~My Bittersweet Escape~

As a Manics’ fan, I’ve been indulging myself with their songs and videos lately. And I realized how much I miss Richey’s existence in the band. Truly and really miss it. For some people, he might look like a freak, but for me (and for many other Manics’ fans), he’s much more than that. He’s an amazing poet and he showed us how valuable honesty is in art. Of course, his mental suffering isn’t something to be glorified. It’s not to be pitied either since we know how hard he tried to survive. And now he’s been missing for 15 years. Most likely he’s no longer with us on earth. For that, he’ll always be missed.

This adoration of mine to Manics now makes me wanna go to Cardiff University. Some people have asked me whether I wanted to take my Phd or not. Well, of course I want to, but not in the next two or three years. For now, I really want to focus on my job for several reasons. One of them is honestly I still want to earn money, not only for me but also for my family. I started working one year ago, and it’s too early to leave my job for another study. Besides, if I have enough experience in teaching, I think it’ll be easier to apply for scholarship. My plan for Phd is to go abroad, and I need scholarship for that. I don’t have any intention to go to US, since as I mentioned earlier, Cardiff is my destination. It sounds too ambitious but who knows, right? Please say amen 1000 times for that, LJ friends?

After finishing the NDS game, I’m back to reading again. Currently I’ve been reading Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell (yes, I got into Orwell because of Manics too). Even though it’s non fiction (I tend to feel sleepy reading this kind of book), Orwell manages to capture me as a reader. He’s just a brilliant essayist, agree? It’s about his account of Spanish Civil War but from three chapter I’ve read, it seems that he doesn’t fully take any particular side although he fought for the Marxist party. He’s just being honest in telling what he had seen, and how I love honesty in writings!

And speaking of writings, I need to think about another topic for my upcoming research. As a faculty member, I have to write at least one paper every term. I bet I’ll be very busy teaching next term, so I guess I have to already brainstorm the topic this holiday. I’m thinking to write either body or space/place issues. Let’s see what novel I can discuss and is friendly enough for my brain to analyze.

I’ve been talking about this In Twitter but since its lack of space, I think I’d better continue my outburst here. Well, it’s about music. Basically, I’m just tired of how media are hyping about certain bands which actually, in my opinion, haven’t reached that level of ‘genius’. Some bands are really good, like The Libertines, but this hype around them just sucks. Too much drama while actually we should focus more on the music when talking about bands. This phenomenon causes me to not believe in this certain music tabloid. Those bands they once hyped are gone now. Well, their music isn’t that special actually; no wonder they’re dead now! And I feel old now when it comes to music since it’s hard for me to really like contemporary bands (now I’m back to those bands I used to listen to when I was in my teens, like James and The Shining). A friend recommended me this new trendy band and I’m not impressed at all. I am like, ‘What’s sooo good about this?’. There’s also a tendency around me that being indie is always cool. I don’t think the definition of indie is always related to quality. Dudes, good music is good music, no matter if it’s indie or mainstream!

Seeing this, some questions are popping in my head. Have I reached that phase when catching up with music isn’t my thing anymore? Have I already sounded like that senior music journo in Kompas who’s stuck in the fossil era of 70’s? All I know is I believe in my own ears. If my ears tell me that this band’s music sucks, why should I give a damn about the media said?



Anywayyy, enough about that. Last night I had a superb get-together with my college friends, and it really cheered me up after a few gloomy days that I was through. It’s just so nice to know that even though each of us has found our own wings, we still refuse to fly apart. So thank you very much for the chit-chat, laughter and craziness, UK friends! :)

Been stuck in Dunkin Donuts due to heavy rain in Jakarta this afternoon. It really adds some melancholy here in my heart, which is not good. The upcoming workload is challenging and the situation at home is unexpected. Because of my granny's condition, some things changed at home. And it takes time to get used to that. My only wish is I want to be stronger.

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This week has been quite hectic. I attended meetings in two universities, received my schedule for next term, browsed for books in libraries and am preparing for my JJA process. Good news is, I'll be teaching Poetry Analysis and Literary Critisism next term. Super awesome! I can't wait to start it.

The bad news is I'm updating LJ from the hospital. My granny is being hospitalized due to severe dehydration. She doesn't eat and drink lots currently. Honestly, I often disagree with her, but in times like this, I realize that I love her too. Please pray for her, F-list! c

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I read some of LJ entries written by my friends and they have given me some sort of motivation in dealing with my job. I may not be really satisfied with the task given to me right now, but there’s no way turning back. I’ve signed the contract, remember? That’s the thing I must understand. And the only way to deal with it is to do the task as best as I could. I know it’ll be quite hard if your heart isn’t really in it, yet there are many exciting things waiting for me in 3 months and 5 months ahead and in order to get to that point, I must work, work and work to earn enough money. That’ll keep my spirit at the work place :). Oh, I’m also going to teach in another university, starting this September. Therefore I’ll be teaching in two universities. More money? Yes, but it also means more responsibility. I’ll just enjoy it though. It’s rizki from God :)

Talking about another excitement, we’re gonna have another music festival here in October and the line-up is very promising! I don’t think I’ll watch all of the line-ups in three days though. I’m going to buy the ticket for day 2 since Stereophonics are playing on that day wooohooo :D. So who’s going? eveningjune, odayski, and grayriddler, please tell me if you girls are in!

Been listening to Delphic quite a lot. arancia, I should’ve joined you seeing them live! *headdesk repeatedly*

One more thing before I say ciao, I just edited my LJ profile. I dunno whether that’s important for you or no actually teehee.

Okay, gotta go. No matter where you are, I hope the sky is shiny and blue there!

One week ago at this hour, I was watching Kula Shaker and Ian Brown live in Jakarta. It's incredibly exciting to see a band and musician that you've been loving for more than ten years :). They really rocked my night!

Oh wow, how time flies so fast! It’s almost Ramadhan again. I hope this year’s Ramadhan will be much better than the last one. Last year, my Ramadhan was filled with teaching activity, while this year, I won’t be having any class at all. So I guess I must try to do more religious activities this year. Anyway, happy fasting for those of you practicing it :)

On another note is, I’ve been thinking deeply about one thing lately. I’m thinking to move to a new place and find a new job and start a new life. Perhaps there are some reasons why. Maybe one of them is my vacay to Singapore. Everything is so in order there and I thought it would be great to live there for a while, not just on a trip like I did a week ago. Second is I’m kinda disappointed with my current job. I just signed the contract for one and a half year, thank God, but I’m given a field which I think is not my expertise. I’ve studied literature for six years and they gave me the responsibility to handle Grammar subject :( To be honest, I was upset. I know my capability so I can say I deserve better. I’ve signed the contract though, so I guess I have to bear with it until 2012. The last reason is I’m a bit bored with the situation around me. Recently, I’ve been so impatient to people around me. I got so annoyed easily. So I believe I need to refresh my mind and heart for a while. Howeverrr, moving out requires lots of money. Therefore for now I’ll do what I can do while earning money as much as I could. Wish me luck, LJ friends!
One thing that makes me excited these days is that I’m going to have a trip again in November. Remember that my sis gave me the ticket to Thailand as a birthday present? Yes, it’s for this November so I’m saving my money for it :D.

Sooo, since I was tagged eveningjune, I have to do this meme *sigh*. Hahaha, not that I mind doing it! In fact, I’m highly excited to do this. Shall we do the meme? Yes yes yes. Beware of hard-core fan-girling though, don’t say I don’t remind you!
( check the meme here )

As I’ve promised, now I’m going to share my vacation story in Singapore. It’s such an amazing new experience for me. I love seeing new places, many kinds of people and city scenery, and I guess Singapore offers those things I want to see. My sis and I had planned this trip since January, so you could imagine how excited we were when the time finally came. We also took our mom because we thought she deserved some fun after having taken care of our granny most of the time. And I’m glad to see how happy she was in Singapore.

We stayed at Value Hotel, Balestier Road. Nice and comfy place I must say! Even though they don’t serve breakfast, there’s a 24-hour-mini-market below and 7-11 across the street so you won’t have any problem finding what to eat in the morning. Also, in front of the bus there’s a bus station so it’s easy to go anywhere.

Now here’s the interesting part, the pics of the trip!
( Click )

Nope, I'm not forgetting LJ at all. It's just that whenever I write an entry, I need a special time for it. And I've been busy doing something else. To be exact, been busy having fun! My weekend was a capital blast :) On Friday nite, I went to see The Rapture. The morning after that, I flew to Singapore for a three-day vacation. I had such a great time there! Will post pics and full stories later.

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So what’s up, LJ-people? I’ve been missing you! I was really busy with the kids (not mine, the students I mean) so I didn’t have enough time to update this journal. But hey, the program has ended and now I have much time for myself! Hooray! I know it’ll be boring though if I don’t anything to do until September. Therefore, I’ll try to read much, write much, and learn Spanish by myself. Anyway, what’s new about me?

*I just bought a new mobile phone and I adore it. No, not Blackberry, iPhone or Android. It’s something simple and cheap, Nokia C3. I named it after another Horrors member, Tomethy (my laptop is Rhys, and my mp3 player is Coffin Joe).
*I’m going to Singapore this weekend. I really hope we could meet there , eveningjune, and both of us should have lots of fun!
*Lots of bands will be playing in Jakarta this year! This Friday we’ll have The Rapture, then in August I’m going to Kula Shaker and Ian Brown’s gig. Alsooo, in October, The Lightning Seeds will also visit the town! Such a bliss for Britpop kids like me! Yet I also got panicky about my wallet condition!
*I’m loving and want to give millions of kisses to The Bluetones’ new album, A New Athens. They never make any breakthrough, but their album always makes me feel good.

That’s all from me right now. And call me a jerk, I haven’t seen Inception. Blah. Signing off!