Babelfish does a lot of internet translating the mass of not-so-multilingual netters throw at it. Most of the time it works fine, although sometimes the result doesn't make contextual sense:
....... and I went berserk with knitwear-shopping. Again.
It was "oooh look there's free delivery" (for the inner shopping couch potato that I am), "oooh it's on sale", "oooh look I got price-off vouchers" and "oooh I don't have this colour" (my layering-up knitwear pieces are predominantly of the black/grey range and as a colour whore I am keen to change the mix.) By this stage it should be obvious where the money is draning away to. This pre-Christmas's tally count is five. The First-Year replacement remains elusive, though, as I find myself dragging my heels to actually go to a brick-and-mortar store. As a rule of thumb, I don't purchase trousers/pants online due to a plethora of possible fitting issues. Yet I don't like queueing in store.
Also, someone thinks dear WW is my father.
(Hell yeah!! Different surnames there, love.)
I blog quite a bit for some years now, but it doesn't mean everyone in my family is as keen as I am, the way I'm not so keen on playing tennis or practising on the piano. But yeah, like my real father, I like airborne-related sports.......... cue in horses, flying jumps, and speeding bicycles. When I lose my balance, gravity wins. But I'd probably do parkour if I were grittier.
Anyways, time to go now. Bye bye!
...just realised that I was a ditz.
Finished dinner, washed the dishes, sat down. Drank water and took supplements (cod liver oil and glucosamine for the record.) Got up and turned on the kitchen tap to wash the dishes, only to realise they had been washed by these very hands a few minutes earlier.
It's amazing how allotting tasks to remember in short-term memory induces goldfish memory syndrome.
On the social front...
The pub across the road sounds enjoyable; something from Backstreet Boys is playing at the moment. Earlier on I ran down to check it out when a track from Outkast was playing - sounds like late nineties/early noughties pop music!
Anyway. I'm not hanging out there, but I guess tonight I'll benefit from its playlist.
Well, well. Seems like the iMac gobbled up my text.
Anyway, in the midst of mini-hunger and anticipation of free dinner at workplace, I feel compelled to share a tale of shopping. One that is still yet to complete.
For the past few years, September (the month of college-starts-next-month behaviour) has meant one thing to my wallet: jeans-buying. Because, of course, jeans is a wardrobe staple... and how every brand's doing it so tight thighs look like vacuum-packed chicken... and why that cut you got at the bottom of the pile is so great, if only the colour was right... and how, after defecting to the men's section, I had to admit [temporary] defeat that those cool men's jeans comes in its smallest size which is a full 4 inches larger than my girth. So. There goes the drama of finding one.
On the issue of college-starts-next-month behaviour. I have no college for now, alas, and hopefully not for the long run (not if I have to pay for it anyway.) The jeans-buying was borne out of reasons such as (1) "jeans is so easy to wear for college" and (2) "the weather will get cold", which I can comfortably refute by (1) only if your contemporary definition of 'easy' involves cutting off blood circulation to the feet and (2) it is warmer to wear two layers of skirts and wool tights and boots than one flimsy layer of cotton twill. And, from historical records, I tend to wear dresses and skirts to college anyway.
That aside, I have three pairs of jeans (so biblically I can give two pairs away to a homeless person, except that I need to find one who can get into them.) And these three pairs of jeans, they are very personal to me. There's Pinstitched, a navy/indigo semi bootcut pair that dates back to me and my sister's days of shopping at Review, one that was purchased one size larger because I had to have them peeled off me. There's Final Year, a bog-standard blue indigo boyfriend slim fit Mr 70-cm-waist #2* could fit into, purchased under the pretext "it will be easier to sit and sew wearing this pair". There's First Year, a grey/black slim/straight fit pair that I bought because of the buttons and hemming details, and the one that's giving me headache, because... it's got a worn-out hole at the crotch.
Because of how pants/trousers/bifurcated-leg garments are cut, crutches tend to lay on the off-grain and are reinforced merely by the way the garments are assembled i.e. by the machine stitches alone. Hence the profusion of flat-felled seams. Crutches are a point of stress in bifurcated garments, where legs swing and fabric twists and stretch to accomodate for the movement. The fact that cructhes lay off-grain also makes it impossible to darn or patch. Many moons ago I tried to fix such a problem to a pair belonging to Mag (who split hers whilst she was rollerblading. For the record, I didn't split mine due to some high-impact activity.) It only lasted for three further weeks, at which point we decided that it would be better to save threads and buy a new pair instead.
So, back to jeans-hunting. I'm still looking for a dark grey/black pair, with tapered legs that doesn't cut off blood circulation to my feet, yet one fitted I can tuck into boots. I went back to the store where I got First Year in the hope of scoring a replacement, but to no avail.
So maybe, once I have the heart to dissect it, First Year will be taken apart seam-by-seam to be pattern-traced and remade into a new garment...
*I affectionately/respectfully refer to persons of past relationship as 'Mr', and there had been two such persons with impossibly slim waists. Hence the numbering.
I was looking at this post and thought "how nice it is to have an overweight, strokes-friendly ginger cat." Except that, from past pet-keeping experience, it would be a pretty expensive affair.
Cats are nice to stroke and dogs to kiss... I kinda miss my dog. I'm definitely happy not to have to pay for pet fees, though.
Yet in response to Suhu's non-reward quiz/meme, I said my chosen pet would a pterodactyl.
P.S. I also went to teach dressmaking today, in the grand tradition of accounting/maths/English private tutoring I've done in the past. My student and I finished a dress she had made earlier, and re-styled a top. Knowing the right demo/hands-on practice balance and setting the pace are things I'm learning on the job (those hair modeling sessions help give an idea!) Also, the endless sample-making college work requires was definitely helpful enough to take my worries off from the fact that we were ripping and mutilating what is essentially a pricey branded fashion merchandise. Only when I walked home did I realise the graveness of what we had been doing.
Take care.
Do you remember the old saying "you reap what you sow"?
Well, here are some takes on the classic:
The minimalist
"If you don't sow, you don't reap."
The ecological rice farmer
"Even if you sow, when it floods you won't reap."
That's all for today - thank you folks!
Yesterday (Tuesday) I called up an MA student.
I saw his "need help" (i.e. be-my-slave) advertisement at uni, remembered that one of my friends told me to 'go help an MA student next year' earlier this year, and called him to offer my services... with remunerations paid in foodstuffs. (Yes, physical compensation in form of decent food may be acceptable.)
This [Wednesday] evening, I went to his place after class. Saw the things that he was doing, ate some chips along the way, and chatted as my help at the moment was not yet needed. Apparently he was a graduate of Nottingham Trent, and he graduated in 2007... sounds familiar? Not quite. Until something hit me (metaphorically), and I remembered seeing his name here. Of all people, I volunteered for a guy who was supposed to be a total unknown to me, and instead personified a casual string of names into proper 'I know this person' stuff.
Over a year later, two of the four names listed there ended up in LCF.
What coincidence.
Or rather, what is this supposed to mean?
...maybe another random bit of info that doesn't quite make sense yet.
With my recent stray into the goodness of baking, I'd say finding plain round pastry cutters in an assortment of sizes is like looking for needle in a haystack. They're non-existent.
Baking made me buy something, the thing being a set of plastic/polyethylene cutters in primary-school-kid-will-brag shapes of rabbits, bicycles, rugby ball and umbrella for £2 (okay deal price-wise.) The colours, too, are bright. Well, let's say that other than the square, rectangular, diamond and circle shapes... the rest aren't exactly my piece of cake. Which made the per unit cost stand at 50p a cutter. Not bad, considering the teddy head cutter at Japan Centre costs £2.50 apiece. But then, that might be just because it's pricey Japan Centre...
As expected, baking also made me eye a few other things.
Since I was quite unhappy with the selection I had, I asked a friend to lend me a few. So she did - they were her granny's. They were, surprise surprise, plain stainless steel round pastry cutters in nine sizes, and they nestle within each other... how neat is that! A quick word with her didn't lead to where it was purchased (other than the faint markings that they were bought for £8.58 excluding VAT), but she mentioned John Lewis. So off to on-line John Lewis I went.
Here are a few things that I found interesting:
- set of measuring spoons
- cookie cutters in star and snowflake patterns
- double-edged pastry cutters (how high are they?)
- old-school icing bag and nozzles
- this cute imprinter for cookies (pretty please!)
I don't think I will buy all of them... but it's nice to have a list of kitchen gadgetry I fancy, I guess.
Ooooh, and why John Lewis?
Maybe because it's next to school. The admin/library building, I mean.
And, looking at these things remind me of how I loved to spend my afternoons inside home shops, scrutinizing every single knick-knack that people could come up with. Some are still in 'fascination' stage (namely the Kitchen Aid stand mixer in red). A few came home with me: handheld egg beater, Zyliss ice-cream scoop in pale Vespa green. Most things, like oilcloth aprons and the Alessi Spider, stayed firmly in the shops though.
(According to my design/cultural studies tutor, the Spider didn't get juice out of citrus fruits as sleek and effective as advertised, but I won't say more on that until I try it out myself.)
Last thing I'm gonna do is sing praise to the Zyliss ice-cream scoop that didn't make its journey across the world from Melbourne. It was the first ice-cream scoop I bought myself (without consulting anyone else), the heaviest, the cutest-coloured, probably the most expensive one I've ever bought. It's easy to clean. Despite my propensity to bend spoons in vain attempt to chisel morsels of frozen foodstuff away, and a history of successfully breaking the release mechanism on two ice-cream scoopers (one being made entirely of metal), the Zyliss scooper stood/worked/stayed in shape. If it wasn't for its weight, I would've happily nicked it from the utensils drawer in April before returning to London.
Alright, enough of that now.
Have a good day! ^__^
I never thought I would advise my landlady (an older lady, part-time housewife and homebody nevertheless) on how to achieve that sparkling clean look on crystal vases.
"Wet vase with water, put Gif cream, rub with sponge and rinse with warm water."
...thanks to the stint at Francesca's florist shop. Maybe those green fingers were for a reason, after all.
Today/tomorrow is the beginning of spring for people down under, and autumn for people up here.
I'm quite fixated on the issue of seasonal rotation and yearly sunlight fluctuation. This is partly due to the fact that I was raised on a country that sits squarely on the equator. Where else would you be told that there are a few towns in your country where you can enjoy a shadow-free phenomenon at noon twice a year? ;))
Since my body seems to time itself to sunrises and sunsets (thanks to growing up in Indonesia), I find time management on subtropical and temperate zones become a bit of a handful. If the sun rises at 7:30, how do I plan my activities so that I still get to uni by 9? If the sun sets at 9:30, then at end of term wouldn't sunset spell 'disaster' and 'time out'? What about being unceremoniously woken up at 4:30 by summer solstice?
(I once read that agrarian society in the Middle Ages relied on seasonal cycles to plan their time... then does it mean is my body clock quaint, outdated or what?)
And, by implication, I am perversely interested in getting a 'straight line' than runs north-south on this picture...
...because it would say that yes, the equinox daytime's length is approximately like that of a normal day in Jakarta.
Also, I notice that the speed of sunlight receding after autumn equinox increases. The speed of sunrise gaining pace, too, increases after spring equinox.
I like issues of equinoxes and solstices.
On a side note - I feel underdressed in the outfit below. Meet Mr. Black, my umbrella.
Sweatshirts and jersey outerwear aren't normally part of my ensemble - I'm so used to wearing jackets made out of woven fabric. Wearing a knitwear piece as outerwear, no matter how nicely luxurious it is, makes me feel slouchy and underdressed. Some of my contemporaries say there is nothing wrong with it, but it's just me being... conservative. Or up-tight. Or a stickler to dress codes.
Oh well, anyway... off to cookie-making.
ginormous (adj) inf.
derived from 'GIant' and 'eNORMOUS'. Meaning is self-explanatory.
Come haircut day, and it's time for a bit of prancing before the camera.
I think taking decent-posed self portraits is an art.
(The rest is self-explanatory.)
Have a good day!
There's a radio at work... which normally plays during the day or whenever there are people around... and which I inevitably listen to if I were in the production area.
The song selection is Indonesian contemporary pop (with sprinkles of American pop top forty). Nothing against the genre; it's simply sappier and has decidedly more sentimentally melancholic... if not tilting towards suicidal or social obnoxiousness. Some of the more popular lyrics were:
"pilihlah aku jadi pacarmu"
(choose me as your boyfriend)
"kau hancurkan aku dengan sikapmu"
(you destroyed me with your behaviour)
"Tuhan tolong jangan berikan dia jodoh yang lain"
(God, don't give her another love [of her life])
And humans, being [sometimes] the creatures of habit they are, absorb these sensory stimuli.
..........
At the end of the day, working with a blaring radio within hearing range can seriously make you question the integrity of your musical taste. Well, I do.
Postmodernism is bricolage, no?
So, I came across a few of these SZS-inspired animation clips, tweaked to illustrate characters from other games and anime series. I am drawn towards substantial amounts of absurdity found them interesting. And the 'original' one is here, if there is such a thing as 'original'...
There's apparently a Mr. Pharaoh and Mr. Turnabout floating around too. And a Kirby.
However, the CG version still tops my list because (1) I followed the series (2) it was the first rendition I saw.
Special thanks for calad and gaban in introducing CG and SZS.
You guys will do well in marketing promotion ^__^;
...I use those two words A LOT. Time for dictionnary word-digging.
Any suggestions? :D
P.S. I wonder what the difference between leitmotif and fugue is...
Hello!
I submitted my essay: one down, two (three? four?) projects to go.
Re-reading the previous post, I recalled a cardinal rule of thinking:
there are two sides to a story
(at least.)
These quotes may also sum up the mundanes of everyday dressing, and could be whittled down to simple phenomenons dressed up in anthropological academic speak. They could also be verbal manifestations of the day-to-day significance of appearing a certain way, considering that we dress ourselves at least once a day (I'm assuming here - if you have the luxury to read this blog then it's likely to be twice or thrice.)
I can make the argument swings both ways, but the point is... is dressing a crucial part of life? That bit is for you to find out. Are we okay with that? ^__^
It was a pleasant suprise to find out this girl is merely one degree of separation away (alert thanks to qunang).
Well then, I've been enjoying anonimity to a point of indifference. To many people I meet everyday, I am oddly average... or am I ordinarily odd?
Maybe the extent of 'the world' I circulate myself in is comparatively small, and hence it's easier to find links between random people and those I know. If one works in applied quantum physics, then his or her 'world' is highly specialised to an extent one may personally know each other. However, looking at how people on my Facebook friends' list relate, It's also possible to conclude my 'world' consists of a few separate spheres which occasionally intersect.
Then, maybe after all... dunia selebar daun kelor.
Who knows?
Now off on a tangent: here are pictures from today's hair modeling session. Sixty-five years ago, it would've been unimaginable to have a Japanese guy (with the help of a translator and a Caribbean-descent supervisor) cut an Indonesian girl's hair. What a dramatic change the past few decades has experienced, and to the existence of us all... vive la diversité!
(Next thing I know I might be crying out le roi est mort, vive le roi etcetera... xD )
Seize the day.
I was person #3 to borrow CSM Southampton Row's Ratatouille DVD.
(Well, that was a random fact and wasn't my point for this post.)
The DVD came with a wealth of extra features, including this amusing little shortie, which were immensely enjoyable.
On a tangent, my contemporaries/friends born on 1984 - hereforth on this post referred to as 'rats' - some of them are born on Saturdays... a .75 second recall brought forth Aletta (whose two-dozenth birthday is celebrated today), the ever-diligent David Sakti (who is one of the few 'Davids' I know well), myself and Yaki. Only 1984 people who were born after 29 February will share the same 'birthday' day in the week for the rest of their lives, as those born before leap year day would sometimes have the one-day extra they will catch up on the following non-leap year.
As I'm such a chronological pattern freak, I'm going to list the dates on which 1984-ers were Saturday-born.
March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
April 7, 14, 21, 28
May 5, 12, 19, 26
June 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
July 7, 14, 21, 28
August 4, 11, 18, 25
September 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
October 6, 13, 20, 27
November 3, 10, 17, 24
December 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
On a different note, there are a number of people (despite their year of birth) who tend to share the same birthday day with me. These are Tomoaki Ishii (he better still be alive) and DJ. Yes, they were born on the above-mentioned dates too.
As for my family, my sister's birthday day falls three days before - that's a Friday in 2008. This year, my dad's falls three days after (Thursday) whereas my mum's falls two days after. There are still a lot of relational formulations I can potentially do, but it's still easier to remember calendar dates over days-in-a-week differences. Well, sometimes it works counting however many weeks away, though.
Enjoy counting! ^__^
