My Grey World

I have taken a lot of crazy terms in SMU, what with 5.5 courses and all computer-related modules mixed in with difficult business modules stuff. But perhaps my very last term in SMU is the craziest. Perhaps. You decide.

So I’m only taking three modules this term. I know, I know. Freaking three modules?? How can you say it’s crazy, Sylv??? The reason it’s crazy is because you’re only taking three modules!!!

Ahem. Anyway.

My three modules are : PR Writing, Creative Writing, and Current Issues in Business, Culture, and Society. If you see a recurring theme… You’re probably right. They’re all writing. Yes, even that third course which has a name so long I don’t want to bother typing it. Although I might have typed a longer sentence just by typing that. Anyway. These three courses require writing, writing, and writing, and all with different styles. PR Writing is, of course, PR Writing. Concise while keeping the important details, and making it interesting enough so that those journalists will pick it up. Creative writing is, I suppose, more liberating. Although excelling in Indonesian creative writing, I suppose it was time for me to pick up the English one. Had a great fun experimenting. And that third course, we need a business type of writing – really simple, to the point, no flowery words or hard vocabularies.

Hey don’t get me wrong. I like the third course. It’s the only course in SMU where you can get free food. I’m not kidding. (Click that)

So I figured it would be quite a paradox if I take a term full of writing and I stop writing in my blog. After all, this blog was the one that elevated my writing skillzors. If you have the time to sift through my archives from 2006 ’til now, (I hope) you can see the level-up.

So here I am, back in full force of writing!

….I think.

I’m appalled at the amount of adultery and disrespect of marriage messages actually found in popular TV series. And why oh why, I ask, does it have to be on my favourite shows?

Warning : this post may contain spoilers of Grey’s Anatomy, Glee, and Gossip Girl.

So I just finished watching Glee ep 13 last night and the last scene of the fall finale was Mr Schuester, the protagonist, kissing Ms Pilsbury, the “will-they-or-won’t-they” girl for Mr Schuester on screen. I guess it’s “they will” now.

Problem is? Mr Schuester is married. Well, for now, anyway. He proudly proclaimed that he’s leaving his wife on the day of Ms Pilsbury’s supposed wedding.

Oh, so just because you left your wife you’re free to kiss another girl?

I’m pretty sure that a lot of Glee lovers were cooing “Awwww” at the scene but to me it was a disgusting scene.

Pardon me, but I was not raised believing marriage is “I love you so let’s try out and see if this works and if I’m not happy we’ll just leave each other” thing. It’s not even a continuation of years of infatuation and butterflies and gazing into each other’s eyes. It’s a commitment, sealed for life. Isn’t it obvious from the vows? For better of for worse, through good times and bad times?

I remember spending 5 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy cursing in my head, telling Meredith and Derek to just break up for good. (As Grey’s Anatomy viewers will know, they break up and patch up a million times) I don’t know whether the fact has been blurry because it’s not even mentioned again for 5 seasons, but Meredith and Derek started out when he was still married. Yes, Addison, Derek’s then wife, cheated on him, but did that really give him a license to go have a one-night-stand with some chick in a bar AND THEN eventually “marrying” her? (Sorry, vows on a blue post-it don’t quite cut it for me) I’m sorry to say this, but dammit, keep your dick at its place before you get done with divorce and everything!

I’m quite pissed that the media portrays those adulteries as okay, manageable, fine, whatever thesaurus you can put here. What exactly is the intention? If those shows keep doing this, there will be no surprise that the divorce rate in the USA and probably the rest of the world will keep going up. Oh sorry, it’s already happening now? Maybe later people will not want to get married anyway – too much trouble just for legalizing commitment and sex eh?

My stand is – sometimes marriages don’t work. It’s true. But according to your vows, you’re committed to work the kink out. But obviously, not by having a relationship when it’s all chaos. Seriously, why add oil to the fire?

Endnote: I just realized the same theme is ongoing on Gossip Girl – Serena with Tripp.

I’m currently home in Jakarta and I had a ridiculously horrible flight.

I’m too busy enjoying the nice food and watching DVDs to discuss about it though.

That’s about it. More updates coming soon… Later.

A beautiful, huge church with amazing multi-coloured domes.

note: image heavy post. Click Read More to continue. See larger (original) images by clicking on the images.

Continue reading ‘Things I Remember about St Petersburg #1 – Mosaic Church’

I live in Singapore where land is scarce. So scarce they need to grow vertically rather than horizontally. Living in a landed house, let alone a multi-story one, is a luxury here.

And so naturally in Singapore we live with numbers. A lot of them. Our apartment’s unit numbers, for example. It’s usually 4 numbers, #03-09, #04-05, #06-07, and so on. And of course our postal code number (every building has different postal code numbers! That’s how small Singapore is….). And a lot more.

This usually is not a problem for Singaporeans or someone who has lived in Singapore for quite some time. It was not a problem for me, at first. The problem comes when you move around (quite) frequently.

You see, when I just moved here, I occupy #34-xx (if I remember correctly). Then I moved to #08-xx. And then #05-xx. Now it’s #01-xx. And of course they all have different postal codes.

The problem usually occurs in the lift. When I was still in transition, I would often absent-mindedly press the wrong floor button. Is it 8, or is it 5? Problem also occurs when I’m off visiting my boyfriend for the weekend. You see, my boyfriend lives in #08-xx. Again, is it 8, or is it 5? Or is it……?

And I’m not finished. You know that sometimes apartments have these “nifty” enter-code-to-get-in stuff? Uh-huh. These things are usually coded with 4-digit codes. So yeah you can guess what happened. Even worse, when I lived in #05-xx, they regularly change the codes and I sometimes find myself stranded outside the gate because I forgot the new code, or I entered the wrong code thrice. Urgh.

Oh, and, remember those postal codes? I’ve lost count on how many times I wrongly entered my postal code when I’m ordering something online.

The problem with numbers is not only contained in addresses. Did you know that SBS Transit has around 300 buses, and of course, with different numbers?

Sometimes the problem is that two buses with almost same numbers (12x and 12x+1, for example) sometimes have almost similar route, while on the other hand, they can also have totally different routes. So imagine if they actually have totally different routes but you forgot which is which, and you boarded the wrong bus…… The rest, as they say, is history.

So how about you? Any number woes you’ve encountered, in Singapore and in somewhere else?

Photo by stewf available under Creative Commons NC-SA 2.0

As cliche as it may sound, it’s true.

My years in SMU (and possibly Singapore) is ending. In approximately 7 months, I will receive a fancy-looking scroll, take photos in my big baggy regalia, and throw my square hats to the air.

When I first came to SMU, I was 17. I thought I was ready for everything – I just didn’t know what I was supposed to do yet. I thought within 4 years, something, somehow, would come to me and I would steer my way to that.

But nuh-uh. Not quite. Sadly.

When I first tried my hands on programming/coding, I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me. Then more stuff came about networking, information security, enterprise integration, architectural analysis, more network infrastructure, etc etc etc. I thought maybe I should just find my feet. Maybe it would get better.

It didn’t.

Year after year, I spent my years in SMU (still) trying to find out what I should do in life. I kept doing everything I want. I blogged actively and became active in a blogging scene. I joined a choir and sang with them in a myriad of performances. I even tried out to become a songwriter – my song was showcased in a musical play in 2008. I managed a gamelan (Indonesian music ensemble) club. I did two internships. I did a web design/development one, and then I did an online marketing (as account executive) one.

I kept waiting for that one moment when, at the drop of a hat, I feel some butterflies – when I feel that this is what I want to do. This is what I’m supposed to be doing. This is what I’m glad to be doing now – and many years to come.

It didn’t come.

So right now, as the end is looming, I’ve given some thoughts that there are two things that I can do right now.

1. Keep trying different things. Even if I don’t like it, at least I’ll know what I’m not supposed to do.

2. Choose. Separate the sheep from the goats. And make peace, be at ease with whatever my choice is.

Right now, I know my time is running out to try even more different things. Honestly? After 20 years, I’m tired. My parents were great to give me a lot of opportunities to try and do different things. But I’m tired now. I’m 20, I’m about to graduate from university, I suck at school, and I have no direction where to go.

So the next best thing is to choose. Yet I don’t know what to choose, what to do for many many years to come. How can I plan for those years to come if I can’t even decide what to do immediately after I finished all my classes in SMU? Should I go to China to study Mandarin? Should I go back to Jakarta and enjoy relaxed life before working life? Should I stay in Singapore and try to find a job immediately?

Hell, I can’t even plan on what to eat tomorrow.

PS: If you see a lot of idioms scattered around this post, this is because my professor suggested me that I should practice on using more idioms. I’m glad that she actually likes my writing, but she said my grammar and use of idioms let me down. So this is the best avenue to practice!

I came across some of my older writings and I could feel the strong emotion there, I cried.

I hope I can write like that, again…

On the other note, NaNoWriMo has started. Yet I haven’t written a single word for my novel. I spent my day working on a case study (yes, a freaking full case study!) instead. Writing, of course. I swear I’ve written more than the recommended 500-words-per-day NaNoWriMo quota.

I’ve got drafts lined up, and I hope I’ll be feeling great enough to finish and post them all.

Remind me not to be too perfectionist. Sometimes my most spontaneous writings, like the one I mentioned in the beginning, are the best ones.

Been meaning to try this out for quite some time… I know, I know. I’m a Mac traitor.

My mac is currently undergoing repair because the fans don’t work. It’s a sign, perhaps.

Anyway, I’m using my boyfriend’s netbook right now. Lenovo S10. Very little and cute. The small keyboard needed some time to get used to, but overall it’s pretty great. No lagging, no crashing.

But by my experience usually when I start saying that it starts doing all funny thing.

Ok that’s all for my post! *ducks from rocks thrown*

By the way this WLW is really pretty spiffy. WYSIWYG editor, and it draws all the categories and tags available from my blog.