Time flies, eh? Feels like it wasn't that long ago when I started this blog and predicted I'd only last a few months before losing all interest. Barring the occasional prolonged period of apathy, I've surprisingly hung in there. Considering my track record of crapness at keeping resolutions, this was pretty good.
Speaking of resolutions, it's now time to make some new ones. Yup, in spite of my traditional lack of celebration, the new year is upon me again - another 12 months in which I'll try to get off my arse, if not get my head out of it. In terms of achievement, 2004 was pretty average, with the highest point probably being graduation. That was in late July, and since then I've more or less been floating in limbo. Not totally unproductive, mind you, but not exactly happy with my predicament - and also not being able to muster the willpower to get my shit together.
What is my problem? Here's a theory I stumbled upon when looking over my final academic transcript: three years ago, I had my best ever semester when I had something (or make that someone) to look forward to whenever I went to campus. Extra special motivation, if you will. Unfortunately that didn't last, and so for the past two and a half years, I've basically been bereft of motivation. Apparently, I need to have someone in my life or thereabouts in order to perform well.
But here's the thing: do women find unmotivated slackers enticing? I suppose not. They want their independent, self-sufficient and successful guys. This puts guys in a bit of a pickle: we want women who'd want to be with us even when we're at our lowest point imaginable and stick with us on the ride upwards. My pickle: I can't seem to go upwards without female motivation.
Which brings me to my resolution: I am going to try and defeat myself. I am going to get my shit together, with or without the sort of motivation I've grown accustomed to. I think I'll be more ambitiously obnoxious in getting what I want, and anyone who doesn't like it will have to deal with it or sod off. 2005 looks like it's going to be a big year for me - time to see if I've got the balls to make the most of it.
Dropped by the djakarta! office to get my dough, and had a craving for something big to eat. Maybe seeing
Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle a few days ago had something to do with it. Anyway, I decided to go to this place nearby called New York Deli. I'd only been there once, and that was almost two years ago, so I thought this was as good a time as any to have a stomach-blocking sandwich. Problem was, I couldn't seem to remember where the place was, so I spent the better part of 20 minutes driving around Menteng looking for it. When I finally stumbled upon the location, I discovered that it was no longer in business. Gah. Even Harold and Kumar had a happy ending.
So it was off to Mother's Cook, this new burger joint at Cilandak Town Square. Well, I think it's new - the first time I knew of its existence was a month ago, and before that I hadn't set foot in that place since early October. But anyway, I liked it enough that first time to give it another go. It's a nice place - they've made it up like a sanitised version of those roadside diners you see on TV, complete with red-cushioned swivel stools by the bar. They also have framed pictures of Hollywood stars on the wall - an obligatory touch in these U.S.-style food joints (see "Deli, Star"). And I'm guessing that, based on the portraits of O.J. Simpson's trial, Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky and Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake hanging alongside The Backstreet Boys and whatnot, the person who chose the pictures is either totally clueless or is a sneaky, subversive bastard trying to make a point that celebrity in America isn't only about the glitz and glamour, but also about the shame and scandal. Or something like that.
On to the burger proper: a bit pricey (35,000 plus 15.5% tax and service charge for a large burger, which makes it 40,425), but the portion fits the price. According to the promotional leaflets, the concept of this restaurant is to dispel the notion that hamburgers equal unhealthy dining. I'm not sure how healthy a big slab of greasy beef with melting cheese actually is, but oh well. It's not as if I'll be going all
Super Size Me here. I don't even do that at McDonald's, which I suppose is why that movie didn't turn me off that much. In fact, the first thing I did after watching it was buy a double cheeseburger. At McDonald's. But I digress.
Anyway, as you might have gathered, the burgers at Mother's Cook make McDonald's seem as thin as CDs in comparison. I'm sure I would've enjoyed my cheeseburger a lot more had they not added some kind of mushroom sauce. Last time was fine, and both then and this time I ordered my customary plain burger, so either they left out the mushroom stuff last time or I was so hungry I didn't notice. But it's not likely I didn't notice, because they put onions in the sauce. I hate onions. Not so much for the taste, but for that displeasing crunching feel whenever I bite on 'em. A dislike for certain foods based on how they feel in my mouth, basically. Sounds weird, but it's true. Based on that wet, crunching feel that reminds me of stabbing an insect with something small and sharp, I assume it's pretty much the same as biting said insect. Anyhow, I spent a good portion of my meal time scraping out onion bits from my burger with a fork, and spitting out those I'd already had the misfortune of chomping on.
Back home in time for this week's installment of
The Amazing Race. This is the first time I've followed this series, because it's the first time I've managed to get in on the ground floor with it, and it just happens to be shown virtually simultaneously with the 'States, so we're not playing catch up. I also watch
The Apprentice, of which the last episode of its first season was shown just last night. With all the exposure, it was hard not to know who the winner was. Heck, Season 2 also recently ended over there and I also know who the winner is there, so we're way behind. So the main reason for watching
The Apprentice is to see how things got from A to B. Kind of like the
Star Wars prequels where you already know what'll happen in the end, but much more entertaining. So what makes
TAR more special is that even viewers in the 'States don't know what the ending is yet, so it's cool to have a level playing field, so to speak.
Anyway, this week's
TAR was just a recap episode. Killed the momentum a bit, especially after last week's "To Be Continued..." cliffhanger. But it was entertaining - I found myself shouting "YOU WANKER!" every time
Jonathan opened his mouth. In fact, he didn't even have to say a word for my words to come out of my mouth. Can't wait for next week's episode, 'cause I'm dying for something very unpleasant to happen to him.
And now on to something much less frivolous. About the recent disasters in the Indian Ocean, particularly Aceh and North Sumatra: yes, it was tragic, horrible and other dreadful words to describe it. Unfortunately, these things happen, even with supposedly-adequate preventive measures in place, and there's not much we can do about it - except be thankful that it hasn't happened to us and do whatever we can to ease the suffering of those who have been directly affected. We might not be able to do much, but at least it'll be something. Add all those somethings, and...well, that's a lot of somethings. Here's hoping it'll be remotely enough.
Latest installment of Cosmic Pop Culture Reference Coincidence: I was browsing through an article on
Pitchfork Media about the break-up of Mr. Bungle (Who is Mr. Bungle? Do the research, I can't hand it all to you on a silver platter). This was just as
The O.C. came on, and as you know if you're a viewer (and if you're not, well what's wrong with you?), each episode starts off with a brief teaser segment, and then the opening credits with Phantom Planet's 'California' as the theme song. As the credits started, I went back to the article, and promptly got to the following sentence:
The members of Mr. Bungle, formed from a core group of high school friends, created a sparse catalog of recording across a nearly decade-long career, including 1991's self titled debut, 1995's Disco Volante, and their most recent release, 1999's California.
I swear, you can't make this shit up.
Oh yeah, the year's about to end and I figured a few end-of-year blog posts would be a proper send-off. Well, either that, or I just haven't had anything better to do. Will be back soon, I promise.
