Life's Incomprehensible Race

Dear Blog,

Every time I stand before the line under the vigilant eyes of the people who at once wished me success and failure, a lone thought runs through my mind: "Be the first one to pass the baton. Run, Fred, run." However, I do feel pressure, though not from the speculating crowd. It emanates from a deep-seated personal desire to be in the lead. Or rather, a strong aversion to giving chase.

Truth is, weariness claimed me a very long time ago, yet it was this exhaustion that my love for running and pushing things forward as fast as I can paradoxically thrived on. At times, I feel like a victim of fate’s injustice. It seems that I was predestined to run harder than others in life’s race, in which I am mandated for a slower start in everything. I feel like I have been chasing the shadow of an unfairly premeditated lead all my life—there are gaps everywhere to close.Then perhaps, it is this distaste that impels me to take starting stretches in all relays I run, because I treasure the control I wield over each race’s outset and my ability to impart a lead to the team.

I consider myself an anomaly in the American society. In view of this nation’s exigently individualistic type of society, those at the top either possess natural fortune by being born in a super wealthy family, or phenomenal willpower and diligence. These attributes have strong positive correlations with success in this Uncle Sam’s land. I do not reckon I lack intelligence. However, I smell an unfavorably skewed correlation factor in my case—there is a perceptible difference in my life with a hypothetical other of similar cerebral capability and diligence. It is never easy narrowing these disparities. There are some gaps which can never be closed.

I perceive the world to be in balance. There is always equilibrium in everything. Good and bad exists together. Look closer, and at least some good always juxtaposes even the nastiest things: the many disadvantaged beginnings have cultivated the indomitable fighting spirit and great confidence in conquering challenges. Resilience to accepting inferiority becomes my most reliable attribute as I’m working on my dream. I have always felt that apart from the passion I had for my dreams and an innate aspiration to excel, the simple close-the-gap mentality is the next greatest urging force behind my hard work in Science and Medicine so that, eventually, I not only become part of American Health Care Professionals, but also graduated as one of U.S. top scholars (hopefully, though!).

In fact, now I see my life as a continual search for new challenges, which would represent new beginnings. New experiences that change the way I think and act delight me because I’m an addict of Science and Medicine. They make me feel alive and keep me energized all the time. Indeed, I favor the affixed risks of every new change because I feel they make my life much more exhilarating.

I started out life’s race resentful of my disadvantaged circumstances, but now I value them greatly. Being aware of my shortcomings and working to eliminate them has made me learn about myself and crucially shaped my character. I have further realized that it is not the start of the race, but how the race is run, that will eventually determine the fashion in which it ends.

F.A.

Social Networking and Technology

Blackberry, iPhone, Android, you name it. Technology bener2 udah menjadi sarana yang mampu menjadikan lingkupan kehidupan sosial kita sebagai manusia mudah untuk diakses. Woops! Halo Blog, long time no see. Gila, udah lama banget gw ga ngeblog. Kali ini gw pengen nulis dengan Bahasa Indonesia nih. Masa orang Indo ngeblog pake bahasa asing mulu? Ga cinta tanah air kali ya? Ga..ga.. Gw masih setia kok dengan tanah air Indonesia yang tercinta. Pada kesempatan kali ini, gw pengen banget nih ngebahas tentang social networking, technology, dan kehidupan sosial gw yang terpengaruh karenanya. Tapi terlebih dahulu, gw mohon maaf yah kalau Bahasa Indo gw rada hancur soalnya udah lama banget ga pernah ngarang dalam Bahasa Indonesia. Padahal dulu di SMA gw jago loh dalam berkata-kata. Hahaha! Daripada basa-basi sana sini, mendingan langsung to the point aja yah.

Kalian2 tentunya pada tau donk apa itu Facebook, Twitter, Friendster, Myspace dsb. Awas loh kalo blg ga tau, gw tabok jg lu, ketrok amat sih jadi orang. Ga..ga..bercanda kok! Yah, jadi begitulah. Social networking sites seperti yang gw contohin di atas bisa dikatakan adalah suatu penemuan berharga yang pernah diciptakan oleh para computer genius. Banyak dampak positif and keuntungan yang kita dapat dari social networking. Kita bisa dekat dengan teman2 lama kita yang menyebar luas di segala penjuru dunia (apalagi bagi anda2 yang pernah sekolah di luar negeri atau lagi sekolah di luar negeri). Selain itu, kita juga bisa tahu apa yang terjadi dengan teman2 dan keluarga kita(tentunya yang ada account nya di social networking site(s)) dalam hitungan beberapa milliseconds dari moment dimana mereka baru saja mengupdate statusnya.

Rasa ingin tahu dengan kejadian yang terjadi di sekitar kita, terutama dengan kehidupan dan interaksi sosial kita adalah hal yang, well, relatif wajar sebagai manusia (karena itulah manusia berbeda dengan binatang). Tapi yang gw rasakan setelah bertahun2 punya accounts di top social networking sites, seperti Facebook dan Twitter, sangatlah berbeda. Apalagi akhir2 ini semenjak kemajuan technology yang memberikan fasilitas kemudahan bagi kita2 smua yang pada "demam facebook dan twitter". Blackberry dan iPhone adalah 2 contoh pasti akan hal ini. Just a click or two, and there you go, you know almost anything that are happening around you and your friend circle.

Hal ini tentu saja membawa dampak negatif. Seperti yang gw katakan tadi kehidupan sosial gw jadi rada terganggu. Pasalnya, kalau gw ketemu dengan temen2, udh ga banyak lagi yang bisa dibicarakan dan dipertanyakan. Mereka dan gw udah pada tau apa aja yang terjadi belakangan ini.

I'm not saying that I don't like facebook and twitter. I do like those two social networking sites. I just miss those old days where everytime my old friends I haven't seen in months or years, and say, "Hi dude! What's up? How's your life so far, have you this, have you that, bla..bla..bla.." Sekarang, gw udah jarang banget update status on facebook. Temen2 juga udh pada jarang nanya2 ttg apa yang terjadi dengan gw. Dan, akhirnya, gw sekarang jadi orang yang ANSOS (anti social) banget karena emang ga ada yg peduli dan gw jg udah tau apa yang terjadi dengan mereka. So, what's the point of interacting with people.

Okay dah, ntar kita sambung lagi deh. Capek nih, just had two bottles of budweiser. I'm going to chill the ef down now.

I'll talk to you guys soon, kay? Hope you guys have a terrific weekend ahead. And remember, be safe and eat fruits.

Fred

I've been too lazy to blog these days! Sorry. Will blog again anytime soon. Yeah...right! Alright then, hope you all have a terrific summer!


Fred

PS: Go out there, have fun! Enjoy the summer. And remember, be safe!!!

Hi there! Back with me again, Fred. Time is showing 10:31pm as I start writing this post. It's Sunday night --April 18, 2010. Seems that I've been living in this new house for almost nineteen days already. Well, so far so good, I guess.

Let's back in time where the spring break 2010 was. Dirga, an old friend of mine, made a trip to the United States to attend an International Moot Competition in Washington D.C. As part of his trip to the United States, he came to visit me in San Francisco for a couple of days before he and his teammates left to Hawai'i. Hence, I brought them going around the city. It was great seeing him again after such a pretty long time. Cheers, Dee! Thanks for visiting me here! Hope to see you again soon, mamen!
PS to Dee: Everything happens in Frisco, stays in Frisco. Alright, brader?

So yeah, I'm back to college life. It's been tough for the first week after the break because I had three exams in two weeks after the break. Only one anatomy lab practical exam is left for next week.

Alright then, I'll see you guys soon. Or not so soon, maybe. :)

Hi there, sorry for abandoning blogspot again. Midterm completely took my free time away. But, that was good though. I received good grades again this semester as a result of my struggles and efforts. Anyway, I'm moving out from my present house (Crescent Avenue, 94110) on April 1st. It's a good thing to do as I'm now a grown-up who is mature enough to live by myself. I've been searching and hunting for a shared apartment and room for rent in several areas in San Francisco. Sadly, I didn't get any of them. So, I went to ask a friend of mine to share his room in Alameda. He and his housemates welcomed me to his house. But then, I doubt that I could wake up as early as 7 o' clock every morning to get a carpool to Frisco with strangers. Well, moving in to Wesley's apartment would be absolutely great, but it's kinda too far from school and work. Hence, I kept looking for a room or an apartment in Frisco and I just found this nice place to live in today (Saturday / March 20, 2010). It is located nearby from school and Bart station wherein I reckon it'd be beneficial for me. I commute daily back and forth from home to school and work. And, this house is only 5-minutes-walk to school and 10-minutes-walk to Balboa Bart Station. Isn't that great? I don't have to waste my energy anymore waking up so early in the morning and stuff. I don't need to waste my time on transits after my evening classes everyday as well since I can just walk home.

Alright then, Blogspot. See you soon (if I'm not busy)! I bet I would. :)

Have a lovely weekend m8s! Be safe..

Just bought a new laptop, Sony Vaio CW-21FX, last week. It's been a week of use. So far, this laptop works really well. It was a great decision. I have had no problems with it. Great value. Works like a dream. It's very portable, which is great because I'm always on the go with my computer. Hence, I need a small and easy-to-carry laptop.

This laptop is built with Intel Core i3 (Quad Core), Nvidia Gefore M300 with cuda, and Windows 7 Home Premium. I'm in college, so my primary use is the internet and word, meaning I don't need huge processing power, however speed is nice (2.13GHz). It's fast, sleek, and I love the keyboard (I like clickier keyboards, reminds me of a Mac keyboard). Windows seven is great, easy to learn after years of XP use. I was excited about the multitouch mousepad, however it hasn't really been that useful, however I like the scrolling features. I liked the icy white color this one came in. I recommend this laptop to anyone with general use in mind.
Let me tell you, this thing rocks! I'm so in love with this laptop now. I guess I will upgrade this masterpiece of technology soon.
Here are a few photobooths taken by its webcam:

Haha! It should be fun, right?

Winter break has ended, it is now time to go back to school.

Spring 2010 semester just started yesterday.
I'm taking Anatomy, Nutrition, Political Science, and English this semester.
Hopefully, I could pass all of those classes with good grades again, just like last semester.


Last weekend, I finally had a vacation in Los Angeles. After a long straight year of working and studying, I thought a temporary escape from Bay Area life should be the right thing to do. However, it was the last-weekend of winter break. I had to, at least, feel that I was still on school break.

Photos below were taken in LA, I only will upload a few of them. More of my LA vacation photos were also uploaded on my facebook account. So, go check it out!

Sate Padang! Oh, my appetite was back. It's been 2 years I haven't eaten any of this.
Me and Sis -- Hollywood mountain.
The Doors Star -- Hollywood Boulevard
Staples Center
Rodeo Drive Boulevard - 90210
Disneyland

CALIFORNIA!!!! yay... :)