God Damn It, Jeff!

The first time I found out you stopped making videos, I was gobsmacked. Then I got confused. Were thousands -me being one of them- who loved your videos don’t amount to those idiots that annoyed the hell out of you? “I know you’re tired of people. I’m tired of people.” We all are tired with each other. So what the hell?! I thought you loved making videos just for the sake of it.

Oh well, this is more of a ranting than a begging for you to come back. For you, we only exist virtually anyway. We are Internet-dependent beings. Nothing about us is real, now is there?

http://www.youtube.com/user/azrienoch

Quote of the Day #4

” … because that’s how things go in real life. Good people die. Things are never fair. And love does not conquer all. For life is often a crueler tyrant than Kings.”
- Azrienoch – Once Again: The Princess Story

Shove that in your pipe and smoke it!

Rush

I just promised myself to never forget the excitement. To never betray the madness that makes my heart beat. To never be common. To never ever abandon the fact that youth happens only once, and it happens fast. To live and let live. To explode. To exaggerate each moment. To never, ever slow down.

Quote of the Day #3

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww’.”
-Jack Kerouac (On the Road)

Working in the City: Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked

Isn’t the date-gap obvious enough? Sigh. I miss writing. I barely have time to do.. well, anything, except work. But I must say I love love love my job. I can wear crazy outfits to work, I get to do what I love, I always have something to do (I love feeling busy :p), and the people are so ace! Not to mention my new found appreciation for weekends.

I guess things do change when you decide to join adulthood.

Working in the City: The Job Hunt (Part II)

I love my friends. I really do. Actually, they are the ones who do the job hunt. For me. My friends have soft copies of my CV in their e-mail inbox, ready to be forwarded comes an opportunity.

Like this best friend of mine from high school, who is currently working at one of Jakarta’s Radio station, she heard about a PR spot opening at a new TV station from its Creative Director – who happens to be her good friend. And like any best friend in the world would have done, she told the Creative Director the nicest things about me, and forwarded my CV to her right away. The Creative Director said she liked what she was hearing, and told my friend to tell me to wait for a call for an interview, which supposedly happens at the beginning of this month.  Naturally, I would love love love to be able to have this job, because (I heard) the PR team will be promoting the company throughout Asia, therefore I get to travel! Or not travel, it does not matter, because I have not even mentioned the best part yet.. it’s Fashion TV! And God knows I live and breathe fashion. But, I also happen to know that a lot of people who know the right people in the industry and/or already have work experiences, would kill to have this job. I would kill to have this job. Oh blimey, at this rate I would kill to have any job.

It’s entering mid-March, and I’m still waiting for the call. I would not bet an arm on it, I just love my friend for what she did for me.

A good friend of my sister (who also knows me, and knows I’m looking for a job), used to work as an Editor for a lifestyle magazine, so he knows a lot of people, too. He told me that a group who owns exclusive restaurants and bars in Jakarta is looking to hiring a PR officer (or for some position in Marketing, now I’m not sure), and he gave me the PR Director’s contact. I sent my CV to the PR Director the next day. On that same day, I went to a movie with my boyfriend, his sister and his sister’s husband. And we were talking, and I told them about this job I was just applying for. Lo and behold.. apparently my boyfriend’s brother-in-law is a close friend of the owner! He then asked me to forward my CV to him, which I did instantly, and voilà! 5 days later (today) I got a call for an interview on Monday. Wow, I guess it helps knowing the right people to be a able to get a job in this city. But again, I would not bet an arm or a leg for this too, this could have just been a courtesy interview, who knows. I’m a positive person, but I’m also a realistic one. Oh but I would so rock the interview, as so not to put my boyfriend’s brother-in-law in deep regret for recommending me :) And I get the chance to totally dress-up! Either way, it’s all good.

But again, that is not the point. The point is I can’t believe how nice people are to me. Not only the ones I just wrote about, there are others, friends and family, who are also giving me tremendous help in finding a job. I could never thank these people enough.

I’m going to throw salt over my shoulder now and kindly ask you to wish me luck, ’cause I would need all the luck I can get.

Quote of the Day #2

Him: “Why are you implying that?”

(pause)

Me: “Do you know what ‘imply’ means?”

Him: “Er, no. I’m just using it randomly.”

Oh I love you, that totally made my day.

Quote of the Day

“Lo ngga ada rencana nyari kerja, Fin?” -Yaya

Omigod, of course, look for a job! Why haven’t I thought of that before?! LOL. Love you, darl.

Working in the City: The Job Hunt (Part I)

With my life being on hold for not having a job, I still have the guts to reject a job offer. I know I may seem ungrateful for some, but it’s not like it was an easy decision to make. Here’s what happened.

A couple of months ago I was offered a job as a part-time lecturer in this high profile University, which was ideal for me. That way I can still work at some company while teaching at this particular Uni. Plus, I was going to be a lecturer at the age of 25. How cool is that! Anyway, I was excited, and so I said yes. We corresponded and I sent them all the documents they need. I came for the unofficial interview, and they liked me. I was in. At first I had to come there to assist the Head of the Faculty teaching some classes, which was cool and life was once again good.. until the Head of the Faculty and I had a talk. Long story short, she told me that she wanted me to work there full-time (!) to teach the International class, and because that was the only way I could be eligible to be a Thesis supervisor (which was what she wanted me to be).

Working full-time means I have to drive 60 kilometers to and fro the Uni every day 7 to 4, I have to attend Chapel every Tuesday, I have to attend some compulsory Psychology class for lecturers (which, by the way, has exams I have to pass every semester), I can’t smoke around campus (lecturers are not allowed to smoke! Which is a good thing, come to think of it), I have to compromise my lifestyle (yes, a friend told me, that apparently when you become a lecturer there, they have the right to scrutinize how you’re living your life), and of course, eliminating my chances of working elsewhere for at least a year! Nevertheless, I realized that with all those things included, this offer was still too good to pass. Beggars can’t really be choosers now, can they? The Uni offered great salary, great facility, my boss-to-be (the Head of the Faculty) was such a cool person, plus I get to be the colleague of some of Indonesia’s best PR practitioners, who happened to be part-time lecturers there.

I was in a pickle.

It took me three weeks to come to a decision. And don’t ask me why I finally rejected the offer. I’m still not sure why.

And with that, the (job) hunt continues..

The Things We Have Lost In Time

I miss waking up in Neverland. When the world was already full of noise, with the weird buzzing and cars honking. Yet somehow, there were only you and me. The rest was as close as a phone call away, or as far as non-existent. It was a time where things were hard, yet they were fun.

I miss being able to say anything I want and no one could understand any of it. We used to be able to just sit in some park and were entertained by passers-by. Without them knowingly, of course.

I miss our friends. Some more than others. The nights spent on East end, the late night talk at the ‘lounge’, the random places we went to, that same coffee shop, that same restaurant in China town, that hot little kebab place next to home.

Ah, home. Maybe I should not start talking about home. ‘Cause if I did, I probably could not stop. Home was perfect and it was ours. Well, technically it was the landlord’s, but for the sake of the romanticism of this note, let’s just say it was ours and ours only.

I miss the city. The rush, the buzz on the streets, and it was almost always cloudy. 13° and everyone would jump around happy, get dressed happy and go out happy. I swear to you 13° was warm. I miss that, being happy easily. As easy as getting a pack of Teh Botol or a pack of Sampoerna. Oh, those things were luxuries I’m telling you.

I miss everyone minding their own business. I miss I’m minding my own business. Nope, can’t do that any longer here. You will mind other people’s businesses whether you want to or not. Jakarta has this power to turn one from whatever to an a-hole of some kind. Everyone b*tch around here, we’re b*tching about work, the traffic jam, the hot weather, how other people look or dress. It’s inevitable. Oh, replace the ‘*’ with an ‘i’ for those of you who are reading this and still pondering what the hell they meant. It’s Indonesia. I can’t just say bitch anytime I want.

Oops.

Now, I can end this note and make it cheesy (not as if it isn’t cheesy enough as it is) with words like “Life was perfect there. It was a perfect world in a perfect time. I will always carry the memories in my heart.”

But I rather not, seeing as I am more of a skeptic and that the world is never perfect, fair, nor peaceful. But it’s still a pretty neat place for me right now. Yes the past two years of my life has been great, yes I miss it time to time, but now I’m moving on. Life goes on. Though it’s impossible to describe how much I miss the people I left, there are people I care about here. This is my life now. In this hot, crowded, snobby city. But believe it or not, I’m not gonna bitch about it. F the *.