I don't even have to rinse it off. The downside is, it doesn't cover all areas of my face (like the corners of my nose or my neck). My favorite facial mask is nu-face anti-acne sheet mask (the pink one). It's IDR 9.000-ish and absolutely effective whenever I have a breakout.

I'm now liking other types of facial masks more and more because even though I have to rinse them off, I can apply them wherever I want, making sure all areas of my face (except the eye area, of course), neck, and sometimes decollete are pampered.

I guess that's it for my rambles tonight. I'm now going to check out Skinfood's website. Teehee.

Toodle-o,

Maria

Chicklit

2011-04-26T14:03:00.000+07:00

Chicklit is short for 'Chick Literature'. I love reading these kinds of books, mainly because the story is way more more interesting than 'teenlit'.

I read two books this week. The Little Lady Agency, and Asking for Trouble.

The Little Lady Agency

Author: Hester Browne
What I think about it:
The story is unique. Enjoyable to read, but nothing too special. Lovable characters. I'd rate it three stars out of five.

Asking for Trouble

Author: Elizabeth Young
What I think about this book:
Boring. The story is typical and I kept anticipating for the climax, but this book doesn't have any! There are a few loose ends here and there, and the characters don't seem real. The sex scene at the end? Horrible. It's a 'spice' that shouldn't have been there. I'd rate it one star out of five.

The truth is, it's been a while since I read a good book. Moreover, an English good book. My new activities simply don't permit me but I have to make time here and there. I miss reading Mary Higgins-Clark's book so bad!

Toodle-o,
Maria

P.S.: I rented these books at FEUI's bookstore, Leksika. I must also say that I'm merely expressing my opinion of those books. Other people's opinion may vary.

Hard Decision and... a Hanger

2011-04-24T03:30:00.000+07:00

Some of my close friends may already know that I applied for Agenda UI's open recruitment. And they also know how agitated I was on Wednesday night.

And how pissed off I am when I heard absolutely nothing until Friday afternoon.

Meh. :|

Don't get me wrong, I really, really want to join Agenda UI. When I said my number is 9 out of 10 on how much I want to be in the committee, I meant it. I also really, really enjoyed designing the letterhead for the open recruitment assessment test. I spent like, more than an hour for it, and designed three letterheads before finally getting the great idea for the fourth one. I sent the fourth one around two a.m. Take a look.

I really like the komodo on the bottom right corner.
My idea about this letterhead revolves around 'grunge' and 'exoticism'. Batik pattern on komodo. What do you think?

So today I called the P & D (Production and Design) coordinator, Hardyan. I told him that I could not accomplish the second task (sent by sms on Friday afternoon) because it turns out that I can't apply to Agenda UI.

Reason?

First, Inez approached me to become Vice Coordinator of design in pubdoc division for Kompek 14 on Thursday. Okay, this reason, which I told him, is actually not very important because my real reason is the second one, which I did not tell him.

Second, the coordinator promised me the result on Wednesday night. I inquired about it on Thursday afternoon but he said that the decision was postponed.

I have two organizations in my hands and a very important committee quite soon. Pristine time management is absolutely necessary and I can't do that if my 'boss' doesn't do that. How can I trust him on a bigger matter if I can't trust him on a small matter like this? This is the very beginning of a committee. Moreover, the second task was actually a series of questions. Questions that are usually asked during the interview. Questions that Aan asked me when I applied for Kompek 13, also when I applied for BEM.

I've always told myself that better try than become sorry later, but in this case, I'm quite sure all I get in the end is heartache and thinning patience.

In the end of the call, he said that I was actually accepted in the committee of Agenda UI. It totally swayed my decision, but I managed to stay on it.

Why didn't he inform me that sooner? Like, on Wednesday night? He would've saved my heart from beating way too fast on that particular day. (And my sour mood all day on Thursday... *sigh*) I would have said yes. Well, no. More like, YES YES YES - while jumping and squealing.

Did I regret my decision to withdraw my application to Agenda UI? You have no idea how much. *Tears.* But my feeling is quite strong on saying no. I'm actually prepared to juggle two organizations and two major committees, but I can't do that if I can't even trust one of them from the very beginning. Better safe than sorry.

I also kind of lied when he asked why. I wanted to be polite. I don't know what this will do to my reputation, but let's just say time matters in everything.

It's three a.m. in the morning now and I can't sleep. Not because I'm not sleepy, but I just ate around midnight. When am I going to shed those * kilograms if I eat pork at midnight? Argh.

Maybe I'm going to design my own agenda. I have so many ideas just waiting to be put on paper (and on photoshop). But then again, I also have many ideas for bags, pouches, clothes, which I'm not sure when I'll be able to make.

I wish there were 35 hours in a day instead of 24. Or that I can live and go through my days without looking like a zombie (or feeling dizzy) with two hours of sleep everyday. A girl can wish, right?

I guess my catharsis should stop here. I feel much better now. Hehe.

Toodle-o,

Maria

Etude, I'm in Love

2011-04-24T02:04:00.002+07:00

I'm a huge sucker for shimmery pretty things.

Take Etude's Eye Stick, for example. Ever since I knew there's this new thing called 'eye shadow stick', I've been wanting one.

Etude House Bling Bling Eye Stick (image source: click here)

And since there's a 50% discount (all items!) at Etude for its members, I bought two. My mom is a member there. Original price is IDR 108.000.

I wore both today when I was going to the church. Easy to apply, very shimmery, and long lasting. Love!

Swatches.

Top: 05 Silver Milky Way
Bottom: 06 Great Bear Star

Number 06 is actually a hybrid between purple and brown, which I really like. The eye stick consistency is creamy and easy to blend. Touching your eyes while wearing this is an absolute no-no, but I guess this rule applies when you wear all eye make up. A great tip is to apply the eye stick on moisturized (or primed) eyelids.

I totally forgot to take a photo of how they look on my eyes. Maybe next time.

To tell you the truth, I love all the colors. The pink one is very pretty but I already own a shimmery pink eyeshadow. I prefer eyeshadow stick because I really don't like using brushes to apply my eye make-up. It's my preference, not everyone is like that, I'm sure.

But if you really want some 'bling' on your eyes, this product absolutely lives up to its name. :D

Camera oh Camera

2011-04-12T18:20:00.000+07:00

There's this new trend among college students that DSLR camera is the way to go.

For me, it isn't true. DSLR camera is not always the best option. It's unpractical, heavy, and a pain in the b**t to carry around. The lens cap is prone to missing and I must protect the lens all the time. Oh and, DSLR camera is expensive. I'm a paranoid freak if I have my DSLR with me.

I opt for pocket camera instead because it's lightweight, doesn't have any lens cap, its lens usually just sink back into the camera (therefore not prone to scratches), and I can just toss it in my bag and carry it everywhere all the time. Never a missed moment.

The picture quality comparison is not so bad either. New pocket cameras deliver 12 whopping megapixels. My DSLR can only give 10.

So I really don't see why people make such a fuss about DSLR camera. It really isn't that cool. Of course there's the manual setting, which lets you be creative according to the light condition... and shutter speed to capture people in the air... and you can zoom in without losing pixels.

But still. For a documentation, DSLR camera can absolutely be replaced with the simplest form of pocket camera.

I am not renting out my camera. I don't even let people I don't trust touch it. I'm very, very protective of it. Don't ask me whether you could borrow it because you absolutely can't. (There are exceptions, of course.)

What if you *God forbids* drop it and the lens came off? This happens to a person I know! I had to help him put the lens back in. What if you do something wrong with it and it doesn't want to turn on? Because the usual case is the borrower usually doesn't own a DSLR camera and he/she doesn't know what should and should not be done.

What if it breaks? Are you going to buy me a new camera? Of course not! The best someone can do is perhaps apologize. Profusely.

DSLR camera is expensive equipment. People should not be borrowing it so easily because they're taking huge responsibility. My advice is, if you want to borrow someone's DSLR camera, you have to be ready to buy him/her a new one. Anything can happen. The lender may not ask you to buy him/her a new camera if something bad happens to it, but it is expected of you and it is ethical to do so.

I don't think it's wrong for me to take the safe path. I'd hate to see something bad happen to my Nikon, and I'd hate it even more if that bad thing happens while my Nikon is in someone else's hands. I just don't want to ruin a perfectly good relationship because of some expensive equipment, irresponsible hands, and carelessness. If *God forbids* that happened, I would regret my decision of not saying 'no'.

So I am saying NO now. Just to be safe.

Toodle-o,

Maria

Midnight Screams

2011-04-10T01:27:00.000+07:00

The title is like a horror-thriller movie, no?

Anyway. Here's another catharsis.

I'm perfectionist. In the sanguine-melancholy-choleric-phlegmatic personality chart, I'm downright melancholy (and choleric).

I also suspect that I have an obsessive-compulsive trait somewhere inside me.

The fact that I can't start something if I don't have enough data is a proof. I don't know why. I just can't.

And the fact that the data I'm supposed to be layout-ing is not complete yet... *sigh* The deadline is next Wednesday. Twenty-two pages.

I'm doomed.

I've figured out the way to do things faster, though. The texts are done in Corel, the other stuff in Photoshop.

Next week is going to be hell. A meeting on Monday. Major presentation on Tuesday. Deadline for layouts, Co-op paper, and debate on Wednesday. Deadline for Accounting lab final project on Friday.

And to top all of that, I'm not feeling well. I'm sick. I have four plasters of 'Koyo cabe' on my back and I almost can't feel them.

Lalalalalalalalalalala~~~ (sure sign of stress)

Toodle-o,
Maria

Postponing Major Presentation

2011-04-05T09:51:00.001+07:00

I was the first to come to Management class today. I arrived at approximately 7.40 a.m. The class was empty, so I took the liberty to put my own laptop on the professor's desk and start setting things up for the major presentation my group was going to give.

Between my personal stuff, the two books, and the laptop, I think my bag weighed about 8 kg. It was a pain to drag all of those important things from my boarding house to campus.

And then, at 8.30 (the class was supposed to start at 8.00), we knew that the class was cancelled.

I felt like banging my head several times on the desk.

I slept at one whopping a.m. *today*, tweaking the presentation so that it would be as perfect and as interesting as possible. I literally dragged myself from my bed to wake up this morning. I even forgot to have breakfast because I was late (I promised my group I'd meet them at 7.30 and yet I got out of my room at 7.30).

When we got the news, I immediately texted Ma'am Karina, our lecturer. She said the class really was cancelled.

That was why the class was very deserted. Only six unknowing people came.

I just wish that the class president made more effort in contacting all of her classmates. She didn't even ask our cell phone numbers like other class presidents did. However, it's not like I'm not at fault there. I could have asked her myself.

Hopefully I will be able to perfect my presentation by next week. I need to get a good grade at this - my midterm was a disaster.

So anyway, the next class starts at eleven. I am now back in my room with Febrina. She's working on her interview with the new mapres (Mahasiswa Berprestasi) and I'm... blogging about a quarter of my day. :)

Toodle-o,

Maria

A new blog

2011-04-04T09:46:00.000+07:00

After much consideration, I've decided to create another blog. (Yes, I am now in Accounting Lab class, and blogging.)

This new blog will be private. I'm still contemplating whether I should invite my friends or no one at all.

...
...
...

Maybe no one. I write my diary online for my own viewing pleasure and satisfaction. I'll of course still write stuff here. The good stuff. The not-so-good stuff should go over to that private blog.

I think all people, not just actors and actresses, deserve some kind of Oscar-award in their lives. For being an adult, where pretending seems to be the main thing of being mature.

Toodle-o,
Maria

Kecerobohan Gue Bernilai IDR 278.000

2011-04-02T23:25:00.000+07:00

Beberapa waktu lalu (oke, tanggal 27 Februari 2011 lebih tepatnya), gue melakukan kesalahan super duper bego.

Entah karena gue sudah ngantuk atau memang lagi sial, gue secara ga sengaja menghilangkan sebuah foto sangat berharga milik BEM.

Kronologi tanggal 27 Februari 2011:

1. Gue nyambungin kamera Andrew ke laptop gue dan nunggu icon iPhoto nongol.

2. iPhoto menanyakan, "Keep original file" atau "Move original file to trash". Dengan pedenya gue ngeklik pilihan kedua. Soalnya kalo mau ngehapus data dari flashdisk/memori eksternal di mac itu agak ribet, harus 'Empty Trash'. Pada saat itu 'Trash' gue rada bermasalah, jadi banyak data yang ga mau kehapus (ada kira-kira 9 GB) dan hardisk gue sudah sempit. Ini kegoblokan #1.

3. Gue memindahkan foto-foto itu ke folder di desktop.

4. Gue ga mengcopy folder itu menjadi 2; yang satu original file, yang satu resize. Kegoblokan #2.

5. Membuka lewat Preview dan meresize semua foto 10 MP itu menjadi 800 pixel (width), supaya menguploadnya ke Facebook lebih cepet.

6. Dengan tololnya menekan tombol '+S'. Kegoblokan #3,4,5.

7. Jedug-jedugin kepala di meja.

8. Sebelum tidur berdoa novena dulu memohon supaya fotonya ga kepake.

Sebulan kemudian:

1. Rika SMS, harus bikin balyhoo pake foto yang (nah lho!) ga sengaja kehapus itu.

2. Secara tololnya LUPA kalo sudah melakukan kegoblokan #1-#5.

3. Setelah ngaku dosa ke Rika, hari Jumat itu gue langsung cabut pulang dan ke Roxy Square buat beli card reader, karena bentuk memory cardnya adalah CF. Dan kabel memory card reader gue hilang.

4. Beli card reader di sebuah toko di Roxy Square. Yang jual Ngko-ngko dan ada anaknya (si Tacik). Nyoba dulu card readernya beres ga. Tentu aja pake CFnya Andrew. Kegoblokan #6.

5. Si Ngko rupanya gaptek luar biasa. Ga bisa masukin CFnya ke card reader. DIPAKSA. Gue uda ngedumel. Tapi ada nyokap gue. Dia ga suka kalo gue langsung tereak liat CF orang seenak jidat dipaksain masuk card reader. Harusnya gue tereak. Harusnya gue ngamuk dan mencak-mencak. Kegoblokan #7.

6. Dicoba bisa. Percaya aja. Beli deh tuh card reader. Kegoblokan #8.

7. Pulang. Dicoba di laptop di mobil, CFnya jadi bernama aneh dan file-file di dalemnya jadi aneh.

8. Sampe di rumah jedug-jedugin kepala di meja makan.

Nah jadi, menurut dokter komputer yang tadi gue datengin di Harco Mangga Dua (Nama tokonya adalah 'PT. HDD Studio, Data Recovery Specialist'), CF Andrew sudah resmi rusak. Korslet. Jebol. Whatever you call it. Untungnya, semua data, termasuk foto yang gue hilangin di Kegoblokan #1-#5, masih ada.

Alasan CF itu rusak?

Salah kutub di memory card reader. Jadi di CF itu ada kutub 5V dan 12V. Kalo salah masukinnya, bisa terbakar komponen di dalamnya. Caranya ngebedain? Ada garis tebal dan tipis di bagian pinggir CF itu. Cocokin aja sama card readernya. Kenapa si Ngko Roxy Square itu bisa salah? Satu, karena dia gaptek tapi sok tau... Dua, karena dia sudah tua, harusnya pakai kacamata kalau mau handle barang kecil gini.. Tiga, dia punya anak yang super duper cuek.

Jadi, seandainya gue membawa CF itu langsung ke dokter komputer itu (Ko Ferry, si pemilik toko itu sendiri), CF Andrew ga akan rusak, dan gue hanya akan mengeluarkan biaya untuk recovery datanya. Yang notabene sebesar IDR 100.000. CF penggantinya IDR 178.000.

Kemarin itu gue bener-bener merasa udah jatuh tertimpa tangga pula. Gue kira CFnya kena virus. Tapi ternyata karena... *sigh*.

Jadi, intinya begini. Gue bukan orang paling tau sedunia atau orang paling berpengalaman atau apalah. Tapi tolong. Kalo soal alat elektronik beginian, jangan maksa. Kalo didorong dikit udah ga mau masuk, berarti memang colokannya ga cocok. Bukan karena colokannya 'aneh' atau 'ngebandel'.

Satu lagi. Jangan sok tau. Kalo emang ga keliatan. Emang ga bisa, suruh orang lain aja. Khususnya masalah elektronik begini. Daripada kenapa-kenapa, mending bawa langsung ke teknisinya. Dari yang rusak, malah bisa tambah rusak kalo ditambah bumbu-bumbu sok tahu kita. Apalagi kalo bukan punya sendiri. *garuk-garuk tembok*

Kata Ko Ferry, kalo CFnya itu salah kutub lebih lama sedikit aja, fisik CFnya bisa bener-bener rusak dan biaya recoverynya bisa jauh lebih besar. Syukurlah ga lama-lama banget salah kutubnya.

Tapi tapi tapi, gue bersyukur gue punya pengalaman ini. Ini bener-bener membuka mata gue betapa PENTINGNYA buat membackup data sesering mungkin, dan ga sembarangan buang-buang foto. Dan buat ga ngedit foto saat mata udah tinggal 5 watt.

Ohya. Merasa punya data berharga yang hilang dan harus direcovery? Comment aja, nanti gue email alamat toko dan nomer telpon Ko Ferry. Atau titipin gue, karena nyokap gue sering banget ke daerah Mangga Dua. Itung-itung promosi sekaligus balas jasa terima kasih. Hehehe.

Toodle-o,

Maria

Refreshing

2011-03-30T23:59:00.000+07:00

The midterms are finally OVE~R!

Like Inez said in her blog, I also don't know how to feel. I'm happy because I don't have to cram chapters by chapters into my brain anymore, but I'm also sad for the fact that I can't go home early anymore.

To un-cram our brains and get ready for tomorrow's 'usual' day, Febrina, Fiona and I went for a karaoke at Margo City. We sang our hearts out for about two hours.

My voice is gone.

Ooh! I also bought a pink bandana. It's cute. I originally wanted the neon-green one, but I don't have any clothes or bags or shoes to go with it so I didn't buy it.

Pirippon sporting the bandana.

I just finished taking a shower and am putting on a sheet mask. You really don't want to see how I look right now. Hohoho.

Ever since I saw the character Pil Sook (played by IU) from a Korean drama Dream High, I've wanted to sport some sort of bandana. It's so very, very cute. Moreover, it keeps my bangs in place. :D

See the bandana?

Again, a slim bandana with a 'cepol'. XD

Toodle-oo,
Maria

Sebuah Post Pendek (dan ga jelas)

2011-03-29T21:40:00.000+07:00

Gue ga akan bertele-tele dalam post yang satu ini.

Intinya hari ini terjadi hal yang agak aneh. Entah apa artinya. Gue termasuk orang yang rada percaya 'tanda-tanda' atau ramalan-ramalan hal-hal gitu, makanya dari tadi pagi hal ini menggelitik otak gue.

Jadi tadi subuh sekitar jam 5 pagi gue tiba-tiba terbangun. Gue otomatis langsung ngeraih bb gue buat ngeliat jam, dan entah kenapa jari gue bisa punya pikiran sendiri terus gue ngeliat 'Recent Updates' di BBM gue.

Daaaaaan~ '0 mins ago' ada yang baru ganti display picture.

Gue tanya, apa dia masih belum tidur? Karena ga dibales-bales (selama 30-an detik gitu..) dan gue masih ngantuk banget, gue tidur lagi.

Kenapa coba gue bisa terbangun? Apa maksudnya ini?

Gue juga ga ngerti kenapa gue bisa kepikiran buat ngepost ini di blog. Atau memutuskan buat mem'publish'nya. Tapi gue merasa aja gitu.

Ah ah ah mungkin saya sudah mulai gila. Besok UTS PA2 dan gue belum belajar apa-apa. T_T

Btw, lagu Love Mode-nya Clazziquai itu enak banget.

Toodle-o,

Maria

Today's Haul

2011-03-27T00:02:00.000+07:00

I guess I'm going to start talking about my 'hauls'. It's because haul reviews are so useful for me. I've read tons of blog entries and watched lots of Youtube videos on this subject. (Especially beauty product hauls.)

Haul reviews help me choose one product to use from a gazillion of products, with true or not so true promises, out there. The reason I'm posting my own haul reviews is to help people who are just starting to play with this junk. I'm a newbie myself and I find it so confusing to choose one product among the multitudes out there. So here it is. :)

From left to right, up to bottom:
1. Pond's gold radiance eye cream
2. Revlon's eyebrow pencil in dark brown (02)
3. Eyeshadow brush by Masami Shouko
4. Gel eyeliner brush, also by Masami Shouko

1. Pond's gold radiance eye cream
I originally bought this for my mom. I wanted to buy Olay's regenerist eye cream instead but the two drugstores I visited today ran out of the product. My mom decided to give it to me after I asked her about another eye cream brand, which costed IDR 200.000. Lol. Oh, the price is IDR 117.000. Expect another review of the product whenever I see improvement on my dark circles.

I really implore all of you, dear readers, to start using eye cream right now. Eye area is extremely sensitive. Moreover, under eye area doesn't have functioning oil glands so it is up to you to provide them with the hydration they really need. I don't recommend using the usual moisturizer for the eye area because it may not be suitable, some moisturizers can even cause some sort of tiny cysts (erm... 'kutil'. What's the English word for that?) under the eye area, and eye cream usually hydrates better and lasts longer.

In addition, first signs of aging usually show up in the eye area because our skin is thinner there. Prevention is always better than cure. The same advice goes to sun blocks. Of course, wrinkles are not all bad. They add character to the face. So if you opt to have them, have them. :)

2. Revlon's eyebrow pencil in dark brown (02)
I've never put anything on my eyebrows. Ever. I groom them weekly and that's it. My bangs cover them up so why bother with eyebrow pencil? Well, apparently the most basic make up is supposed to be the eyebrows. They frame the face, thus very important. I'll wear the eyebrow pencil on special occasions (wedding party, etc) or when I have to lift up my bangs (it happens!). Price is IDR 55.000.

3. Eyeshadow brush by Masami Shouko
The truth is I don't wear eyeshadow often. Only on special occasions and they are very seldom. Then I wear my eyeshadow with my hands, usually using my ring or little finger to apply the eyeshadow and blend. This habit is not hygienic; hence, the decision to buy an eyeshadow brush. Price is IDR 28.900. This is quite cheap for a brush. However, I can't guarantee the quality of this product because I haven't tried it.

4. Gel eyeliner brush by Masami Shouko
So apparently there's a special brush for gel eyeliner. Well, mine is gel, and my TBS' eyeliner brush doesn't provide me with much precision control. I've tried this brush, and am a little disappointed. It doesn't deliver much pigment (huh?). Explanation: when I use my TBS' eyeliner brush I can make a really, really black line with it. Sloppy line, but really black. When I use this particular brush, the line is not so black - I mean the black is not as intense as what my TBS' brush delivers. I'm going to try this again tomorrow and see what happens. (I did wash the brushes first before playing with them... maybe my TBS' one dries more quickly.) Price is IDR 25.900.

I guess that's it for today. Happy weekend, folks!

Toodle-o,
Maria

(P.S. For some who don't know, TBS stands for The Body Shop. :D)

Catharsis #2

2011-03-24T02:58:00.000+07:00

I've gone out around two weeks without twitter. Four more weeks to go - it won't feel that long, I'm sure. :)

There are times when I'm glad I made that decision, but there are also times when I miss tweeting from my Blackberry (or my laptop).

Like now, for example.

...

Anyway.

I read 'LPJ Operasional KOMPeK13' today. I found out what my coordinator and vice coordinators from the pubdoc division in KOMPeK13 think of me.

My work was done neatly. I attended every meeting. There's another positive thing but I forgot. I scored 4.8 on the overall score (not the mean score, though).

There are also some criticisms. Which, honestly, hurt me a little. Beside doing impeccable job, in their eyes, I'm also a person who likes to complain. Who's unstable. Who is quick to lose motivation.

I guess it's what Aan said to me the other day. And I really have to thank him because he sort of provided me with a forewarning.

I also have to appreciate the straight-forwardness of my coordinator and her vices. Of course the comment stung (in my wicked perspective, unstable = mentally sick) but they provided me with tools to make me a better person.

So thanks. :)

However, I do have one... criticism. It's what my teacher in junior high told me. If you want to criticize someone, do it with discretion. They'll thank you (...more) for it. Mr. Richard, a history teacher, told me that.

The truth is, if I didn't open that LPJ today, or if Aan didn't tell me, I wouldn't have known. And all the PI, BPH and other staffs who has access to that LPJ will know.

I know that my coordinator and the vices are trying to be as objective as possible and that their intention is good, but a little discretion would be nice.

I try to be open to criticism. I especially appreciate people who go out of their way to tell me that I do something wrong. My best friend, Aurel, does that and I love her limitlessly.

The problem is, my instability and my constant need to complain is written forever on those paper. It's now a record. I feel like I'm cornered. I know that I complain a lot. I realize that. I'm not a perfect person, but I try to be.

Tell me if I'm annoying or something, or if I had a bothersome habit, and I'll do my best. Of course I'll be hurt if you shout it to my face, but I'm sure you guys know how to give criticisms gently and politely to someone, right?

My feelings is a little bruised, but it's okay. It's in the past. Now I have to prove them wrong.

Thank you, especially to Aan, who went out of his way to tell me that. Who 'sandwiched' the criticisms with compliments. I really appreciate it. :')

Toodle-o,

Maria

Midterms, Oh Midterms...

2011-03-24T00:44:00.002+07:00

I HAVEN'T STARTED STUDYING FOR TOMORROW'S TEST.

Okay, I have. A tiny bit. I haven't even done any exercises. :| I'm so~ dead.

Here's a random photo of me, taken yesterday.

The banner is designed by me. :3
I look awful here, but it's the only picture I have. My eyes were actually closed and the pencil looks like it was embedded in my head. So weird.

I had management midterm yesterday and suffice to say it was a disaster. I managed to answer all the questions, although I have no idea what I'd written down. Hopefully it made sense. Gotta do awesome in the presentation because I can't not pass this subject.

Today's test was cooperative. Multiple choice. Fifty numbers. I finished in half an hour but stayed for another half an hour in the class so people don't think I'm underestimating the subject or anything. While the other fellows at Accounting or Economics slaved themselves with MKDB (Matematika Keuangan Dan Bisnis or Mata Kuliah Deg-degan Banget) and Matella (Matematika Ekonomi Lanjutan... or Mati Teler Lama-lama), we Management major had quite a laid back day yesterday studying... well, we don't even know what to study. Cooperative is absolutely abstract!

Tomorrow will be Statu, or 'Statistika Satu'. Statistics, basically. Three chapters: two way hypothesis, ANOVA, and Chi-square. All of which dear Swares (prof's assistant or asisten dosen... don't know what the English for that exactly) has trained us these past couple of weeks. So counting wise, I feel that I'm ready. Defining-the-question-and-deciding-which-formula-to-use wise... not so much. That's why I'm now perusing the textbook.

I've got to say that Lind's Statistical Techniques in Business and Economics book is quite amazing. It is written by Lind, Marchal, and Wathen; but we here usually say it's Lind's because the name is so easy to pronounce. And short. To be able to ace a test, all we need to do is thoroughly read this book. The professors don't really help - they simply summarize the book. There are exercises, examples, answers for the exercises, and detailed explanations. I don't have any regret buying this book because it's been so useful and helpful.

Nowadays I've been quite obsessed with Youtube. I've been watching Bubzbeauty's channel for two days and I absolutely love her tutorials. I really like the fact that she uploads a lot of skincare tutorials and also DIY skincare how-tos. I can't wait to try the Yogurt mask this weekend! Click here to go straight to her channel. I also love the way she not only shows us 'how to', but also tells us the reasons (the 'root' of the problem, as I like to call it). If you're a skincare enthusiast but don't know where to start, like me, go over to her channel. You'll definitely learn a lot from there. :)

Toodle-o,

Maria

Amazing.

2011-03-21T22:42:00.000+07:00

I stumbled upon this artist today and fell totally, absolutely, undeniably in LOVE.

Like I said on my not-so-long-ago previous entry, I was bored. So I decided to have a little fun by watching Nigahiga's Agent of Secret Stuff short movie. The actress playing Taylor is Arden Cho and I looked her up (she's just so pretty!) and then I stumbled on a Top Chef jubilee video and saw Clara C. I looked her up because (you guessed) she's so pretty.

Well, she's not just pretty, but also immensely talented in music. I truly love her voice and I love the genre of her songs... I really have the feeling that she's going to go far.

What a talent! Watch for yourself. :)

She's singing with Joseph Vincent here.

<3<3<3

Toodle-o,
Maria

First Day of Midterms in The 2nd Semester

2011-03-21T21:24:00.000+07:00

You'd be laughing if you know my sitting position while writing this entry. Not that I'm going to tell anyway. :P

So today is the first day of midterms in the second semester.

*Cheers*

Introductory to Economics 2 (or PE 2) went well, I guess. I could write down so many things; basically pouring all that I know (relevant to the questions, of course) to the paper. It won't get a perfect score, I'm sure, but I'm satisfied with what I've written. I've done my best. God will do the rest. :)

I slept at whopping 2.35 a.m. (ish) yesterday. My brain seems to absorb lessons more easily in the wee hours of the morning - I'm talking real early, minutes after midnight, here. And because tomorrow's test is in the morning, I didn't have a chance to take a satisfying nap and am now extremely sleep deprived.

My nose is runny and I'm running a slight fever. But guess what, I LIKE MANAGEMENT.

I really do, despite all the comments the subject received in the past from the international students. I think the theories are interesting, I've even memorized Fayol's 14 management principles even though I'm kind of dizzy, and I'm now plowing through chapter 6. I've summarized chapter 7 and 8 so they're kind of already in my mind, just need to pull some memories a bit. I haven't read chapter 4 and 5, though, because I heard that the professors are going to focus more on the chapter 6 until 8. I don't know.

I'm now in my room at the boarding house and because I'm in the second level, I can hear every single conversations people are having outside their rooms. Every. Single. One.

The remedy? Blasting rock music through my earphone. Okay, not blasting, I was exaggerating. And sometimes I sing along too.

I'm soooooooooo bored. I turned on my laptop because of boredom. Now I'm waiting for Nigahiga's Agent of Secret Stuff short movie to finish buffering.

Really need to soak up my English for tomorrow because Management is in English. I need to write my answers in English and my professor doesn't really allow too-bad-of-an-English.

I hate the flu.

I miss twitter, but surprisingly it doesn't bother me that much.

I'm dizzy and I'm thirsty all the time.

Toodle-o,

Maria

A Lesson To Learn

2011-03-18T22:31:00.000+07:00

The weather was playing with me (and Febrina) today. When we were out, the sky was literally pouring. When we arrived at FEUI, the rain stopped.

We came back just for PE2 modules. I left it at Leksika to have it copied. Monday is mid-term day for PE2 and the modules were crucial.

So anywaayyyyy~

I made a deal with my friend, Bob. He'd put up my banner between the two palm trees just outside FEUI, just like Andrew wanted, and he'll get a copy of the PE2 module plus management's complete summary (the whole eight chapters).

This was a win-win situation for both of us because he needed the notes and I really don't want to climb a palm tree. Or get my hands dirty.

I went to the station and told dear vice about our plan via bbm. And the fact that Bob might need his help.

I don't think he (the vice) was happy about that. I mean, I did tell him very last minute-y. And I did delegate my responsibility to my friend.

The weird thing is, I don't feel guilty at all. In my opinion, my deal with Bob was sound. It really didn't matter whether I actually tell him or not - the fact that I did was, to be honest, too much. As long as banner is up, nobody really cares how.

I just felt that perhaps he wanted to know the progress. That perhaps a report would be polite. I positioned myself in his shoes and I figured I'd like to know how my 'kids' are doing. (Remember that this is my opinion!)

Then I apologized.

I apologized to Andrew because it was the right thing to do, whether I felt I was at fault or not. It's polite, safe, and it doesn't cause clashes between members of the team. Besides, the guy has more experience than me. Even though I don't feel like I'm wrong, it's safe to assume that I may have some mistakes there.

If you read my entry before this, you know about the postponed deadline. I'm actually not too happy about that either. But you know what, I feel that my decision to apologize is correct.

I'm the kind of person who does things to other people the way I want other people to treat me. I don't expect them to treat me the same way I treat them - that would be naive. I just like to put myself in other people's shoes and ask to myself, "Now, what shall I do?"

Of course this doesn't apply to every situation because there are times when my veins simply pop and all I can see is red.

So, what I really would like to share with all you readers is this: if you ever encounter this kind of problem, do the safest thing: apologize.

I think the main lesson to learn when I join an organization is that. To just step back even though I'm sure I'm right, and evaluate everything with a third-person's eye... and in the mean time, just apologize.

Have you encountered something like this before? What did you do at that time?

Toodle-o,

Maria

Catharsis #1

2011-03-17T22:53:00.000+07:00

I first heard of this word from Aan today. He was giving awesome advices in life and mentioned this word. (Thanks again, Aan! :D)

Yes, my ultimate catharsis is twitter. And twitter's ultimate substitution (for me) is blogger.

MY EYES HURT.

I take back about hating my glasses. I like to look really pretty but at the expense of this pain? No way.

This is weird because the first two days my eyes were doing fine. A bit dry, but no problems, especially after removing the contact lenses.

I'm not wearing contact lenses now and yet the burning sensation persists. Maybe I'm allergic to the solution. Maybe my cornea was scratched (...let's hope that's not the case). Maybe my eyes magically transform from being mildly dry to chronically dry.

In any case, I'm going to a hospital tomorrow to have them checked (and ask advices on what type of contact lens I should wear).

I also just found out today that the FELT magazine's deadline is postponed. I was totally surprised because nobody told me about that and I've been having these panic attacks about the upcoming deadline (fourth week of March) for nothing.

Okay, I told myself. My coordinator and her vice must be really busy right now that it simply slipped out of their mind.

But most of all, I'm angry to myself because I didn't have the initiative to ask about that matter a lot earlier. The other PJs have been so casual about it that I finally got curious, but one of them didn't even know about the postponed deadline. -_-

I also have to redo an English homework because I jolted down the wrong page. It was supposed to be page 246, not 249. And I've printed the homework. And it needs to be submitted tomorrow morning. I really hope I don't oversleep tomorrow.

My eyes still hurt. They got better when I put damp tissue on my eyelids.

I really should sleep.

I miss rambling these things on twitter. :'(

Toodle-o,

Maria

Soft contact lenses

2011-03-15T22:35:00.000+07:00

The truth is, I don't love my glasses that much. I love my red one, but it got replaced. So... I'm now deviating towards color soft contact lenses.

The last time I wore color soft contact lenses is when I was in the 8th grade. It's a long time ago, so I figure soft contact lenses technology has probably improved quite a lot, right?

I bought a pair yesterday. The brand is 'Shine', from Korea. It's 62% Polymacon, 38% water. Even though it's only 38% water, the contact lenses are pretty comfortable. DIA is 14.0, B.C 8.60 (I don't know what B.C means, and I figure 'DIA' means diameter *shrugs*). The saleswoman from the optics said that the contact lenses use more-oxygen technology.

My eyes are pretty dry so I have to put on some eyedrops every two hours or so. I've worn this particular blue contact lenses for two days now (two hours yesterday, six hours today) and so far it's okay. The only thing bothering me was only the dryness sensation.

I used to use Acuvue's dailies, but they were very uncomfortable. Sixty-eight percent water but my eyes felt extremely dry and uncomfortable. Maybe I was allergic to the immersing solution (saline).

I really love my new contact lenses now. They make my eyes appear bigger, and even though they're blue colored, the blue is not too visible. Love it!

Moment of narcissism this morning. XP

Toodle-o,

Maria

Short hair obsession

2011-03-15T09:34:00.000+07:00

Okay, I confess. I have a bit of unhealthy obsession for short haircuts. Mostly because short hairstyles look youthful and fresh, especially if you're a tiny person. Or have a pretty neck, which you absolutely have to show off. And also because I love short hairstyles, but I don't look good sporting it. :|

Here are some pictures of short haircuts. Maybe this will inspire some people to cut their hair? :)

I absolutely love Horikita Maki. She's so pretty. And cute. And she can be both sexy and cute at the same time. x)

An advice: if you ask me about hairstyle opinion, 90% of the time I'll say cut your hair short. Like I did to my friend, Cindy. But I also realize that short haircut doesn't suit every person in the world (people with round faces or plump body, I think, but there are exceptions, as always).

Oh and, if you decide to cut your hair short, better go to your trusted hairstylist. No options to tie your hair up in a ponytail if anything goes wrong.

I believe that short hairstyles require a lot more attention than long hairstyles. The hair might fall out of place and it needs to be trimmed every couple of weeks (unless you don't want to maintain the short haircut).

Maybe I'll cut my hair short. After the midterm. Depok is getting hotter and hotter everyday and I pull my hair up most of the time anyway. What do you think?

Toodle-o,

Maria

LUCKY

2011-03-13T02:10:00.000+07:00

I'm a very lucky person. There are so many reasons for that, and one of them is the fact that I have such amazing friends.

They gave me not only one, but TWO birthday bashes. (Now that I know, I just realized that there are actually so many anomalies but I just somehow missed them all!)

The two birthday bashes are so sweet. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time and my heart felt like it was flying. :"")

About the first birthday bash:

Fiona was coming over to my boarding room to do the cover for LPJ Kompek together. Then she left for a 'sleepover at her friend's room'. I actually had just come out from the bathroom and was just about to continue on my design (the back cover for LPJ Kompek) when my lights suddenly flashed. The electricity in my room went off and then on again in a split second, but that split second was enough to make my laptop lose power.

Hence the very loud gasp.

I then stomped outside my room and was absolutely stunned when I opened my door.

There they were; my friends, singing happy birthday with a small cake in their hands. So, so, so very sweet. I was speechless, I didn't know what to do. I didn't expect them to do anything close to it - a simple congratulation and I would be happy.

Then they watched me open their presents. I got a shirt from Inez and Jeremy, a love glass from Fiona, a cute piggy doll from Febrina (we named it Pirippon - Piggy from Riri-ppon, Riri is Febrina's nickname from junior high school), and a cross statue from Fey. The three of them also stayed over for the night even though we all have morning classes the next day.

The funny thing was, everything fell perfectly into place (their plan, I mean). Fiona left her sandals outside my room when she left but I didn't go out so I didn't know. She and Febrina were texting each other the whole night - something I wasn't supposed to know, but Febrina suddenly bbm-ed me during dinner. Fiona and I were the only one there and Febrina was still at campus at the time. I actually shot the question to Fiona but didn't think anymore of it. I even touched Fiona's cell phone when it was charging and didn't think of fiddling with it even a tiny bit.

Kudos to Fiona who was with me almost the whole time and acted quite nicely! It must be really hard on her.

Left to right: Me, Febrina, Jenny, and Inez.

Left to right: Fey, Fiona, and me.

About the second birthday bash:

During my morning class, Rika suddenly texted me, saying that there was a fatal mistake for the cover design Fiona and I made for her yesterday. We need to have an emergency meeting at eleven a.m. and I mustn't be late.

Rika laughed and laughed when I asked her about the fatal mistake and I simply thought that she was being... herself. But just now, I realized that laughing was her 'tell'!!!

There was actually no fatal mistake in my part - it was Fiona who really had to correct some of her work.

And then... a group of my friends suddenly appeared in front of me (I was concentrating on my laptop so I didn't see where they had come from). They sang happy birthday and they had another cake in their hands!

My heart was literally fluttering. It was unbelievable. That moment is forever etched in my mind.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, GUYS!
:* >8<

Febrina, Fiona, Fey, Inez, Jenny, Rika, Aan, Aklan, Deni, Miranty, and Andrew (who wasn't there, but participated). Also to Kaka who helped write the 'Happy birthday Maria, Cupcupmuach' on the cake, and other people who were involved in those bashes whom I don't know.

I am forever grateful. :')

I also got yet another 'so sweet' birthday present from Adi. Watch it yourself! :D

Thanks to all my friends who congratulated me on my birthday. I didn't realize my birthday notification on Facebook was off and yet you all still remembered! *tears of happiness*

You all have made me a very happy girl.

Toodle-o,

Maria

Pantang Twitter

2011-03-09T00:15:00.000+07:00

Gawat. Gue mulai terlalu suka menggunakan bahasa Indonesia dalam entry-entry gue. Ini ga baik karena gue mendirikan blog ini sebagai media untuk melatih bahasa Inggris gue.

Masalahnya gue ga tau bahasa Inggrisnya 'Rabu Abu' dan udah terlalu mager (baca: males gerak) buat nyari-nyari lagi di kamus. Atau Google.

Anyway, tradisi orang katolik tiap tahunnya adalah menentukan sesuatu yang harus kita pantangi sampai Paskah nanti.

Empat puluh hari tanpa apaaa gitu.

Apapun yang kita pantangi itu ga boleh dosa. Maksudnya kita ga boleh pantang nyopet karena nyopet itu memang sesuatu yang tidak boleh kita lakukan sepanjang tahun, bukan hanya pada saat 40 hari itu aja.

Nah selain pantang biasa (Rabu-Jumat ga makan daging), gue memilih untuk pantang twitter.

Sejak Agustus 2009 gue mengenal twitter dan mulai aktif nge-tweet karena temen gue, Inez. Sekarang bisa dibilang gue cukup addicted dengan twitter. Kuliah bosen, nge-tweet. Ketemu sesuatu yang unik, nge-tweet. Memang dari sononya gue cinta blogging dan twitter itu bisa dibilang micro-blogging. Lagipula aplikasinya tersedia di BB; jadi bagi gue, twitter itu amat sangat praktis buat menuliskan hal-hal yang memorable atau unik.

Baru aja gue sign out dari twitter app di BB dan menghapus linknya dari browser. Gue udah ngetweet soal rencana pantang gue ini dan kalau gagal, gue ga bakal punya muka lagi.

Mempublikasikan pantang gue adalah salah satu cara gue untuk menepatinya. Gue bakal terlalu gengsi buat ngetweet. Dan memang sudah gengsi buat ngetweet sekarang, berhubung hari ini technically sudah hari Rabu Abu.

Semoga gue bisa melaksanakan pantangan gue ini semulus mungkin. Godaan sih sudah pasti, tapi semoga mulus-mulus aja. Hehehe.

Toodle-o,

Maria

Ekspektasi dan Tawaran

2011-03-09T00:03:00.000+07:00

Bisa dibilang hari ini adalah suatu ujian buat gue. Sebenarnya ceritanya dimulai dari minggu lalu, jadi gue akan cerita dari situ.

Hari Rabu lalu gue mendapat tawaran dari seorang teman gue (R) untuk jadi wakoor di suatu kepanitiaan (X). Pada saat itu gue meminta waktu buat menimbang-nimbang dulu karena gue masih agak ragu. Excited sih, gue kan 2010 dan sudah ditawari sebuah jabatan wakoor - di kepanitiaan yang notabene nggak kecil. Tapi selain itu, gue juga cukup yakin gue bakal enjoy kerja di situ karena gue memang suka desain.

Gue memberi jawaban 'ya' itu Rabu malam. Sorenya sempat konsultasi dulu dengan papi-mami. Mereka agak kurang memberi lampu hijau sih karena satu dan lain hal; takutnya gue terlalu sibuk dan kuliah keteteran atau malah ada yang jadinya ga kepegang. Tapi di benak gue saat itu, sebuah tawaran buat seorang anak 2010 untuk jadi wakoor itu kesempatan yang ga akan datang lagi.

Lagipula itu desain. Gue memang hobi. Gue bisa lupa tidur kalau emang lagi asik meng-desain sesuatu.

Daaaaan gue ga dihubung-hubungi. Biddingnya itu hari Minggu kemaren daaaan GUE. GA. DIHUBUNGI.

Geregetan ga sih? Gue sempat berpikir kalo tawaran R itu ga serius. Atau dia salah kasih nomer gue.

Dan gue pun ditelpon nomor tak dikenal sore ini. Sepuluh menit sebelum asistensi Statistika 1. Ternyata PO kepanitiaan X.

Usut punya usut... si PO ini ternyata meng-SMS gue berulang kali hari Kamisnya. Dan gue ga terima. Kesimpulan: salah kasih nomor.

HIKS.

Gue tau, memang anak 2010 jadi wakoor itu too good to be true. Jadi yauda sih. Gapapa.

Cuma, gue ga suka banget digantungin kayak gitu.

Tadi pas kita ngobrol-ngobrol (VPOnya juga ada), dia pun minta maaf soal miskomunikasi itu. Dia juga menjelaskan ke gue bahwa dia sudah menemukan orang lain yang lebih tepat untuk menangani job desc wakoor desain itu. Salah satu halangan gue adalah gue sudah sibuk BEM dan Kuksa - dia khawatir nanti kepanitiaan X ini akan ga kepegang.

Jujur aja pada saat itu gue cuma menelan mentah-mentah kekecewaan gue dan berusaha untuk bersikap dewasa, realistis, dan rasional. Padahal dalam hati, gue merasa super sedih. Tapi yauda sih, masalah nomor hp yang salah itu kan juga kecelakaan. Ini adalah pertanda dari Tuhan bahwa tempat gue memang bukan di situ. Berarti gue diperlukan di tempat lain. Dengan berpikiran seperti itu, gue bisa menerima hal ini.

Lagipula, saat menerima kabar itu gue sudah agak-agak kesel karena kegantungannya. Jadinya gue berpikiran bahwa 'iya' atau 'nggak' terserah, yang penting kasih kabar supaya gue ga kepikiran terus. Mungkin prep gue yang seperti ini cukup membantu gue untuk menerima kabar ini dengan cukup lapang dada di depan kedua orang tersebut..

Hal positif lain yang gue dapet dari pengalaman ini adalah nama gue sudah dikenal oleh PO dan VPO kepanitiaan X itu. Mereka sangat welcome gue untuk coba ikut oprec kepanitiaan X nanti.

Gue memang tertarik sih. Ga hanya karena bagian desainnya, tapi juga karena ini adalah salah satu kesempatan gue untuk memperluas jaringan pertemanan gue. Gue cukup kenal dengan orang-orang Kompek, lalu orang-orang Kompek bedol desa ke BEM dan teman-teman gue jadi berputar-putar antara yang itu-itu aja.

Yang membuat gue dilema adalah kemungkinan besar gue bakal lanjut Kompek 14 (amin!!!). Kalau gue jadi BPH, gue bakal sibuk banget. Gue juga masih harus memegang BEM dan Kuksa. Itu berarti di semester 3 nanti gue bakal pegang 2 organisasi dan 2 kepanitiaan besar.

Mungkin salah satu hal yang bisa gue lakuin adalah mengurangi sks gue di semester 3. Jadi beberapa sks di semester 3 sudah gue ambil duluan di SP (semester pendek). Ini agak ngorbanin kuliah sih, dan nyokap pasti bisa kebakaran jenggot kalau dia tau pemikiran gue ini... tapi memang satu-satunya hal yang membuat gue bisa tahan kuliah di FEUI ini adalah kesibukan di luar kampus gue.

Karena pada dasarnya gue ga terlalu suka ekonomi. Nyokap gue pun mendorong gue (menendang, bahkan) buat masuk konsentrasi finance, tapi entah kenapa gue kok lebih terpanggil ke SDM. Tapi yah... gue rasa keputusan ini akan terbentuk secara sendirinya setelah gue mengambil 4 matkul wajib fakultas tentang manajemen keuangan, sumber daya manusia, operasional, dan marketing.

Balik lagi ke pemikiran gut itu. Mungkin dengan cara mengambil lebih sedikit sks nilai gue bisa tetap stabil meskipun gue sibuk. Tapi gue juga masih ragu akan kerelaan gue untuk melakukan ini karena gue orangnya agak gengsian. Hehe.

Gue berharap gue bisa menentukan sikap dan membuat keputusan yang terbaik secepatnya (atau dalam kurun waktu yang tepat). Gue yakin Tuhan pasti akan membantu gue dalam membuat keputusan ini. :')

Toodle-o,

Maria

Mangga Dua Again

2011-03-07T20:21:00.000+07:00

Yesterday my mom and I went to Harco Mangga Dua. I went there to buy some programs (Adobe CS 5 Master Collection) and she simply accompanied me.

After I bought the program, which costed IDR 100.000, we went to the optics. I was going to buy sunglasses for myself, but apparently God saw something wrong in that. When I had my eye checked, turned out that I somehow acquired astigmatism in the course of two years. My minus also increased - from 350 to 450.

It was insane. My plan to buy a pair of cool, cute new sunglasses vanished with a click of a finger. I bought a new pair of spectacles instead. The new pair looks just like mine right now, but its color is silver-white instead of red.

The only thing that soothed me after that shocking fact was accessory-shopping. The truth is, I don't like to wear much accessory (nowadays, at least). I often only sport a watch, which was my mom's. The watch is Baume & Mercier and it's about ten years old. In my eyes, it is the prettiest watch ever. I've never been tempted to buy another watch since I wore it the first time.

What I bought:

Pretty, isn't it? I fell in love at the first sight. The salesgirl said that it was IDR 80.000 but my mom managed to buy if for IDR 40.000.

I'm going to go back there on Saturday to take my spectacles. I'm now very motivated to drink carrot juice everyday. Luckily one of the cafeteria guys sell it. It actually tastes quite good. Febrina was kind enough to order the same drink with me today. :')

Toodle-o,

Maria

Mimpi Seram

2011-03-06T17:39:00.000+07:00

Gue adalah orang yang jarang banget mimpi.

Biasanya gue kalo tidur udah bener-bener kayak orang mati. Blek, weker nyala, langsung hupla, bangun lagi. Kalau lanjut lagi tidurnya, nah itu baru deh mimpi-mimpi aneh bermunculan (biasanya waktu liburan aja nih, sempat lanjut tidurnya).

Tapi, akhir-akhir ini gue sering banget ketiduran. Lagi leha-leha di ranjang, mau berdoa, tau-tau sudah pingsan dan sadar sekitar jam 3 pagi, dengan lampu ranjang masih nyala. Biasanya sih ga mimpi apa-apa, tapi beda banget sama kejadian tadi malam.

Gue bbm dan sms beberapa teman terdekat gue sekitar jam 3.30 pagi tadi. Sebenarnya mimpi gue ga serem-serem amat. Lebih tepat dibilang aneh. Agak thriller daripada horror. Tapi setelah gue bangun, gue kayak dapet semacam bayangan-bayangan aneh gitu deh. Dan gue jadi super ketakutan sampe merinding dan cuma bisa diem meringkuk di ranjang sambil berdoa Salam Maria berkali-kali.

-___________-"

Gue ga berniat menceritakan mimpi gue di sini. Tapi ada empat orang yang gue mimpiin dengan jelas banget, dan ujung-ujungnya gue cuma men-bbm satu dari empat orang itu (karena tiganya lagi ga terlalu kenal). Untungnya sih dia gapapa ya.

Mimpinya itu terasa begitu nyata. Meskipun agak-agak horror (spoiler: gue ngeliat orang dibakar hidup-hidup, dan orang itu menggantikan GUE), tapi mimpi itu diakhiri dengan sesuatu yang... *sigh* manis banget sampai-sampai gue berharap mimpi itu nyata. Kejadian manisnya doank yang nyata maksudnya.

*Keplak pipi sendiri.*

Mungkin ada beberapa temen gue yang merasa 'Ih Maria apaan sih, norak banget, cuma gara-gara mimpi sampe ketakutan gitu'. Yah emang bener sih, norak banget ya setelah dipikir-pikir sekarang. Tapi pada saat itu, saat jam 3.30 pagi tadi, gue bener-bener takut lho. Masalahnya adalah biasanya gue cuma takut saat di mimpinya doank, tapi tadi subuh-subuh itu, takutnya pun kebawa sampai setelah gue bangun.

Argh. Serem.

Gue jujur aja masih inget banget sama mimpi itu. Gue juga sempat menulis tentang mimpi itu di notes BB gue. Ohiya... gue baru inget sesuatu. *ketawa miris* Gue berasa serem banget itu setelah gue mengingat sebuah nama yang muncul di mimpi gue itu. Jadi ceritanya di mimpi itu gue mendadak ditelpon, orangnya nyari seseorang tapi salah sambung. Ah gila sampai sekarang saat gue ngetik ini pun gue mendadak merinding lagi.

Anyway, mohon maaf sebesar-besarnya buat temen-temen yang merasa direpotkan. Mungkin kalian menganggap gue itu norak, tapi gue sms/bbm sebenarnya juga karena gue care sama kalian. Huhuhu. Yang ga di sms/bbm juga bukannya gue ga care lho. Dobel huhuhu.

Love love,

Maria

Threesome

2011-03-05T21:22:00.000+07:00

I just had an awesome threesome date with Aurel and Tony. Before I continue, let me clarify that the title is purely for teasing purposes. :P

Before the date even began, I had to wait for Aurel at St. Theresia's church for about an hour. I ate siomay while I was waiting because I was hungry (a minute later Aurel called and told me that she was going to have lunch at BK -_-). I then went to BK and met some of Aurel's friends. Risa, Lani, Lidya, and Gary. (Sorry if I wrote some of the names wrong.)

We then went back to St. Theresia church and took a couple of pictures for college purposes. Aurel and her team were assigned a task to photograph at least two historical buildings. I didn't mind accompanying them at all, but my only criticism was the fact that they were awfully late. They were supposed to meet Aurel at a bus stop in Harmoni at 10.00, but they came around 11.30.

I really, really don't like unpunctual people. I realize that sometimes I can also be late, but one and a half hour is simply too much.

Anyway.

The date was SO FUN! While we were waiting for Tony to come, we stumbled on 'PureMilk' store. They sell cute T-shirts and such. We decided (a bit hastily, followed by giggles) that we'd buy the same T-shirts.

Tara!

Me and Aurel. This picture is taken after we played two games of Pumps and DDR. XD

And we wore the new T-shirts out of the store.

We finally met Tony at Gramedia, where I also bought a couple of books for designing purposes ("Kupas Tuntas Editing Video dengan Adobe Premiere Pro CS 5", "Trik Sederhana Mengerjakan Buku dengan Adobe In Design CS3").

The three of us then went to Funworld. I sort of coaxed Aurel and Tony to accompany me play DDR and Pumps - totally forgetting the fact that Aurel had injured her foot earlier this week. Suffice to say that I managed to break a sweat when I played Pumps. I really love the Turkish March song - that's the only level 06 song I can play, where I can achieve an A. I pretty much sucked at the other songs.

Tony while playing Guitar Hero.

We briefly considered to continue and have fun at karaoke, but in the end we decided that we'd rather eat ice cream instead. We ordered 'Crepes' at Baskin Robbin and were startled to see how small the ice cream portions were. Lol. Cookies and Cream, and Jamoca. I haven't eaten awesome ice cream in a long time so for me, they tasted like heaven. :'9

The evening ended when Tony and I dropped Aurel at Plaza Indonesia so she could walk to the nearest bus stop. Unfortunately, she later texted me, telling me that her foot hit something on the way there and was bleeding. Tony and I were already on our taxi at the time and my imagination got the better of me for a moment there.

Thanks for the awesome time, guys! I love you all! I miss you guys already. T^T

Toodle-o,

Maria

Photography Workshop (NFF)

2011-03-02T20:21:00.000+07:00

FEUI is a busy campus. It has more than enough events to keep you busy for a year and one of them is NFF. NFF is short of National Folklore Festival. Although the target event is for high school students, some college students may also attend the workshops and seminars and such.

I have a little interest (this is me being modest, teehee) on photography so I attended its workshop. (The truth is I kind of 'stumbled' into the workshop while I was walking around - I didn't have any class at the time.)

Me and Mr. Arbain Rambey

The speaker was Mr. Arbain Rambey. He is a professional hard-news-journalistic photographer who works for KOMPAS newspaper.

He talked about photographer's subjectivity - how a photo might tell a different story from the reality. That a photographer's job is to capture moments, however vile those moments are. (He added that it is actually the editor's job to choose which photos to print on the newspaper.) He gave us tips on how to anticipate unique moments, to photograph safely in a riot, to make our photos 'tell a story' about a bombing, and so on.

He also explained something I've learned, but forgotten. That photography has four aspects: technical, composition, angle, and moment. Let the camera take care of the technical part (read: use automatic, or A, or P) so you can concentrate on the other three aspects which the camera absolutely cannot do. What's the use of an expensive camera if you're doing all the thinking for it?

I was given an opportunity to ask a question, so I did. I asked about the 'art' of film-roll photography versus digital photography. He said that digital photography is a lot more practical and dependable. It means that when we use roll-film, we also depend on the person who does all the printing in the dark room. If he fell asleep then our photo would be ruined. On the other hand, digital photography doesn't require such steps so it's more reliable. Beside, the era has changed. Digital photography is a part of the art now, whether we like it or not.

I learned a lot from this workshop. This is definitely one of the things I don't regret doing. Bravo for NFF committee for giving me an opportunity to learn more about something I deeply love!

Toodle-o,

Maria

A good start in March!

2011-03-02T00:04:00.000+07:00

I have had my iTouch (3G, 32 GB) for about a year now. I love it very much but the exterior part of it is starting to suffer from hours of harsh games and such. I know I need a new case and a new screen protector but Apple stores don't seem to sell 3G's accessories anymore.

Well, except My Campus at FEUI.

I bought a new case (got the screen protector for free) today! The price was originally IDR 264,000 but I got a discount so I paid IDR 224,000. I used my credit card so basically my mom paid for it. Teehee.

Taraa.

I love it so much! It's hard case and the yellow part of it can be changed with transparent colored one. An appearance can really change a lot. :)

Oh, I also named my iTouch today. Icchan!

Toodle-o,
Maria

Are Natural Resources a Limit to Growth?

2011-02-28T17:32:00.000+07:00

I copied this article from page 567-568 "Principles of Economics, An Asian Edition", written by N. Gregory Mankiw, Euston Quah, and Peter Wilson (I don't know the edition). I use this book (well, the book is Rika's, actually) for Introduction to Economics class.

Today we learned about economic growth and there is one interesting article in the book. Here it is:

Case Study

ARE NATURAL RESOURCES A LIMIT TO GROWTH?

The world's population is far larger today than it was a century ago, and many people are enjoying a much higher standard of living. A perennial debate concerns whether this growth in population and living standards can continue in the future.

Many commentators have argued that natural resources provide a limit to how much the world's economies can grow. At first, this argument might seem hard to ignore. If the world has only a fixed supply of nonrenewable natural resources, how can population, production, and living standards continue to grow over time? Eventually, won't supplies of oil and minerals start to run out? When these shortages start to occur, won't they stop economic growth and, perhaps, even force living standards to fall?

Despite the apparent appeal of such arguments, most economists are less concerned about such limits to growth than one might guess. They argue that technological progress often yields ways to avoid these limits. If we compare the economy today to the economy of the past, we see various ways in which the use of natural resources has improved. Modern cars are more fuel efficient. New houses have better insulation and require less energy to heat and cool them. More efficient oil rigs waste less oil in the process of extraction. Recycling allows some nonrenewable resources to be reused. The development of alternative fuels, such as ethanol instead of petrol, allows us to substitute renewable for nonrenewable resources.

Fifty years ago, some conservationists were concerned about the excessive use of tin and copper. At the time, these were crucial commodities: Tin was used to make many food containers, and copper was used to make telephone wire. Some people advocated mandatory recycling and rationing of tin and copper so that supplies would be available for future generations. Today, however, plastic has replaced tin as a material for making many food containers, and phone calls often travel over fiber-optic cables, which are made from sand. Technological progress has made once crucial natural resources less necessary.

But are all these efforts enough to permit continued economic growth? One way to answer this question is to look at the prices of natural resources. In a market economy, scarcity is reflected in market prices. If the world were running out of natural resources, then the prices of those resources would be rising over time. But, in fact, the opposite is more nearly true. The prices of most natural resources (adjusted for overall inflation) are stable of falling. It appears that our ability to conserve these resources is growing more rapidly than their supplies are dwindling. Market prices give no reason to believe that natural resources are a limit to economic growth.

I figured that this article would get our gears running. Now that you think of it, most economists don't seem to care much of the environment. Maybe this is their reason. I don't know.

After you read this article, though, always remember that this talks about the supply of natural resources, not the effect of technology on Mother Earth. Pollution is still a huge concern. However, I do agree that advances in technology nowadays will and may allow us to actually help Earth to recover.

I'm actually eager to find an economic explanation on why economists don't seem to quite care about the effect of technology on Earth.

Toodle-o,

Maria

Happy Time

2011-02-23T21:38:00.000+07:00

These past two days have been awesome for me.

Last night Fiona stayed over. Febrina and the two of us laughed so hard because of the littlest things. We looked at people's photo albums in Facebook and laughed. We told each other stories about our crushes and laughed. It was basically a night full of laughter, shrieks, and joy. :)

Febrina and Fiona looking (while giggling) at people's Facebook profiles.

Today has also been amazing. My second until fourth sessions are empty so I spent it doing my design for BEM.

It was hard - designing for the first time together with new people is hard. I now respect Ara that he handled Fiona, Aklan, and I so well. I have to say that his method works remarkably well with me and I've just got used to it. Now I have to adapt to Andrew's new, abstract, and intuitive style. I know I can do it, but it's going to take some time, I'm sure. For one thing, both Rika and Andrew lack a bit in the technical aspect. They can produce amazing designs and know how to, but they can't explain it to us (the staffs). I'm not criticizing or saying that I don't like working with them, but I'm merely stating a couple of facts. Don't get me wrong - I love that I have the chance to work closely with Rika and Andrew. It's just all so new to me that I have to adjust my mindset again and get used to the whole thing.

Now apart from designing for BEM, we also discussed about our performance for Saturday evening (origami - BEM FEUI's team building). We got the theme 'Greek mythology'. I happen to have some knowledge of that area from my a-bit-unhealthy-obsession with Percy Jackson, so they all depended on me to come up with an idea. I proposed the idea of King Midas' touch, Theseus and the labyrinth story, and a couple of short others. Andrew suggested Oedipus. We finally agreed on King Midas' touch, with a couple of arrangements. I think I'm in charge of the script and such. I love it!

So Fey and I went to Margonda City around five p.m. to buy some props for the performance. Andrew kindly dropped us there. Us girls then ate dinner while discussing about the story and came up with the props needed for the performance. After making sure we didn't miss anything, we went to Giant supermarket to do some shopping. Fey also kindly accompanied me to Timezone to play DDR. I love that game! Too bad there wasn't any Pumps machine - I'm starting to like that game too.

Fey and I goofing around. :3

I just got home now and have a ton of things to do. But I can't help myself - I feel like I just have to blog and share about this experience!

"Enjoy every moment of life. None can be repeated. And the happiness you feel in one moment can only be truly and fully felt in that moment."

Toodle-oo,

Maria

KOMPeK 13

2011-02-23T00:30:00.000+07:00

Gue bener-bener bersyukur atas pengalaman ikut kepanitiaan yang super luar biasa ini. Beware: Post ini bakal sangat panjang. Gue bahkan mungkin akan menulis ini dalam dua tahap. :)

Pertama-tama gue harus cerita soal struktur kepanitiaan KOMPeK 13.

Project Officer dan Vice Project Officer: Cemink dan Andrew.

Treasurer dan Controller: Evelin dan Yosef.

Kabid 1, 2, 3: Rayestu, Edlin, Muti.

Mereka ini adalah para bos besar, alias Panitia Inti KOMPeK 13. Di mata gue mereka itu sangatlah bersinar. *cling cling*

Yang paling dekat dengan divisi gue (Publikasi, Desain, dan Dokumentasi alias pubdok) adalah Muti dan Andrew. Muti karena dialah kabid 3 dan dia juga bantu-bantu marcall. Andrew karena dialah orang yang kita hubungi saat mau MOU dengan media partner.

Koor divisi Pubdok adalah Rika, wakoor-wakoornya Aan dan Ara. Ini lucu banget, karena Rika jadi kayak punya dua suami. Di bidang 1, materi, ada juga Andre yang kayak punya empat istri.

Sekarang saatnya bercerita tentang hari-hari H KOMPeK 13.

Hari 1

Berhubung divisi pubdok itu tugasnya cukup penting, yaitu dokumentasi, kita bersembilan pun ikut opening ceremony di Menbudpar. Sayangnya Ara waktu itu ga ada karena dia sakit. Setelah itu kita mengikuti KOMPeK Journey di TMII. Kita ke Museum Indonesianya.

Kami semua awalnya berkumpul di FE pukul 5.30 pagi. Gue bener-bener ga bisa tidur malam sebelumnya, dan meskipun tidur, tidur gue ga nyenyak banget. Bener-bener deg-degan! Tapi ujung-ujungnya semua berjalan dengan cukup santai.

Di hari pertama ini, dresscode buat panitia adalah kemeja putih dan bawahan hitam bahan. Gue pakai rok deh, jadinya. Karena rok di badan gue amat sangat jelek kalau dipadankan dengan flats, gue pun bela-belain pakai high heels. Tujuh senti. Capek? Oh tentu saja. Tapi gue adalah tipe orang yang lebih mementingkan penampilan daripada comfort (buat gue sendiri lho). Yah, sometimes sih. Saat lagi mood dan menggebu-gebu aja. Hehe.

A couple of pics. :)

Dari kiri: Edlin (Kabid 2), Andrew (VPO), Pak Banu (kemahasiswaan), Cemink (PO),
Rayestu (Kabid 1), dan Muti (Kabit 3). Yang pakai jakun di kanan: Aklan. :3

Atas: Rika, Fey, Febrina
Bawah: Fiona and me :)

Dari kiri: Jenny, Rika, Fey, me, Fiona, Febrina, Aan.

Hari 2

Hari ini lomba-lombanya bener-bener dimulai. Kita sudah ngumpul di FE sekitar jam 6 pagi. Sebenernya ga banyak kejadian yang bisa diceritakan hari ini karena gue super duper capek. Keliling-keliling FE itu cukup buang stamina lho, apalagi harus bawa-bawa kamera SLR yang lumayan berat.

Hal yang lucu dan patut diingat adalah tragedi Cocom*s. Divisi konsumsi dengan sukses mendapatkan sponsor minuman kelapa itu. Hanya saja minuman itu ga sesuai banget dengan selera gue. Ada yang bilang enak, ada yang bilang rasanya 'ohmaigat'. Yang bilang enak segelintir dan mereka orang-orang yang pintar semua. Gue termasuk yang bilang 'ohmaigat'. Hahaha. Sampai-sampai temen deket gue bilang, "Stress gue Mar. Ayo bunuh diri pakai ******s."

Hari ini gue juga menjajal kamera Nikon D90 milik Ara (pinjaman juga sih, katanya). Kamera ini dewa banget di mata gue! Gue. Jatuh. Cinta. Akhirnya begitu ada kesempatan gue selalu curi-curi buat pakai kamera itu.

Sepulang acara, gue belum bisa santai-santai. Masih ada kurasi foto. Seperti hari sebelumnya, gue pun sudah ga deg-degan dan tidur bagai orang mati.

Pics!

Muti, Evelin, dan standing banner karya gueee :)

Dari kiri: Miranty, Muti, Edlin, Cemink, Standing banner gueee <3<3, Andrew, Friska, Anov

Hari 3

Foto bersama! Ini cukup menantang karena awalnya gue bener-bener harus muter-muter daerah sono untuk mencari tempat foto paling strategis. Awalnya gue mau mencoba pakai teknik panorama untuk foto ini. Tapi setelah dicoba untuk disatuin, panorama ini ga berhasil karena orang-orangnya selalu bergerak. Untungnya gue juga mengambil foto-foto yang biasa dan bukan pakai teknik panorama.

Taraa!

Di hari itu gue bener-bener capek. Stamina bener-bener diuji. Di hari itu gue juga dapet tugas tambahan yaitu buat video closing. Untungnya Rika yang buat konsepnya jadi gue tinggal cari kata-kata dan lalalanya. Malam itu juga gue mau buat, tapi sayangnya ternyata gue ga kuat. Gue mendadak mimisan secara misterius malam itu dan pusing-pusing. Setelah pilih-pilih foto untuk videonya, akhirnya gue memutuskan untuk tidur.

Hari 4

Gue. Telat. Bangun. Harusnya kumpul jam 6 pagi, gue baru bangun jam 5.45. Plus usaha untuk bangun, bisa dibilang gue baru bangun jam 6. Akhirnya gue nyampe di UPMA (basecamp panitia KOMPeK) jam tujuh dan langsung mulai ngedit video. Hari itu gue berangkat sendirian karena Febrina sudah berangkat pagi-pagi banget (ada sedikit masalah dan dia super panik). Gue berangkat dengan membawa dua kamera, satu laptop, dan tas gue yang biasanya.

Kurang lebih ada IDR 25 juta di badan gue pagi itu. Dan. Barang-barang itu. Berat.

Hari keempat ini ga begitu melelahkan buat gue karena kerjaan gue dari pagi adalah ngedit video. Gue baru selesai sekitar jam 1 siang dan videonya itu cuma 2 menit. Gue bener-bener ga ngerti apa yang membuat gue bisa ngedit selama itu. Tapi ngeditnya juga memang ga gampang sih. Gue bener-bener harus nyoba berkali-kali supaya ga terlalu cepet atau terlalu lambat gitu-gitu. Mungkin ini yang bikin lama.

Selama gue ngedit video, Aan ada di sebelah gue meng-compile foto-foto selama KOMPeK 13 yang akan diburn di cd lalu dibagikan ke masing-masing tim sore itu. Setelah gue selesai, kita staff pubdok (kecuali Fey dan Aklan, karena mereka tugas dokumentasi) mulai mengeburn 50 cd yang dibutuhkan.

Gue menangani 3 laptop mac (punya gue sendiri, punya kakaknya Jenny, dan punya Andrew) sementara Fiona menangani 3 laptop PC. Jenny dan Aan keluar untuk mendokumentasikan ga lama setelah kita mulai mengeburn.

Masalahnya adalah kualitas cd kosongnya. Cuma laptop Andrew yang bisa dibuat ngeburn dengan mulus (tapi jujur aja laptop Andrew serem, karena dia panas banget dan gue harus ngipasin kayak ngipas sate). Punya gue berhasilnya untung-untungan, punya Jenny juga. Laptop Rika mulai lemot setelah dipakai mengeburn beberapa kali.

Setelah kita bersusah payah mengeburn sekitar 40-an cd (Ara sampai keluar beli lagi karena banyak cd yang gagal di burn) Rika datang dan ternyata kita hanya butuh 23 cd. *ketawa miris*

Gue pun menghibur diri dengan mengcopy Toast Titanium 10 dan Adobe Photoshop CS 4 milik Andrew. Toast gue versi 8 dan Adobe Photoshop gue versi CS 2. Gue seneng banget bisa langsung mencopy app tanpa harus download atau beli softwarenya.

Video Closing:

Selesai mengeburn kita semua pun langsung berkumpul ke auditorium untuk closing dan pengumuman pemenang KOMPeK 13.

Gue dan kawan-kawan diharuskan buat foto wajah-wajah pemenang satu per satu dan foto goodie bag untuk sponsor. Setelah ituuuu penutupan panitia dan foto-foto.

Banyak BPH yang nangis. PI pun juga ikut pidato dan mereka juga (di mata gue... beberapa at least) berkaca-kaca.

Jelas banget bahwa KOMPeK 13 itu sangat berharga buat mereka. Buat gue juga. Dulu gue pernah dihadapkan pada dua pilihan kepanitiaan dan gue bener-bener ga nyesel gue memilih kepanitiaan KOMPeK 13 ini. Highlight kehidupan perkuliahan gue jujur aja juga kegiatan KOMPeK. :')

Jenny, Fey, Fiona, me :D, Aklan
Pubdocers! Sayangnya Ayu ga ada. :(

Kiri: Jenny, Fey, Fiona, Me :D
Kanan: Aan, Ara, Aklan, Rika, Andrew

Cemink, Febrina, Fiona, Me, Andrew

- Keromantisan antara PO dan VPO kita -
Cemink: "Hai ganteng~"
Andrew: *tersipu*

Dalam kepanitiaan ini tentu saja gue juga belajar banyak sekali hal:

1. Belajar lebih bertanggungjawab. Gue merasa gue kurang maksimal di marcallnya. Ada 1 media partner yang harusnya bisa dapet tapi gue lelet banget follow upnya. Next time (amin!) gue harus lebih niat lagi.

2. Belajar untuk sabar. Maksudnya menghadapi detil-detil kecil yang *kelupaan* dan pengulangan desain berkali-kali untuk mencapai hasil yang terbaik.

3. Belajar teknik-teknik photoshop baru dan program baru. Gue belajar bikin web banner (courtesy of Ara) dan belajar edit video pakai Adobe Premiere Pro CS 5.

4. Belajar bahwa dalam kepanitiaan ini arti kekeluargaan sangatlah penting. Gue seperti mendapat keluarga-keluarga baru di sini yang amat sangat gue sayangi. :')

This memory is forever etched in my mind. SMANGKOK!

Maria

Handcream

2011-02-19T22:41:00.000+07:00

I've never used or even known about hand cream before. I'm going to start using it real soon because my mom got me one when she went to Japan.

Ettu sais hand cream.

It smells of... heaven. Strawberry and other fruity scents that made me simply fall in love. I don't know how well it moisturizes my skin because I haven't really tested it but it smells as heavenly even on my skin.

And the packaging! It's so cute! *giggles*

I have to admit that I'm actually a very girly girl. I love pink, cute stuffs. This is definitely one of them. ;D

Toodle-o,
Maria

Beginning of Term 2

2011-02-16T18:00:00.000+07:00

I really haven't felt like studying much ever since the second semester started. There was a day off in the first week, the second week was literally filled with Kompek I had to skip all my Mon-Thurs classes, and now I'm in the third week with yet another day off (yesterday).

I don't think I've studied much. My main routine doesn't revolve around classes or homework anymore, but around the new organization that I joined: BEM FEUI. And Kompek.

I'm never a great fan of economics and such, and these extracurriculars help me maintain my sanity. I have an outlet to channel my passion without having to drop out of my major and I really like the practicality.

I'm aiming for management for human resources and organization rather than finance, marketing, or operational management. This is because I love psychology (and its theories) and HR involves quite a lot of it.

Because of the new organization, I won't be going home for at least the next two weeks. Some of you (people I actually know) may know that I go home on a weekly basis, that is every weekend. I spend the weekdays in Depok and the weekends in Jakarta. But not for the next two weeks. I haven't even met my mom last week because she went to Japan and just got home today. I really want to see the souvenirs she got me from that Hello Kitty country!

Not going home for the next two weeks also mean not wearing high heels. I'll miss them. No other fashionable bag too except for the brown leather one I'm wearing daily. And only one pair of shoes. Wow. Let's just hope I can stand this and not sneak back home in those two weeks.

Toodle-oo,
Maria

Daily Makeup Routine

2011-02-15T18:45:00.000+07:00

I need approximately half an hour each day to prep myself. This excludes washing my hair and having breakfast. I usually just take a quick shower and put on make up. Here's the products that I use almost every morning (except the holidays where I stay at home all day, of course).

From left to right:

Enummi Night Cream

L'Oreal UV Perfect Sunblock (SPF 50, PA+++) in Transparent

The Body Shop liquid foundation Shade 02

Nivea Lipbalm in Strawberry

Lunasol Under Eyes Base Shade 00

The Body Shop stick concealer Shade 01

VOV pact powder Shade 33

I wear the Enummi night cream on my under eyes for added moisturizer. I swear by it - it never causes any irritation or whatsoever. It is a product by 4Life Transfer Factor that my mom sells, so I basically got it for free when it doesn't sell (people favor the sunblock). The actual price is around IDR 500,000.

When I was in high school, I don't wear make up. I only wear skincare and the most important thing to wear is sunblock. It prevents premature aging, brown spots, etc. If you don't have the time to wear anything, wear your sunblock. It's an absolute must. Your 40-year-old self will thank you!

Sunblock with SPF 50 can irritate sensitive skin and even cause blemishes, but this product works perfectly for me. It creates an amazing dewy look and even out my complexion.

Next I apply under eyes concealer. This product is new for me but so far it's been working awesomely. It lasts all day. Even after running around and heavily sweating.

TBS' stick concealer works perfectly with oily skin. Unfortunately it doesn't last as long as Lunasol's under eyes base. As long as I don't sweat, it stays all day, but is simply gone when I have to run around.

I'm now trying to add the fluidline gel eyeliner to the routine every morning but that depends on the time. If I have enough time, I'll wear it. If not, I'll simply skip it.

If I'm really in a hurry I usually skip the foundation part and just put on my powder and lipbalm while getting out of the building. I only put the foundation into my routine to finish the bottle up. I don't really need it because it really doesn't make that much difference whether I wear it or not and I bought the wrong shade. It's too dark for my skin.

So, that's all about my daily morning routine. I can't believe that I'm more excited writing this than writing my ten-pages essay about faith autobiography. Time to get back to reality, I guess.

Toodle-oo,
Maria

Another good buy

2011-02-13T00:20:00.001+07:00

I actually planned to buy this from an online FB shop. But from a previous experience, what they sell seem to be counterfeit.

Fluidline gel eyeliner in blacktrack.

The saleswoman offered me the brush too, but at IDR 275,000 (the eyeliner itself is cheaper than that), I politely refused. I opted my own slanted brush that I bought months ago at The Body Shop.

Suffice to say the brush proved to be quite amazing. Cheaper, in fact. I got four great-quality brushes for IDR 179,000. I also love the short handle. I'm nearsighted, so I have to lean in to the mirror to do my make up and long handles keep hitting on the mirror. I use my pinky to stabilize the line. :)

I really think this product will prove to be the best eyeliner I've ever had. I tried it on today and it didn't smudge at all (the saleswoman applied it to me for a trial before I bought it), even when I played pumps. Hopefully it will stand the heat and humidity of Depok (and my all-day activities).

Toodle-o,
Maria

Bad Internet

2011-02-11T23:36:00.000+07:00

I've wanted to post an entry or two since last Sunday but the Internet in my boarding house happened to be dead. It didn't work at all and it pisses me off.

Now I'm not really in the mood of posting anything, but I'll post something soon. About KOMPeK 13. About how amazing experience those four days was. Also about things I've done today. :)

I feel like I have to mention this particular topic here in my blog. It's about Pauline. She wrote that she would leave her blog.

It surprises me very, very much, because the one person who pulls me into blogger is actually her. So far, blogger has been satisfactory. It doesn't exceed expectation, but still, quite nice.

I don't think I can make a decision like Pauline does - to leave this blog. I still write so many things here and frankly, starting a new blog is too bothersome for me. So you're still stuck with me till... well, I don't know till when. ;)

Toodle-o,
Maria

Lunasol - Under Eyes Base

2011-02-05T15:01:00.000+07:00

I bought this product today (on impulse, to be honest) and I'm trying it out right now.

I've been looking for a creamy concealer for my dark circles and Lunasol seems like the best choice. It's part of Kanebo.

I usually use The Body Shop's stick concealer but I realize that it dries up my under eye quite badly. It works wonders on the oily area (my skin type is combination between oily and dry), but not so on my dry skin area.

Now this new baby is water proof and lasts all day (said the sales woman anyway). But it's Lunasol. This product being that perfect is quite believable. It's Lunasol. *scoffs* The sales woman also said that this concealer's texture won't break apart even when I'm sweating. It's (yeah, you may know what I'm going to say next by now) Lunasol.

The ultimate test for this product is Monday until Thursday next week. Days of KOMPeK 13.

I just love Chinese New year. ;D

Toodle-o,

Maria

Kejujuran dan Konsekuensinya

2011-02-05T14:37:00.000+07:00

Ada pepatah bahwa 'pengalaman adalah guru yang terbaik'. Kalau dipikir-pikir ini benar. Kebanyakan dari kita hampir tidak ingat apa yang kita pelajari waktu SD kecuali pengalaman-pengalaman unik yang kita alami waktu itu. Teman yang mengadu ke guru, komik yang disita, dst.

Saya yakin semua orang pasti pernah melanggar peraturan, terutama peraturan sekolah. Kalau sudah dilanggar dan tidak ketahuan, ya sudah, yang terjadi terjadilah. Namun ingat bahwa kita punya satu pilihan lagi, yaitu mengaku.

Orang yang mengakui kesalahannya di mata saya adalah orang yang mempunyai keberanian yang sangat besar. Banyak orang yang berbuat kesalahan akhirnya diam saja karena takut menghadapi konsekuensinya. Kebohongan pun sering dilakukan untuk menghindari hukuman.

Yang menjadi pertanyaan sekarang adalah penghargaan terhadap kejujuran. Prinsip yang saya anut dari dulu (lagi-lagi, berdasarkan pengalaman) adalah berusaha menaati peraturan agar saya dapat mempertahankan kejujuran saya. Karena saya tidak salah, saya jujur.

Namun yang menjadi tantangan dalam hal kejujuran sebenarnya adalah ketika sudah berbuat salah, kita pun dihadapkan kepada dua pilihan: mengaku atau diam saja.

Tentu saja ada konsekuensi yang harus dipertanggungjawabkan, karena faktanya kita memang berbuat salah. Namun seharusnya dalam hal mendidik anak, harus ada hukuman pengecualian demi mengajarkan pada anak bahwa pengakuan itu adalah suatu tindakan yang mulia.

Contoh kasusnya adalah adik saya. Di sekolahnya telepon genggam dilarang untuk dibawa. Hari itu dia salah karena dia memang membawa, tapi saat ditanya gurunya, dia mengaku.

Dan hpnya disita untuk 1 semester.

Dan saat saya ke sana hari ini untuk 'berbincang-bincang' dengan kepala sekolahnya, beliau juga menolak untuk mengembalikan SIM cardnya.

Inikah penghargaan terhadap keberanian untuk jujur sekarang? Saya bisa memperkirakan apa yang dipikirkan adik saya sekarang dan mungkin seterusnya.

Jujur itu bikin repot.

Patut diingat bahwa adik saya masih kelas 6 SD. Anak SMA atau universitas mungkin akan menarik kesimpulan yang berbeda. Kalian semua tentu masih ingat saat kita masih SD, jalan pikiran kita cenderung tidak berbelit-belit (tidak mempertimbangkan hal-hal eksternal) dan lebih banyak memakai 'hati' daripada 'otak'.

Saya mengerti bahwa adik saya memang salah dan sang kepala sekolah memang juga terikat pada aturan (tidak boleh ada perkecualian, jadi tidak ada yang tiba-tiba 'ngelunjak'). Yang tidak saya pahami adalah keberanian dan kejujuran adik saya ini seperti tidak dianggap sama sekali.

Saya ulangi sekali lagi. Di zaman di mana kejujuran adalah sebuah hal yang sangat langka (baca: banyak korupsi merajalela), keberanian dan kejujuran seorang anak SD rupanya kurang berarti.

Terkadang kita memang lupa, tapi semua orang dewasa pernah menjadi anak kecil. Saya jadi bertanya-tanya, apakah pendidikan koruptor-koruptor juga turut bertanggung jawab terhadap tindakan mereka?

Kasihan adik saya, karena jujur dia jadi susah. Bukannya dipuji malah dimarahi. Semoga saja di mentalnya yang masih mental kelas-enam-SD itu dia tidak kapok untuk berani berkata jujur.

H-3 KOMPeK 13

2011-02-04T23:02:00.000+07:00

Gue mulai menulis entry ini pukul 10 malam. Gue baru aja selesai mandi setelah pulang dari UI. Hari ini gue dan Febrina PP (pulang-pergi).

Capek. Banget. Gilak.

Besok gue harus ke sekolah adik tercinta karena hpnya disita. Karena dia jujur. I'm so proud of her! Dengan alasan yang notabene tidak memalukan kayak gitu (and so selfless), gue semangat membela dia besok.

Pagi ini bermula dengan gue yang bangun pukul 5.15. Taksi bluebird yang gue pesen dari semalam sudah datang pukul 5.45. Lalu gue berangkat ke stasiun Juanda.

Sial pertama: Kelewatan kereta. Seharusnya ada Depok Ekspress yang berangkat sekitar jam 6.15an (jadwal di Indonesia memang masih kacau), tapi Febrina baru datang jam 6.30 jadi kita terpaksa naik Bogor Ekspress pukul 07.06. Gue gapapa sih, yang penting ada temen, tapi awalnya memang jujur aja sempat kesel. Sedikit kok. Ehehe.

Sial kedua: SATU TAS GUE KETINGGALAN. Tas itu isinya baju dan embel-embel yang diperlukan buat acara KOMPeK 13 nanti. *ketawa miris* Tadinya gue pikir, lebih baik gue bawa 2 tas hari ini dan 2 tas hari Minggu daripada bawa 1 tas hari ini dan 3 tas hari Minggu. Cukup logis kan pikiran gue? Tapi kalau pagi otak gue memang masih suka berceceran kemana-mana dan akhirnya rencana matang itu pun terlupakan dengan sempurna.

Gue dan Febrina bertemu Joy, Sam, dan Sheila di stasiun. Kita semua sama-sama berangkat naik kereta ekspress yang sama ke UI. Menurut gue ini kebetulan banget, karena gue udah lama banget ga ketemu teman-teman kuksa. (Hari ini gue ketemu Joy tiga kali. Berasa diingatkan buat ke gereja. -_-)

Berhubung keretanya suka berhenti-berhenti kita sampai di UI sekitar jam 8. Padahal kelas juga mulai jam 8. Gue dan Febrina menyempatkan diri buat kembali ke kosan dan ambil buku baru ke FE. Keputusan kita saat itu terbukti benar karena bukunya terpakai. (Dan dosennya ngomel-ngomel ngeliat orang yang ga pakai buku.)

Jujur, gue cukup semangat dalam kelas MPK Bahasa Inggris ini. Gue belajar banyak hal dari ibu dosen. Syarat-syarat tenses yang sebelumnya hanya gue dasarkan kepada 'feeling' dijelaskan oleh Ibu Zara dengan cukup mendetail.

Setelah kelas itu gue dan Febrina ke lab komputer dan mengeprint tugas koperasi. Sayangnya kita gak sempat ngerjain hari itu juga karena HUJAN. Bukan hujan malu-malu, tapi hujan yang kayak amarah langit.

Alhasil Febrina dengan amat sangat baik hati menemani gue yang menemani Fiona merevisi desain-desain. Gue merasa ikut empati dengan banyaknya desain Fiona yang berulang kali disuruh ulang. Sebenarnya itu juga bukan salah dia. Perincian ukuran yang dikasih ke kita berdua itu salah. Tapi desain gue sudah dicetak.

Mengenai kepanitiaan ini. Gue merasa kayak dapet keluarga baru. Terutama divisi pubdok. Gue sayang banget sama Rika, Aan, (koor dan wakoor), dan semua temen-temen sesama staff di divisi itu (terutama yang sering muncul, dan yang sepenanggungan --> *lirik*)

Gue cerita sedikit tentang mereka. Rika itu koor divisi pubdok. Job desc aslinya adalah sebagai semacam supervisor kerja kita. Tapi agak bergeser ke arah tugas pubdok yang desain karena wakoor khusus desainnya sibuk dengan organisasi lain. Gue sangat mengagumi komitmennya dan kesabarannya menghadapi tingkah laku gue dan temen-temen gue yang kadang-kadang nakal banget. Entah sejak kapan sih gue kalau menghadapi sesuatu yang bikin gue males (baca: ga mood ngerjain), gue selalu ngomong ke diri gue sendiri: Ini demi Rika. Demi Aan juga. Karena gue ga pengen ngecewain mereka (terutama Aan, karena dia yang interview gue) dan gue juga ga pengen nambah-nambah kerjaan atau pikiran Rika yang SUDAH BANYAK.

Sementara itu... Aan itu wakoor pubdok yang lebih mengkhususkan diri ke bidang cari-cari media partner. Gue juga kenal dia dari kuksa dan sempat jadi wakoornya dia kepanitiaan natal kuksa. Sabar banget deh. Baik. Asik diajak ngobrol. Dan satu hal yang gue perhatiin: kayaknya dia selalu tersenyum deh. Mau disindir-sindir juga tetep aja sabar. *nangis haru biru*

GUE MERASA AMAT SANGAT BERUNTUNG DIKELILINGI OLEH ORANG-ORANG YANG SANGAT BERKOMITMEN AKAN JANJI MEREKA DAN SUPER DUPER SABAR.

Temen seperjuangan gue di pubdok adalah Fiona. Kerjaan kita sama-sama gila. Hahaha, rasanya kalau ditulis semuanya di sini gue bisa ga tidur deh malem ini. Ada juga Fey, yang dari bagian medpar tapi tetap akrab. Terus Aklan, sesama bidang desain dan satu-satunya staff cowok. Rasanya kalau inget kejadian 'kaos' itu gue tetep aja miris deh. Meh.

Lalu curhat sedikit nih. Sebenernya ada satu lagi wakoor divisi pubdok, yaitu yang khusus bagian desain. Tapi sayangnya dia sibuk organisasi lain juga jadi gue rasa kompek ini bukan yang utama bagi dia. Jujur aja gue respek sama dia karena gue belajar banyak hal tentang desain dari dia dan gue akui selera desain dia memang patut diacungi jempol. Karena dia jugalah gue belajar edit film. Dan awalnya dia memang bersemangat juga. Dan kayaknya dia lumayan cocok sama hasil-hasil desain gue (nah yang ini cuma untuk penghiburan gue sendiri sih ehehe). Ketidakmunculannya di dekat-dekat countdown menuju kompek ini membuat gue kecewa karena gue kira gue bisa ngandalin dia, tapi ternyata gue salah. Mungkin karena kepanitiaan atau waktunya yang memang lagi ga tepat, gue ga tau. Gue juga prihatin banget sama Rika karena satu wakoornya hilang, dia jadi harus handle job desc koor dan wakoor. Itu kan berat banget. Di mata gue Rika melakukannya tanpa ngomel, dan hal ini membuat koor gue itu lebih bersinar lagi di mata gue. *cling-cling*

Sebenernya ada satu hal lagi yang terjadi hari ini. Ini sempat membuat gue kesel setengah mati dan sempat mengumpat-ngumpat depan Rika (malu banget argh). Intinya masalah ini sudah selesai dengan damai. Jadi ga gue ungkit-ungkit lagi. Tapi tadi gue bener-bener super kilat naik pitamnya. Mungkin karena beberapa hari terakhir gue begadang terus. Kemarin juga demi kesejahteraan rekening bank juga bela-belain deh jalan-jalan. Gue emang gampang emosi, dan kalau kurang tidur bisa lebih cepet lagi naik darahnya. Itu adalah salah satu dari banyak kelemahan gue dan gue berharap bisa memperbaiki itu. (Kayaknya hal ini juga keturunan deh, seinget gue bokap dulu juga sering banget ngamuk-ngamuk.) Tapi kayak bokap, cepet naik cepet turun pula. Kadang sih. Bukan berarti gue lupa.

Yahh intinya H-3 Kompek ini super hectic. Tadi juga ada masalah logo sponsor yang katanya ga ada padahal gue udah yakin stengah mampus udah ada (dan ada buktinya! Nah lho). Terus ukuran balyhoo yang seharusnya 4x6 meter, tapi waktu itu gue disuruhnya buat 3x4. Gue bener-bener mau nangis tadi rasanya (kurang tidur, kecewa, dan berusaha tetep semangat jadi satu).

Satu hal lagi. Kerjaan pubdok itu banyak. Jadi kalau ada yang miss, harap maklum dan sori banget. Kerjaannya susah ditrack satu-satu. Ini nih sedikit gambaran kerjaan gue.

Oktober-November: desain base balyhoo, spanduk, standing banner, poster, flyer serta mencocokkan desain kita bertiga (gue, Aklan, Fiona) sama selera desain wakoor desain kita. Di sini kita paling banyak ngulang. Integrasi desain ini rumit banget - kita mau terlihat satu tema, sekaligus terlihat unik. Intinya banyak revisi deh.

Desember-Januari: marcall. Mungkin khusus gue juga ada resize-resize poster buat yang sudah MOU. Juga bantuin id card-id card yang banyak salah-salah. Wakoor desain juga awalnya ngerjain banner tapi terus dia pergi jalan-jalan dan gue sempat memegang peran bikin-bikin banner sebentar. Sedihnya sih web banner gue ga sebagus dia. Hiks. Gue juga buat video opening Kompek. Di sini gue belajar mengoperasikan Adobe Premiere Pro CS 5 dalam waktu kira-kira 1 minggu.

Hari-hari menjelang hari-H: masukin logo ke desain-desain base. revisi. nambahin logo-logo yang ketinggalan. revisi lagi semuanya. begadang. Lingkaran hitam di bawah mata gueeee.... HIKS.

Ga seperti divisi lain yang kerjanya repot di awal, santai di akhir atau repot di tengah atau repotnya baru di menjelang hari H, divisi gue ini kayaknya selalu sibuk. Tapi ga tau juga sih gue, denger-denger aja testimoni dari beberapa temen divisi lain...

But you know what? I ENJOYED IT ALL. Hecticnya. Stressnya. You may think I'm a bit of a masochist, but I'll do this again next year, if allowed to. :D

Gue rasa cukup segini dulu kegalauan malam hari gue. Saatnya tidur dan berhibernasi, menghimpun energi buat hari H.

Smangkok always,

Maria

(Smangkok itu artinya 'semangat kompek', semacam seruan unik kepanitiaan ini :D)

Iceskating at last

2011-01-29T16:57:00.000+07:00

Ever since I went iceskating with fellow Kuksa last month, I'm addicted to it. Aan kindly taught me how to ice skate properly and under his marks, I was finally able to do it. Now it's fun, not dreadful anymore.

I managed to drag a couple of my high school friends with me to ice skate today at Taman Anggrek.

It all started when Aurel and Tony came to my house around seven in the morning. I just woke up then and was finally ready around 7.30. We had breakfast at my house and embarked to Jeremy's around eight. He just got up at the time. We didn't know what to do to kill time, so I suggested that we go ice skating (it was either that or karaoke).

Because it's a Saturday and I know very well that TA is awfully crowded at weekends, we went there at around nine a.m. and got inside the ice rink at around 9.40.

The rink was still foggy and awfully cold at that time (I was wearing two layers of tank tops and a simple cardigan while Aurel and Jeremy coincidentally brought jackets). I couldn't even feel my hands and they were very stiff. The ice rink was quite empty until after we got out of there, which was around lunch time.

I didn't fall at all. Tony fell once. Honestly, I almost fell once too - my fingertips touched the ice and that's that.

Jeremy, Tony, Aurel at the ice rink. The blueish tint is due to the fog.

Jeremy, myself, and Aurel.

We had lunch at hachi-hachi bistro, despite the scary story Aurel told us about sushi earlier.

There were some suggestions about going to the movies afterwards but I thought we already spent too much money, so we went back to Jeremy's house instead. There, we updated each other on our current news (like me and that... thing, Tony with his studies and orchestra, etc).

Aurel and Tony in front of the Goat / Sheep chinese zodiac.

Jeremy and I in front of the monkey chinese zodiac.

Before the three of us went home, Jeremy offered me to go to church together, like we always did before he went to Germany. In a way it touched me. He really struggled to get those words out and after a day of furrowed eyebrows (mine) and cocking head side to side (again, my head), I understood what he said.

His health is progressing rapidly. Thank God for that. :)

Amigos Restaurant

2011-01-25T22:04:00.000+07:00

Last Saturday the whole family went to Amigos Restaurant at Kemang. It was January 22nd and I was supposed to attend Theresia Festival with fellow Theresian friends, but a morning fever stopped me. The fever died down during the afternoon after I gulped down three pills of TF plus so I was able to move about at the evening.

We went to the mexican food restaurant to celebrate Mr. En's birthday.

Yes, I'm still not on speaking terms with him (after ten months of marriage with my mom!) but we did make eye contact that day. That's progress. I guess.

Mom, grandma, and me.

My grandma was also there. We ordered her salmon steak, which she liked. To be honest I think she really liked the mashed potato because it was mixed with butter and because she had a heart problem, she is originally not allowed to eat much butter because it spikes cholesterol... but every now and then humans are allowed to make exceptions, right?

I myself ordered 'chimichanga' - which I wasn't able to finish. The portion was just superb and I ate in minuscule portions during my holiday at home. It was okay, I guess. Definitely better than the mexican food I tried in Singapore.

There was live music too, which was cool.

My sister and I drew doodles while waiting for the singers to sing our requested song (Just the way you are, by Bruno Mars). We drew on a napkin, using my blue ballpoint.

A bit of our craziness. ;P

All in all, I enjoyed that night. Mostly because I look good in the pictures we took. :D

Toodle-o,

Maria

Tuesday at Aurel's

2011-01-23T15:41:00.000+07:00

Well, Tuesday and Wednesday, actually. But it totally rings like Sundays at Tiffany's, no?

So I had a sleepover at Aurel's place on Tuesday-Wednesday. What we did?

Watch Family Outing. To our hearts' content. I laughed so hard my cheeks and stomach hurt. It was the day I got introduced to FO and I don't regret it. The Korean variety show is so hilarious!

Before I went to Aurel's house I paid a visit to my high school and junior high school teachers. The hall was being renovated so the place was a mess, and I had to go around it in high heels. (I wore high heels because the next day I'll be stopping by at Grand Indonesia without going back to the house).

We ate pizza for dinner and continued watching FO. And slept at around three, I think. :D

The 'wijaya kusuma' flower bloomed that night.

On Wednesday I went straight to Grand Indonesia to meet up with Kompek's pubdoc division. It proved to be very productive. I did more on that one day than four days at home (lots of distraction, sorry).

The sleepover was a lot of fun. I missed Aurel so much! :D

Toodle-o,
Maria

Teambuilding #2 - Not

2011-01-17T20:09:00.000+07:00

Today I went to Grand Indonesia especially for Kompek Pubdok's progress report. Unfortunately Rika, Fiona, Ayu, and Ara couldn't make it. Aklan also appeared for only a flash then went home. Fey and Jenny also didn't have time to watch a movie so after the progress report we didn't watch a movie, though we planned to. There was (surprise, surprise) also Andrew, our dear VPO there.

So in the end Andrew, Aan, and I went to (I honestly forget about the name of that office tower) SME magazine to deliver the MOU. Thankfully my outfit was formal enough (dress shirt, jeans, jeans vest and high wedges) so I could actually participate in the signing of the MOU. (Aan waited downstairs.)

The meeting went well, in my opinion, but it could've gone better. I shouldn't go into more details since it would be breaking a promise (and a bit embarrassing).

I remembered something hilarious during our drive to the meeting place. Aan offered Andrew a breath freshener spray and the guy was driving so I guess he didn't see Aan previously sprayed it into his mouth. Andrew then sprayed it to his armpit area. I laughed so hard. I didn't know if he did it jokingly or that he really didn't know what it was. (He was totally radiating breath mint smell - I noticed it in the elevator.)

After the meeting Aan kindly directed Andrew to drive past my home. :D

Oh. I also got two new things today.

First, the shiny new refrigerator.

Left side is the freezer, right side is the fridge. The brand is LG.

Do you know how old my old one was? As old as I am - minus six. Lol. It was spouting electricity (higher bills every month, despite everything we tried to do) so my mom decided we need a new one.

Second, this cute cow doll. I got it from Andrew. I suspected that it was a car freshener because I've seen things like that at ACE hardware, but I honestly thought it was just a cute doll. And when he offered it to me I didn't have the heart to say no (because I wanted to buy it but my mom would never let me).

It's now hanging in my room as the ultimate source of french vanilla scent.

I learn something funny today. Expect the unexpected. To be honest I didn't wash my hair this morning because I overslept. The result? My bangs was a total mess. I tried blow drying it but it didn't work so well. I thought, oh well, I would only meet the guys from Kompek pubdok anyway... but... well, the unexpected kind of happened. Lol. (I'm laughing now but the experience itself was far from funny ;D)

Promising to never oversleeping anymore,

Maria

Long Time No See

2011-01-16T01:45:00.000+07:00

Today (well, technically yesterday) I had some sort of reunion with my friends from high school. There were Gio, Angie, Aurel, Aldo, Evander, Tony, and Bena. I see Aurel, Tony, and Angie on regular basis, but the others? Not so much.

I have never even spoken to Aldo. Ever.

Aurel told me to be there (Djakarta Theater) around noon, but I woke up at 11.30. I forgot to turn up the volume of my iPod so I didn't hear the alarm. If it weren't raining around that time, I would've slept through our date. Lol.

Random: I dreamed about people in a bus, clapping very loudly just before I woke up. It's so weird how my brain managed to interpret the sound of hard raining.

I arrived at Djakter around half past noon. The guys were in Pizza Hut and already had lunch. I myself had my breakfast-lunch during my drive to the place.

We decided to watch Faster. (Movie review by me in a joint-blog with Aurel) And after that we went to a busway station. I have never rode in a busway before. Even though we actually bought tickets, I can still say I have never rode in a busway. It was a Saturday afternoon, people were crowding to go to Plaza Indonesia and after five buses passed through the opposite door, we decided to catch a cab instead.

With five people it was actually cheaper (not to mention faster) to go by cab than by busway.

Unfortunately Bena and Aldo went home first and Tony went home right after we got to Plaza Indonesia. We only wandered around the place anyway. Oh, I had a tasty snack at Ya Kun Kaya Toast. (I think that's the name). I had... traditional kaya toast set. Tasty! The counter is right in front of Pancious in Plaza Indonesia. :)

Right after Aurel and Evander went home did I finally think to take photos.

Me and Angie. This photo is taken using my Blackberry by Gio. (The guy had to do it three times to finally get one right, lol.)

All in all I had a great day today. I bought two new DVDs, RED and Black Swan (one was free, courtesy of Tony - thanks Ton!), which I watched tonight. I only watched half of Black Swan anyway because it turned out to be kind of creepy. Though a beautiful kind of creepy, still unsuitable for my little sister because there was uhm... a solo sex scene. You get what I mean. My sister is 11 and she got extremely uncomfortable so we immediately switched to RED, which both os us thoroughly enjoyed.

Night, people!

Toodle-o,

Maria

REGOL

2011-01-11T21:25:00.000+07:00

Regol, atau REGistrasi OnLine dilakukan tiap awal semester oleh mahasiswa-mahasiswa UI untuk mendaftar jadwal kelas dan dosen.

Singkatnya sukses tidaknya Regol ini menentukan sukses tidaknya sebuah semester di UI.

(Jujur aja di sini gue mulai bingung, enaknya pakai istilah 'saya' yang lebih formal atau 'gue' yang lebih kasual... dan memutuskan buat yang kasual-kasual aja deh :D.)

Gue masih ingat pertama kali Regol semester satu bulan Agustus lalu. Waktu itu gue regol di kos-kosan. Nge-klik kayak orang kesurupan sampai akhirnya masuk di server siak-ng. Lol.

Well, hal itu terulang lagi. Kali ini gue regol dari rumah. Nge-klik masih kayak orang gila karena bolak-balik ketemu tulisan 'Internal Server Error 505'. Gue bahkan nongkrong di kamar adik gue karena sinyal wi-fi rumah bersumber dari situ. Teori gue sih, makin deket ke alat wi-finya makin cepet deh koneksi. Ga tau bener atau ga ya.

Ada dua kelas yang ga sesuai harapan gue. Statistika Satu (Statu) dan Koperasi. Niatnya sih Statu ambil dosen Ibu Maria Agriva, karena dia terkenal baik dan fleksibel. Koperasi niatnya juga ambil kelas Pak Darlis. Gue ga tau dia orangnya seperti apa, tapi kata temen gue dia baik. Yaudalah, ikutan aja.

Apa daya dua-duanya penuh. Padahal gue masuk ke server UI jam 5.13 lho, dan server itu buka jam 5 sore. Waktu itu Statu-L (kelas ibu Maria Agriva) sudah penuh sampai 83 orang pendaftar, padahal kapasitas 35. Gue langsung memutuskan untuk daftar ke kelas satunya kelas Statu-M (dosennya bahkan ga inget lagi namanya siapa) karena gue harus dapet yang bahasa Inggris dan hari Kamis pagi.

Karena gue ga tau dosen, jadi yang penting buat gue adalah jadwalnya. Jadwalnya paling ga harus sesuai rencana. Dan thank goodness, jadwalnya memang sesuai rencana. :)

Jadi, berikut inilah daftar kelas gue:

Manajemen - O

Statistika 1 - M

MPK Inggris - N

Pengantar Akuntansi 2 - M

Pengantar Ekonomi 2 - K

Koperasi - A

MPK Agama - Katolik, A

MPK Seni/Olahraga - rencananya sih pengen ambil Apresiasi Film, tapi belum ada jadwalnya. :(

Sialnya, kebanyakan kelas semester 2 ini kelas pagi. Padahal gue susah banget bangun pagi. Untungnya Febrina bersedia bantu soal yang satu itu. Huhuhu makasiii Feebbb... *peluk* Ohya! Gue juga udah janjian regol sama Febrina jadi untuk semester 2 ini, kita selalu sekelas. Kecuali MPK Agama dan MPK Seni, karena dia pilih MPK Agama Kristen dan MPK Olahraga Bultang.

Semoga semester 2 ini berjalan dengan lancar. Semoga kelas-kelas yang sudah gue pilih diapprove oleh dosen pembimbing akademis gue, dan semoga MPK Seni jadwalnya ga aneh-aneh. Amin!

Toodle-o,

Maria

CSI Experience Jakarta

2011-01-06T21:28:00.000+07:00

Today I especially went to MOI (Mall of Indonesia Jakarta) to try out the CSI Experience Jakarta. MOI is a far place from my home - it's in the North Jakarta and the traffic jam is awful.

At lunch with Aurel

To be honest I can't really say the CSI Experience exceeded my expectations. To be honest, it's rather disappointing. I spent IDR 100.000 basically for a 50-minute tour (that's about IDR 2.000 per minute, folks). I was looking for a challenge but didn't find one.

I chose case number three, No Bones About It. Angie, Adi and I were in one team while Aurel and Tony were in the other. They chose case number two about a dead waitress.

Can't take a picture just about anywhere, this is the place where they allow it. :)

A funny fact is, the guide was way over friendly. Lol.

Now if you're thinking you can touch the so called crime scene, you're wrong. If you think you can actually meet the dead-body prop from the TV series, you're also wrong. The exhibition is meant for anyone above age 13, so it no gory stuff. No thinking is needed. Just simply follow the guide, he'll tell you everything you need to know and do. Even at times rushing you to be faster.

I also think that the price was way too expensive.

So, here's my advice to those curious about this CSI Experience.

It's not worth it. Not really. If you have too much money, too much time, and is curious about this so called CSI Experience, pay for it and satisfy your curiosity. Just don't expect too much out of it. The trailer in the website? Meh. Maybe it's true abroad, but definitely not here.

Toodle-o,

Maria

Central Park with Talitha

2011-01-06T00:45:00.000+07:00

Not just with Talitha, but also with several other close friends from the junior high school we all went together. There were Tony, Anne, Angie, and Adi.

We went to Central Park mall on January 4th, on Tata's birthday in fact, so she also treated us with some sushi at Kiyadon.

Me and Tata at Kiyadon. :D

Let me tell you one thing about Kiyadon at CP. The food was delicious. Delicious. Let me repeat that: delicious. Especially the two-three-quarter salmon (I'm not even sure that's the menu's name). Grilled slightly on the outside, with raw salmon belly on the inside... and fish eggs on top. Simply perfection. And I never liked sushi that much. Lol.

Thanks, Tata! Happy birthday. :*

After that we had a little fun at Funworld. I played the Pump and Dance-dance Revolution. I really like playing that kind of game at the game center, you know, dancing and stuff. I usually don't dig Pump, but Ck insisted that I should give that game one more chance. She picked out the songs and hey, Pump turned out to be... not so bad. Can't do above level 6, though, my legs still think they're on DDR's pad, not Pump.

Suffice to say I was pretty sweaty when we emerged out of Funworld.

We decided to eat ice-cream at Cold Stone next. Tony and Adi's treat. The rum raisin and hazelnut were amazing. We talked about a lot of things. Then we went to Gramedia. Anne, Angie, and Tata left at this point, while Tony, Ck, Adi, and I proceeded to Blitz Megaplex.

Andre joined us there and the five of us watched Tron. I know, the film came out like a gazillion years ago, but I was busy doing finals. Ck and Adi watched it already but they were okay with it so we bought the tickets. I'm going to review the movie later, on my other joint-blog with Aurel, AM Movie Mania. Feel free to visit, or even better, be a follower. :)

All in all I say this day was a good one. I met my dear friends whom I haven't seen in a very long time (months!) and we were able to catch up on so many things that the conversations were endless. I thoroughly enjoyed it. If anyone wished me to have a nice day on January 4th, their wishes came true. :D

Toodle-o,

Maria

Last minute details

2011-01-04T21:48:00.000+07:00

Truth be told, I'm not a deadline-r. (Deadliner: a person who does a work very close to the deadline or at the very last minute, usually doing the job as whole, not part by part).

I never like to do some work part by part, but I also don't like working so close to a deadline. It's uncomfortable for me. It makes my heart race and I get so worked up. I don't like it, it's not good for my nerves.

But SOME things demand to be worked on last minute.

Example of the un-edited ID card. Fiona is the name of my friend who designed this.

Like this... ID card. I've done my part. I thought I never have to think about it anymore. My job was to add photos and names to the blank canvas up there. And then came the division's name corrections (please notice the PLURALS), another tiny corrections about the BEM's logo, aaaand another teeny corrections about the people's names. Oh, because of an early mishap I actually had done the ID card editing twice before the corrections. (The early mishap was a faulty order of layers. The K logo was covered by the black symbols as the background.)

So you see why I have to wait for the corrections to end - wait until the very last minute - before finally doing the job.

I despite tiny correctionS. I did a thing and I have to repeat. It's tiring, it's boring, and most of all it's gnawing my patience, rendering me from doing an impeccable job. I'm the type of person who'll do a terrific job, just give me a specific task, and you'd better think of the task hard because I really don't like changes while I'm working on it.

You see, I worked on the ID card for five hours. Everything was perfect. Then come the changes. I also thought I had at least one division's name right because I asked the VPO about this (kestari = secretarial), but apparently kestari means administration (from the PO).

In actuality, I need to send the ID cards by tonight. But I haven't even worked on it. I will. After this post. After a quick shower. And after a mood-enhancing revelation in the shower.

I hope there will be no other small correction after I do this. If there were any, I'm not sure I'm going to even do this job. Or maybe I'll do it. Grumpily. Like now. Meh.

Toodle-o,

Maria

PS. Or maybe after I blog about my today's experience and the new movie I watched, TRON. :|

New Year! Review of 2010 and 2011's Resolution

2011-01-02T23:25:00.000+07:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D

I'll start with... this new year's resolutions:

1. Be a more diligent college student. I've been lazing around this whole semester; skipping classes, doing homework at the very last minute, dozing off at lectures... these simply can't go on!

2. Decide firmly whether to move to another major (medicine) or stay in economics (management).

3. Summer school! I want to go abroad for an international summer school. Going to Eastern Europe seems like an awesome idea. :D I need to do more research, though.

4. Finish at least ONE story.

5. Make at least ONE dress.

6. Have a part-time job. Or some-kind-of-a job.

7. Spend the next new year with that person. :)

And, 2010's reviews.

January - April

These months went in some kind of a blur for me because they were so hectic with university entrance test preparations, national exam preps, the uni's entrance tests, the national exams, finals, those sort of things. And of course, graduation day. Oh, also on February 6th, my mom remarried. I didn't attend because she chose to held it in Surabaya and I had to study for an exam. Didn't regret my choice though. :|

May - July

There are too many moments to reminisce about these months because I was having a three month holiday. Some times were fun and exciting, some were quite boring. In June until early July, Pauline and I attended a short course at Esmod. We took pattern making class. We also met a lot of new friends. I haven't even picked up my file! It's been six months since that time, I can't believe how fast time can fly. Adi also went to Germany for about three months, he got back here in August.

August

First month as an official university student. Attended OPK and that sort of things. My old cell phone was stolen. Suffice to say this month was full of sweat and exhaustion. I also moved to a boarding house, Unica 26. :)

September - October

Having classes for the first time. Wik-N with Kuksa FEUI, met a lot of new friends. Start off at Kompek as the publication, design, documentation staff. Midterms. Made several difficult decisions, but all turned out to be best. :) My family and I also went to Singapore on September 18-21st. :D

November

Nanowrimo! This month was crazy. November 30th was the deadline for everything. Truth be told, I didn't actually finish Nanowrimo. I was 3,000 words short. But I copied a text from my other story to the word count so I could reach the 50,000 words. I'm not proud of this, but I need the software discount for Scrivener. Figure I'd finish off the novel in December but never managed to. I finished the design drafts for Kompek, but didn't finalize all of it. Got excited for life again, after thinking how dull it could be. :)

December

Wrapped things up with pretty little bow (things: my designs at Kompek). Finals. Christmas. Start of holiday. Meeting Jeremy after he got home from Germany. New year's eve with that Om's family. I got several grandmothers, lol. I was also presented with a new opportunity and a little twist at the very end.

All in all 2010 was a 'full' year for me. I experienced and learned a lot of new things this year. This year is also a year of change for me, from 'siswa' (student) to 'mahasiswa' (...still student in English). A lot of my close friends went abroad, so we said a lot of temporary goodbyes too. This made me sad, yet excited for the prospect of new life and new friends. :)

Regarding my previous 2010 resolution:

1. Try to control my temper. I guess this deserves sort of a half-check.

2. Try to forgive and accept people for what they are. I don't think I'm able to judge this yet.

3. Get the study mood again. The mood went awesomely during finals! :D

4. Get the use out of my tools. Check. Definitely check! I use my camera a lot and my sewing machine. Unfortunately my sewing machine is sort of broken right now.

5. START WRITING AGAIN. Thanks to Nanowrimo this is a definite check. Didn't finish a story, but the resolution of actually STARTING to write works out wonderfully.

6. Actually manage to REMEMBER these new year resolutions. Umm. Honestly, I don't remember. Haha.

Meeting My Best Friends

2010-12-30T20:49:00.000+07:00

I woke up around nine a.m. today and immediately fled to the bathroom for a quick shower.

I promised Jeremy's sister that I'd be at their house by nine.

Thank goodness they were still lounging around when I got there. It was around 10.30 that we finally went to Jatinegara for Jeremy's acupuncture. It went well, I guess, despite the fact that the room smelled of alcohol and anti-bacteria hand gels rolled into one.

We then had our lunch at Bebek Hitam, before going home at 1.30 p.m. The appointment itself took only twenty minutes, but the traffic was terrible. That was why we took so long!

I immediately went to Taman Anggrek Mall after that and hang out with Aurel. I miss her so much! Haven't seen her in about two months. :(

We ate lunch and just wandered around the mall.

I bought so many things today. Face masks, new tube of mascara (the old one is more than a year old!), some powder puffs, and a pair of new black jeans from Mango (read previous post). They're all necessary - that's my defense for my shopping mode that went over the top today. XD

All in all I count today is very productive. I met two of my best friends today, which was quite an achievement. :D

Toodle-o,

Maria

MANGO

2010-12-30T20:33:00.000+07:00

Mango is my favorite fruit in the world. Especially Surabayan's mangoes, because they taste sweeter and richer than the ones in Jakarta.

I also love MANGO jeans. I own two now (just bought the other one this afternoon, ON DISCOUNT) and they never fail to please me.

I don't have many jeans. I only have one from MANGO, one from Levi's, and one from Bossini. The one from Levi's needs serious adjustment on the hip (it's hipster, but almost always doesn't provide any protection for the hips) while the one from Bossini isn't slimming at all. And I can't wear the MANGO one everyday. It's five years old but it fits me so well I refuse to part with it.

The new MANGO jeans also fits me awesomely. It's all black. The only adjustment it needs is the length, like my other jeans/trousers.

All my MANGO jeans look like this, but one is dark wash, one is black. :)
Click here for pic's source.

I don't think I'll buy another brand of jeans anymore. MANGO obviously fits me best. :)

HOLIDAY!

2010-12-29T08:45:00.000+07:00

I've never been this excited about a holiday before. Christmas holiday used to last a mere two weeks. But end-of-semester holiday in college?

A MONTH, people. More than a month, actually.

Woohoo!

Yesterday was the last day of the final exams, so I suppose this entry is one day late. Sorry, I was exhausted yesterday all I could think about all evening was sleep.

I've devised many plans for this holiday. They involve a lot of movies, a lot of having fun with friends, and of course, working on the Kompek committee.

So happy that finals are over! The next anticipated thing is: score announcement. Argh! Wish me luck, I already got A- in Econ Introduction (which I'm a bit disappointed of).

Toodle-o,
Maria

Timnas Indonesia

2010-12-26T18:33:00.000+07:00

Berhubung post kali ini berhubungan dengan timnas sepakbola Indonesia, gue pake bahasa Indonesia.

Jadi ceritanya gue follow @101Jakfm di twitter. Dan gue uda mulai muak tiap kali mereka nge-retweet tweet2 macem: "moga-moga timnas menang supaya hari senin ronal-tike ga jadi mainin lagu malingsia. Amit-amit deh, hiii!".

I was like, WTF?

Selama SMA gue setia mendengarkan siaran Ronal-Tike tiap pagi, pas gue berangkat sekolah. Gue sekarang udah jarang dengerin karena radio cuma ada di mobil dan gue bahkan ga tau BB bisa buat radio. Gue selalu ngakak denger siaran mereka, dan menurut gue acara RoTi itu acara teroke di radio yang pernah gue denger.

Tapi janji Ronal buat muterin lagu-lagu Malaysia besok kalo Timnas Indo kalah?

Gue ga dengerin siaran yang itu, tapi gue geleng-geleng kepala saat tau. Mungkin dia cuma bercanda tapi terlanjur kerekam. I dunno.

Yang pasti dari kacamata gue ini memicu perpecahan banget.

Gue tahu negara sebelah kita itu banyak 'nyuri-nyuri' SDA kita. Tapi gue juga yakin itu gara-gara kitanya kurang peduli. Banyak juga kebudayaan kita yang diklaim sana, tapi lagi-lagi, itu juga gara-gara kita kurang peduli. Atau, kebudayaan kita emang MIRIP.

KITA INI NEGARA TETANGGA. Jangan heran kalo mirip lah. Kebudayaan Indo yang tertular ke sana itu mungkin sudah ada cukup lama sampai sudah bisa diakui kebudayaan Malaysia.

Dan gue BENCI banget kalo namanya Malaysia diplesetin jadi 'Malingsia'. Kalo nama Indonesia yang digituin, gimana perasaan lo? Sakit kan?

Ini tuh pertandingan olahraga. Tujuannya untuk persahabatan, gue yakin, tapi malah dibuat jadi ajang manas-manasin rakyat Indonesia yang emang sudah greget sama negeri tetangga itu.

Jujur aja gue sedih.

Temen gue pernah ngetweet something like this (gue agak2 lupa): If you can't stand diversity, you can't live on Earth.

Yah intinya yang namanya perbedaan itu selalu ada. Dan orang-orang seharusnya ngelihat ke dalam diri mereka masing-masing sebelum nuduh-nuduh negeri tetangga 'nyuri' kebudayaan kita. Jangan pelit lah. Batik itu emang asalnya Indonesia, tapi negara-negara tetangga juga punya karena mereka deket Indonesia. Emang penyebarannya kayak gitu, mau gimana lagi?

*sigh*

Moga-moga supporter Indonesia ga kenapa-kenapa di Malaysia sana. Sumpah gue MALU banget ngakuin gue orang Indonesia tiap kali ada berita anarkis tentang Indonesia.

Namanya supporter itu cukup mendukung secara fanatik saat pertandingan aja. Nyanyi Garuda Di Dadaku, Indonesia Raya, dll. Tapi jangan dibawa keluar dari pertandingan. Di luar pertandingan kita biasa aja deh. Dukung Indo ya dukung Indo. Ga usah 'alergi' sama budaya lain cuma gara-gara dukung Indo. Support tim Indo ga seharusnya menjadi sumbu pertengkaran.

Dan gue jadi penasaran gimana sih, lagu-lagu negara tetangga kita itu? Hmm.

Toodle-o,

Maria

P.S.: Gue ga nonton bola. Menurut gue acara pertandingan gitu boring abis (well, tergantung selera kan?). Ini hanya semata-mata pendapat gue dari tweets-tweets yang gue baca di timeline gue.

My Bag Content

2010-12-26T00:25:00.000+07:00

I'm so bored today so I decided to take a picture of my bag and the things inside it.

These are the things I carry everywhere I go, including to campus. But when I go to FEUI I usually use my brown, beaten, backpack; not this pink bag.

1. The pink bag.

It's my favorite bag. I got it on discount at GAP. It doesn't have any zipper whatsoever so it's so easy for me to grab my stuff. It also has huuuge side pockets, which I find very, very useful mainly because I can put my water bottle in there and the pocket will keep the bottle upright, preventing it from spilling.

2. The red cat pouch.

I call it my beauty pouch because it contains my touch-up tools and such. VOV Powder, comb, blotting paper, a tiny bottle of perfume, toothpicks, lip balm, sometimes lipstick, and scrunchies.

3. Black Esprit wallet.

Needless to say it contains cash and whatnot.

4. Water bottle.

I carry a water bottle everywhere I go. Literally. I get thirsty easily and this is a great way to save money and keep me hydrated all day long - without worrying where I could find bottled mineral water. Plus, it's environmentally friendly since I no longer need to buy more plastic.

5. Green agenda and ballpoint.

The green agenda is for 2010. I'm changing into a cuter one next year - the 2011's agenda is ready but it's in Depok. I also carry only one pen with me and it's actually a pen I acquired during my trip to Singapore. It's a hotel pen, and it works awesomely. I usually carry a pencil case with me to campus.

6. iPod touch and handsfree.

I get bored easily. I can't survive two minutes doing nothing. It'll drive me nuts. That's why I have my iPod everywhere. Sometimes I listen to music, but most of the times, I play. :D

7. Cell phone (s).

Because of Kompek13, I now use two cell phones. One is my blackberry (Javelin, which I'm using to photo this so it's not in the picture), one is CDMA.

8. Candy.

This time it's Frozz, but I usually rotate between Frozz, Double mint gum, Exlitol, and Happident. After every meal (outside of home) I usually chew on these.

9. Nivea hand & body lotion.

I carry this mainly because I like wearing heels, and when it's starting to hurt, I rub it to my toes. It does wonders.

10. Keys.

My house keys and my locker keys.

11. Hair clip.

I realize that my hair is getting longer and I can't stand long hair and humidity. So when it's hot, I simply put my hair up. The easiest messy hair do ever.

12. USB Flash disk.

The spotty red ball is the cell phone strap I use to keep the tiny flash disk from disappearing. It's Kingston, 8 gigs, and I don't know why I carry it everywhere. For work (college or kompek) emergencies, maybe?

13. Wet tissue, tissue, and other lady stuff.

In my opinion, a girl must have a pack of tissue on her at all times. No excuses. Even if you don't carry any bags, have a pack in your pocket. It's quite essential.

Aside from these items, I usually carry my face spray (bought from Singapore, I don't remember the name because it's hard to spell) and hand sanitizer (Carex), both of which I left accidentally at Depok. So no pictures.

Okay, so this is my the post I did out of boredom. Teehee.

Toodle-o,

Maria

A Christmas Day

2010-12-25T20:57:00.000+07:00

For me, Christmas day is just like any other day. The sun rises and sets, no snow outside the house (it'll be weird if there is...) and everything is... well, the same.

Only the spirit is different, if just a little.

Merry Christmas!

Now I'm going to tell you about my Christmas day. Not that it's important. Anyway.

My mom, my sister, the Uncle, and I went to Christmas Eve mass last night. It lasted until midnight. I wasn't in a very Christmas-y mood because we were late. I'm not the most punctual person out there and certain not a paragon of that virtue because I sometimes slept through an appointment (mostly classes), but if it's church related, I like to drive out of the house at least an hour before the mass starts. However, the Uncle seems not to agree with that, as he usually still lazies around an hour before the mass, while I was already downstairs, prepped and ready to go.

I just don't like coming to masses late. :|

And today was no different. The Uncle is NOT FAMILY. I reckon he only considers mom as a part of his family. Me and my sister? We're just baggages. THIS is why I don't agree with their marriage. A dude hitting on a single mother should realize that her family also expects something from him.

Proof? Well, he is taking my mom out. It's Christmas day and I don't even get to spend it with my mom.

I reckon no Christmas will ever be awesome or all family-related, as long as he's here.

However, as crazy as it may sound, I don't want him gone. With university, staying four days a week at Depok, and eumm... well, something else, I really can't be there to soothe my mom at every teeny sign of trouble. He's there to take that responsibility, so I have some wiggle room left for myself. That's a good thing, I guess.

I miss my dad. Everyone may teases that having a step-dad is actually not that bad and everyone seems surprised if I tell them I still call that guy 'Om ____'.

But when that guy stole your own mom away from you and stabbed you in the back, you wouldn't call him a 'dad' either. Especially given the fact that my dad was the best person in the world. I think people laugh and patronize my problem because they never experience it. Not all people, though. Some people are quite considerate (thanks).

You know what, every time I see someone talks about his/her dad, I feel a pang of jealousy. Gee, that guy is so lucky to have complete set of parents. My next train of thought was: if he/she starts to badmouth about his/her parents, he/she needs to be reminded that nothing lasts forever (or that person badly needs a high dose of chili in the mouth). Anyway, I try not to be jealous anymore. So far it's working, but it's a process.

I realize that my X-mas post is a little depressing, but that's because my X-mas day kind of is.

OH. I just remembered that this morning I had the most wonderful dream. About... 'IT'. And every time I remember that dream, I smile. I guess that's God's present for me. A dream, a memory, and a smile. Thanks, God! :)

Toodle-o and have a merry Christmas,

Maria

Team Building Pubdok Kompek13 #1

2010-12-24T00:20:00.000+07:00

Today I specially went to Depok just for a team building. I was in Jakarta and Depok was very far away, but I figure that the team building can't be canceled... again.

So I went. At first, a bit grudgingly because it was a total waste of gas and I had to spend a lot of money just to get there and back. I wanted to go by train but I didn't know how to get home late at night. I'm a girl so I creep out easily at the word 'go home late'.

My mom finally insisted me to bring the car (and the driver).

I arrived at Depok and went straight to FEUI, where the pubdoc team held a progress report meeting first. Then we went to Margo City and ate dinner at Rice Bowl.

After we paid the bill for our dinner, a peculiar thing happened. Turned out that we should've paid more. So after a light debate about good vs. evil (pay or not to pay), we called the waiter to pay for the unlisted meal. Being honest had its toll, I guess, because it took longer than we thought just to pay up.

I mean, we could've just slipped away without paying the shrimp, but we chose to stay and be honest. Truthfully I was a bit disappointed that people take such honesty so lightly and therefore gave us poor service.

And the snide comments didn't help.

In my point of view, a sweet smile and clarity always work their charm through any trouble. Except on a view occasions where the particular person really does need derogatory comments. But 90% of the time the smile works just fine. Of course it also helps if you have a big stock on patience... in which case I normally don't.

So anyway, after that little problem, we marched our way into NAV, the karaoke place.

I never thought karaoke was fun. Well it is. As long as you keep the lights low and lose the shyness. Lol. My voice isn't something to brag about, but I'm thankful that the guys in the pubdoc division were kind enough not to point out how badly I sounded. :D I sang Thunder (Boys like girls), Decode (paramore), Poker Face( Lady gaga), and lots of other songs I don't even remember.

After the karaoke Rika and Fey parted ways, and so did Aklan. Aan, Fiona, and Ara got into my car and I sent them each on their ways.

It was a fun night. I'll gladly have another night like this. ...Just perhaps not as far as Depok. The karaoke bill may be cheap but the gas bill was literally choking me. :)

Toodle-o,

Maria

I'll upload the photos later! :D

French Fries and Sunny-side-up Egg

2010-12-22T10:10:00.000+07:00

The title has nothing to do with the content of this entry. They're actually my breakfast. :D

I can't actually believe I went to bed at 10.30 last night. It was waaaaay too early for me usually, but I was dead tired. And I woke up at 8.45 a.m. today, still feeling tired. Accounting really had its toll on me, huh.

The plan today:
1. Go out with my mom and auntie in the afternoon.
2. Do KOMPeK id cards all evening, perhaps until way past midnight.

One thing about me: I usually sleep well past two a.m. But I can adjust easily, depending on what time I should wake up the next day. :D

Speaking of Kompek, tomorrow is the pub-doc team building event. Finally! We're going to go karaoke and perhaps dinner at Margo City. I know it's rather inconvenient for me since I'm already at Jakarta, while Margo City is at Depok, but... oh well. I'm excited anyway.

Before going to bed yesterday, I watched Toy Story 3. IT. WAS. HILARIOUS. I'm going to blog it to an adjoined blog of my friend and I after I post this entry. Feel free to visit! Click here.

That's it for now I guess.

Toodle-o,
Maria

A big fat opportunity

2010-12-21T19:12:00.000+07:00

Not necessarily a juicy one, though.

So here's the thing.

I just found out "something" yesterday, that excites me tremendously. It is only because of this discovery that I can take off my mind of the free rider problem.

An opportunity just arose.

My condolences, of course. It's always sad when the thing happens to yourself, but when you pray to God to 'give the best thing' and it happened... It's a sign.

Febrina and I squealed like crazy yesterday. Lol. We don't make much noise so some squeals once in a while is okay, right?

My next move: walking carefully on a fine thread of... Well, if I write it down then it wouldn't be a secret anymore.

I'm just so happy! MUAHAHAHA.

Not because of the thing that happened, but because of the risen opportunity! :D

Toodle-oo,
Maria

Free Riders, Finals' Rules, and many more

2010-12-21T19:06:00.000+07:00

I haven't been blogging lately because of the finals. I'll talk about that first since it came out in the first sentence. :D

Introductory Economics (Pengantar Ekonomi) went quite well. I felt that I could write many things down, though I'm also sure that it wouldn't be a perfect score. Hopefully the professor still likes lots of graphs, coz I drew lots of them.

Introductory Business, to my surprise, went awesomely. I studied until about 4.30 a.m. that night. Mostly because I didn't have the mood to study until about midnight. I even borrowed the textbook from Ayu! The lucky thing for me was the fact that I memorized everything that was asked. Like the four production layout, etc. Most people, I reckon, would just skip it, just like I did when I studied for the quiz, but I just had a nagging feeling that it was important so I memorized it. So lucky!

Math for Economics and Business (Matekbis). It was kind of a disaster. People say the final was easy but I didn't study well the day before so I don't think I scored well.

Introductory Accounting (Pengantar Akuntansi). It was today and I studied real hard yesterday. I feel that I could do it really well, but still unsure about some things. Hopefully the professor will appreciate my neatness because I really want it to be clean and such.

So, during the Math for Econ and Business final, I was in some kind of trouble. I was wearing sandals, you see. In my defense, I didn't know that we weren't allowed to wear sandals. Or maybe I was just blind. Anyway, I didn't get in any trouble during the first two exams so getting in trouble for wearing sandals never crossed my mind. Thank goodness that at the time, I was finished with the exam so I didn't worry too much about wondering around campus trying to find shoes! Lol.

About the free rider.

Well, let's face it. Every school has free riders. Yes, I'm talking plural here. And I ABSOLUTELY DESPISE THEM. Free riders are so called 'friends' that don't participate in a group's work.

Yesterday, I was compiling my Introductory Accounting's final paper when I realized that one person still hadn't given me his financial analysis. I specifically asked my group friends that I want the analysis by Saturday night because I have to compile them and study. I've worked on the introduction, theories, and company profile, so I think it's fair if I 'only' ask them to pitch in their thoughts about the financial analysis, the final and most important part of the paper.

For your information, I was kicked out of a group and had to beg my way in into another. -___- It was no fun, I assure you, and the midterm paper was, to my standard, rather unsatisfactory. So I decided that I'd take matters into my own hands for the final paper. I'm a perfectionist by nature. And I'm the only girl in the group.

So when I asked my friend about the financial analysis yesterday, he was being defensive. At that time I was thoroughly pissed off, actually. He said that he had sent it to me, but I check my emails every day and he sent me no email. So I asked him to resend it to me. He said he'd do it later, he wanted to study accounting for a while first.

My emotion went over the top right then. I had to study too. He was such an egoistic brat!

The thing about me is that I expect the best from people. I'm not putting in any kind of pressure and I realize that 'the best' varies from person to person. BUT I expect people to hold their end of the deal. In my eyes, my friends are mature people who appreciate punctuality and not afraid to work hard to achieve something good.

I felt so disappointed with that particular person. I thought he was a responsible guy. I expected the best from him and was wrong.

Then I was angry. I feared that he would be a free rider. In high school, I had Aurel whom I trust very deeply and we work awesomely on group projects. There isn't any person like that here. Maybe Febrina, but I don't share any classes with her (I'll make sure I do next semester!).

You know what? In high school I could evade from the free rider problem because I didn't mind reminding my friends of the works that should be done and Aurel was always there to back me up and soothe me off my anger. In college? The free rider problem gets even worse. I mean, I'm in UI, literally the best university in Indonesia (no offense, dears), surely the people who got in here are prepared to work hard! I was dead wrong. They're even more spoiled. (Only the ones I've met though, feel free to change my mind!)

And they weren't appreciative of my effort to remind them. I'm not their mother. I have my own life to live. Why can't they be the proactive ones instead for a change? I don't have any obligation to remind them every couple of days or so but I did, and I think they should be thankful for it. I could've just done the paper alone and strike their names off with a permanent marker or something, to save me from the heartache.

And so what if I tweeted about it? I was angry. If you don't like what you read, then don't do it! I didn't even mention any names.

And do you know how hard it is to refrain myself to say impolite-four-letter-words while blogging this? Yes, I'm still angry even though the thing happened yesterday. I still haven't made peace and it's hard for me to forgive or forget something if I haven't made peace with it.

I think I know what to do from now on regarding of the free rider problem. I'll remind the person kindly. If he or she isn't appreciative, I'll write his/her name off. After all, I'm not a martyr. I try to be nice but when kindness isn't effective then perhaps harsh actions will.

One last thing. If you want to copy someone's homework or free ride on their work, the very least thing you can do is BE NICE. Smile. Or lend him your homework next time. Thank the person profusely because they went out of their way to NOT LET YOU GET THAT BIG FAT ZERO FOR YOUR GROUP'S WORK.

I'm fuming because after all the effort I gave, that guy was acting like a jerk.

It's people like this that make nice people stop being nice.

Still furious (okay, only a little bit now),

Maria

A loaded gun

2010-12-16T00:15:00.000+07:00

I'm literally holding a loaded gun between my fingers. Okay, the 'literally' part is just a figure of speech. It's actually metaphorically, but literally sounds cooler, no?

Anyway, the loaded gun is my laptop with a certain website opened in it.

I'm not going to elaborate on the details since it's not yet the time, but one thing for sure: it hurts. I feel awful. Scared. Guilty. Mostly scared, though. And worried.

There's nothing I want to do right now except curl up and ~~die~~ sleep. It almost drives me nuts that I still have one more chapter to review before I hit the sack.

Today, I am reminded of one thing: It's hard to keep marching on with a gaping whole in your chest.

Word for myself: Be in control, Maria. Appreciate life. Hold your head high, and keep on moving forward.

Toodle-o,
Maria

Psychiatrist, psychologist, and... financial analyst.

2010-12-12T20:09:00.000+07:00

Okay, so the truth is the study of human behavior interests me like nothing else. It intrigues me greatly and I can confidently say that I love it.

The problem is, this revelation should've come a year ago. It's a bit too late for it now. But no matter; the professors say at the beginning of the semester that... university or college lasts four years, but a career lasts... well, almost a lifetime. Thirty to forty years, I reckon.

I'm now attending FEUI, majoring in management. The problem is my mom wants me to become a financial analyst while I know, deep in my heart, that it's just not me. The economic subjects I've learned so far are interesting, but I'm nowhere near passionate about it. Like I said in my previous post, everyday is a battle for me. My main motivation to go to campus everyday is not because of the 'interesting subject', but because of... well, a certain someone and someones. *sigh*

It breaks my heart that when I talk about this to my mom all she keeps telling me about is how prestigious a financial analyst job is, and that I shouldn't let the semester in FEUI I've done go to waste.

My immediately thought is: I'd rather lose a year of my life than thirty years of it.

But the basic problem is, who'll pay for my education? :(

The next problem is, psychiatrist or psychologist? If I chose psychiatrist I'll need to go to medical school for my bachelor degree. The only affordable choice is UI, which is kind of challenging since well, the acceptance level is incredibly low. If I chose psychologist, I'll still need to go through the tests again and choose 'psychology' this time. Search for 'psychologist vs. psychiatrist' in Google to know their differences, if you're curious.

The point is, psychiatry interests me more than psychology because I can prescribe medicine that way. And it's just simply cooler. And a psychiatrist earns almost twice or triple the amount of money a psychologist does.

I'm not afraid to work hard. I'm just lazing around because I haven't found a proper motivation yet. Oh wait, I think that's just my silly defense. : /

A choice between two things is in front of me right now: should I pick the easy way, or the right way?

Toodle-o,

Maria

Another babble

2010-12-08T03:34:00.000+07:00

Here's the thing.

I have so many things to tell and write on this blog but when I actually clicked on the 'New post' button in the dashboard page... they all poofed away. Maybe I procrastinated so much that my mood to tell the story actually wears off.

Yeah.

Here's the thing.

I don't actually have a lot of time to blog. ...Not that I'm being overly cocky for being busy, but I really don't. Free time is fully dedicated to sleep time. And ~~stalk~~ browsing time. Teehee.

I'm not saying I'm going to stop blogging, but suffice to say I'm not in the mood these past couple of weeks. Finals are coming up real fast and I'm not ready. At all. It's 3.27 a.m. and I have two quizzes today: Introduction to business and intro to accounting.

I'm not sure I'm ready for both. Or one.

It has come to a point where I'm debating with myself whether to actually sleep or not. :/ I have a... report (LTM), which my friend and I decided to not finish because our books are left in Depok and we're in Jakarta. The subject holds the highest sks count (6) but it's such a bore.

Sleep, or not sleep. Hmmm. The problem is, I don't wake up easily. There can be a bomb exploding right beside me and I might not wake up. I'm a dead sleeper. But I'm afraid to be fatigued tomorrow when I'm taking the quizzes.

Guess I'll tell my body that this is only a nap. Maybe that'll work. Hopefully. *Fingers crossed*

Toodle-o,

Maria

PS. One word: Nathan Fillion. x)

A letter for a dear, dear friend

2010-12-05T22:36:00.000+07:00

Dear friend,

It worries me that you are ill in the cold, cold country half way around the world. I'm worried that you're alone and that you're sad.

And I hate the fact that I can't do anything significant for you. I can't fly there and accompany you. I haven't bbm-ed or email you for a while because of mountainous homework and I feel guilty that I can't even do those little things. And I apologize that my reason for not doing that is quite silly.

I can only pray; pray that you'll get better soon.

Don't forget that we, your friends, are always here for you. You are never alone. And I personally believe that in order to run fast, a step back may be necessary.

Never ever give up your dream. You'll succeed. You'll be brilliant.

Lots of pray, lots of love,
Maria

NANOWRIMO meltdown

2010-11-27T01:47:00.000+07:00

OMG NANOWRIMO IS ENDING AND I'M 10,000 WORDS BEHIND!

It's 2 a.m. now. I'm screwed. Argh. I'm so stressed out. Triple argh.

I WISH THE ENERGY I HAD FOR... the-thing-that's-been-bothering-me... IS TRANSFORMED TO NANOWRIMO ENERGY!

Jia you, Maria. Jia you.

But my mind is being distracted. ARGH I hate it.

I hate it i hate it i hate it.

This is a post made by 'orang labil'.

KELABILAN SUPER PARAH

2010-11-27T01:06:00.000+07:00

Hari ini gue super labil. Well, technically not today, but yesterday because today is technically November 27th.

Oh man, NANOWRIMO IS COMING TO AN END ON NOVEMBER 30TH AND I'M 10,000 WORDS BEHIND.

So, so screwed.

Anyway, beside the... being screwed part.

What's 'labil' in English anyway? Hmm. Never mind. I'll use bahasa gado-gado instead.

Sebenernya gue uda mau post entry ini dari tadi siang tapi apa daya internet mati. Lalu beginilah ceritanya.

Jumat pagi gue telat bangun. Niatnya sih tadi asis matekbis pagi, cuma gara-gara maen The Shadow of Water's Edge (game Nancy Drew yang paling baru), gue sukses tidur jam 3 pagi dan bangun jam... 11. Gagal sudah rencana asis gue. Gue sih langsung mandi terus lanjut ke rencana berikutnya, yaitu ikut meeting sama Rika (koor pubdok) dan Andrew (Vice Project Officer kompek).

Dan berangkatlah kita bertiga, nae mobil Andrew. Gue duduk di belakang, Rika took the shotgun. Dan gue berasa kayak lagi jalan-jalan sama mami-papi. Lol.

Janjian jam 2, kita uda nyampe di Kemang Village jam 1 kurang. Okaay, gue sih langsung serbu Times. Gue akhirnya dapet buku 'What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20' by Tina Seelig. Detailed review right here - which I wrote more than a year ago.

So you see my dilemma when I also saw a paperback copy of THE LOST HERO. I've looked for Mrs. Seelig's book the longest time and it's the only one left in the store. Obviously I made the logical choice.

Then the dreadful call came. The meeting was CANCELLED. Whoever the person we were coming to meet with suddenly got into a hospital. There was nothing we could do except reschedule.

Disappointed? Well, a little, actually. I was quite happy myself being able to go outside UI with Rika and Andrew. FEUI is so... dull.

Lalu lalu lalu gue liat Rika begitu down di mobil. Dan karena sebelumnya gue menangkap sedikit-sedikit pembicaraannya sama Andrew, gue pun *rada* kepo. Dan gue nanya. "Rika, -censored-?"

Tapi Rika ga mau jawab. Katanya, nanti aja. Oke deh. Lalu. "Nanti gue ngomong hal ini sama ke yang gantiin gue."

JLEB.

(Lalu gue langsung down banget n ngetweet: 'Nusuk :'(', which was read by Andrew later when we were having lunch. Which was... well, not cool at the time).

So, beginilah analisis gue.

SAAT ITU GUE LAGI LABIL. Saat itu kata-kata Rika terdengar sangat menyakitkan, padahal sebenarnya ga. Tapi entah kenapa saat itu gue merasa ditolak. Saat itu gue berpikir, ke mana semangat keterbukaan kompek? Tapi gue kan ga boleh gitu... mau cerita ato ga juga hak orang.

Jadi intinya gue merasa bersalah sendiri karena gue sakit ati. Seharusnya gue tau kalo Rika itu lagi sedih juga karena meetingnya dibatalin. :'( huhuhu

Sakit atinya ga stengah-stengah lho. Sudah agak berair mata, malah. Tapi malah jadi tambah labil karena VPO kompek yang kadang-kadang rada... rada (intinya gue sedih tapi dianya konyol jadi ketawa terus otak gue bingung deh, sebenernya gue sedih ato seneng sih?!).

Ya begitulah. Aneh kan? Iya. Aneh.

-________________-

Ultimate question!

Would I do this again? (I mean, meeting and such)

ABSO-SMURF-LY!

Toodle-o,

Maria

Everyday is a battle

2010-11-24T16:27:00.000+07:00

This post will be a bit depressing.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Anyway... here's the thing. I skip classes. A LOT. I even have my 'absent limit' list. I've used all my absent limits on Statek and Pengbis. Three out of six for MPKT, one out of two for PE and PA, and one out of three for Matekbis.

Everyday I wake up and it's battle whether to attend the classes or not. Especially MPKT, which was so boring to begin with and the lesson itself is not... well, challenging. It's like KWN during high school. All we have to do is sit with our group and discuss. Discuss what? Anything. Both lesson and non-lesson topics.

The only subject that I like is English Lab. Because it's simple. And it's English. God knows how much I love English. -___-

Oh. I just bought three Nancy Drew games yesterday! They were quite cheap, 15 thousand for one CD. I usually got the price 20 thousand. :D I've played Secrets Can Kill Remastered and after I'm blogging this I'm planning to play Shadow at The Water's Edge, which trailer at the end of Secrets Can Kill scared the hell out of me.

I hate Japanese ghosts. They're the scariest. Well, in the trailer the ghost was actually quite cute because it's a sketch and all, but the voice... I'd better turn down the volume then.

Toodle-o,
Maria

Random thoughts: I LOVE CATS! They're so elegant and cute!

Hiatus

2010-11-15T01:29:00.000+07:00

My writer's block is kicking in. So I thought I'd just post something on my blog... I actually have a lot of to dos to... well, do. Here's a list:

Blog a review of the movie Takers
Blog another review of the movie Social Network
Copy the Intro Business interview my group had... two weeks ago. (...crap)
Go help a fellow writer by being a beta-reader. She sent me her work about a month ago and I still haven't got around to it. (...double crap...)

I'm a HUGE procrastinator. I have to admit that.

Instead of adding words for the Nanowrimo goal, I've been watching Castle TV series non-stop these past two days. I've finished the season two. Can you believe it? It's 24 episodes long.

I really do hope today were Sunday. I got home on Saturday morning because a couple of people at the HPD team in KOMPeK committee were... suffice to say, a tad selfish. Long story short, they bailed on the plan to have karaoke on Friday night - the only reason I didn't go home on Thursday night. Then Fey, Fiona, and I decided we should have our own team building. We went together for dinner and had a blast.

I didn't say I regret having that dinner with them, but I would like it more if only the original plan went on that night. Or, my committee supervisor told us earlier that the plan fall through, not one frickin' hour before the actual plan! Why? So I could go home.

I guess it's proper to say that I'm still huffing about that incident. Any other month it's fine, but it's November and I have Nanowrimo to finish and I usually got to it on the Sundays. Well, because I've finished watching the TV shows on Friday and Saturday night, so Sunday is usually free. I need the two-day warm up. It's ridiculous, but that's the way I work.

Anyway. I could go on and on spilling my anger on that Friday incident, but I need to go to bed right now.

I'll do the task list. Tomorrow. Yeah.

Toodle-o,

Maria