Happy Halloween!

Ahm Ahm...(cough sound)...

Last night: Codeine...as prescribed by the doctor.

Today: DMS528 Social Web Media Class.
Chicken Noodle Soup with a roll.
LIS 569 Database Class.
Home.
Cook: Chicken breast with broccoli and zucchini.
TV: Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, Family Guy. etc.
Applebee's with G-love (Veggie Pizza, Boneless Wings, Maple Blondie)

Now: Overstuffed,
some more codeine

Cough.

Cough. Woke up. Cough. Made an appointment to go to Michael Hall again. Cough. So, so, sooo windy outside. Cough. Listened to my ipod on the bus to get my mind off the. Cough. Got examined by a nurse practitioner who didn't give anything effective (as of yet). Cough. Had some greasy, greasy food from Santoras (which I am supposed to not at this time. ). Cough. Did some Laundry (just my blankets and sheets really). Cough. Watched HEROES. I am so, so in love with Peter Petrelli now, but still love my dear Wentworth Miller more. Cough. Took a quiz for Database class, scored a 90. yay! Cough. Now will go lay at 90 degrees and try to sleep in that position as prescribed. Cough, cough, cough.
This is getting really, really bad.
I want to sleep like I always sleep and just go about my day. God, please make me well soon.
Cough.

Weekends shmweekends...

Missed a whole day in between.
Okay so Saturday a bunch of things happened. Was sick all day but still managed to go to two different events. First was a eid/diwali celebration dinner which was organized by the Malaysian student Association. Braynard from work invited all of us (at work) and the sweet boy that he is we just had to go to support him and also take a bite out of Malaysia. The food was really exotic and something I never tried before. Coconut rice, anchovies in sauce, etc. etc. It was all delicious. After that, came home and got into my Halloween gear (courtesy of my lovely rommate angela.).
Then Gowri came over and then we headed to Brads. He had decorated his house real nice, had a lot of good appetizers, dips, chips and candies everywhere and also had a fog machine. I had my asthmatic situation all throughout the time but managed to keep a straight face and enjoy because he truly did a great job with the party. Came back at 2ish and then just watched TV (cos i couldn't go to sleep due to the constant coughing.)
Woke up today at 11am, baked a cake (from a box of course, didn't have time for 'from scratch' stuff today) and then headed to the BSA social. It was a ton of fun, Jen (BSA President) did a real nice job along with the rest of the eboard. Had some delicious biryani and some dessert. Then we played some mafia...ton of fun. Okay I guess you can tell that today I really don't feel like writing so yeah.
Later.

Rainy days and Fridays bring me down...

Work went by real fast today. I trekked to South Campus today in what can be described as the prelude to a nasty rain session. Grey, meek and semi-chilly...my sweatpants got soaked as they (like always), grazed the roads underneath my even dirtier sneakers. I deposited my paychecks and decided to get some chicken and shrimp fried rice at China King- the only chinese restaurant within walking distance on South Campus. There is another one called May Zen, but never dared to try it in the last 6 years. After inhaling the fried rice, I headed to Tops (grocery store) to pick a few vegetables. Picked some nice looking zucchini, brocolli and cilantro but what was nicer was the special that was put on the tray of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. $7.94 for a huge tray. Amazing.
Came back home, stashed everything in the refrig. and changed into some dry clothes. Yay for the great feeling of coming home and jumping onto your bed (in my case, mattress). Since then I have been watching movies on FX. I watched X-Men 2 from the middle and even cried a little when Jean died...ew I am such a birdie. Anyways, now I am watching the gorgeous Jennifer Connelly in Dark Waters. Never saw this one before. It's reminding me of all kinds of movies...from Ring to The Grudge...anything that involves blurry water and strands of dark hair is bound to reminisce of the Ring. I just downed a bowl of the chicken veggie stew I made earlier this week. My throat still feels like a dragon. Itchy, burning and plain annoying...I feel like having some Frosted flakes with cold, cold milke. Mmmm....Okay I have to catch up on 'Dark Water'. Hope I can sleep tonight...the pussy cat that I am.
Wonder how many people hit the theater today for Saw IV...ugh.
Later.
Oh I made this photo collage just to include some of the highlights of my day today...

A visit to the doc...

Yes that is a picture of the influenza virus a.k.a the 'flu' virus. Naughty, naughty thing.
I have been meaning to meet my adviser since forever and somehow things have been coming up that was not allowing me to do so...so instead of postponing it this time around (for the umpteenth time), I decided to bundle up. Starting from a wife-beater to a sweater to a puffy down-filled jacket + scarf and boots, I was ready to go. I had a bowl of the strawberry-frosted mini wheats with cold milk. Yes, cold, in the midst of all the body aches that actually get accentuated by cold. A quick cup of mint green tea and I was out.
The meeting was short and I had mainly gone to ask a few questions about my capstone proposal. She did say that I didn't' need to come in the condition that I was in (am in?). After that I went to class and then left class early to go for my appointment at Michael Hall (which I made earlier today). After 20 minutes of waiting in the waiting area, I was called in.
"Your throat looks clean, your ears are good, no temperature...I don't think there's anything to worry about", said the nice doctor. Although relieved to hear that I demanded an explanation for the unsightly coughs, body aches, head aches, etc. "It's a viral thing that has been going around', she said. She prescribed some Mucinex for me and told me to take some Advil was well. The Advil hasn't done anything for me so far...it just makes my stomach grumble sometimes. I remember my mom saying once how some people's stomach bleed when they take too much ibuprofen (active ingredient of Advil).
I made it to class- 15 minutes late, but did make it to class. Didn't want to miss the lab practical of Visual Basic. It did seem a lot easier than I'd thought. After class Gowri took me to her house where her sweet, sweet mom made me some rasam. Rasam is a concoction of bright and flavorful spices, salt, onion, garlic, tamarind and curry leaves in hot water. It soothed my throat so much. Bless that woman's soul. Gowri's parents are just so wonderful. So is she.
After that we hit the mall for a bit...Halloween shopping. More like Halloween window shopping. Upon entering the mall we headed for the food court. Arby's had the shortest queue so roast beef sandwiches it was. I ordered a side of jalapeno poppers with which they gave me a sauce that tasted nothing short of raspberry jam. Anyways, we then went about to couple of stores.
I'm home now...debating whether to have some tea. Okay me off now...

A Blessed Flu...NOT

So,
I haven't been here in a while. Not unusual. I told to myself prior to blogging that I would not be able to keep up on a daily basis. I have been miserably sick since last night. I have been ODing on Advils like nobody's business. No good. I have been drinking all kinds of teas: Green Tea, Orange Pekoe Tea, etc. No good. I even gargled with a concoction of warm water and salt. So so. The question then remains that why would I get struck by the bug once again only after being struck by it like twice before in the last two months. Like those trips to the ER wasn't enough. Heavy Sigh.
I still went to work, still went to the gym and still managed to sport a smile. A real smile. There could be worse things happening to people. Actually, I am sure there are worse things happening to people. So...now I am going to hit the sack for an early shut-eye (as opposed to my usual post 2a.m. sleeping time).

I wish I could get some warm hugs for a loved one. I am one of those people who heals with love. It's just that love isn't in the immediate surroundings. *Grumble*

Okay a wee bit of tv and I am off to sleepy land...(Oh please Advil---make me feel better)

Shifting clouds..

Eggs and bread for breakie. Went to an indian cultural dance function with some friends. Girls night out. T'was fun...It's nice to see people dressed in colorful, traditional garb dance away like there's no tomorrow. It's nice to see hold friends and take pictures. It's nice to have friends.
...Shifting clouds annoy the shiznit out of me. Good day, unproductive as I didn't get any school work done, but good.

Rambunctious I am not

Its 1:30 am, Saturday. Windy outside. Quiet inside. The occassional 'zooms' of automoblies can be heard- I live close to a highway. I just washed my face, put some jojoba oil on and am watching Giada De Laurentis on Food Network. She is in London and is giving a rundown of stuff like: Fish 'n' chips, Prêt-à-Porter and other London like food. I am unsure as to why I have started blogging again. Utter boredom could be a possible reason. Reiterating hidden thoughts and desires could be another.

I had a pretty productive day today. Work from 12 noon-4pm: So at 12 hours per week, I like work. Besides the fact that the pay is staggeringly low, the atmosphere is like that of a foreign embassy. I work at the International Admissions Office. A hustling and bustling part of UB's (University at Buffalo) infrastructure. Korean, Chinese, Malaysian, etc. all form part of the multi-cultural staff. After four hours of work I called my mom. She (along with my dad and sister) live in Oman. It is located in the Middle East bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Persian Gulf, between Yemen and UAE. I grew up there since I was a month old. (yes this is an impromptu intro). I was born in Bangladesh. I speak Bangla (native language of Bangladesh) at home with my parents. My parents won't stop ranting about the fact that me and my sister converse in English. I can semi-comprehend Arabic, written better than spoken. So anyways, I called mom. She misses me. I miss her too. She is one of the few people in this world who truly knows what I am thinking in that part of my head where no one can usually go. Its pretty cool.

After 28 minutes of heart-warming talk with her (daytime minutes beware), I headed to the gym. This is part of my 'Must-lose-20-pounds-before-going-home-this-winter' scheme. I have a ridiculously low basal metabolic rate. I could inhale air and gain weight. Okay, when I decided to blog, I had promised myself not to whine about weight-related matters but it really is a bothersome part of my life so it may jump in between the walls every once in a while. SO after 20 minutes of treadmill and 30 minutes of biking, I came home. I cooked some broccoli, mushrooms, red pepper, green pepper, zucchini, squash, red potatoes and ground chicken together (yes all that at one go). It wasn't too grisly tasting. After two huge bowlfuls of my mysterious stew, I wandered about my apartment thinking of what to do.

Sigh.

Sometimes, life is so strange. There are these inexplicable thoughts racing through my mind. I think of the last 6 years that I have spent here in the United States. I have been lucky to visit home every year so I am not complaining about the home-sickness part. I am belly-aching about what life holds for me. Somehow, everyone else in my life has their 'stuff' figured out. I feel like this forlorn pea...rolling away into a pool of uselessness. I am an Informatics, 2nd year student. I haven't even started revising my thesis proposal which is due in less than 4 weeks, instead I am browsing through people's profiles on facebook, checking out pictures of rihanna on google images to see how precisely she does her make-up and popping on my Ipod every now and then. And the reason I am losing focus is not because I am not earnest, but it's because the state of the program is very fragile. Teachers leaving, students complaining---it is a messy situation. Argh. Can't wait till the end of next semester when, hopefully, I will be shopping for a commencement gown. Never liked the way those things look on me. The feeling is good though.

Good feelings remind of all the people I have met in this program. Made a lot of friends who are such wonderful people. Beautiful inside out. Gowri for example, is such a beautiful girl with a heart of gold. We have shared some good times and continue to do so and its one of the things that I wouldn't have want to change because of an unstable program. I intend to complete a SAP training once I have done the 'walk' to supplement the unstableness which many a times only students in this program feel, while others don't. Good thing . Can't think of anything to write.

Media stuff- Britney Spears got a lip job or something and it is splashed all over the news. One question: There are other important things happening in other parts of the world like starvation, poverty, etc. Why is there so much emphasis on a lousy 20 somethings life? Oh God I hope that Chris Crocker guy doesn't kill me for writing this. Pshaw- talk about getting famous in the weirdest manners. I don't get this place sometimes.

Maybe some sleep will do me good now. It's too hot in my room.

Night.