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The Umpteenth Journal Attempt

(Hopefully) daily ramblings from the hazy mind of Hasief Ardiasyah

Saturday, February 28, 2004

Yes, there is a doctor in the house 

Woke up in ruder health this morning. In addition to the shitty throat and stuffed nose, I also had two ulcers on either side of my lower jaw. Which, of course, sucked and made eating much less comfortable. Ended up having my first bite sometime in the afternoon. But luckily, it pays to have a stepmum who's also a doctor, and so Mum 2 prescribed all sorts of drugs for poor ol' me. Love ya, Mum 2. I'm still in pain as I write this, but at least I have the benefit of home medical aid...
posted by Hasief  # 2/28/2004 11:54:00 pm (0) comments

Friday, February 27, 2004

Gas Panic 

I woke up this morning with my nose and throat in a rather stuffy condition. Must be the weather. Anyway, my usual procedure when this happens is to try and expel the bile from my throat and out through my mouth. After several attempts, this didn't happen, so I did what I haven't done in a long time: I blew my nose. I don't usually do that, mainly because it isn't as satisfying to see transparent fluids draining out as it is to see a big wad of phlegm in the bathroom sink. But anyway, I tried blowing my nose...and out trickled this thick, green snot that resembled the slime in Ghostbusters. The flu sucks. But at least it wasn't Dengue Fever.

Speaking of which, later on in the morning was marked by loud noises emitting from some guy coming over to spray our house due to the recent outbreak of Dengue Fever. Well it wasn't the guy who emitted it, it was his spray thingy. When he was done, the house's entire interior was like it was covered in a thick layer of smog. For some reason, all I could think of was take pictures to immortalise the whole ordeal. See 'em on Friendster soon...

Went to campus afterwards, the second consecutive Friday I've been there for no reason apart from just hanging. And once again, my pyramid scheme friend brought up the subject. These guys are relentless, eh.

Got home, went online, bumped into Nila on MSN. First time I chatted with her on MSN, first time I've spoken with her in ages. So it was nice catching up on the usual things: her life, my life, my non-existent lovelife, haha.

Speaking of my lovelife, my ex called, asking for some translation help. As per usual when we contact each other, we ended up talking about the past, a past which was over two years ago. We've both moved on since then, with the difference being she's already had two boyfriends since me, and I haven't had anyone (but not for a lack of trying, haha), so we're able to discuss sensitive stuff like that without getting into a bitching match. I'd definitely rank our civil post-involvement relationship as one thing to be proud of. For better or worse, she was a big part of my life a while back, and I probably wouldn't be where I am now (wherever that is) if it weren't for her, be it directly or indirectly.
posted by Hasief  # 2/27/2004 11:54:00 pm (0) comments

Thursday, February 26, 2004

Get rich quick...or don't be arsed enough to try 

A friend called last night, asked if I could drop by his place this morning before I went to campus. Said he had something he wanted to talk about. So I dropped by...and it turns out he was trying to get me in on this pyramid scheme he'd joined since December. This really came out of the blue, since I see the guy at least once a week on campus, and we keep in touch via phone. So I sat there as he drew out the marketing leaflets and a copy of Warta Bisnis magazine featuring the 100 Richest Marketers in Indonesia, which had guys from this very same pyramid scheme company on the top two places of the list. And then he went into his salesman schpiel, mentioning how his life has become more fulfilling ever since he joined. Effective brain-washing? Hmmm...but to be honest, if I weren't me, I'd probably be sold on it right then and there. I guess I'll mull this over first and try to figure out what the catch is. There's always a catch...

Later on in the day, I was chatting with a mutual friend of ours, when she suddenly pulled out a bottle of product from that same company. I mentioned that our friend was involved, and she said that her brother was also in on it, and that all her brother ever does nowadays is try to get other people to join. Weirder by the second...

From campus, went to Aksara at Cilandak Town Square. Their sale was going to end tomorrow, so I figured I might as well pick up Nick Hornby's 31 Songs on paperback. Two book purchases in less than a week? What the..?

Still on the subject of on-a-whim purchases: since my CD writer was up and running again, I suddenly had a craving for these Verbatim blank CDs that look like vinyl that Halief bought while he was still here. I have no idea about the sound quality (not that I'd notice anyway), but they sure look snazzy. The idea came after I'd left Cilandak, so I dropped by Aquarius Pondok Indah because I'd seen them in Duta Suara Sabang, and though major music stores sold them. Turns out I was wrong, so I dropped by Pondok Indah Mall, checked around several shops, and finally bought a few. Perfect for the customised Beach Boys compilation I've been meaning to get around to.

Got home, found Nadya on MSN in a state of being unable to sleep due to noise. Poor girl's a sensitive sleeper. Now me, on the other hand, can sleep regardless of any sonic disturbances of a reasonable decibel level. In fact, I would've nodded off if it wasn't for American Idol. We're a bit behind in this part of the world, about two episodes' worth. So it was a bit of a downer to find out Katie Webber didn't make it after putting on (what I thought was) a really hot, drool-inducing performance. Ah well, it was fun while it lasted...
posted by Hasief  # 2/26/2004 11:31:00 pm (0) comments

Wednesday, February 25, 2004

When you gotta check out... 

At home all day (for the most part), and it was rather productive for a change. Sent the car to the garage for an overdue oil change and other miscellaneous tinkering. Back home, I practically spent the whole day in front of the computer. Didn't have any work to do (for a change), so I used this spare time mostly on Friendster: getting new friend requests, writing testimonials to catch up with people who'd already written one for me, approving new testimonials and getting set back, that sort of thing. Also made some new pics for my profile, based on a single theme which you might be able to guess should you be able to track them down. No, it doesn't reflect my state of mind, it's just something I did for kicks. I think I ended up with a scar or two from the whole ordeal. This definitely would've been easier if Halief were still here, but ah well. Some things you just gotta do on your own...
posted by Hasief  # 2/25/2004 11:37:00 pm (0) comments

Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Currently on heavy rotation 

Really digging the new Phantom Planet album. It's practically stuck on repeat in the car CD changer. Favourite track is 'By The Bed'. From what I can gather, it's about an aloof guy who suddenly realises he's been giving his girlfriend the cold shoulder, but by then she tells him it's too late to fix things, and the guy is too stunned to do anything about it. Musically, it's just brilliant the way things start out slow, gradually build momentum, and just goes nuts towards the end, reflecting the desperation in the lyrics (especially the squealing guitar). I think Jason Schwartzman was still in the band when they recorded this, and he really did a kick-ass job on the drums (if indeed that's him). Anyway, the reason I dig this song so much isn't because it reflects any personal stuff I've gone through, it's just because it's a real tearjerker, and I usually like songs I can slit my wrists to, hypothetically speaking.

Her eyes were closed when I caught her in bed
Oh she seemed much happier then
I sat by her side and I couldn't help but cry
I was here for a reason and I...

Finally understood, and my oh my
Could only ask myself why oh why
Can't we talk this through and make things right?
Oh I'd sure as hell like to try

Right about this time she opened her eyes
And asked how long I had been there
Well, my tongue was tied. I said nothing, I just stared
She said: "Oh I didn't think you cared..."
Well, I wasn't ready for what she said next, she said:

"There is nothing else that you can do
No, you can't understand what I go through
And if the world has changed, well I'll be damned
Oh, 'cause I'm no good at being brave, not even on the better days
And there are things we cannot save
Oh, no matter hard we try."

She said:
"There is nothing else that you can do
No, you can't understand what I go through
And if the world has changed, well you'll do fine..."

Oh I tried, but no, I could not stand
I touched her with a trembling hand
I choked, I could not say goodbye
Oh, no matter how hard I tried

posted by Hasief  # 2/24/2004 10:07:00 pm (0) comments

Alone again 

Just saw Halief off at the airport. I am now once again the only kid in the Fadhol home. And now that the household help is gone, looks like I'll be quite busy on the chores front. Well at least I'll have the PC all to myself, which means more time to work and fill in this blog, haha.

The way home was pretty jammed, so that gave Dad lots of time to start up another ramble. This one was partially related to yesterday, in that he once again mentioned the neighbours' daughter - and by extension, he went on about parents who are close with other parents wanting to have their kids hook up. Can't blame them for that, and to be honest I'd be all for it if I knew anyone that fit in with what I want. No go. And then he talked about keeping distance with women, 'cause we might not end up with them. Which basically is what I'm doing right now: just shutting myself off until I'm certain I can open up again. On that count, Dad shouldn't be worried...
posted by Hasief  # 2/24/2004 08:42:00 pm (0) comments

Monday, February 23, 2004

We now resume regularly scheduled blogging service 

Holiday for the Muslim New Year. Spent the initial awakeness catching up with missing blog entries (see below), and then it was on to the cemetery to see Mum before Halief goes back tomorrow. Went to Pizza Hut for Halief's last meal, and then it was back home for lots of sleep.

Weird thing happened as we left for the cemetery: smalltalk shifted to the subject of our neighbours of several doors down, who went with Mum 2 to her university reunion yesterday. They have a daughter, who used to be my junior in high school. Dad suddenly asked what I thought about the girl - always cause for embarrassment. Have I really dropped to that level where my Dad thinks I'm so pathetic that he ends up asking my opinion of any girl that comes to mind? OK, I'll admit things are bad on the lovelife front, but it's just a matter of there not being anyone worth putting my heart out on the line for (again) at the moment. Well there probably is, but I gotta be at least 90 percent sure before I risk putting myself through something I know I'll have a really difficult time getting over if it doesn't work out in the end. Yes, I take these things seriously. There's no point in doing otherwise.
posted by Hasief  # 2/23/2004 10:15:00 pm (0) comments

The Motherload of Recaps Edition 

Seeing as I've finally got a decent amount of spare time on my hands, I'm gonna try and fill in the many gaps I've left during this month:

- Thursday, February 05: Today was the Korn gig, and it turned out to be one of those days where things fit in nicely and I don't have to sacrifice anything on the schedule. See, I'm supposed to have class at 10:30, but that usually clashes with the pre-gig press conference where I'm supposed to pick up the press IDs that enable me to get into the gig in the first place. Luckily the press con was scheduled for 15:30, so I had plenty of time to make it after class, even it it was at Hotel Borobudur on the other end of town. Met up with Halief and Dicky there. I was going to also drive to the venue (Pekan Raya Jakarta in Kemayoran), but ended up following Dicky's example by leaving the car at the hotel and going to PRJ by taxi. We ended up waiting for several more of Dicky's friends to arrive, and after waiting a long while for a decent taxi, we (that would be six of us regular-to-large Indonesian adult males) piled into a crappy cab.

The gig was alright; knew most of the singles so I wasn't totally blanked out, but it wasn't as mind-blowing as I'd expected. Had a harder time than usual obtaining the setlist. It's usually really easy, but I guess Korn's crew were jus a bunch of prats on that end. Managed to get some unsuspecting security to retrieve it, which by that point was a crumpled piece of paper lying on the ground. Afterwards, me, Halief, Fitri and Nancy (Fitri's editor) tried looking for a cab to get back to the hotel, but it's near impossible to get a taxi at that hour, in the middle of nowhere, with God knows how many other people trying to do the same. Ended up taking a bajaj.

While waiting for Nancy to get a cab at the hotel, suddenly I noticed Fieldy the bass player wandering around the lobby. I figured I might as well have a shot as getting his autograph while there were no security goons to shove me off, and later on got a glimpse of him sitting in with the hotel cafe band on bass, playing Santana and Michelle Branch's 'The Game Of Love'. If I didn't know better, I'd say this was a payoff to our tiring efforts at getting to the hotel after the gig. Sent Fitri home after that, and for some reason my driving sensibility went flying out the window, with the climax being me going the wrong way on a one way street, and passing not one, but two police patrol cars from the other end.

Friday, February 06: Didn't sleep from the previous night, because this morning was Mita's wedding and I had to drive the family to Bintaro. I didn't sleep, because I'm real lousy at getting up. So I ended up driving with really heavy eyes that could've just dropped at any moment, and traffic didn't help matters either. Finally got to the mosque on time, and I slept through the whole thing in the car.

Saturday, February 07: Mita's wedding reception. Other than that, my memory's hazy. I think I tried recapping events of the previous two days, but you can read what happened with that on the corresponding blog entry.

Sunday, February 08-Friday February 13: I really can't remember the details. All I know is that I was having the usual struggle with meeting deadlines. Inspiration is a fickle bitch. Somewhere in there I finally bought Ryan Adams' Love Is Hell Part 1. Thinking of getting the rest of his albums, maybe starting with Demolition which I've seen in several shops.

Saturday, February 14: Valentine's Day. Which, for me, is usually non-existent. Not because I'm single, but because I'm not really into the whole thing. Love should be for everyday, y'know? Instead, today was this family thing to celebrate Rizqi's birth (or something). The rest of the day was spent channeling out all thoughts of Valentine's, mostly by watching TV shows free of any tie-ins with Valentine's. Very not in the mood to have my face rubbed in it.

Sunday, February 15: The Mariah Carey gig. Left at 10 something, picked up Tiara, and then on to the Jakarta Convention Centre to pick up our IDs. Went for lunch at Plaza Indonesia, and inadvertantly ended up walking around E-X, that new "entertainment centre" housed in that funky-shaped, brightly coloured building. Also got Phantom Planet's self-titled new album, which is currently getting heavy rotation in the car. Anyway, finally made it to the gig, and as could be expected, all manner of beautiful people were to be found in the audience. Who needs Mariah? (Not that I ever did.) Speaking of Mariah, it looks like that "prohibition to dress sexy" went out the window. I don't think I've ever seen that much skin on stage before.

Monday, February 16: Still trying to get work done, unsuccessfully.

Tuesday, February 17: See previous entry, but add that when I was trying to upload my work to the office's network, the diskette I'd brought from home suddenly decided to go dead, and I lost just about everything I'd written there. Tried to make the best of the situation by working on the Golf Digest stuff instead, but the computer I was using suddenly went dead and I couldn't get it working again. Screw technology.

Wednesday, February 18: Went with Dad and Hanief in the morning to get the paperwork to our land sorted out. Had to deal with the traffic in Ciputat market, which is something I'm definitely not keen on doing again anytime soon. I don't think anyone would mind if they just bulldozed the whole frigging place and sent all the buses to the scrap heap. From Ciputat, headed on down to the notary office in Ciledug, another place I wouldn't be caught dead in if I could help it. Hanief did most of the driving here, and it suddenly dawned on me that he's just as lousy a driver as me. Maybe even worse, as his foot seemed to be permanently stuck on the gas and his hand on the horn. Getting back into Jakarta traffic after a long time away drives one insane, I guess. After getting back and getting lots of sleep, I finally got all the work done. Woo-hoo!

Thursday, February 19: The Brian McKnight gig. Another instance of everything fitting in, schedule-wise. After class, Dhitri talked me into getting a Big Mac meal, which was 50% off. Thought traffic in the entire city was going to be a bummer after we attempted to get to the McDonald's in Kemang, but luckily that wasn't the case, so we went to Sarinah Thamrin instead. Got to Lunar Entertainment's offices to pick the IDs...which turned out to be just one ID. Turns out there were allocation problems, and they had to cut the media list by half. Luckily djakarta! was still on there, so I had to just sign in and get out. It was past four when I made my way to the venue (Tennis Indoor Senayan), so I had to figure out how to get from Kebon Sirih (where Lunar and djakarta!'s offices are) while avoiding the 3-in-1 zone. After checking it out on the map, I managed to get halfway through the supposed route (past Tanah Abang), until I reached a one way road. From there on, it was all improvised, as I ended up going through God knows where. Finally got to the venue, met up with Halief who was still trying to look for a ticket. The press had to wait to be called before being allowed inside the venue, so I was stuck on the outside for about two hours. Caught a glimpse of someone I hadn't seen in a long time, and she was looking more beautiful than ever. Unfortunately, this sent me into deep depression, especially given the usual love and heartbreak songs Brian sings about. I was probably on the verge of slitting my wrists. But regardless of that, it was a great gig. One of the best I've ever seen. Just wish the circumstances surrounding it were more pleasant...

Friday, February 20: Went to campus for no reason whatsoever, the first time I've done so in a long while. Ended up getting Dipo and Posma on Friendster. Went to Aquarius Pondok Indah, met up with Halief, and we had dinner at Deha. Almost crashed into a little kid who suddenly opened a taxi door on the wrong side as I tried to overtake. Luckily I hit the brakes and only chipped a bit of the taxi door's paint. If I'd been driving like Hanief, who knows what would've happened...

Saturday, February 21: A wedding reception, all the way in Bogor. This was the first time I'd been to Bogor in a long time, and the first time I'd ever driven there. If I thought Jakarta traffic was hideous, well I stand corrected. And the weather! God, it was roasting. "City of Rain", my ass.

Sunday, February 22: Saw off Hanief and family at the airport. Went with Halief to Al-Azhar, and suddenly had the idea to take the BusWay to Sarinah and E-X. First time I'd been on it, and I gotta say it was pretty good: Al-Azhar to Thamrin in about 10-15 minutes. I'm starting to warm up to the whole thing...

Purchases of note on this day: Red Hot Chili Peppers' Live At Slane Castle DVD and Casualties Of Rock, the first book I've bought in ages. In the former's case, even though I've seen most of the show on repeat re-runs on MTV, it just feels different to actually own the thing. As for the latter, it ties in to my morbid fascination with the seedy side of rock, trying to figure out what drives people to O.D. themselves to death and the like. Rock star deaths galore.
posted by Hasief  # 2/23/2004 08:30:00 am (0) comments

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