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Econometrics Can Give You the Tics

I, sweetheart to Sheldon Cooper, PhD, am willing to engage in coitus (ha ha) and explore the worlds of causality of the said demigod in Big Bang Theory. Observe my love for Dr. Cooper as manifested in this bold (and senseless) experimentation with statistics:

Let's talk some Stats crap. It is seen here that Cov[Score|Study]= 0, thus implying that Corr[score, study]= 0 (There is no correlation between score and studying). On a more serious note, God forbid!

Catty Interlude

The calming effect of a 21-year old rendition of a cat and a dog on a yellow sticky note.

Not!
Week 6, "you sak, you sak!"

p/s: If I may, a little inspiration to think about where your place (and what your purpose) is in the world: http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Default.aspx

pp/s: Oh hey, it's little miss-at-large's 100th post! Not too shabby for someone with a little ADD (aka hangat-hangat tahi ayam-ity) on the sides. 

Cliffs of Dover

Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson is a personal favorite of mine on Guitar Hero. Of late, the song reminds me of a good friend and brother whom I won't say goodbye to, just see you later (to use Hanna's words). And I'm telling you, he is sorely missed, by the entire Chicago population, furreal. The Chi knows when the bro isn't around. The Chi thinks he should give Ezamil, Dezerk, Ainul, Kat and I that ludicrous "to the pound" we oh-so-miss. I speak for the rest when I say: One round of Adam-nity for the good ol' times. And one for the beautiful, new life you're leading with Shikin in London. I'm sure only good things will come your way. Good luck!

Second Opinion(s)?

I have an urgent, humble favor to ask of any of you precious people who happen to read this. I'm submitting four photos for a study abroad photo contest, and I'd appreciate it if you can help me choose two more. These are wholly amateur photos of no quality taken with a 7.2mp point-and-shoot camera, so forgive me for robbing you of one's most important commodity, time. 

Here are the two I'm definitely submitting.

 Nyanga township, Cape Town - an Apartheid legacy shaming the clear blue skies in South Africa

Townships, settlements of shacks and brick huts like this, dominate the Cape Town landscape of what is now known as Cape Flats. They are "reserved" for Black South Africa and is situated away from the scenic Table Mountain and the bustling Table Bay, and certainly out of the city center. Apartheid may have left the picture in 1992, but this painful legacy is still there to be captured by lenses and hurt the hearts that see.

 (near) Satara Camp, Kruger National Park - Impala, not the Chevy kind

You would want to name a car after this antelope once you see how graceful it is. Enough said. Oh, and just that we saw hundreds of them until we got to the point where we agreed to only stop the Game Drive Vehicle if we see a baboon playing with a leopard that is standing on a lion preying on an impala.

And here are the ones I've shortlisted.

Telkom Tower, Johannesburg - Very Vuvuzela of you, South Africa!  

South Africa shows us its 2010 World Cup spirit and pride in style. And with the skyline, no less.

From the Carlton Tower, Johannesburg city center - AIDS in the shadows

South Africa is living with AIDS no doubt, but it can leave AIDS sans the prejudice.

Venda children of Guyuni village, Hamakuya, Limpopo

I love these children to bits, and the cultural anthropological debate about being a "detached, but still immersed participant observer" can suck it, is all I'm saying.

Rembuluwani homestead, Guyuni village, Hamakuya, Limpopo

The simplest meals of cornmeal porridge called Pap and vegetable dishes, eaten communally, left me with the fullest stomach and happiest heart for three days and two nights.

The contest deadline is April 30, which leaves me with 2 days. Do let me know what you think by leaving me a comment.  Thank you :(|)

Lingering Thoughts on Lingerie

I am religious about putting on my best set of lingerie on/for a special day. Albeit nobody knows I have on some fancy pants getup (pun unintended) underneath, I feel the difference. Nothing like the brush of crisp, new lace against my sawo matang skin or the gentle touch of 98% cotton and 2% spandex of my more seasoned but still awesome panties. If you see me smiling confidently and strutting over like I own sexy back, you know my secret. Rest assured that I come in bursting, vibrant hues and cutesy designs, under the radar. Victoria’s Secret is nothing but apt. It is a woman’s best kept secret, after all, these things that lie close to your skin.

Little Miss Incognito

Suffice to say I have found myself a new hideaway where I can go OTT and TMI (that's Over The Top and Too Much Information for the uninitiated) if need be. I needed a channel to go carte blanche on matters I am not ready to share with the whole world. Although, of course, I don't mean to suggest that the whole world reads this pathetic little blog of a little person. Oh pooh, you know what I mean. Fret not, I have too much of a sentimental hold to forever abandon this site. I'll keep coming back, just as we always come back to pictures of the past, especially those of gayest moments.

Why I I

I am So Happy, It's Sad

I fall in love and it tortures me
the inner peace makes me restless
I fall in love and it consumes me
the inner joy besets me in melancholy
I fall in love and it torments me
the inner contentment feels insufficient
I fall in love and it proves deep
the inner security is shallow
I fall in love and it brightens me
the inner glow casts me in darkness
I fall in love and it comforts me
the inner luxury gives me blisters

by Zwelibanzi Moya, a mentor and dear friend I gained in Johannesburg, ZA

The start of something beautiful scares me aplenty. The mind plays foolish tricks and questions the unquestionable, speaks the unspeakable, judges the unnavigable. But I tell myself it's going to be okay as I shush myself to sleep, for he is ready to be a friend. Not like the last one. And again, he, my friend who will always be a friend no matter what, is right, He is always there for me. I am never alone.

Still, I just want to be okay today.

Sound Bites In Cape Town

In spite of the beautiful sight of clouds embracing the flat top of Table Mountain (called tablecloth) that completes my morning walk to class, I face an inevitable horror. It is the horror of sitting poker-faced for 3 hours as my professor par excellence, world-renowned anthropologist and endearing mentor, John Comaroff delivers his grand lectures with all this anthropological jargon and sophisticated words.

Sometimes much too grand and sophisticated for my incapacitated brain (due to the euphoria of being in glorious, glorious South Africa).

For a taste of what I struggle to comprehend everyday...

In the exegetical discourse of African modernity, we problematize the grammar of post-capitalist Africanity through the normativity of limitations and the internal dynamism of a deconstructionist debate in a totality paradigm with a Hegelian perspective to modernity and positivist knowledge.

(Alina Epstein, on her imitation of John Comaroff, circa January 2010)

The fact is, of course, the verbose sentence means nothing. Completely nothing. (Hehe, not to mention we discovered that some words in our readings were conveniently made up)

But the truism is this: the higher the ratio of syllables to a person's sentence, the smarter he sounds. Damnation!

So let us create words like damnation and pray tell we sound much smarter than we really are, because in life, sounding smart gets you around:(|)

On a much lighter note, you can sound stupid and make many persons happy.

"Beautiful.. Show me your panties"

(Overheard in Cape Town, circa January - February 2010)

Clearly the best pick up line. Ever.

2009 As It Were

I am 24 days late for a closure. 2009 is taking much too long to rid itself from my system; evident from the way I script XX January 2009 on every single leaf of my class notes thus far. Perhaps it’s a Freudian slip and my psyche is not ready for my penultimate year of college. Though I wonder if a large part of it was not for the non-closure and confusing twists and turns my emotions have gone through last year.

So here’s my attempt at putting 2009 to rest.

I ended one long-term relationship after long, difficult deliberation. I patched things up with a friend I once thought I lost, after he surprised me in Chicago on my birthday. I struggled through Economics to get to the part I think love most, only to find myself doing worst at it. I gave a portion of my heart away only to find it returned to me dent and fragile as ever. I experienced, for a period, how cultural, racial and religious differences mean nothing if you care for one another.

I saw my friends grow and am happy that our friendships have blossomed to a new level of understanding. I saw myself grow in ways I am still trying to decipher whether it is good or bad. Nonetheless, I have grown and the more things I learn, the more I learn how little I know. I learned to let go of bitterness of the past and instead focus on the fact that Allah trades one thing for another.

2009, as it were, was a year of reconciliation, understanding with reason and choosing sides for me. If you were a part of my 2009, be it through rain or sunshine, I bid you many thanks. It’s your choice to be a part of my 2010 but know that I have a place for each and everyone of you in my heart. Because a person this small should only have a heart so big to fill it in with a mélange of emotions that keeps her feeling big and stronger.

I turn 21 this new year of 2010. Let's see how I take this one.