The Saltwater Room

The Blood Is The Life

2012-01-24T22:38:00.000+07:00

"No man knows till he experiences it, what it is like to feel his own life-blood drawn away into the woman he loves."

"Dracula" by Bram Stoker

Vampire love story always fascinates me, ever since I was introduced to the 'supernatural' world. I can't remember who gave me the pocket version of Bram Stoker's Dracula when I was still in elementary school. I asked my father to translate it for me. There are images (like, when Jonathan shaves and Count Dracula was behind him but he couldn't see his reflection on the mirror, when Count Dracula bit Lucy, when Count Dracula kidnapped Mina, and so on), and seems like my father only told me a few part of the story through those images. Growing up and having my English improved, I read it all by myself and... I fell in love with the story.

It is bloody, of course, and sadistic. Since I only read the pocket version, there was no details about how Dracula killed his victims. I remember I was in this bookstore and had the original novel in my hand, but the cover was too sexy and I was too afraid to ask my parents to buy it. And yes, because I was too young at the moment. And apparently the Sailor Moon comic books were more tempting so I decided to buy a few volumes.

The movie adaptation with the same title, directed by Francis Ford Coppola back in 1992, pretty much translate everything I imagined when I read it. Well, Keanu Reeves was looking a bit frivolous but Gary Oldman was so damn good. And the cinematography was great, there was a scene where Sadie Frost, who played Lucy, was sleepwalking in her red dress, walking out of her room to the garden maze in winds and rain. It was creepy, but beautiful. And that's just the perfect description for the entire movie.

For me, it is such an endearment to see a monster, like those vampires, willing to risk everything for the one they love. Even from the Bram Stoker version, Count Dracula decided to take the dark path for the unbearable tragic event of which her loved one, Elisabeta, jumped off of a cliff after hearing a false news. The informant told her that Dracula was slaughtered during the bloody Holy War. The scene from the movie showed how brutal the war was. Dracula actually wasn't dead - in fact he seemed to gain victory, but when he came back to the castle, he only found the body of his wife. Depressed and disappointed, a saint man that he was, he started to curse God for not protecting his wife. That's when he started to choose the wrong way. Drinking the blood of the living to show his protest to God. And for some reason he can infect it to other people too. You know, it's like when Satan was banished from heaven for being too arrogant and he started to 'infect' the others to follow his way. At least that's what I see.

"You are but mortal woman. Time is now to be dreaded - since once he put that mark upon your throat."

"Dracula" by Bram Stoker

But then, back again, we can't forget the fact that it was all because of love. That's why Dracula showed a different side of his when he met Mina, the fiancee of his hostage, Jonathan. He first saw a photo of Mina from Jonathan's locket, and immediately recognise the resemblance of her with his late wife Elisabeta. Well I don't know how a man's feel for losing a loved one in that hurtful way and how much he misses her after all of the centuries he's been living in. But I do know how it feels when I really miss someone I haven't seen for a very long time and the feeling of joy when I see something reminds me of him/her. Maybe that's how Dracula felt. But with the monster living inside him for a fairly long time, he would never let anyone get in his way of getting Mina, his alleged 'reincarnation of lost love'. And that was by killing.

He finally got to see Mina. Feeling nostalgic, and they had an interaction, which somehow assured him more that she's 'the one'. His meeting with Mina brought back his old nature, a sweet loving man. Isn't it amazing that one girl could change a man's nature so easily? And of course the chemistry between Oldman and Winona Ryder on the movie was so passionate and it was pretty hyperventilating, you know. Back to the story, even though there was no way to change Dracula back to human, Mina did the right thing for cutting his head off, to end the never ending killing and his misery of love itself.

What I'm trying to point out is that a man as cruel and vicious as Dracula, was just this man falling so deeply in love - and that he actually will do anything for his loved one. This is the contradiction that fascinates me, that makes me forget everything disgusting I read and watch. I can put aside those things and easily grab the essence. Bleeding to love someone. And somehow it happens. And metaphorically, it's true.

And this is why I'm always excited for any vampire love stories. I love the first "Twilight" book - no kidding. It was beautifully written. A predator can't read the mind of his prey, somehow makes him comfortable yet challenged - because he can only keep on guessing. He knows how vulnerable and fragile she is, but somehow that leads him to be so protective of her, instead of making her an easy prey. He doesn't want her to get hurt, and that's when he finally find a reason to live for, let's say, one more century. It's such a shame the movie failed to depict everything. Yes, everything - every single thing of it. And then there's "Let The Right One In" - an accidental love story when the strong meets the weak, and that they actually learn something meaningful from each other. At the end, she might intended to keep him forever as an accomplice to get her dinner everytime she's hungry, or she might not. But looking at the dark and cruel world he lives in, I don't think he minds at all. He might still live in the dark and cruel world he used to, but as long as she's around, that's all matters for him.

Yes, I'm still looking for more beautiful vampire love stories. If you have any, simply write it out on the comments section!

xoxo

Genius Words of Love

2012-01-23T13:06:00.000+07:00

I might be not a romantic person, but listening to love songs never fail to make me feel lively. But yes, my favourites are rather specific. But most of all, I like songs that I genuinely can relate to. I've been feeling really artsy lately. And I found lots of cool music in the past weeks. Some are not new, but still I feel like finding a treasure. These are the additions to my all-time favorites; Oasis "Wonderwall", Dashboard Confessional "Stolen", Owl City "The Saltwater Room", and Coldplay "Yellow". Here they are:

Sara Bareilles "One Sweet Love"

No ordinary wings I'll need
The sky itself will carry me back to you
The things I dream that I can do
I'll open up the moon for you
Just come down soon

Mae "My Favorite Dream"

I can still remember that cold evening when we first met
You had your mark on me you know you did
And every note and word you sang to me
Have never made their way out of my head
When you're away they keep me hanging on
But in our world you're only there, here until you're gone

The Naked And Famous "Young Blood"

We lie beneath the stars at night
Our hands gripping each other tight
You keep my secrets hope to die
Promises, swear them to the sky

John Mayer "Heartbreak Warfare"

Clouds of sulfur in the air, bombs are falling everywhere
It's heartbreak warfare
Once you want it to begin, no one really every wins
In heartbreak warfare

If you want more love, why don't you say so?
If you want more love, why don't you say so?

Cartel "If You Do, If You Don't"

I'm a mess, a total wreck
A poor excuse without you near to keep me in check
So take me out, and take me anywhere
I'm out of touch with everything and I don't care
So I must be out of my mind
And all that I have to give to you is all my time

Imogen Heap "First Train Home"

Bodies disengaged, our mouths are fleshing over
Is this an echo game? Irises retreating to ovals of white
The urge to feel your face, and blood rushing to paint my handprint
A Frisbee one by one; your vinyl on lamanent, desperate some kind of contact

David Guetta feat. Usher "Without You"

I won't soar, I won't climb
If you're not here, I'm paralyzed
Without you, without you
I can't look, I'm so blind
I lost my heart, I lost my mind
Without you, without you

* * *
If you have any great love songs recommendations, feel free to share with me!
xoxo

Current Fave Music and Other Random Things

2011-12-13T20:47:00.001+07:00

Just want to share my current music addiction - at least that I've been listening too excessively since last month. Here we go!

Jessie J - "Domino"

Perfectly fit you when you are having fun with your friends - doing crazy things and such. I really love Jessie J, I think she's a super talented musician!

Rihanna - "We Found Love"

Forget about the super radical music video. The song is damn good! Really love the beat. Happy to sing it at the karaoke this afternoon. ;)

SHINee - "Replay"

First time I heard this song was on MTV. It was really random and I was about to change the channel, but then... I was bewitched by the beauty of their voice and the really good choreography! When I found out that this was actually SHINee's very first single, I was sooo surprised because it must be a HUGE breakout. Glad to finally know (and able to sing) this song!

Christina Perri - "A Thousand Years"

The movie might be totally sucky, but the soundtrack? TOTALLY WIN. Christina Perri sings this beautiful song with her beautiful voice and I got chills.

... other random things

I've been reading some articles about 'enterpreneurship'. It is such a shame that I have no 'enterpreneurship' talent in me. I really admire those people, particularly the youngsters, who already run their own business from scratch in a very young age. The amazing thing about enterpreneurship is that you totally depend on yourself - you don't have to wait monthly wages like common officers do, and of course, the highest price is that you absolutely can express and explore your creativity. Another good thing is, when you are running a business, it also provides a working field for those who need job. I think when you already have a day job, and you are going to start your business out of the day job - it will be perfect since you can collect your capital from your monthly wage first. I do have plan to start mine - a really simple one (by online transaction) for additional allowance. Wish me luck!

Also, I do have plan to continue my movie blog - which has been in hiatus since... months!! I think I'm going back to the Blogger format, since I have trouble verifying my PayPal account and I'm afraid that I can no longer pay the domain fee. UGH. But I started out in Blogger and I guess this is my lucky place. And since it is my movie diary, I'm going to make it really personal instead of normative. :)

Alright then. Good night and have a blessed day tomorrow!! xxoo

Wow, Blogger (and other Google services) new look!

2011-12-03T13:01:00.001+07:00

It's such a shame that I've been neglecting my blogging activity for a while. Writing is probably one of the most useful hobby--because it does increase productivity (much much better than fangirling of course). But you know, the main problem is that I actually just have to organize my time--allocating the most of it for productivity. Ugh, I better be start doing this right now!

And that's why I'm a bit surprised about the new looks of Blogger, YouTube, and GMail (although the last one was the first thing I found out--I check my email every day). Pretty much an improvement but Blogger looks so much like Posterous--in my opinion. But I like it though, clean, white, and simple.

Anyways, hope you all have a great weekend. I'm going to watch the latest "American Horror Story" episode after this (Oh yes, I am obsessed with this show! Just like "The Walking Dead"!).

xoxo

The amazing quote of "Spider-Man 2" film

2011-11-13T15:49:00.000+07:00

"Sometimes to do the right thing we have to give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams."

-Aunt May

I seem to be attached to this quote so much, that I always think about it whenever I'm about to decide to do something related to pursuing my dreams and looking into the reality. Everyone has his/her own dream. And just like the name, "dream" -- it is must be something resistant to the "reality". That's why the biggest challenge is how to make the dream comes true. Manifesting what's on our mind into something real (both tangible or intangible) is the ultimate accomplishment.

And my dream is just simple. To make my parents proud and happy, to bring the welfare to them. And then bring the welfare to myself (and to my own family when I have one). One of the ways that I choose is to work and live overseas. My parents have been very supportive of me to get a Master's scholarship. But still, applying for universities abroad and to live there, surely need a lot of money. With his perpetual spirit, my dad assures me that he will support me in everything. But as I'm looking at myself, I think, "Hey! I'm 22 now. I think this is the time for me to support my parents in everything."

But then looking at the reality, I'm still a part-timer in my university with a (pretty much) low wage. I can only treat my family for a dinner, karaoke, occassional shopping, and such. I haven't really helped my family in a bigger sense. There's a voice inside my head saying, "The master's scholarship -- let them help you for the last time until you are graduated. And then it's your turn to give them back.". There's no way that I could repay everything my parents have done to me, but here's my ultimate wish: to have a pilgrim journey with them in Hajj.

Which means I have to save money (read: to resist myself in buying unimportant things and spending money for unimportant things as well) and work really hard for a long time to achieve it. One big problem is; I have this 'inconsistency disease', as the result of lack of disciplines. I spoil myself too much with the things I like to do. This has been my new year resolution for... every year, but seems like small things actually never change.

Well, I have to change it. For the sake of myself in the future.

I really hope that I don't have to give up my dreams to do the right thing, simply just the thing I want the most instead (which is not necessarily my dream). Hopefully my dream itself is the right thing for myself and my family. I believe that as long as we always give alms (zakat), I believe our sustenance will always be good as well. :)

Happy weekend, everyone!

Random Friday (Part II)

2011-08-26T22:14:00.000+07:00

Yeah, it's a random post. But most of all, I am so grateful that I've been very productive in the past week days. Thank you God for all the strength You gave to me. And even though I won't fully enjoy my holiday (because of important deadlines soon after it ends... OMG creepy!!), I am thankful that I will at least have a week to breathe normally.

You don't know how much I miss writing for my movie blog. Soon as my sleep time goes normal and all of my works are done, I'll definitely start to write again. I'm having a 'persistence' problem and now I'm putting all my efforts to overcome it. Of course I can do it. I'm starting it like, now.

Another thing to thank for, that I've been meeting (and seeing) lots of awesome people lately. At first I thought they were just born awesome, but it's so great to know that they actually had to work hard to be it. And by awesome, I mean someone who works and achieve something great from the things that they love. Not because of they got a lot of money. ;)

Anyways, hope all of you have a great great weekend. And great holiday too!! xoxoxo

Chic and Click

2011-08-24T19:15:00.001+07:00

Even though I spend most of my time editing pictures or downloading something while I'm in front of my monitor, I'm frequently visiting a bunch of girly websites during spare time. By girly websites I mean: anything related to fashion, cooking, beauty, and such. Oh yes of course I'm into those! And here's a few of my favorites:

Hello Giggles

Twitter: @hellogiggles

Co-created by one of my favorite actresses and fashionista Zooey Deschanel, this website provides fun and witty articles written by girls for girls all around the world. Those contributors are actually the loyal readers of Hello Giggles itself, so I think you can participate to write one if you want to. The main articles are divided into a few categories, from DIY (dig your creativity with their one-of-a-kind ideas), social science (related to our daily lives), boy stuff, entertainment news in general, and other fun stuff. This site is just lovable, as lovable as Zooey!

The Beauty Department

Twitter: @TBDofficial

This site is also co-created by my favorite star Lauren Conrad. I've been admiring her since "Laguna Beach", moreover when "The Hills" started, I think she's so awesome for being able to spare her time for work, school, friends, and boyfriend. She might be born rich, but her determination and hard work in getting what she wants do deserve some credits. In this website, she collaborates with her make up artist and hair stylist to provide useful tips and information in fashion and beauty. You can see a lot of interesting DIY videos, from making a cute side-braid, making the perfect eyebrows, simple smoky eyes, and such.

Milk & Mode

Twitter: @carolhan

I gotta say I found this website accidentally (and I don't even remember how it was). And I instantly fell in love with it! Made and maintained by this very cool New Yorker, Carol Han. I read a few articles about her, apparently she worked at ELLE Magazine in the fashion department. No wonder she has a great great style! Her fashion posts are absolutely cool, as she always put on the very latest trend and deliver it in her own style. What's more interesting is that she loves to cook and share her favorite recipes. I haven't tried any one of those though, but I'll absolutely will do soon!

This is GOOP

Twitter: @GwynethPaltrow

This is a personal website of the one and only Gwyneth Paltrow, where she shares her thoughts about certain issues, her cooking recipes, traveling story, and some fashion tips. Not only a good actress and singer, by looking to those candids (thanks to paparazzi) and reading her interviews, I gotta say she's one of my most favorite person. She's a really cool mom, wife, and woman! And the fact that she's married to a British musician makes her even more appealing to me *lol*. She just got a great taste in everything. Congratulations, Gwyneth.

Your Wish is My Command

2011-08-22T18:38:00.002+07:00

"Give me your three wishes, my dear!" "Hmm... I want one million more wishes for you to work on!"

Mungkin kebanyakan dari kalian sangat familiar dengan quote tersebut. "Your wish is my command". Apalagi kalau bukan mantra dari law of attraction yang dipopulerkan lewat buku "The Secret" karya Rhonda Byrne. Jujur aja sih, aku juga belum baca bukunya, tapi malah udah dipertontonkan filmnya sama bapak. Dalam film itu, beberapa ahli membahas dan membuktikan 'mantra-mantra' yang dituliskan oleh Byrne dalam buku. Aku yang pada dasarnya gampang termotivasi, langsung semangat banget setelah nonton film itu.

Kalau harus bikin list, sudah banyak sekali impian dan harapnku yang come true, entah itu hal kecil atau besar. Ajaibnya, alhamdulillah hal-hal tersebut memang datang sesuai harapan. Satu-satunya hal yang beda adalah: jangka waktu. Ada yang datangnya cepat, ada juga yang harus menunggu beberapa tahun. Cocok banget sama prinsip kalau kita minta doa: tidak mungkin Allah tidak mengabulkan doa kita. Pilihan jawaban cuma ada dua: "Ya" atau "Tunggu dulu". And I'm sure there's always a great reason behind those two answers.

Hari ini tadi, karena aku lagi nggak puasa, I went to lunch with my friend Monica. Di situ kita ngobrolin banyak hal, but basically it was all about Monica's experiences. Seriously, when it comes to this girl, I would totally be the best listener because she always share her very great and inspirational story. Bisa dibilang Monica adalah salah satu orang yang berhasil membuat mimpi-mimpinya jadi kenyataan. And by dreams, I meant big dreams, bukan sekadar kepengen ini-itu.

Akhir bulan ini, tepatnya hari Minggu besok, Monica akan berangkat ke New York untuk mengikuti program Dekeyser & Friends. As a friend, I'm truly proud of her. Karena, di waktu yang sempit (waktu itu tepat bulan April ketika dia diumumkan terpilih), Monica harus mengurusi banyak banget hal: dari menulis skripsi; mengurusi DREaM, di mana dia jadi kepala keuangan dan bisa dibayangkan betapa ribetnya ngurusin duit; dan hal-hal pribadi lainnya. Dia bilang, dia memang suka 'menyiksa' diri sendiri dengan berbagai macam target pribadinya. But in my opinion, it's all worth it because she actually succeed to manage everything.

Lalu tiba-tiba dia mengeluarkan sebuah buku kecil dari tasnya waktu makan, sambil bilang, "Ini diary aku di tahun 2009. Dan tau nggak, semua daftar keinginanku di sini tercapai semua sejak 2010!". Bener saja, dia mulai membacakan wishlist yang pernah dia tulis, dengan amat sangat detail dan kocak, dan itu semua terbukti sudah dia capai. Mulai dari 'I want to go to Europe', lalu dia sempat exchange ke Jerman dan Swedia, lalu 'I want to go to Times Square New York', dan sekarang dia bersiap-siap untuk pergi ke kota yang tidak pernah tidur itu. Gak lupa tentang keinginan dia 'to date a European brunet', yang tercapai karena dia sekarang pacaran sama anak exchange dari Swedia.

Seperti yang bisa kalian tebak, aku melongo terkagum-kagum waktu Monica nunjukin itu semua. Dia bilang tahun 2007 dan 2008 adalah tahun terberat bagi dia, makanya dia bersikeras untuk menjadikan 2009 penuh arti. Dan dia juga bilang kalau kunci dari semua ini adalah: kerja keras. Yeah, as simple as that. Kerja keras. Seperti yang pernah dia bilang ke aku, "Jangan takut untuk 'berdarah'. Toh kalau luka kena pisau, nanti juga lukanya sembuh sendiri,".

Ngobrol sama Monica emang nggak ada matinye. There's a lot of things to learn from her. Karena kalau dibandingkan sama dia, prestasiku masih belum apa-apa. Well, prestasi orang memang beda-beda sih, of course I accomplished something huge as well. Sekarang saatnya untuk membuktikan bahwa aku juga bisa mengejar mimpi-mimpi besarku. By not being afraid of bleeding, falling, crushing, breaking... Selama itu didukung doa, aku rasa memang tidak ada yang tidak mungkin.

Dan semakin kita tahu apa yang kita mau, aku juga yakin apa yang dibilang sama Byrnes di buku "The Secret" itu bener. Your wish is my command, begitu kata semesta alam. Let's wish for our dreams to come true and work hard to reach them!

xoxo

I wrote this accompanied by Cho Kyuhyun's wonderful voice. I'm loving this very easy listening song "Sunflower", super cute. Ahh, what a heaven!

Ngabuburit: Gigs Edition

2011-08-16T17:42:00.001+07:00

Kemarin malem aku dapat broadcast message dari temen kuliahku, Jojo. Rupanya dia mem-forward-kan jadwal konser musisi asing yang akan tampil di Indonesia, dari bulan Agustus 2011 sampai Juni 2012. Seperti yang sudah bisa ditebak, aku cuma bisa ngiler dan membayangkan bisa hadir di konser-konser itu. My wishlist would be highlighted in green.

Agustus 2011
19 : Paramore @ Pantai Carnival Ancol

September 2011
17 : The Casualties @ Bulungan Outdoor
17 : Alesana @ Tennis Indoor Senayan
18 : Suicide Silence @ Tennis Indoor Senayan
20 : Big Wave, Bad Religion, Yellowcard, Panic! At the Disco
21 : Linkin Park @ Gelora Bung Karno Senayan
23 - 25 : Java Soulnation @ Istora Senayan

Oktober 2011
1 : Motley Crue @ Kemayoran
2 : Camera Obscura @ Mario's Place Cikini
5 : Lenka @ Gandaria City
5 : Westlife @ Tennis Indoor Senayan
6 : Sum 41 @ Pantai Carnival Ancol
6 : All Time Low @ Tennis Indoor Senayan
6 : Story Of The Year @ Plaza Selatan Senayan
7 : Everytime I Die, The Acacia Strain @ Bulungan Outdoor
8 : 50 Cent @ Epicentrum Walk
11 : Level 42 @ Gran Melia Hotel
15 : Miss Teen Indonesia feat. Katy Perry
25 : Richard Marx @ Gandaria City
28 : Owl City @ Tennis Indoor Senayan
28 : David Foster with Charice, Michael Bolton, Philip Bailey @ JCC Plenary Hall

November 2011
3 : Whitesnake
12 : Guiness Arthur's Day with Mr. Big and The Script
15 : Children of Bodom @ Basket Hall A Senayan
28 : Pitbull @ Kartika Expo Balai Kartini

December 2011
10 : Anthrax @ Pantai Carnival Ancol
31 : Rod Stewart @ Mata Elang International Stadium

January 2012
11 : Coldplay @ GBK
28 : Van Halen @ Pantai Carnival Ancol

February 2012
29 : U2 @ Garuda Wisnu Kencana Bali

March 2012
3 : Rihanna and Eminem @ SICC Sentul
30 : Eric Clapton @ Ritz Carlton

May 2012
11 : Radiohead @ Istora Senayan

June 2012
5 : ACDC @ Pekan Raya Jakarta
12 : Lady Gaga @ Gelora Bung Karno

July 2012
23 : Oasis @ Pekan Raya Jakarta

Ada gak ya rejeki nomplok tiba-tiba dapet tiketnya gitu? ;)

xoxo

Ngabuburit: Music Video Edition

2011-08-15T17:09:00.001+07:00

Entah kenapa hari ini rasanya aku lemes banget, padahal biasanya gak sampai se-lemas ini. Apa karena sahur dibarengi nonton acara asik dan El Clasico jadi sahurnya gak konsen? (Teori macam apa ini -__-") Karena itu selepas pulang kantor aku langsung pulang, leyeh-leyeh di atas kasur ibu (karena kamarku lagi di-cat ulang oleh Pak Tukang yang baik hati itu :3) sambil nulis ini.

Sebenarnya bingung mau nulis apa, tapi karena nulisnya diiringi oleh lagu Super Junior kok tiba-tiba kepengen nulis tentang video klip musik yang aku suka, particularly the new ones. Sebenarnya gak cuma video klip-nya, tapi juga lagunya.

Simple Plan featuring Natasha Bedingfield "Jet Lag"

Bukan, bukan karena aku lagi LDR atau gimana. Lagu ini asik, catchy, dan pada dasarnya emang aku kangen banget sama Simple Plan. Sama seperti nama band-nya, lirik dan musik mereka pun simpel, didenger kuping berkali-kali tetep enak. Ditambah suara Natasha Bedingfield yang oye banget itu.

Greyson Chance "Unfriend You"

Walaupun judulnya cocok untuk jadi soundtrack film Facebook, tapi ternyata lagunya asik banget. Memang sih, dengan Greyson yang masih berumur 14 tahun itu lagu ini ABG abis (tema ditinggal pacar dan cari pacar lagi gitu deh), tapi suara Greyson emang TOP BANGET. Dulu pertama kali lihat dia di Ellen DeGeneres Show, diundang Ellen karena kepopuleran video dia di YouTube. Dia meng-cover lagu Lady Gaga "Paparazzi" dengan piano, to his own version, dan itu keren banget! Sekarang dia ada di label rekaman yang dinaungi Ellen sendiri.

Coldplay "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall"

What can I say? I'm a Coldplay fan. Kayaknya lagu apa aja yang mereka rilis, aku bakalan suka. Termasuk yang satu ini. Meskipun belum sempet baca liriknya (in short, I have no idea of what the song is about), tapi lagu ini udah nempel banget di telinga.

Zooey Deschanel "So Long"

Aku suka banget banget banget sama lagu ini! Lucu, unik, easy listening, dan berdampak positif ke telinga dan jiwa (cieleh). Suara Zooey yang berat tapi sweet itu emang cocok kalau menyanyikan lagu seperti ini. Ditambah lagi ini adalah soundtrack kartun "Winnie The Pooh" terbaru, jadi semakin cute! Untuk yang belum nonton film "Winnie The Pooh" yang baru ini, buruan tonton deh. Positif banget pesannya, aku suka!

Taking Back Sunday "Faith"

Aku denger cuplikan lagu ini di salah satu adegan film "Transformers: Dark Of The Moon". Lupa adegan yang mana, tapi yang jelas langsung attracted ke lagu ini, instantly! Dan sekarang kalau denger lagu ini jadi keinget Shia LaBeouf dan Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. :)

The Maine "Into Your Arms"

Lagu ini mungkin bukan rilisan 2011 seperti lagu lainnya, tapi aku baru 'nemu' dua hari yang lalu dan langsung suka! Itupun gara-gara liat fan video di YouTube (kebetulan fanvid serial Korea, di mana di situ ada aktor gantengnya [baca: Choi Siwon], jadi aku bela-belain nonton, haha). Kebetulan fanvid-nya pakai lagu ini sebagai background song, langsung nempel di kepala deh!

Super Junior "Mr. Simple"

Do I need to write an introduction for this? Well, walaupun pada awalnya aku anggep lagu ini aneh, tapi lama-kelamaan it grows on me. Hasilnya, sekarang jadi cukup ketagihan sama lagu ini. Apalagi Cho Kyuhyun terlihat amat sangat menawan di video klip-nya. Koreografinya, walau menurutku gak sekeren "Bonamana", masih tetep catchy dan unik. Sepertinya seru untuk olahraga pagi. :))

Well, cukup sekian ulasan ngabuburit hari ini. Jam sudah menunjukkan pukul 5 sore, waktunya bantu-bantu ibu untuk menyiapkan menu berbuka. :) Later! xoxo

The "Dragon Li"

2011-08-14T14:11:00.001+07:00

Beberapa waktu yang lalu aku nemu foto kucing ini di tumblr. LUCU BANGET GAK SIH?! Saking gemesnya, pengen deh punya alat yang bisa bikin gambar jadi beneran hidup (tapi kok mengerikan ya?). Tadi iseng-iseng cari info tentang jenis-jenis kucing, dan nemu deh nama jenis spesies imut ini.

Menurut deskripsi WikiPedia, kucing gembul imut berkaki pendek ini masuk jenis "Munchkin". Itu memang gambaran umum kucing jenis Munchkin, tapi melihat si imut ini sepertinya dia punya keturunan jenis lain yang aku juga kurang yakin namanya. Jadi, yang aku tangkap nih, Munchkin bisa meliputi semua kucing yang kakinya pendek.

Karena penasaran sama jenis-jenis lainnya, muncul lah nama "Dragon Li". Pertama denger, aku kira kucing ini satu marga sama aktor laga Jet Li, ternyata bisa dibilang begitu. Bukan karena marganya, tapi karena kucing ini bertipe oriental, alias dari Cina. Fakta menarik lainnya adalah, ternyata kucingku tercinta Nando dan Paris, termasuk jenis ini (setelah selama ini menyangka kalau dia adalah 'kucing Sleman' belaka).

The Dragon Li, also called Chinese Li Hua, China Li Hua, Li Hua, Li Hua Mau, Li Hua Mao (in pinyin) and 狸花猫 (in Chinese character), or simply Li Mao 狸猫 is a Chinese Cat breed originating from nascent Chinese folklore and dynastic culture.

The Dragon Li displays a unique golden brown, broken mackerel (also known as broken striped) tabby pattern, distinctive ear tipping, large round almond shaped luminescent yellow/green eyes, and a strong full bodied stature reminiscent of its wild nature. The Dragon Li is valued for its unmistakable intelligence, an uncanny cognizance in relation to its surroundings, and its ability to interact perspicuously with humans.

WikiPedia

Dan beginilah tampang Nando dan Paris:

Paris. Ditemukan di sawah depan rumah pada tahun 2008, waktu itu dalam keadaan 'hampir mati'. Sepertinya dibuang oleh pemiliknya bersama dengan ketiga saudaranya sesaat setelah mereka lahir. Walau dia 'sekarat' waktu ditemukan, buktinya justru dia yang awet sehat wal afiat bertahan sampai sekarang. Kenapa sayang banget sama dia? DIA GAK BISA MEONG-MEONG, lho. Dan, mungkin karena dia dianggap cakep di dunia per-kucing-an, dia cukup dikenal playboy di kalangan kucing-kucing Umbul Permai (daerah rumahku). Yah, begitulah adanya.

Nando. Diduga anak dari hubungan gelap Paris dan kucing betina Bojan (aku gagal mengidentifikasi jenis kelaminnya. Dikira cowok, dikasih nama pemain bola imut Spanyol, eh, ternyata cewek -__-"). Nando adalah anak kedua dari tiga bersaudara yang lahir pada tanggal 2 September 2010 (tanggal lahir keren, karena bisa disingkat 9.02.10 --> 90210. Got it? ;D), ditinggalkan saudara-saudaranya dan masih bertahan hingga sekarang. Kenapa sayang sama dia? Dia kucing yang paling gendut, setia, lucu, dan, sama seperti bapaknya, dia nggak bisa meong-meong. :D

Kalau dari dulu tau mereka sebenarnya jenis oriental, mungkin namanya nggak akan se-Eropa ini. I'm thinking... Shi Yuan dan Gui Xian. For certain people who have the same fandom that I'm drowning into it right now, I know you guys might understand this, lol.

Sekian info tidak penting dari aku. Selamat menikmati hari Minggu yang cerah ini! xoxo

Jumat Bersih

2011-08-12T12:21:00.000+07:00

Thank God it's Friday! Rasanya seneng banget kalau udah hari Jumat. Gak cuma karena weekend is coming, tapi ada hal-hal lain yang memang sudah gue tunggu-tunggu sejak hari Senin mulai. Dulu, waktu masih sekolah, weekend memang gue tunggu karena; a) bapak gue pulang ke Jogja, b) dinner sama keluarga komplit, c) belanja akhir pekan sama keluarga, dan d) waktunya main sama teman-teman juga. Tapi sekarang, hari Jumat benar-benar ditunggu karena alasan yang 'sedikit' berbeda.

Mengingat sekarang gue berada di kantor hari Senin sampai Jumat full time (walaupun sebenarnya status gue masih magang dan hanya diwajibkan 4 jam sehari, gue rasa kantor adalah satu-satunya tempat bersosialisasi pengganti kampus. I don't go out too often, kalaupun main pasti sama teman-teman dekat saja), akhir pekan amat sangat berarti untuk... beristirahat. Betul sekali saudara-saudara, beristirahat.

Bukannya gue menyalahkan kerja, I pretty much enjoy it as much as going to college and high school, tapi ada perubahan drastis yang gue rasakan semenjak ngantor. Jam tidur gue jadi kacau balau. Biasanya gue lumayan tertib, jam 9 atau 10 malam sudah mematikan lampu. Bangun pagi jam 4, dan langsung beraktivitas sampai sore. Walaupun tidur awal, tapi gue benar-benar merasa I lived my day to the fullest, jadi 24 jam benar-benar terasa. Melihat kondisi sekarang, hidup gue dalam sehari cuma berasa 18 jam-an. Seolah-olah cepeeet banget. Masuk kerja jam 9 pagi, pulang jam 3-4 sore, sampai rumah langsung mandi, makan, dan bukannya santai tapi kadang masih mengerjakan kerjaan yang belum kelar. Biasanya sebelum menggarap kerjaan, gue sempatkan waktu untuk mengobrol dengan ibu atau adik, yang cuma bisa gue temui pagi-pagi dan malam hari itu. Dan walau pekerjaan sudah selesai jam 11 atau 12 malam, mata justru gak mau ngantuk, alhasil gue sering melek sampai jam 1 dini hari. Biasanya, kalau gue melek sampai jam segitu, itu karena menunggu pertandingan sepak bola. Well I guess it's not anymore.

Masalah lain adalah, gue yang nggak bisa bangun siang. Walau baru tidur dini hari, badan gue udah default untuk bangun waktu subuh. Dan itupun udah gak bisa tidur lagi, karena ada acara tv menarik yang biasa diputar pagi-pagi atau sekadar keluar rumah cari udara segar. Karena seharian di kantor, impossible bagi gue untuk tidur siang. Gue jadi merasa hari gue pendek banget karena banyak aktivitas, namun juga merasa capek karena istirahat yang kurang. Karena itulah, kalau akhir pekan datang, gue manfaatkan sebaik-baiknya untuk... tidur.

Gue nggak sok sibuk, tapi entah kenapa banyak kerjaan numpuk, dan sebagai penghuni setia OCD-Ville, gue merasa tiap pekerjaan harus dikerjakan dengan detail sampai memuaskan. Tapi ini pun masih terganggu dengan ADHD gue yang membuat gue gampang distracted oleh hal-hal lain yang sekiranya kurang signifikan. Thus I tend to procrastinate and work the less important stuff in priority. Perlahan-lahan gue sudah mulai menjalankan apa yang ada di skala prioritas; gue sudah memutuskan untuk berhenti maintain fansite-fansite yang gue jalankan demi my real life. Bahkan gue sudah meminimalisir waktu main, tapi sedih juga karena jadi merasa jauh sama sahabat sendiri.

Satu hal yang harus gue singkirkan adalah, I spend too much time contemplating. Kebanyakan mikir, tapi kadang dalam realitanya, gak ada yang terjalankan sama sekali. Sedih banget nih, soalnya malah berbuntut semakin banyak mikir. I gotta learn to be more practical, karena gue melihat banyak teman-teman gue yang sukses by being more practical. Memang sih gue jadi terlihat well-reserved dan thoughtful, tapi lama-kelamaan kepala ini bisa meledak juga kalau mikir terus-terusan.

Untuk itu, hari ini gue jadikan Jumat Bersih, untuk membuang clusters yang sekiranya gak penting dan memprioritaskan apa yang seharusnya jadi prioritas. Baik yang tangible maupun intangible. Pokoknya gue punya target untuk menyelesaikan semuanya minggu ini, jadi minggu depan gue sudah bisa beribadah tarawih lagi dengan damai (minggu ini banyak banget bolongnya, huhuhu) dan pikiran lebih fresh.

OK then, wish me luck. And hopefully you will have a clean Friday as well!

(In another note: "Fast Five" finally arrives in Jogjakarta today. I think this will be my reward next week if I'm succeed to finish all of my waiting list!)

Wonderful inside out!

2011-08-08T21:31:00.001+07:00

Berikut adalah tulisan amat sangat random yang berasal dari pikiran yang amat sangat random pula. Jadi maaf ya kalau terlalu random. Too much random.

Dimulai dari crimes in fashion...

Gue adalah salah satu orang yang percaya bahwa fashion itu subyektif. Kita bisa aja lihat baju-baju bagus di Fashion TV, yang harganya naudzubile bisa bikin kita jual laptop dulu sebelum beli. Tapi kalau baju itu dipakai sama orang 'yang salah', bisa jadi harganya jadi turun. Maksudnya, kamu bisa aja beli baju dengan harga selangit, tapi kalau tampang tidak sepadan, jangan harap harga yang selangit itu akan 'terlihat' ketika dipakai. BENER GAK? *nggak santai* (Mau nyebut merk kok nggak enak ya. Sudahlah, saya anggap kalian mengerti. Pasti banyak contoh di sekitar kalian, kan? ;D)

Coba lihat foto di bawah ini. Demi Tuhan, gue pernah lihat kemeja dengan motif yang sama di Pasar Beringharjo. Gue suka plaid shirts, tapi bagi gue baju ini biasa-biasa aja. Ada yang dijual (dengan harga amat sangat miring tentunya), ada juga yang dipakai beberapa anak muda seliweran (lebih unfortunate lagi, anak muda tersebut masuk kategori 'alayatun'). TAPI, begitu lihat foto ini di internet... KOK BAJUNYA JADI KELIATAN BAGUS YAH? *tambah nggak santai*

Choi Siwon (Super Junior), Im Yoona (Girls Generation), and Cho Kyuhyun (Super Junior). The far right one is my future husband. Oh of course he isn't!

Oh, tentu saja. Secara yang memakai baju itu adalah (mungkin) tiga orang paling good looking di Korea. Tanpa efek photoshop-pun, kalau mereka yang seliweran di pasar itu, pasti bajunya tetep keliatan bagus. Mungkin kita bakal bilang itu baju keluaran Centro. Sedangkan, kalau gue yang pakai, tentu saja anggapan orang akan berbeda. "Ah paling beli di Beringharjo" -- atau yang paling melas, "Ah paling beli di awul-awul". KASIAN BANGET YA GUE? *beneran nggak santai*

Ada lagi kasus yang miris. Salah seorang teman ibu gue pernah beli sesuatu dengan harga yang amat sangat tinggi. Baju itu pernah terpampang di majalah, dipakai oleh seorang model luar biasa cantik, dan foto itu pun berkata, "Baju ini mahal, loh." Tapi, begitu dipakai sama si teman ibu gue itu, gue hampir gak percaya kalau itu baju yang sama. Ada beberapa faktor seperti; a) baju itu tidak dipakai pada tempatnya, b) rambut dan rias wajah yang kurang sehingga tidak bisa mengimbangi baju tersebut, dan c) orangnya sombong mampus sampai memamerkan nilai nominal baju itu. GINI DEH KALO ADA ORANG SOK MODIS! *asli nggak santai*

Eh, kok nyambung ke inner beauty...

Karena baju adalah lapisan terluar dari penampilan kita sehari-hari (kecuali kalau lo orang gila yang kemana-mana langsung kelihatan kulitnya), gue menganggap yang sebaiknya dibenahi terlebih dahulu adalah lapisan sebelumnya. Fisik kita sendiri. Lo mau pakai baju Marc Jacobs kalau misalnya kulit kusam, rambut ketombean, ada lingkaran hitam di mata, ya tetep aja bakal terlihat 'Mak Jakob'. Merapihkan tatanan rambut, atau bahkan menambahkan sedikit make up di wajah juga sah-sah aja. Biar badan nggak keliatan loyo, olahraga juga perlu. Jalan kaki ke warung terdekat (atau kampus juga boleh) adalah olahaga paling simpel yang bisa kita lakukan. Jogging pagi di Sunday Morning UGM juga asik (sekalian cari 'cuci mata' juga dong!). Ditambah lagi makan makanan yang sehat, minum vitamin, tidur yang cukup (jangan kebanyakan begadang -- ntar punya mata panda!), dan air putih yang banyak (jangan sampai jadi gelonggongan, ya!). Gak cuma untuk kepuasan diri, orang lain juga pasti akan senang melihat kita tampak ganteng dan cantik. ENAK THO?! *nggak santai ala (alm.) Mbah Surip*

Tapi, jangan lupa kalau setelah lapisan kedua yang merupakan fisik kita, masih ada lapisan terdalam, inner side (atau apa ya, istilahnya, nggak tau deh gue, intinya bagian terdalam dari kita deh, hahaha). Ya, bisa dibilang ini mencakup otak dan hati. Lo udah punya semuanya; baju bagus dan fisik oke, tapi begitu diajak ngobrol, eh nggak nyambung. Atau begitu ngomong sesuatu, eh sombongnya minta ampun. Langsung deh, gak cuma nilai penampilan lo yang jatuh, harga diri lo pun juga. Jangan salah, fashionista dan sosialita yang biasa kita lihat di majalah-majalah itu, rata-rata highly educated. Nggak hanya dalam pendidikan formal, yang non-formal pun mereka nilainya A. Ada yang dapat beasiswa di universitas terkenal, akhirnya bisa buka usaha sendiri dan sukses. Dan walau sudah kaya raya, bukan berarti mereka melupakan yang di bawah. Beberapa bahkan mendirikan foundation khusus untuk orang-orang yang kurang beruntung itu. Banyak memberi bukan berarti kita semakin kekurangan, buktinya rejeki malah mengalir lebih lancar. MANTEP THO?! *masih nggak santai ala (alm.) Mbah Surip*

Berikut beberapa contoh konkret dan kesimpulan...

Kayaknya asik kalau kita mulai menyusun prioritas mana yang harus 'didandani' lebih dalam. Semuanya bisa dijalankan secara bersamaan, namun jangan sampai lupa prioritas. Misalnya, mentang-mentang kita udah bisa cari uang sendiri, lalu kita terus-terusan menghabiskan uang hanya untuk membuat kita terlihat 'wah', tapi lupa infaq. Gak funky banget kan? Walaupun kebanyakan orang lain memberikan penilaian berdasarkan penampilan luar, tapi percaya deh, untuk benar-benar disayang orang, mereka lebih melihat apakah kita ini orang baik atau bukan. SIAPA JUGA YANG MAU SAYANG SAMA ORANG JAHAT?!

Kalau kalian melihat lagi foto tiga artis Korea yang gue pajang di atas, nih gue kasih contoh. Mas yang paling kiri, Choi Siwon, merupakan anggota paling ganteng dan paling disukai di boyband Super Junior, berdasarkan kebanyakan survei yang dilakukan media lokal Korea dan personil Super Junior sendiri. Kenapa begitu? Lihat deh, appearance-nya. Muke emang ganteng abis, badan tinggi plus six-packs, senyum manis lengkap dengan lesung pipitnya. Tentu saja wajahnya segar, dia paling suka makan-makanan sehat seperti kimchi. Badan yang oke? Well, dia rajin banget ke gym di pagi hari, bahkan meraih sabuk hitam tae kwon do. Kenapa dia yang jadi pusat perhatian? Dia salah satu anggota yang paling terlihat percaya diri dan nyaman berbicara di depan publik, bahkan dia bisa berbahasa Inggris dan Cina. Kok bisa paling disayang? Dia dikenal paling 'nggak pilih-pilih' sama temannya. He can be friends with anyone. Selain itu, dia selalu ramah dengan fans-nya, karena dia sadar tanpa mereka dia gak akan jadi apa-apa. Yang lebih hebat lagi, banyak yang bilang dia adalah anggota yang paling religius. Konon, dia nggak pernah lupa berdoa dan bersyukur, bahkan selalu menyempatkan diri baca Kitab Suci sebelum tidur. ALAMAK, SUBHANALLAH!*

Gue tidak mengajak kalian untuk ngefans sama Siwon, toh anggota favorit gue sebenarnya si mas yang paling kanan, Kyuhyun (ini kenapa malah fangirling sih?!). Kalian tidak harus mendengarkan dan menonton video klip Super Junior yang koreografinya keren itu. Dan gue juga tidak bilang kalau kalian menjalankan tips-tips cheesy dari gue ini, lalu kalian akan menjelma menjadi Siwon. Gue yakin, kalau pun dia nggak secakep itu, dia bakal tetap disukai banyak orang, kok. Siapa sih yang nggak suka sama orang baik? Sebaliknya, kalau dia cuma bertampang oke tapi sombong, bego, dan nggak ber-akhlak, gue yakin dia bakal dilemparin tomat busuk pas konser. ORA KEPENAK, THO?!

Ingat nggak, kasus salah satu anggota K*ng*n Band yang dipenjara karena menyimpan (atau menanam) narkoba dan ditinggalkan istri karena selingkuh? Kalian pasti tau ya, bagaimana appearance personil tersebut. Dengan appearance seperti itu, ditambah dengan kasus ini, anak itu seperti 'sudah jatuh tertimpa tangga'. Coba kalau dia itu bersedia mengeluarkan uang lebih untuk berdandan, pasti tidak perlu memanjangkan poni untuk menutupi wajah. Coba kalau dia itu bersedia meluangkan waktu untuk belajar, yah minimal public speaking dan memperdalam musikalitas, pasti orang-orang tidak akan menghina dia semata karena background yang kurang beruntung dan selera musik yang kacrut. Kalau dia teguh imannya, pasti tidak akan melirik wanita lain yang berakibat diceraikan istri tercinta, yang mungkin sangat menerima dia apa adanya jauh sebelum popularitas ini. Bahkan gue yakin dia tidak akan bisa dibodoh-bodohi manajemen atau media yang lebih mengekspos ke-kurangberuntung-an dan ke-kacrutan-nya untuk meraih uang melalui popularitas. Siwon pernah bilang di sebuah wawancara, kalau dia berlatih dance dari jam 3 sore sampai jam 8 malam, dilanjut dengan latihan vokal sampai larut, demi performance yang beyond expectation. ORANG MALAS TIDAK DISAYANG TUHAN, SODARA-SODARA!

Mungkin kalian berpikir, "Jauh amat kalau membandingkan Siwon sama si personil K*ng*n Band itu!". Tapi, jangan menyalahkan keadaan. Hal-hal seperti ini, gue yakin, ada di sekitar kita. Bahkan ada salah satu temen luar kampus yang gue pikir layak kalau disamakan dengan effort mas Siwon ini. Dia super cantik, super modis, rajin kuliah, kesayangan dosen, lulus dengan predikat cum laude, setia sama kekasih hati yang didapatkan sejak SMA, open minded, nggak pilih-pilih teman, ramah sama siapa pun, rajin sholat, pernah jadi model di billboard dan majalah, aktif berorganisasi, sekarang dapat pekerjaan yang dia impikan. Ketika kalian berpikir bahwa 'dunia tidak adil', secara tidak langsung kalian memiliki pikiran kalau 'Tuhan pilih kasih'. TOBAT LO SEMUA, ALLAH ITU MAHA ADIL!

Sebelum komplain lebih lanjut, wake up! Jangan dipikir dia bisa mendapatkan semua itu tanpa berusaha. Dalam salah satu perjalanan dari Jakarta ke Jogja di kereta api, dia membuka laptop bukan untuk Facebook dan Twitter, tapi mengerjakan skripsi. Dari siang sampai sore, mungkin dia terlihat hang out dan bersenang-senang dengan temannya, namun ketika mereka semua tidur, dia membuka buku untuk mempelajari materi ujian kuliah. Ketika kebanyakan orang malas-malasan bangun siang di akhir pekan, dia menyempatkan diri creambath, spa, dan perawatan tubuh lainnya. Dia juga rajin ikut program salsa yang tentu saja bikin badan bugar. TIDAK ADA SESUATU YANG INSTAN, TEMAN-TEMAN.

Kalau sekali lagi kalian masih komplain betapa hidup sempurnanya hidup dia dan menyesali betapa payahnya hidup kalian, pikir lagi deh: USAHA KALIAN SUDAH SAMPAI MANA NIH?

* Fakta-fakta Choi Siwon tersebut didapatkan dari berbagai macam artikel yang gue baca. Jangan tanya kenapa sampai gue bela-belain baca artikel dia, yang jelas foto-foto si abang itu benar-benar mengalihkan duniaku. Begitu baca artikelnya, langsung duniaku pun hilang. Ini kenapa ya kok gue malah jadi ngegombal? Pokoknya salut lah sama Mas Siwon ini. Gak cuma eyecandy tapi juga bisa jadi panutan. Meski begitu, gue masih paling suka sama Kyuhyun, kok. Dan sepertinya sampai di sini saja nulisnya, karena malah berujung dengan fangirling. xoxo

Random Friday

2011-08-05T16:59:00.001+07:00

You know what, I'm in the kind of mood to share some random things with you. Point by point.

Just got back from the office. So happy that weekend is coming my way!
I have three more huge projects to finish. And as usual, there's only a little time.
I still have a consistency problem. Maybe it's the natural moody of a Gemini, but seriously, when it comes to work, it's simply a big problem for me. How to keep this spirit sustainable? Why is it so hard to do?
I'm lovin' a certain Korean group right now, but in still this 'denial phase'. In fact I'm now sitting in front of my tv watching a Korean music chart show only waiting for that group to perform. Apparently, in Korean music industry, when a group is releasing a new album, they call it a 'comeback' (well commonly it is used to 'greet' an artist who's been vacuum for a very long time). One of the members really catch my eyes. Well, two, actually.
I'm hoping that I'm going to lose weight this month. And healthier, of course!
Going to say goodbye to my fansites real soon. I have new priorities in life now. Oh boy. :'(
I miss my highschool and college bestfriends. So much.

OK then that's all. I'll write a real post soon. Maybe after watching this Kpop group perform. :D Have a great Friday afternoon, all!

Getting my feet back on track...

2011-07-13T11:13:00.000+07:00

Here I am sitting in my office, surfing around the web, searching for a master's degree scholarship. Hell yeah I've decided to go for a school. But this time, I have to promise myself that I won't make any mistakes. I'm going to learn something that is my passion. Either cinema or web design. I want to pursue my career in this field while making my way to work at the United Nations~ it's still my biggest dream. :)

Inspired by my brilliant friends, I am sure that when there's a will, there's a way. They have proven many things, right in front of me. They have ambitions yet they have the will to pursue it~ and no obstacles can bring them down. That's the very BEST part. One day, one of those great people, Monica, told me that what makes people great and different is not their material achievement, but their willing 'to bleed'. The willing to struggle, to fight for the thing we want the most and never give up on it. Because she assured me that in the end, everything will be okay~ that God knows what's the best for us, judging from our efforts. The greater efforts you make, the better 'prizes' God will give you.

On another note, I think it's time for me to give up my fansites... Of course I still love my idols, but I just have a new and important focus now. But I'll keep continuing my movie blog, because it is more general and cover my interest (and even help me to find a job! lol). So I think I'm gonna say goodbye to Shia LaBeouf Web, Ricardo Kaka Online, and Garfield Wood very soon... :'(

Speaking of fandom, I have some new ones now! I'm currently liking Cho Kyuhyun. He's so cute! And of course he's another dork that I love (lol, I can't stop loving the dorks!). But he got a great voice, I really hope he will star in Glee very soon, hahaha.

OK then, I'm going to continue my surfing. Hopefully I will finally find something useful. Have a great Wednesday! xoxo

P.S.: I was writing about Monica here and she suddenly called me via Skype! Lol. I think I gotta tell her thank you soon as she arrived to the office. :))

It's been a while!!

2011-07-11T11:27:00.001+07:00

Oh wow, it's been a while I haven't updated anything on this blog! I was involved in some amazing projects~ and I'm so thankful for that! I got an offer to write for Flick Magazine, which is awesome, since I love movies and there I met new people who have huge interests in movies just like moi. We've never met of course, but we do talk on Twitter and email. And I'm so sorry that I haven't posted any news for a while, even my movie blog is still in hiatus (too tired to start anything. Ugh I gotta wipe out this laziness!).

And then I got into DREaM 2011 committee, which was also awesome. It's a summer program in Indonesia with 70 participants from 16 countries. All of them were super cool, we got along really well, overall it was just fun and memorable. There were lecturing (which was very inspiring, great speakers were invited and gave such motivational presentation), internship (which was fun, I was leading a group where they had to touch animal droppings and such, lol), and community service (it was also fun, we went caving, catching catfish, and even a little mud war). Another advantage was that I had a chance to use English properly. :P

I just want to say how grateful I am to be involved in these amazing experiences. Thanks to Rangga from Flick Magazine and Putri the program coordinator of DREaM 2011 for inviting me in.

A Garfield Drawing

2011-04-26T10:11:00.001+07:00

I drew this last night. What a pleasure.

Andrew Garfield by ~mabelcaron on deviant ART

My very first drawing using Photoshop. Well not exactly drawing though ~ I used the existed photo and re-draw it. And not exactly re-draw it ~ I just follow the existed lines, lol. And it's Andrew Garfield so I'm down for anything. :D

Art Wednesday: "Let The Right One In"

2011-04-13T16:12:00.000+07:00

Let the Right One In by ~mabelcaron on deviant ART

I am so bored so I created this! Let The Right One In is probably one of my most favorite vampire movie. I think as an alternate (read: dream cast), Evan Rachel Wood will be great in playing Eli (she did great in "True Blood" as Queen Sophie-Ann!), while Andrew Garfield is like the master of portraying vulnerable, wimpy guy which makes him a perfect Oskar. I would definitely cast them if I were the director!

P.S.: This Swedish movie was adapted in English last year, directed by Matt Reeves while Chloe Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee played the leading roles. I love this version as well, you must watch!

Art Tuesday

2011-04-05T18:29:00.000+07:00

For all of you my friends who love to sit on my old red living room couch ~ beware, something with flirty lips is checking you out from the above.

Of course that's a pair of lamp switches! I was off from work today (only for today) because of this 'girly situation'. The girls must have understood that during the first days it hurts like hell (in my case, it's my stomach and back).

And since today is Tuesday, means that it's time to watch Glee!!

xoxo

My most favorite t-shirt: Spidey!

2011-04-04T17:12:00.000+07:00

It's not like I consider this as an important post, but I just want to share with you my favorite t-shirt! Yes, this is a grey Spider-Man t-shirt. This has a historical story, because I bought this when the "Spider-Man 3" hype was still going on. It was released May 2, 2007 ~ but the hysteria didn't stop until the end of the month. I was with my good friend James doing shopping and found this cute shirt ~ I directly bought it!

I don't know if it was official from Marvel ~ but I really love the "Spider-Man 3" label inside. Hopefully in 2012 I will get another like this one with Andrew Garfield's face on it.

Play with Blu from "Rio"!

2011-04-04T17:04:00.000+07:00

I just bought a box of my favorite cereal Koko Krunch -- and apparently Nestle is cooperating to promote upcoming animated movie "Rio". Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway lent their voices for the leading roles in this film. I got some bonus from the package: an orange whistle plus some stickers and a Rio card which can be used to play an online game in Nestle's website.

Go to Nestle.com/Rio to play the game. But first and foremost your computer must have a webcam in order to play it -- because the game will only need the card put right in front of the webcam to move Blu so he can have a taste to Koko Krunch. It's cute!

Ice Cream Sundae day!!

2011-04-03T18:15:00.000+07:00

I opened Google.com just now and it shows a super cute home image on it! Apparently today is the 119th Anniversary of the First Documented Ice Cream Sundae!

Too bad Yogyakarta is raining so hard right now -- it is definitely not a smart choice to eat / drink ice cream in this kind of weather (for the record, I'm now wearing a jacket and a pair of socks -- it's really cold!).

Well, the weekend is now over, everyone. I'm sad since I didn't actually take a rest -- I had some things to do as usual and thankfully I was able to finish them all on time! Now I have to change my room lamp since I've been moving out of my room since yesterday, lol. Hope you had a great weekend!

xoxo

My kitty cat Nando today

2011-03-30T18:50:00.001+07:00

Me and my brother played with our kitty cats soon as I got home after work. Nando was playing on the field very cutely I couldn't help myself to bring out Niko the camera.

CUTE CUTE CUTE!

Beginning of my weekend

2011-03-26T20:39:00.002+07:00

Ahh weekend is finally here! Nothing more valuable then spending the time at home in weekend. Well at least since I've been working Monday to Friday at the beginning of this month. Now let me tell you a story about what happened to my weekend so far, started from Friday afternoon.

It was raining so hard and long, my cat Nando even could see his own reflection on the ground. As well as my mum's lime tree.

But at least the rain freshened my mum's plants.

But then, I heard "Sateee... Sateee..." -- yes, it's my family's favorite 'satay girl' Mbak Nur! :D The chicken satay were sooo delicious!! Yum yuuum!!

My cat Paris was like, "What's going on with the fuss? Ohh it smells so good... CHICKEN SATAY!"

But he then changes his mind, "Oh I got a date tonight. Must be resting now... *Zzzzz*".

* * *

And then in Saturday morning, I took a short jogging trip while taking some pictures. You can see a few things surrounding my house. Most of them are merely beautiful views.

Subhanallah. The sunrise taken across the street of the field a few meters behind my house.

And then there's a couple of crop circles. Unfortunately I couldn't find any signs of "ALIEN WAS HERE". Instead, I found these disturbing writings on the wall of... the 'horror gate'.

Hopefully someday the people who made those annoying writings will be 'haunted' /:( Ok then, back to the photostory.

As I got home, I played around with my cats. Hide and seek with Bojan, which is allegedly pregnant (Yes, Bojan is a she. Failed to identify her!). And then made fun of Pocky's shot with those comical-bubbles. Which 'inspired' me to make a couple of wide-spaced shoots from the interior.

And I always wanted to put this picture of Andrew Garfield on my room's wall right above my bed. And hopefully I'm not the only girl in the world who sleeps on a Spider-Man bed sheet.

That's the random stuff I want to share today. Happy weekend, people!

Best friends, French resto, and... an Andrew Garfield doppleganger!

2011-03-22T21:16:00.003+07:00

So yesterday I celebrated my Grandmere aka Ponti's 22nd birthday party with Yurti and Luthfi! It was raining so hard but ended up great as we dined in a French-cuisine restaurant called KMeal's. That was the first time I went to KMeal's, and to be honest, as a loyal Javanese, I don't think my tongue will fit in to any European-original-foods. It's sad, of course, since my ultimate dream is to visit and live in the Europe *lol*.

We gave her a one-of-a-kind bday present (as usual), an unpredictably cheesy surprise (as usual), and a demanding dinner treat (as usual). The resto was pretty cozy, I even met a foreigner who exactly looks like an 'a bit-older' version of Andrew Garfield!! Don't know where does he come from, but he spoke English (and no, I didn't get his picture ~ I don't want to get kicked out of the restaurant, lol). The night went so nice until I remember that I had to go to work on the next day.

And yes, that's Grandmere on the reds. I think her dresscode was 'red riding hood', lol. Overall, happy birthday Grandmere and hope that your undergraduate thesis will be finished on time (read: SOON)!!! xoxo

Someone's celebrating his birthday today

2011-03-20T20:38:00.003+07:00

Ahh it's my favorite football player. Don't care if he's now wearing blue, still wishing YNWA for him (I'm watching Sunderland vs Liverpool right now, lol). Hope he's having a great birthday and will win against Manchester City tonight!

And here's the song that reminds me of the time when I first 'fancy' him *lol*:

xoxo

Flash back: my Friendster account (LOL)

2011-03-20T13:43:00.001+07:00

I don't know why I just feel so nostalgic and ended up looking at my old Friendster page. Yeah, Friendster. The social network I've abandoned since I was 'distracted' to Facebook in 2007. I still remember I had no idea of what Facebook was, and I joined it just because The Click Five members actively used it than MySpace (and yeah I was 'Click Five-struck' as well -- hey, the new lead vocalist is CUTE!).

So here's my latest Friendster profile layout, still under the name Neetha Van Der Waldorf when I left it. Yeah, I was sooo into "Gossip Girl" that time -- I was rather a pioneer for introducing that show to my friends (lol).

The testimonials is full with the comments from people I don't know -- one of them even asked my bra size (like, why the hell he even asked me that?!? lmaooo). The others are pretty nice though.

I created this profile when I was 14 in high school. The point is that I don't change that much until now (I'm 21 and a Bachelor of Political Science - HA!), judging from my Friendster or Facebook profile -- that's just the way I am. It may sound so boring, but if I don't find any good reason to change then I just don't have to.

# Interested In:
Friends

# Member Since:
Sep 2005

# Hometown:
Jogjapolizz - Jakarta

# Neetha's URL:
http://profiles.friendster.com/neethatshot

# Other education:
SMP Mabelta, SMA MOEHA, and then...

# College/University:
Gadjah Mada University, Attended 2006 - Present, Bachelor's Degree, International Relations

# Occupation:
college student

# What I enjoy doing:
books..books..books, music, movies, fashion, web design, photography, ibuku. bapakku. adikku, teman2ku, Spidey thingy, Miss Hilton, Miss Knightley, swingin NYC by spider webs with Tobey, Christian Sugiono, the dance floor anthem, hangin out, Amplaz, Malioboro, 21, Bringharjo, Paris Hilton perfume, sharing magical moments with Daniel Radcliffe, my overload closet, singing along with Zac Efron, my messy room, nge-goss bersama E! Ngews, nasi kucing, pisang ijo, gudeg Yu Djum & Yu Narni, protecting the world from Decepticons with Shia LaBeouf, cardigans, scruffy style, iheartthat.com, dunia keartisan tapi tidak tertarik untuk jadi artis, lifestyle of the rich and the famous, UNICEF & UNESCO, Adam Levine's voice, petikan gitar John Mayer, all songs written by Chris Carabba

# Favorite Books:
my way of life Al-Quran, Harry Potter, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Laskar Pelangi, Chronicles of Narnia, Princess Lessons, Can U Keep A Secret, The Truth About Diamonds, World Politics, Teen Vogue, Cosmogirl

# Favorite Movies:
anything with Shia LaBeouf & Keira Knightley, Spider-Man 2, 300, Schindler's List, Kramer vs Kramer, Jerry Maguire, Exorcism of Emily Rose, 1408, Mean Girls, The Devil Wears Prada, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Queen, Saving Private Ryan

# Favorite Music:
Dashboard Confessional, Paramore, Lifehouse, Switchfoot, Oasis, Radiohead, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat, Sara Bareilles, Natasha Bedingfield, Muse, Linkin Park, OneRepublic, Maroon 5

# Favorite TV Shows:
America's Next Top Model, The Hills, World Fashion Tour, Fashion Police, The Diamond Life, Simple Life, Entourage, Supernatural, Heroes, E!, CNN, Metro TV, Spongebob, Ceriwis, Wisata Kuliner, Gene Simmons Family Jewel, Kimora Life in the Fab Lane, Gossip Girl, and still... NO SINETRON!

Oh yes I'm such a Spider-Man, Shia LaBeouf, and Keira Knightley lover *lol*, and I still am until now. But the intriguing part is my 'About Me' section in which I wrote my 'hopes and promises'. None of them have come true yet though (rofl):

i have wishes and hopes:
i want to be a useful person for my 'hottest' country Indonesia
i want to be a UNICEF and UNESCO activist at Africa
i want to be a professional web designer
i want to be a fashion journalist
i want to be as rich as paris hilton
i want to be as beautiful as keira knightley [the most impossible thing...]
i want to be as succesful as oprah winfrey
i want to be as brave as spidey
i want to be a religious and wonderful person like Prophet Muhammad SAW
i want to travel around the world for social champaigne like angelina jolie
i want to kill all corruptors in my country
i want to help all poor people in my country
i want to pacify the Middle East and the other conflict areas
i want to scream "stop the war please!!"
i want to marry boys like peter parker or jake gyllenhaal or christian sugiono [hahaha silly!!]
...and i want to be in heaven with my beloved family and friends

SAVE OUR WORLD! STOP GLOBAL WARMING!

Of course I want to marry Peter Parker (moreover, Andrew Garfield IS the new Peter Parker hahaha). And I still want to help my country Indonesia in non-political ways. And UN is still my dream workplace. And web designing is still my hobby. The 'Middle East' part is somehow impossible since a war is actually happening right now (really sad T_T). But I know that God reads this (His technology is way more advance than this social network of course), and hopefully it all will come true, sooner or later.

Just ignore this post. Like I told you before, I'm just feeling nostalgic. :)

It's been a long time!

2011-03-19T20:57:00.000+07:00

Wooow it's been a long time I never updated anything on this blog -- I'm super sorry! I've been busy lately (for real), and actually have many interesting things to say but was just too lazy to write it, lol. Overall I'm just happy and thankful with my life (as usual), and try to enjoy it as much as possible. My family and friends are always lovely ~ love them all to death!

Nothing changed from me. Still obsessing Shia LaBeouf, Kaka, Andrew Garfield, etc. Still love to eat much (especially fried rice). Still an OCD royal. Still casual. Well anyways my daddy bought me a lot of new gadgets ~ my laptop Spidey Baby was finally died so he got me a new one called Leo, and then an AndrewID (yeah that's what I call my tablet), and then Niko (my new camera). I still stick to my phone Fernando even though he was dead for 2 hours that time ~ I was sooo scared that I was going to lose him (well he's now at Chelsea ~ but I'm not talking about that Fernando, lol).

Tomorrow I'll be going out with my mum and dad (yeah I'm still single as well ~ and this is what a single lady does on her weekend: avec her parents!), hoping that I'll be able to buy something. A lot of somethings, lol. The thing is, I'm now working part time at the main building of my campus (which is really fun ~ I've been with my new friends and I LOVE them all!) so I kinda need more and more formal clothes. Apparently there was a lot of meeting with important people (literally important ~ not like celebrities and stuff) so I have to change my grungy and effortless style a bit. Gotta say I'm neat-er now. Kinda proud of it, lol.

OK then, I'm so happy that I finally able to update this blog, because I've been VERY active to write my movie blog: Nita's Movie Diary (I can't believe it now has + 350 visitors EVERY day ~ it's awesome!). So if you are a movie mania please kindly visit my movie site!

Bottomline, have a great weekend, everyone!! xoxo

"New Moon" in Liverpool

2011-01-31T18:11:00.002+07:00

Wow. It's been a few years I'm engaging myself in football world. Supporting my favorite teams, cheering on the handsome players. It was really fun until one of my favorite player decided to leave one of my favorite team. This isn't something new in football. The player transfer is always happening. One player moves to another club, and then next season maybe to another one (even the rival club). What's surprising is how it makes me feel.

Yeah I'm talking about the transfer buzz of Fernando Torres from Liverpool. Last transfer season, after the World Cup 2010, he was in talks to depart from Liverpool, but in the last minute he decided to stay. He crawled to reach his perfect form after the inevitable injury at the new season at Liverpool. People criticized him as lacking of motivation and power, but then he proved it wrong. He scored goals in significant matches. He was the 'hero of the day', and likely will always be.

But unfortunately the whole team failed to reach the top rank. It suffered almost to the bottom, struggling to gain 3 points. The team lost its magic but they never gave up. Nando never gave up, he wanted to win titles with Liverpool, at least that's what I thought. But apparently the keep-on-losing status does affect his motivation. It's not that he doesn't want to play football anymore, it's more like he doesn't want to be with this club anymore.

Which is reasonable, of course, for a world-class striker like him. Even this year Liverpool isn't competing in Champions League. It was kicked out of the FA Cup. It barely hangs on the big four rank anymore. And finally a couple of days ago he handed a transfer proposal to the board. Simply said, "I'm done here,".

I'm sure there's a lot more dramatic football transfer story than this one (not forget to mention Kaka's departure to Real Madrid). But, geez... I just can't let go of him! Nando is like the epitome of The Reds, even though he isn't originally from Liverpool. He bleeds reds. He means so much to this club, like if he doesn't then the club wouldn't reject his transfer proposal.

What drives me crazy is solely how I feel. Letting Nando playing for another club in the same region is like letting my boyfriend to date another girl, that is still my friend. That doesn't feel right, right? It feels horrible! Worst fact is that I have no control upon his choice, I can't do anything. All I can do is sit and pray, so he won't make that choice.

And honestly this whole feeling reminds me of that scene of the most obnoxious movie "New Moon", when that vampire leaves that dead-eyed human girl. Feels like Nando is playing Edward.

NANDO
"It's the last time you'd ever see me. Please don't do anything wreckless. I love you."
(translation: "This is the time where I'm going to leave you, Liverpool. Please at least win the next matches. Thank you for everything you gave to me.")

However, the transfer deal hasn't accepted yet. There's still possibility for Nando to stay — if he kindly and consciously change his mind. And this is what I'm hoping for. If it doesn't go this way then... I'm wishing Nando did the best choice and all the best luck for the next step of his career. =)

Nando you are extremely handsome but you are MUCH better in RED.

Well he made his choice. He left the club. My internet was off when he finally was introduced in London — my brother was very thankful for it. Someone sent me a pic of him holding a blue jersey via Twitter, and my brother was like "Could you change the name for our cat?". Yeah, he was kinda 'betrayed'. I was sad as well, but he'd better be out if he doesn't feel like playing in Liverpool anymore. Not that I let him go easily, I was literally a bit sick after hearing the news. I think I might need to take a break from watching EPL for now. :(

Why I Envy the Kids from Junior Masterchef (Yet Inspired by Them!)

2011-01-28T20:17:00.000+07:00

Young, talented, and... visionary! How I love kids of Junior Masterchef!

Even though I'm not quite following the Junior Masterchef show, I did watch a few episodes. Watching those kids cook something that I hadn't even heard about gave me tickle! The contestants were all uber-cute, super talented, and... one thing that I'm jealous of the most: they already know what they want at the very young age. And their parents certainly supported them. They know what they will become. They know what field they're going to be involved in.

It's not that I don't have it all—of course I do! My parents are very supportive of my interests. I was quite hi-tech when I was a kid so my dad bought and introduced me to computer and other related stuff very early, and I fell with it. I love music so my dad bought me a lot of CDs, even a guitar and a keyboard after I said I was interested to learn music instruments. I love movies so my dad bought me a lot of DVDs and introduced me to any kind of genres. My parents have sacrificed too much I must say. And I'm so thankful. Really thankful.

And why do I envy those Junior Masterchef kids if I already have everything they have? Well, one thing I'd love to blame is: system & environment. As much as I love Indonesia (particularly my hometown Jogjakarta), I don't think I can live in this environment anymore. I think it's debilitating—it's not the kind of environment for anyone who wants to develop mentally and freely. It's so limited I have to channel my interest to the unlimited world, the internet. Seriously I can't imagine living without internet in this environment. I will die fast of curiosity.

Those kids are so lucky because their country provides an adequate (or even higher) facility to develop their field of interest. Being a chef is AWESOME, it's not a common skill that everyone else has. Indonesians who love cooking are 'forced' to go abroad to pursue their dreams, simply because they can't find a qualified cooking school or course here. I'm sure there's a lot of local cooking school, but it's not supported and subsidized by the government thus it collapses or undeveloped.

Actually, Indonesia has SMK (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan), a high-school level study with specialized course, such as cooking, fashion, crafting, or even technical materials for boys; mechanic, computer, etc. This is such a great step for those who already put interest in particular field and want to develop it. Unfortunately, it's the environment to blame—most people here overlooked SMK as something lower than the normal high school. They think the students won't have future as bright as those who enroll in normal high school. They are academic-centered but they actually don't do any good in it. This shallow perspective is the main 'virus' of why SMK doesn't develop very well.

But changing someone's perspective is like changing himself entirely—it's not easy. And this is actually the functionality of education, to shape someone's mind. Unfortunately that is the core problem that we are facing right now, we're not adequately educated thus our mind isn't shaped perfectly. It's still limited, not able to understand and tolerate alternatives. What's more unfortunate is that 'some' people in our government are suffered in this 'disease'. Poor, poor us.

Conclusion is, this doesn't stop me from pursuing my dream. I won't waste my gift and the amazing facilities and supports given my parents. I'm praying so those people will finally realize the importance of education—the real education, not just registering your kids to the coolest school in town and then not finding out what's their real interest and skill. A good institution of education is the one supporting its students' skill, to develop it rather to lock it down (like many schools do).

I love my country and I know someday (still... uncertainty) it will recover from this idiocy.

xoxo

Helping Children through Education

2011-01-27T10:03:00.000+07:00

Image taken from Save The Children

This might be my biggest passion ever besides reaching my own welfare. If someday I become successful, making millions of money, I'd rather give most of my money to those unfortunate children than building a big fat mansion with fancy cars. (Maybe you already knew it from this post.) Problem is, I'm now not having any capital thus I have to work first to earn money and start action. But after thinking about it deeper, I actually can start from the scratch, from the smallest step. OK I already have plan in my head, just have to wait for the right time to work it out!

There's a lot of awesome people on the internet, spending their time to give back and campaigning particular cause in which they put concern. If you ask me what do I live for, then this might be my answer (besides making my parents happy of course!). Hopefully this very plan of mine will come true very soon. Amen.

Inspirengly... Inspirely... Ins...

2011-01-24T05:49:00.005+07:00

No one can hate my new Spider-Man darling Andrew Garfield for making rather fail speech at the Golden Globes a week ago. It's his first Golden Globes so he might be nervous. But geez, even he looked real cute when failing out.

And check out his first DETAILS Magazine cover behind the scene shoots, where you'll see his Spidey biceps! He is originally skinny and I even doubted him to be the new Spidey, but he worked out doing yoga and pilates and such to bulk up, and it went pretty nice.

There is A LOT of guys who are more handsome and sexier than Andrew in Hollywood. But I don't know, I mostly judge those Hollywood guys from their interviews, checking out their reactions in any questions, comments, and critics, and most importantly testing out their sense of humor. And this guy answered the questions and critics in a very humble way, and I can say that he got a crazy sense of humor. He got me.

Oh and it reminds me of my chit-chat with my friend Tomo a couple of months ago. So we were sitting with our other friends at my campus' lobby, I was stealing some movies from his hard drive (I love stealing movies and I proudly admit it—what's wrong with me?!?), and found "Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus" in it. I said to him, "The guy who plays Anton is so cute! He's the new Spider-Man!". And he lightly responded, "Why are you so easily attracted to Jewish boys?".

Later that day I found out that Andrew is a Jewish. Just like Shia LaBeouf. Or Jake Gyllenhaal. Or Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Or some crushes like Logan Lerman, Zach Braff, Jesse Eisenberg, Robert Schwartzman, or Daniel Radcliffe. Those are my favorites. Maybe most people know that. And I didn't realize that they are actually Jewish until Tomo pointed that out.

I remember my friend Sofia said to me when we were discussing (with Sofia, everything turns to be a discussion—not merely gossiping hot guys with their properties, it was purely discussion) Shia, "So you like him for his sense of humor? Well so do I! I love it when Jewish boys pulling off their jokes. It's smart and witty. I love Zach Braff too,". And she did encapsulate the main reason of why I love those boys: their super endearing sense of humor.

Basically they're very good looking, but they're not afraid of being silly and honest. They love joking. They are comfortable for being themselves. That's what I call sexy. I don't know if it's genetic, but each boy actually have it. And yes, those guys look like Gods when they wear plaid shirts (no I'm not going to talk about that fetish of mine any further).

I don't think it's a bad thing for liking Jewish boys—this isn't political. I curse Israeli's action toward Palestine, but it doesn't generalize that Jewish people are bad (even though many many people have put harsh sentiment already to them).

Speaking of Andrew, it's too bad he has no movies coming out this year. Have to wait until 2012 for "Spider-Man" reboot. Duh.

Justifying Bieber

2011-01-23T19:01:00.000+07:00

Earlier today I saw a local infotainment show on television, and instead of talking about celebrity gossip it was all about Justin Bieber. Well it's a good thing that at last I didn't have to see those unimportant local celebrity news (ie someone showing off his/ her new ride, new house, new boyfriend/ girlfriend, diet tips, etc). It talked about the Justin Bieber phenomenon that has strucked the whole world, including Indonesia.

Yes, Justin has been scheduled to visit Indonesia this April. And as you can imagine, the tweenagers (I got this from international gossip websites—it refers to female teenagers, and I'll make it short into simply 'tweens') are all excited to see Justin and enthusiastically standing in the queue for tickets. From the television footage, I saw a bunch of girls holding and kissing their tickets ecstatically with big smile on their faces.

Of course I'm going to do so when I get my meet-and-greet-with-Shia-LaBeouf ticket one day. It's a pretty normal reaction. But as usual, there are people who still questioning the importance and greatness of this Canadian kid. How could he be so famous? How could the girls got dazzled by his fair-but-relatively-ordinary presence? How could he win American Music Awards while there are kids whose voice much better than his?

I know those people questioning him aren't actually jealous, they are just simply wondering because they haven't found the right answer. Wait, I'm not defending the Biebs, but they don't have to be that harsh if they tried to analyze this phenomenon in ease. Come on, Justin and his fans, they're just kids. I'm pretty sure if Justin was asked about how could he be this way he'd answer he had no idea.

Here's my view. I'm trying to digest this Justin euphoria in a lighter way. First, I admit he has a really nice voice. It's plain, but people will quickly acquaint his voice. Usher won't endorse him for no reason, right? Even though David Archuleta, or even Greyson Chance has a better one. Second, he has a decent look. Clean cut, casual, and nice to look at. I'm so jealous of his hair, it looks soft and real smooth! Third, his songs are inevitably catchy, easy to memorize. They have nice tune and teenager-ish delightful lyrics. Thus I can't really blame him if "Baby" has become a 'national anthem' in a few shops.

Those three factors above are adequate for singers who are likely prone to be a 'one hit wonder'. They can be famous and explosive at the moment, but they'll be easily forgotten whenever a new talent rises. They can steal the tweens' heart, but not the critics. They are made simply to entertain, not to deliver nor represent something substantial—they are hardly the picture of legends. But this Bieber kid could prove that he isn't just the-next-entertainer, he won the AMAs and is nominated for Grammys. What the hell?!

I don't know about how the jury of AMA and Grammys valuate their nominees and winners. Is it solely about the quality? Well, if it is then I don't think Justin wouldn't have any chance. His voice, music, and lyrics are all fun, but not of substance. It also goes to Taylor Swift, OK we all know she wrote and arranged her songs by herself, but seriously most of her songs are about girl falls with a boy, girl likes a boy secretly, girl broken hearted with a boy, and something like that. Maybe they are more appreciated because of their young age. And I can't give any examples of who created a really good music in young age so I won't talk about this any further. (For those who have the answer please kindly inform me, but I don't want Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and Jonas Brothers for the answers).

Is it about the likability? Or the commercial success? This would be reasonable because Justin has sold millions of his album. He peaked the Billboard and other international charts. His songs became the most requested in any radio in the world. But I don't think this will be a primary verdict for the jury to pick eligible winners (the late Michael Jackson will be furious from the heaven of music). Bottomline, about how Justin could win these prestigious music awards is still a mystery. Only God knows why. Really. I don't even understand why this kid is apparently taken very seriously by the industry.

Overall, as a thoughtful and more mature person than him, we'd better just let him enjoy his moment. We don't have to be angry at his current success (albeit it's quite illogical, from my explanation above), there are people who care so much about this industry and they do actually know of who's the real deal and not. The musical world is still on its way in finding the next Michael Jackson, the next The Beatles, the next John Lennon, the next Mariah Carey, the next Led Zeppelin. Through its process, I think it's better if we just enjoy it!

Dear Ella,

2011-01-22T10:42:00.000+07:00

(I made this post specially to my friend Ella who's in Paris right now.)

Dear Ella,
Hopefully you have a great time in Paris already—well, of course you do! So I know you're going to have a lot of study there, but in case you have a spare time to go around Paris, I want you to do me some favours.

You might know I have a very very weird fascination about anything French. I know Shia LaBeouf isn't entirely French, but his dad is, and his name is a bit French-y as well. I'm learning French and even though it makes my throat itchy every time I pronounce the words, I still find it as a real beautiful language.

Basically my request for you isn't related to any material stuff, you don't need to buy nor cost anything. I will pray so hard from my room that you don't have to do so, that you will make it come true simply by luck. So if you meet these following people, in any circumstances, I beg you to ask for their autographs or photos. Pour moi. Pleeeeeaaaaseeee? =D

Marion Cotillard. Geez I don't understand how someone could be so naturally beautiful! If you didn't meet her in any chance, a photo of her Christian Dior billboard would be... still wonderful. And if you meet her then she's probably bigger now since she's pregnant! :D

Gaspard Ulliel. He's the junior Hannibal Lector. His presence is a bit cold (no wonder the girls requested him to play Edward Cullen before that British hunky Rob Pattinson snatched the role). If you could send my hug to him (and yes of course you'll be the lucky one!) that would be awesome. Or pinch his cheeky cheeks. AWAWAWAW.

Eva Green. I have a huge girl crush on. Really. I don't know if she lives in Paris, but if you accidentally meet her, tell her that she's the best Bond girl ever!

Yoann Gourcuff. This guy is the definition of HOTNESS. He's a football player, currently joining Olympique Lyon football club. The French football league Ligue 1 is still on going now, so in case you meet him when he's visiting Paris, tell him to not only being hot on the football pitch, but in the modeling world as well. Geez, even that ugly Cristiano Ronaldo could have a modeling contract, how come this perfecto human being didn't have any? :D

That's it. Hahaha. I know there will be a little chance to meet these people, but at least if you see them on the road or everywhere, it will reminds you of moi!

Overall, hopefully you'll get a lot of new knowledge from your study to share when you're going back home (read: hopefully you get the chance to make out with a lot of sexy French guys there).

Have a great great great day!
xoxo

Fandom & Originality

2011-01-16T11:02:00.000+07:00

Here I am, stranded inside a small box in one of the most popular internet cafe. Haha well not actually stranded. My brother told me that there's an internet cafe offering a pretty decent promotion, IDR 10.000 for 3 hours with a cozy couch and place and fast connection. And another important thing he said, "It has a LOT of movie and television series collections that we can steal!". So for that reason, I said yes.

While waiting for the copying process of my movie stealing mission, an interesting topic suddenly crossed my mind. Yeah, it's about the movie stealing itself. Piracy. No, it's not the criminal action of robbery and stealing committed by pirates above the ocean, it's about copying and multiply a copyrighted 'creation' without authorized and appropriate permission.

This is such a common case in the whole world. I don't know if we categorize it as an international crime, because it surely has spread everywhere. It has a lot of forms, either digitalized or the tangible products. If you asked me which one is the victim then it would be the person whose creation is spread around without her/ his permission, which means he/ she won't get any profit from the disposal. Worst fact is that the pirated version is usually more popular than the original.

Why? Of course because it's way cheaper. The common price of original DVD is $ 16 - 24 (about IDR 160,000 - 200,000), depends on the exclusive features. While the pirated version only cost IDR 8,000 - 15,000. Pretty significant, huh? Upper-class people might be able to collect the original ones—but people like me? My family isn't either wealthy or poor, I can say I'm in the middle class. To buy something above IDR 150,000 without a real and basic functionality (DVD and other entertainment stuff are absolutely secondary stuff right?), it makes me think twice.

But in the other hand, I do need entertainment. Ever since I fell in love with the world of music and cinema, seems like I can't get away from them. My hunger isn't for food anymore, it now has branches. Watching a good movie feels like I've eaten a cheeseburger. It's somehow satisfying. Because through a movie, I can learn a lot of things from the characters. From the most motivational to the most depressing one. Watching a movie is like getting an education outside school, it's a lesson of life. You know what they say, experience is the best teacher, but we actually don't have to experience it by ourselves.

Like for example, drugs. I don't have to do drugs to know that it's bad for me. By watching movies about people who are addicted to drugs, it showed me how painful they are, thus it makes me don't want to try it, at all. Then there are movies about girls who are trying to make money by 'selling themselves'. Yeah, they finally got the money, but they lost everything they already had—family, friends, boyfriends. By watching movies, it simply open my eyes to everything, I can see the world in some different perspective. It's cool.

And from movies, I found people who finally become my inspirations in life. Look at how I really fancy Shia LaBeouf. He's handsome, he really is, but that's not the point of why I like him. I learned about his past, on how he needed to make a living for him and his mother, and finally God led him to become one of the most successful actors. But he's still grounded, he's not greedy. He prefers to make good movies instead of selling his big name to do anything that isn't substantial (well the second installment of Transformers was really sucky but take a look of his other works, they're all brilliant!).

From this fandom, it's obligatory for me to watch any new or old release of his movies. He's been acting since he was kid, and of course I was really curious about how he did back then. His movies had been released into DVDs and such, so it would be the best way for me to watch them. But then I remember the price of original DVDs. Geez, I haven't even worked yet, my parents will kill me if I asked them $ 20 just to buy a DVD. So I took the short cut, I went to the unlikely-DVD store in the town. (I couldn't say it blatantly so I simply wrote "unlikely-DVD", but you know what I mean.)

After that, voila, my Shia LaBeouf movie collections were complete. I could watch all of his works. By that I can really say that he's a great actor. I created a fansite dedicated to him. I declared myself as his #1 fan in Indonesia (yeah right). But it left me a really big guilt: if I were actually his number one fan, then I should appreciate him by literally spend any amount of money to buy his original works.

But... Is that the real meaning of fandom? By only buying the original works of the actor? Is fandom measured by money? Really? I mean, I spent a lot of time creating that fansite. I dug deep my creativity to make the most unique layout. I unleashed my research-like-a-detective method to find the most exclusive news and pictures. Ever since that fansite has been online, I've been acting like his unofficial publicist by providing all things related to him to his other fans worldwide.

So basically I disagree about the idea of appreciating the work of an artist is just to buy their original work. I must say, if I were in a different circumstances—let's say if my parents gave me allowance IDR 1 million each month, then I would definitely buy the original Shia works. I don't care if it's through shipping and such, I don't care about the extra cost. But that is not me in reality.

By this I would like to thank anyone who kindly copied and spread those awesome movies to me, a person who has no capability to buy any of them. Okay let me re-phrase it, a person who actually can buy it but have a good reason not to spend significant amount of money just to buy that stuff. It's simply because there are other things more important with that amount of money than DVDs. Again, thank you dear 'pirates'. For those who are already in prison, I know you violated the laws, but just want to let you know that for a person like me, you're like the Robin Hood. You steal to help me. Thank you.

Okay then, I gotta find more interesting stuff to do to wait until 3 hours. At least when I get home, I have a lot of movies to watch, which means a lot of materials to write for my Nita's Movie Diary. Yay!

Have a great Sunday, people! xoxo

Slow Slow Slow...

2011-01-14T15:25:00.000+07:00

It's weekend already and I gotta say this is such a slow week for me. I wanted to update the site but there's no news coming up. I want to go to the cinemas but my favorite movie isn't showed up yet. I was left alone in my house yesterday while my mom and brother were visiting my grandparents out of town. It was great, I could actually play my mom's part and went pretty well. I also met my friends for dinner and we were karaokeing until midnight, it was fun.

My target next week would be, I have to go to my campus to look for any job opportunity. Well I'm now focusing to learn French, and I even have some writing stuff to do (OK this reminds me of one important homework I haven't finished yet!), but I just don't want to waste my time anymore. I feel bad for my parents, really. I'm aiming to look for a local job while I'm finishing my French course, then I'll just step in to the next phase of my life.

Looking at my previous posts I'm afraid that I'm turning my personal blog into a movie blog—which is not. So I decided to make a new blog called Nita's Movie Diary, exclusively for any movie related. I'm gonna use this blog more often, I'm even thinking about quitting Tumblr because I just realize that I can't even relate to its functionality. You know, sometimes being random makes me write impulsively and when I get the chance to read it again, I feel like "Oh God, did I actually write all of this? I wanna kill myself." I don't want to cause problem on the internet like Mark Zuckerberg did on The Social Network.

Alright then, hope you all have a great weekend! xoxo

Live Chat with Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield!

2011-01-09T12:42:00.002+07:00

Hey y'all!! I was in the same room with Andrew Garfield and Jesse Eisenberg! The same chat room that is...

So first and foremost I gotta say thanks a lot to Jesse Eisenberg Online for making an announcement about this live chat! LA Times was kind enough to give such opportunities for us the fans of Jesse, Andrew, and The Social Network movies to send questions for them directly through this live chat.

The chat was held in Saturday, 8 January 2010 at 10 am PST, which means it's 1 am here in Indonesia. And yeah of course I set my alarm (with Andrew singing The Bed Intruder Song as the ringing type) and woke up on time to join the chat. I was pretty lucky I could log in knowing the facts that it was a HUGE traffic!

Here I'm going to share some screencaps I made from the chat. However these are not the entire chat, I just snapped my most favorite ones (and some important tidbits about The Social Networks and Andrew's upcoming Spider-Man!). All questions were screened and moderated—from what I saw they were picked randomly. Some lucky people did get their questions showed up and got answered by the two, even some luckier ones got their questions displayed twice!

For some questions which were unfortunate to not get displayed (like *cough* mine), we all still have fun because Andrew and Jesse were so entertaining! Andrew was really sweet, he was constantly answering each question even from the weirdest one. He also put up a lot of jokes in his answers—which was endearing (so typical "Leo", huh?). While Jesse... What can I say, this guy blew me away. He's just brilliant! Every answer he gave was strikingly straight to the point, complete with his witty personality, but still showing a really great sense of humor. He's just smart. Really smart. From this chat I could conclude that Andrew is a great boyfriend material while Jesse's a more husband material. HAHAHA.

And in case you're wondering why didn't my question(s) got displayed: I gotta say I was just unlucky. I did ask some cheesy questions but there's a couple substantial questions I proposed (I was so nervous but I was even surprised because I didn't ask Andrew to marry me—that was actually the first question popped up in my head when I heard about this live chat.)

This wasn't my first question, but it's pretty cool right? =D

I was so frustrated that my questions were never showed up so I asked this frivolous one. HAHAHA. It's okay though, maybe it means that God will give me another chance to meet them... Maybe in real life? HOPEFULLY! =D

Please not that the screencaps you see below was taken after the chat had finished. I needed more time to print screen then copy it to Photoshop then crop it into the chatbox size. This post will be really long so if you want to check it out, please click the Read More link. Enjoy!

So this was when I first log in, and the only one where my name is actually displayed on the chat box (I'm at 9:52). I was too afraid to 'fangirling', because I was too nervous. In fact, I actually wanted to write something like: "OHMYGOD. I finally have an opportunity to talk to my future husband Andrew Garfield!! FACE IT TIGER YOU JUST HIT THE JACKPOT!!!". Thankfully I could hold not to write it.

And then after 10 mins of waiting, the boys showed up exactly at 10 am. Jesse said hi first, followed by Andrew. The girls went nuts. I felt like LA Times' server was going to crash but thankfully it wasn't. As you can see Jesse and Andrew's chat was in black and bigger font size while we, the normal people, were displayed in blue and smaller font size.

Andrew and Jesse said they were in different rooms, but then joked around. Jesse said they were in different rooms that look the same, Andrew said he designed his room to look like Jesse's kitchen *lol*. And then the questions started to pouring in. In the next image, Jesse answered on how hard it was to act, while Andrew told us about his most favorite movies in 2010.

Andrew put two of my most favorite animated movies this year. Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon. I wonder if he cried during watching it because I did. (Wait... This was actually a good question to ask!!)

After that, Jesse explained about how he was concerned about The Social Network's script that was too phenomenal and would be 'too clever and complicated' to audience to follow. Then someone asked Andrew about the directors he wants to work with, about Jesse's favorite musical when he was growing up, about how was Andrew when he worked in Doctor Who, and... about Jesse's cats.

Andrew's dream directors to work with: Ken Loach, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Mike Leigh. While Jesse's favorite musicals are: Pacific Overtures and Floyd Collins. I didn't know Jesse has cats, I'm pretty curious of how they are look like!

Then Andrew explained that he loves working with Emma Stone, said that she's "very special, and hilarious, and sweet,". Someone named "teapot" asked about his/her (well I'm not sure if it was girl or boy haha) confusion of being an actor, so Andrew gave it an advice to read Raine Maria Riike's "Letters To A Young Poet", which he found very helpful in dealing with his doubts in being an actor. Jesse also said that he would love to be in another movie with Andrew.

In the image below, Jesse explained about working on a scene under David Fincher's direction. We're all informed that Fincher is one of the most perfectionist director in Hollywood and love to put his actors under pressure, and Jesse's answer pretty much confirmed it. And Andrew answered a question about the scenes in The Social Network he was so afraid to do.

Andrew was scared of the scene where Brenda Song goes down on him... LOL. Lucky girl! If I were her I wouldn't miss that kind of scene, and maybe intentionally screw the scene so I would have to do it all over again until 100 takes. *oops*

Someone asked a trivia question about the first and last scene they filmed in The Social Network. Andrew and Jesse ended up fun fighting, and we would never know which one told the truth. I really love Jesse's joke, really!

Andrew, you were still looking cute even with that silly hat at the Caribbean party. Really. And you mistyped "Caribbean" to "Carribean", but I still love you anyway.

Asked about that remarkable dance movie Andrew did at the Caribbean party, he said it was choreographed by The Bolshoi Ballet (which was a joke obviously), while Jesse explained about the scene where he ran outside full of snow with only short and flip flops as painful and dumb, and his legs hurt for months. A Tumblr-mania revealed to Andrew that Tumblr girls call him "Bambi", and here's how Andrew responded it:

If Andrew was the Bambi then I'm going to be his Faline!

Below, Andrew was asked about who would he cast to play himself in a movie about his life. His answer: Fela Kuti. Please click the Fela Kuti link if you wanted to know about who he is.

It's too bad Andrew didn't respond Seonaid' question about the rumor of Robert Capa biopic with Gemma Arterton. If it's true then my eyes would explode to see those two beauties in a movie.

The below is about how Jesse and Andrew 'got into' their characters as Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin respectively. Jesse's answer really won. Jesse also explained about the truth of Winklevoss' twins: it's the original Armie Hammer with the 3D generated face-Armie Hammer.

And this is my favorite part. ANDREW'S FAVORITE BOOKS! Jesse talked about doing a scene with Aaron Sorkin in The Social Network (you know when Mark and Eduardo visited an ad company for the first time, and Eduardo said "I wish Mark was asleep"? Yeah, that ad man was actually Aaron Sorkin, the amazing writer of the movie!).

"Catcher In The Rye", "Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay", and book by Eliza Kazan. Oh it's really nice to see a cute guy loves to read books. And in case you're wondering what 'nora' said earlier to Andrew (referring to his answer in 10:29), she said "Andrew, from great power comes great responsibility."

The next thing was, someone asked about how do they feel after wrapping the movie, and Andrew said he misses Jesse *lol*. Jesse explained how he feels about it's very strange to see himself in his own movie and had only watched The Social Network for once. And then Andrew was asked about who does he look forward to meet in Golden Globes, and he said Christian Bale.

Check out Andrew's answer to Alice at 10:31. Earlier, Alice said that they have the same interest of books. And he said that: "Alice, cool, maybe we should meet and get married." MAYBE WE SHOULD MEET AND GET MARRIED. MAYBE WE SHOULD MEET AND GET MARRIED. MAYBE WE SHOULD MEET AND GET MARRIED. Seriously guys, if I was the one whom he replied with that answer, I'm going to record a video of myself doing Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair" dance and upload it to my Facebook. SERIOUSLY. And then he'd love to meet Christian Bale. WOW. SPIDEY MEETS BATMAN!!!

Andrew said that his favorite actors are Michael J. Fox, Daniel Day Lewis, and Tom Hanks. He also explained that as a man, it's very difficult to "multi task" (oh, this is so typical Leo!). Jesse explained about the surprising final product of The Social Network, which was completely different than when he filmed it. (We were all surprised and satisfied about the final product, Jesse!)

And below is probably one of the most favorite timeline throughout the whole chat: asking Andrew's comment about he's being "too old to play Spider-Man" *lol*, and how Jesse asked one of the participant about why her sister didn't like him. THEY WERE SO FUNNY!

Oh Jesse, just because Adriana's sister loves Andrew it doesn't mean that she doesn't like you, LOL.

Below is also my favorite part. Andrew was asked about was acting his priority for the first place and how he feels to work with Rhys Ifans, who plays Dr. Connors/ The Lizard at his new Spidey movie.

Do you realize that Andrew is so British? Look at how he wrote "realised" instead of "realized". Haha.

Jesse showed his intelligence again when asked about which country that had the best conference for The Social Network. Geez, I just really love it when Jesse answered the questions—he seemed so enthusiast and even avoid typos (he even used the capital letter in appropriate ways, not as lazy as Andrew, haha.)

OK, at this point Jesse didn't use the proper use of capital letter, but I loved his answer.

Then the two gave us an acting tip:

Andrew then answered about his dream role: "to have a crack at portraying Denzel Washington's life", and told us about his favorite co-stars: "Jesse (Eisenberg), Peter Mullan (from Boy A), Robert Redford (in Lions For Lambs), Tom Waits, and Carey (Mulligan)."

Below is yet another favorite timeline of mine:

I would definitely buy Andrew's rap album if he actually did it. And I checked out OneUpMe.com, and I just fell in love with Jesse Eisenberg. YOU HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT AS WELL.

Andrew then said that his favorite guilty pleasure movie was Teen Wolf, and there's a possibility for him to be back on Doctor Who because he loved Matt Smith. He also mentioned his favorite foreign movies: Michael Haneke and Audiard.

Below is the answer of my most favorite question: about how awkward people could actually act. Here's what Jesse and Andrew said:

I think I'm clumsy and awkward so does it make me a good actor? OK this question is irrelevant, I'm sorry.

Jesse revealed that the opening scene of The Social Network, where Mark and his then girlfriend Erica Albright (played by Rooney Mara) were talking inside a bar and then broke up miserably, it was filmed 99 times. (Earlier, I read an article about how that scene was actually worked: Aaron Sorkin wrote 7-8 pages of dialogue for a single scene, and so was the opening scene. If you estimated it by time, that would take at least 10 minutes of scene. But Jesse and Rooney did it only for 5 minutes, so can you imagine how FAST they spoke the dialogue?!? And it was filmed in 99 TAKES. These two are special actors—they do deserve some recognition.)

And below is, yet another L.O.L. from Jesse and Andrew:

Hello 'rivers', if you read this: there's no way that LA Times would fabricate and rent two posers to become Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield in this chat. After all, no one doubted LA Times' credibility, even though I am not an LA resident. And how Jesse & Andrew handled your statement, THEY WON.

And then someone named Ted Mosby (I do really hope it wasn't Josh Radnor from How I Met Your Mother. Really.) asked about what are they most looking forward to in 2011, and Andrew said he wanted to travel. Here's his answers:

I kinda hope Andrew will visit Indonesia instead of Thailand. *sigh* And yeah, that was Jesse's last chat. It's really nice to read that he actually recognized some of his fans in Asia did wake up very early to catch this live chat. OMG JESSE I LOVE YOU.

And... That's it. The chat ended. Here's a 'goodbye' message from our very own Andrew Garfield:

And Andrew, I love you like you were one of my cats.

Phew, I can't believe I spent more than an hour to make this post. I just wanted to make it detailed and understandable. Hope you enjoy it and please pray for me to be able to meet Jesse in real life soon and probably marry Andrew real soon. WOOHOO! xoxo

A Little Randomness

2011-01-07T22:02:00.001+07:00

I love being random, who doesn't? As long as it's a good, funny, and entertaining random then I think it's fine! And in this post I'd love to share you the other side of me that you might don't know. I'm so ready about the consequences: you definitely will think that I'm the freakiest person in this world. But hopefully you still love me the way I am :* :D. Here we go! (Click 'Read More'!)

Did you know...

...that one of my 2011 resolutions is to be "more open"? I might look like an extrovert but actually when it comes to personal stuff I put up this huge barrier wall in front of me. It's not that I am ashamed of personal life—I just don't find it any interesting nor important to share. The main reason why I wanted to write this post is actually the first step of being more 'honest'.
...that I'm a bit jealous of people I see on TV who's openly tell their real stories? Still related to the first fact, that I'm very introvert but now trying to be open. Whenever I watch Oprah or any talk show, or even America's Next Top Model, I really salute those people who's not ashamed of telling their despicable past stories. It's like they sacrifice themselves so that people know their story and can learn from it. People like them surely have a really big gut to do that.
...that I'm suffering to anxiety and nervousness? Whenever I hear or see something 'shocking' (either exciting or annoying), I get anxious immediately—it happens all the time. And most of you won't tell it because my gesture is extremely calm (I'm good at this!). But, if I could describe or picture what's happening inside me, that would be like a volcano starts to erupt. My heart will beat so fast, and my head starts to ache. Usually I take a really deep breathe to control this. About the nervousness, I always have cold sweat and my voice will tremble (even though the latter doesn't occur clearly). I haven't done any therapy for this though.
...that I'm so restless even though I don't do outdoor activity too excessively? Yeah, I get tired easily, especially my brain. If only I could command my brain to stop thinking. I think it has a pretty good censor to receive any information (I have a pretty good memory I must say), but as it becomes very receptive, it also works harder because whenever I receive an information it won't just stop right there. It will start to make branches, asking for more specific info, and it won't stop working until getting the information needed.
...that I'm almost too well-reserved? For public appearance, being well-reserved is a good thing, but it's getting annoying when it automatically happen in the daily life. I think too much before acting—about the do's and don'ts, cost and benefit, what people will think, what people will feel, etc. But it ended real bad because I often do something based on what people think (read: I care too much of what people think). I can't easily express myself, because I'm afraid that people will get annoyed by me, or something like that. It comes out good because I can keep myself from hurting people, but still ironic because I sacrifice myself more for it.
...that I'm imaginative and creative? I gotta tell you, I'm quite good at making stories. I love to spend hours in front of my laptop to write something—fictional stories, fictional events that should happened, fictional characters, fictional personalities, etc. And I do it not just pointing out to my imaginary world, but also the facts. So I'm willing to read ancient mythologies, list of best schools in the world, historical events which people barely know, searching out some unknown people's names that fits into the character, etc. I wrote an imaginary epic movie trilogy like Lord of the Rings, called Ragnarok (yes, it's based on the Ragnarok Online game), and I created the full list of characters (complete with description, ancient Norse names, family tree, personal history, etc.), and of course the raw map of the full story. And then an imaginary biography of person who's rather a 'supergirl' in a real life (no it's not me, of course!). In my head right now, there are stories that haven't written yet: a story about a girl infected with HIV/AIDS who joins a rock band and fall in love with an ambitious guy who wants to be a doctor and cure the virus, a story of Elizabeth Bathory the Hungarian princess who kills and drink blood of Hungarian ladies just to look younger so her husband won't cheat on her, a girl who's dealing through the process of her parents divorce, etc etc... there are too many!
...that I can do multiple things in a time but hurting myself by doing it? Yes, I'm a multi-tasker. I can have a lot of projects in a time, and I will have designed the outline of them in very detailed and perfect. But in practice, something will make me stuck and finally have to sacrifice one (or even some) of the project. That 'something' would be myself. I think I have to whip myself (read: being hard on myself) not to be spoiled and procrastinating. I can be discipline, but it won't for too long. I must learn to be consistent and persistent when it comes to this!
...that I love too many things but makes me not able to be focused? From a rockstar to writer to world change maker to web designer to etc etc, this makes me a little indecisive. I can say that I'm now 21 and I still don't even know what I want, what I need, what I'll become. I want to just enjoy my life and try many things, but in the other hand I know the time is running out. I want my life to just flow like the water, but I can't—what if it will lead me to the wrong direction? Thankfully I already have my principles, but I don't want to be too strict because I'm afraid I won't be able to imply it to reality (you know, expectations and reality are just distinctive!)
...that I probably have said too much and I'm now afraid that you will be scared of me? LOL, I think these stupid facts will be enough. Now to the next stage!

If I could choose...

...my next place to live, that wouldn't be Jakarta. No, not at all. If I could choose I want to live in New York. Yeah, the empire state of mind. For a person like me, who's willing to work hard to make anything possible because I know it's all possible (read: an optimistic), I think New York is the best place. There's nothing you can do in New York, and people will still appreciate what you do. No stigma.
...my dream job, that wouldn't be dealing with politics or anything I learned in campus. Deep inside my heart, I want to be an artist (there's a significant difference of the real definition of 'artist'. In Indonesia, anyone you see on electronic cinemas—that you barely even know—is legitimate enough to be called 'artist'. And Indonesian people often describes 'artist' as a person who barely take a bath, have an eccentric manners, and rather look like a tramp. But in the real meaning, it means someone who appreciates and creates 'art'. Get it?). An artist could be anything: singer, director, actress, song writer, writer, columnist, screen play writer, fashion designer, cinematographer, dancer, presenter... I think all of them are 'artists'.
...my 'artistic' job, that would be an actress. Yeah, simply an actress. Especially an actress who's involved in low-budget, substantial, memorable, and likeable movies. Let's say I want to have Anna Kendrick, Rooney Mara, Emma Stone, and Kristen Stewart's (without those annoying Twilight franchise) resume rather than Keira Knightley's (even though I do adore her so much, but she has too high bar to reach—she's like an 'omega level actress'). I think it's really cool to portray someone's story that you can find in your daily life, that you can actually relate to it.
...my future husband, life partner, eternal love (well you name it!), that would be someone who has Ricardo Kaka's devoted faith and loyalty (but in Islam, of course :P), Shia LaBeouf's idealism for not to be materialistic, his great focus on his career, as well as his sense of humour, and then Andrew Garfield's giggles, style, easy going lifestyle, and humility. I don't know if God even created this kind of person, but if He actually did... Well... Would You please 'send' him to me? ;-D
...my amount of salary, that would be any amount where I can spend for myself and to make my deepest dream: helping suffered children (especially in education). I want to be like the awesome Edward Norton, volunteering and spend his spare time to help people in Africa for his own foundation. He did hold some charitable events looking for donations (through his website Crowdrise) and volunteers. And then I just found out that Rooney Mara also has her own small foundation called Faces of Kibera, to help homeless orphanage in Kenya. Wonderful people are simply wonderful...
...my dream house, that would be a small house inside a circle of wide green field—in which I can jog and run around it or play badminton. A house that I can clean up by myself on the weekends without any maids, and a house that is 'really me'. I definitely will make a small music studio, buy a decent set of home theatre, make a pretty big closet for my clothes, and make a small library. No need to buy luxurious furniture and such. Hopefully the hybrid (environmentally friendly) car will be much cheaper later so I can buy one. I love the simple life!

That's it. I don't want to be as rich as Ivanka Trump nor Paris Hilton. I don't want to have a jet-set, fabulous, glamorous life like what I see on Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane. I don't want to have the most perfect husband in the world. I can say that my dream seems a bit boring and common, LOL. But that's the way (uh-huh uh-huh) I like it!

OK then before I'm starting to ~~talk~~ write too much, I'd better stop. I just want to share my randomness with you guys, because it would be really annoying if I confessed them all by mouth. Writing them all is way better. Hopefully my 2011 resolution will be succeed. Have a nice day!! xoxo

"Voyage of the Dawn Treader"

2011-01-06T07:12:00.000+07:00

A few days ago I went to watch The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (haha, yes, finally!). I didn't have any high expectation of this movie, but I was so sure that it will be entertaining. But I was wrong. THIS MOVIE WAS SUPER DUPER COMPELLING!

Peter and Susan Pevensie are now in United States, living with Mr and Mrs Pevensie. While Edmund and Lucy who are still underage-but-growing up, staying in their uncle's house along with their annoying cousin Eustace. Everyone wants to kill Eustace at the first time but his character slowly develops throughout the movie, along with the unexpected adventures he has. Eustace is actually a smart kid, but he loves to make troubles with Edmund, and he doesn't believe in fairy tale. One day, when he and Edmund are fighting, Lucy realizes that the painting hung in her room is moving, and suddenly water starts to come out from it.

All three of them are drowned inside the room but when they got on to the surface, they find themselves in the middle of the sea. A huge ship comes in front of them, but it turns out to be the Dawn Treader, King Caspian's expedition ship. Caspian and his crew save the three kids and bring them to the ship. Caspian tells Edmund that Narnia has been in peace for three years, but he is still curious about finding the 6 lost former Telmar kings. And this is where the journey begins.

As you can guess, the adventure is filled with magical creatures and wonderful visual effects. But then, the least thing you can ever expected, the dialogue in every scene reflects a meaningful moral message. This is the best part that you couldn't even find in the previous two movies (The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian). Most teenagers almost lose their innocence, as they are affected by a desire to be a real man or simply be a beautiful woman (read: puberty). Edmund, who's been always 'number two' since the first and second movie, knowing that Peter is the highest king and oldest brother. And now, he becomes 'number two' again, because Caspian is the new king of Narnia and the captain of Dawn Treader. While the cute little Lucy, grows up into a nurturing and maternal teenager, but facing a new phase of 'attracting opposite sex'. She wants to be as beautiful as her sister Susan, and almost get herself in trouble when she finds a dangerous incantation.

Another best part is the character transform of Eustace, from the least heroic to the likely heroic. He is 'mentored' by Reepicheep, the mouse warrior, who teach him to fight with swords and give him wonderful life lessons (believe me, suddenly I'd love to have a cute mouse bestfriend like Reepicheep—recalling other characters who bestfriend with a wise mouse, in a book I just bought a couple of months ago, Clair de Lune, or even Cinderella! :D).

Overall I give this movie 3.5 stars out of 4. I'm sure the kids loved it! And yeah, I almost cried at the last part of the movie (as usual). And I had to hold my tears because I forgot to bring tissues (as usual). And I gotta say this movie is way better after 20th Century Fox snapped it from Disney—in direction and screenplay. For those who haven't seen it or who simply need an entertaining feature, go see this movie!

Let The Right One In

2011-01-03T19:19:00.000+07:00

"Would you let me in?"

What makes this movie creepy is actually not the murder nor blood, but the idea of the story itself. You know when you are attached to someone and that person will never let you go? I'm not talking about possessiveness, it's more like you are 'kept' by someone who has something wrong within her/him, and you know it and you still like that someone without knowing the future impacts because you are still a child. I don't know if you are so in love with that someone (read: love drunk) and you choose not to care about her/his 'frightening habits'. But throughout this movie, all I want to do is scream "Wake up! She's a monster! Run for your life!" at Oskar, the little guy who friends (or let's say, fall in love) with the vampire Eli. No matter how sweet, polite, nice, and protective Eli is to Oskar, no matter how good looking she is... That girl is no human. At all.

And that's what makes this movie damn good. Their friendship begins with their shared similarity: being a loner. Eli refuses to be friend with Oskar at first, knowing the risk of being around her, but then she starts to see Oskar in deeper sense. Oskar seems to be friendly and non-judgemental, but his main weakness is bullies. He is the main target of the bullies at his school, and is too afraid to fight back. Eli encourages Oskar to hit the bullies back, and Oskar tries to strengthen his mental and physical appearance by swimming and weight-lifting. Despite his weakness towards bullies, Oskar puts interest to criminal news and even forensics (I bet his favorite TV show is all kind of CSI!). He collects murder or any criminal articles from the local newspaper. And yeah, as you can guess, the criminal records grow since Eli moves next door to Oskar.

Eli lives with an old man whom people believe to be her 'father'. He is a real loner, when someone asks him to join his table with his friends at a restaurant, he refuses without saying 'Thank You'. I can tell that he's not Eli's real father, because Eli says she's been twelve for a "very long time", but he seems to really love Eli for he is willing to kill people, take their blood, and feed them to Eli (this is actually explained in the English version of the movie, Let Me In). Unfortunately he fails to bring Eli her 'dinner' twice, and at his second attempt he decides to pour his face with accumulator water so the police won't recognize his face. Eli visits him at the hospital, in a very hungry condition, and her 'father' finally gives himself up to her. She drinks his blood and he falls from the seventh floor. This is no love, this is freaky!

As Oskar gets closer to Eli, he knows what kind of 'person' she is. Yes, he finds out that she's a vampire, but instead of keeping him away from her or being afraid, he puts more interest on her. One night, Eli visits Oskar when his mother is away, and Oskar teases her without inviting her in. Eli steps into Oskar's apartment without invitation, and the blood starts to shed from all of her body. Oskar starts to panic and finally tell her the invitation (like I told you before, vampire is quite polite when it comes to entering someone's house—but apparently that Edward Cullen guy is not, since he loves to enter Bella's room by himself haha).

Things are getting worse when Eli kills a local citizen inside her apartment, and she decides to leave the town. Oskar is a bit 'devastated' (but not as annoying as Bella Swan in New Moon who looks like a stupid crazy girl for being left by her boyfriend forgetting the facts that she has many people who care for her—OK I need to stop comparing this cool movie to that sucky movie), but he realizes that he has to move on.

One day the bullies pull a prank for him by asking him to come to school for swimming practice, but it turns out to be a 'bully showdown' instead. The big bully challenges Oskar to stay under water for 3 minutes. If he succeed then the bully will only give him a small nick with his knife, but if he failed one of his eyes will be poked out (I think this kid watched too many Saw or Hostel movies). After the bully holds Oskar under water with his hand, a few minutes later, you will see this unbelievably creepy scene, although it isn't displayed.

OK, spoiler alert: suddenly there's a head falls into the water. And a pair of shaking legs like when someone is tortured. And then... The bully's hand that grips Oskar's hair is truncated and falls down. Another hand pulls Oskar up and saves him. Yes, vampire Eli is back. As the scene is 'zoomed out', you can see the bullies are all lied down without hands, legs, or head, and yeah, blood is everywhere.

You may guess the ending, Eli keeps Oskar to her forever. And ever. Without happily ever after, because in my logical sense, Eli will treat Oskar like the way she did to her 'father'. I bet Oskar will be the person who love her most but also her 'personal assistant' to kill people and help her feed. And this is the creepy idea I'm talking about earlier.

But the movie itself, I really enjoy it! Even though it's too silent because there's no scoring or music background, and the dialogue is just a few. But as a horror and vampire movie, it definitely nails the audience. Next thing I'm going to do is read the novel (yeah I already got it YAY!) and watch the English version.

Until then... xoxo

My Most Awaited Movies in 2011!

2011-01-02T09:11:00.001+07:00

I think I'm going to list my most awaited movies in 2011! There's a LOT but here's the highlight (I promise you, any Twalay Saga won't be on this list haha):

SUCKER PUNCH

Directed by the director of 300 and Watchmen, Zack Snyder (also will direct the upcoming Superman installment The Man Of Steel! I'm pretty sure this movie will be AMAZING in graphics and visual effects.
Release date: 25 March

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON

There will be no year I'm gonna pass without Shia LaBeouf's movie! I know the first two Transformers movies were sucky to the max, but Michael Bay said that this movie will be more serious and better in script writing. Another note, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, the Victoria's Secret hottie replaced M Fox in this movie. HELL YES!
Release date: 1 July

COWBOYS AND ALIENS

I actually have no idea about the plot of this movie but my favorite actress Olivia Wilde is on it, so... That would be the reason why I want to watch this movie. LOL.
Release date: 29 July

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES

No Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, but I'm still waiting for another cool Jack Sparrow's adventure! Penelope Cruz will be the new leading lady in this installment.
Release date: 20 May

KUNG FU PANDA 2

The first one succeed to make me laugh out loud! That would be the reason why I'm waiting for the sequel.
Release date: 27 May

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (PART 2)

As a huge Harry Potter fan I HAVE to witness the finale of this super amazing series. Hopefully I will be able to manage to see this movie at the premiere date, just like I did with the part one.
Release date: 15 July

Too bad not all of my most awaited movies haven't released the official trailer (or I'm just too lazy to embed the video here LOL), so here are the other mentions:

X-Men: First Class (3 June)
Happy Feet 2 (18 November)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (21 December)
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (16 December -- Tom Cruise is back!)
The Smurfs (3 August)
The Darkest Hour (15 August)
11.11.11 (11 November)
The Roommate (4 February)
Gnomeo and Juliet (11 February)

So Ready for 2011

2011-01-01T18:58:00.001+07:00

Hey guys, I know it's a bit late but I just wanna say: Happy New Year 2011! God bless you all, hopefully it will be a great year for you!

I didn't do much today, just staying at home. Well me and my mum went out to grab some food (Japanese food all the way!) and run errands. Today was another day for me to go out and look for Let Me In and Never Let Me Go movies, but didn't succeed. Again. Last night I spent 10 hours waiting for Let Me In download, but then when I played the movie turns out to be the real movie but just a part of it. It said that I got to download Coral Player to be able to play the movie. When I checked out the site, I had to buy the software $ 0.95 for three weeks trial, and then it would charge me per months. BLEH.

Seriously if those movies were played at the cinema then I would had watched them!

Another thing is, my internet connection has been running real slow since last night. So annoying. OK why am I whining around in this first day of 2011? LOL. Maybe because I'm too tired and all. Tomorrow I'm going to study French because my French tutor will likely give me a test next week!

Alright then, I'm now waiting for MTV Video Music Awards 2010 re-run. Of course I won't be waiting for anyone except Andrew Garfield. Have a great Saturday night!

xoxo

Au Revoir 2010!

2010-12-31T18:00:00.001+07:00

I just finished watching Ben Affleck's self-directed movie The Town, and I gotta say it was a pretty great action movie. Just like what Doug said at the end of the movie: no matter how much we have changed, we still have to pray the price all the things we've done. =) In the other hand, I'm currently downloading Let Me In and it said ETA: 1 day 3 hours. I really I wish I had a high speed wi-fi connections!

Anyways, I actually have no plans to celebrate the new year's eve tonight. I feel pretty unwell, I went to hospital this morning because I was so afraid that I probably had a sinusitis. But thankfully I had not, and the doctor said it was a sore in my tonsil. He gave me prescription and I have to drink the medicine two times a day after eating. Bleh.

And I can't believe that it's the last day of 2010—time surely flies real fast doesn't it? But I gotta say that I can't be more thankful for my 2010. God have given sooo many wonderful things for me, whether it's tangible or intangible. I really enjoy every second of it (and that's probably why I feel this year flies really fast!). I learned many things this year and it would be really useful in 2011.
And in this opportunity I'd love to list my best & worst of 2010 from music, movies, television, and in general. All in TOP 3. Here we go!

Top 3 Best Movies of 2010: "Inception", "The Social Network", "Toy Story 3"
Honorable mention: "Ghost Writer"
Top 3 Best Songs of 2010: "Firework" by Katy Perry, "Youtopia" by Armin van Buuren and Owl City, "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz
Honorable mention: "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry
Top 3 Best TV Series Episode of 2010: "Grilled Cheesus" in Glee Season 2, all episodes of America's Next Top Model, any episodes of How I Met Your Mother. And I won't mention any Gossip Girl episodes since I kinda hate it right now. And I didn't watch too many tv series this year so... Yeah.
Top 3 Best Moments of 2010: The Indonesian national team went through the final of AFF Suzuki Cup, Spain national team won the World Cup, and I got graduated!! =D
Top 3 Best Celebrity Crushes of 2010: Andrew Garfield, Andrew Garfield, Garrett Hedlund
Top 3 Best Celebrity Girl Crushes of 2010: Evan Rachel Wood & Olivia Wilde
Top 3 Best New Crush Discoveries of 2010: Andrew Garfield, Gerard Pique, Fernando Llorente
Top 3 Best Fandom of 2010: Andrew Garfield, Andrew Garfield, Andrew Garfield

Top 3 Worst Movies of 2010: "Skyline", "Setan Facebook" (yeah I saw this movie at the cinema. Go figure!!), anything starring Megan Fox (bwahahaha)
Top 3 Worst Songs of 2010: I gotta say my ears were pretty receptive this year. Even I enjoy Nicki Minaj and any other weird songs.
Top 3 Worst TV Series Episode of 2010: Gossip Girl season 4 where Blair and Chuck are together.
Top 3 Worst Moments of 2010: The fandom of Twilight Saga never ends, I'm so fed up with the whole R*bst*n shit!
Top 3 Worst Celebrity Boys of 2010: Ariel Peterpan. LOL.
Top 3 Worst Celebrity Girls of 2010: those local celebrities like Dewi Perssik and Julia Perez. Duh.
Top 3 Worst Fandom of 2010: still the Twalay Saga fandom. Disgusting!

Let... Me... In...

2010-12-30T17:25:00.006+07:00

"She's right behind me... Isn't she?!"

I've been a fan of vampire movies since Interview With the Vampires, Monster Squad, and anything vampire-ish movies I watched when I was in elementary school. I don't know, vampires are cool! They are ruthless and brutal but in a very chic-classy way (look, I'm not a sadistic but I just love the idea of the vampire characterization—the most elegant predator ever lived :D).

Unfortunately since the release of Twilight seems like everything goes wrong. I read a research that teenage girls in United States, a few of them, were engaging in a pretty serious 'necrophilia' problem. That is scary! Rob Pattinson may not nailed his performance in that most not-dramatic-and-lifeless-vampire-movies-ever, even though I was pretty much dazzled by Edward Cullen's presence and I gotta admit I love the first Twilight book. But when the girls were all over Rob, I really get it. He's hot. But I don't understand to the girls who actually 'digested' the fake idea of 'vampire is the real gentlemen' and started to love the immortal creature, not the actor. OH PLEASE.

Why am I suddenly talking about vampires? Let's say I just watched a Korean music video on MTV. And there was Chloe Moretz on it (yeah, the cutie Hit Girl from Kick-Ass!). She killed a big guy, and her skin turned ugly when it's touched by sunlight. And then I read that it's the soundtrack of her movie Let Me In. Oh yeah, a vampire movie that I've missed this year. And I feel so stupid for not paying a lot more attention to it, because apparently most top critics gave a very wonderful review.

I really love the theatrical poster of Let Me In. Artistic!

Let Me In is a remake of 2008 Swedish movie Let The Right One In which was based on a 2004 novel with the same title. The story tells about a 12-years-old boy who is being bullied at school who befriends a little vampire girl. She moved next door to him, and get closer ever since. This might sound cheesy right? But according to a review I read, it makes us think about who's the real monster. Most of the humans are described flawed: a pedophile man, bullying kids, and murderers. While that little vampire girl (who physically looks 12 but actually 2 centuries old) doesn't actually do anything wrong except that she needs blood to live.

For those of you who loves vampire features might understand why it was titled 'let me in' or 'let the right one in'. Here's my brief explanation: like I said before, vampire is a monster in disguise. It often described as an elegant, sleek, calm, and even sensual person. Another thing is that they actually have manners. If you've watched True Blood—the first season, when Sookie Stackhouse met Bill Compton for the first time—you can see it clearly. Bill said to Sookie that he wouldn't enter her house unless she invited him in. It's a good thing I guess, but ironically a few humans doesn't understand the meaning of it.

Anyways, I think I gotta go out tomorrow to Universal (my most favorite place to rent DVDs!), and rent both version of the movies directly! I believe in Matt Reeves (director of Cloverfield), who directed the English version movie, that he will bring the horror and the thrill to us!

And below is a clip from the movie which I really like. If you remember the Twilight movie where Bella finds out about Edward's true identity, then this scene actually resemblances that. But I think it's way better because: even these little actors have more assuring and deep expression than Pattinson and Stewart's. Shame on those two on the latter.

Owen: Are you a vampire?

Abby: I need blood to live.

Owen: How old are you–really?

Abby: Twelve. I've been twelve for a very long time.

And here's the theatrical trailer:

And here's the Shin Hye Sung's music video, Hello And Goodbye, the soundtrack of Let Me In movie:

Peter & Mary Jane: (01) The First Encounter

2010-12-30T07:41:00.001+07:00

OK, so this would be my first—well, technically not my first but it's the first time I got the guts to publish it so, yeah let's say it's my first—fan fiction. Even worse, it's actually a romance fan fiction, d'oh. But this couple is just appealing so I can't help to make it!

The concept is the mix of usual 'novel' style combined with script writing style. But the conversation written in the script writing style is all of Peter and Mary Jane. I also add some graphics to make it more interesting, and it was really hard since Andrew Garfield and Evan Rachel Wood were never in the same movie. But luckily I got some pics of their movie scenes that actually fit for each other.

And please pardon me if the story isn't as good as you expected, haha. My English is still sucky, but the more I read it at least you will understand what I'm trying to say perfectly. xoxo

01 : THE FIRST ENCOUNTER

INT. Night at the Parkers' house.

(Song on the background: The Temper Trap "Sweet Disposition")

After having a date with Gwen Stacy, Peter finds that Aunt May is having a guest at the Parker's house. As Peter walks in he sees a girl in a perfectly slender body, wearing a quite fancy blue dress that looks nice combined with her long hair from the back. She walks out of the kitchen while Aunt May is right in front of her.

Aunt May realizes that her nephew is standing next to the couch at the living room. "Ah, you finally get home," says Aunt May. "It's Mary Jane, that nice Watson girl next door. She brought us a very delicious dinner," she continues.

"Oh, that's nice," Peter says.

"It's always nice to see a really good person comes here to comfort me, ever since I lost my husband," says Aunt May.

"You are never alone, Aunt May. I'm always here for you," Peter gives his aunt a hug. Mary Jane is picking her trench coat from the cupboard and wear it right away.

"Thank you darling for the dinner tonight," Aunt May walks toward her.

"No problem Aunt May. I loved to share it with you," Mary Jane replies. "I had a great time with you. I'll see you tomorrow," says Mary Jane.

"Say hi to Aunt Anna from me," Aunt May hands a box of cookies to Mary Jane.

"Thank you Aunt May, I will,". Mary Jane walks out of the dining room to the door. As she turns around, Peter finally sees her face. Their eyes meet. She smiles to him. There's nothing Peter can do except a very nervous gesture because he is simply stunned by her beauty. The worse thing is she can actually sense his nervous breakdown.

Mary Jane: "Face it, Tiger. You just hit the jackpot."
Peter: "Oh shit. She knows!"

Peter tries to say hi but not any single word can come out from his mouth. He can only look at her passing right through him to the door, while she confidently smiles at him.

MARY-JANE

Face it Tiger, you just hit the jackpot.

Peter chuckles to himself as he sees Mary Jane walks out and slam the door.

So Much To Tell!

2010-12-30T07:22:00.000+07:00

I have a LOT of funny and entertaining things to tell you but I haven't found the right time to write them in this blog. Well last night I and my high school besties went to watch the second leg of AFF Final Indonesia vs Malaysia. It was SUPERB! It's always nice to watch the match with the people who support the same team—and last night, I'm sure that everyone in Indonesia did support our beloved national squad!

Indonesia won the match 2-1 but didn't bring the AFF Cup. Even so, I am so proud of them, they played reeeally great and I think they have to keep it up and make it better for the next championships. They still have plenty of time, and I hope they are targeting to join the 2018 or 2022 World Cup! (I will be really old by that time then, hahaha).

Anyways, I've spent the last two days finishing my newest project: a fan fiction of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson! They've been my most favorite superhero couple, and knowing that ~~my boyfriend~~ Andrew Garfield will be the new Spidey only makes me even love him–Peter/Spidey–more (OK, Garfield as well, haha). Unfortunately according to the media reports, there will be no Mary Jane at the first installment of the reboot, so I make my own storyline involving Mary Jane. In my own version, the red head beauty is played by Evan Rachel Wood (yes, that Gucci Guilty girl who's too flawless and almost looking like a mannequin). Going to post the story right after this!

xoxo

Tron: Legacy

2010-12-24T19:59:00.000+07:00

A couple of weeks ago I made a pact with myself, to ‘control my desire to watch movies at the cinema’ whenever a new one comes out—at least until the end of this month. It isn’t like my usual activity, you know, I’ve been striving myself to watch the latest movie in the premiere date. I don’t know, I had this mindset that watching movie at the exact date of its premiere somehow more ‘prestigious’ and ‘cool’.

I kept the promise and voila, I could resist myself not to go to the cinema even though Rapunzel, Unstoppable, The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and Tron: Legacy were released. For me this is an accomplishment, because I must say I’m a movie mania. I can watch four to five different movies in a month, even watch two movies in a day. It’s probably the same as those fashionistas and shopaholic who can’t help just looking at the ‘new release’ mini dress or shoes. It was rather impulsive.

And eventually today, at 24 December—the Christmas Eve, I went to watch one of those movies. I chose Tron: Legacy, because last week I watched Disney Mara-TRON with Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund on it (they’re super gorgeous!) and was simply curious about this movie. I haven’t watched the predecessor though, but I read Olivia’s tweet that we aren’t obliged to watch the first one to understand this sequel. OK, let’s go directly to my review!

Despite the rather predictable plot, Tron: Legacy is a great movie choice before the curtain of 2010 closed. The movie is just simply cool—I suggest you have to watch the 3D version because the special effect is AWE...wait for it...SOME (trying to pull out some Barney Stinson here, haha)! It’s really nice to see that the director might chose this simple plot because it’s under Walt Disney Pictures production, and Disney movies are mostly (and somehow must be made) suitable for kids (at least teenagers), so they had to create a good balance between the super advanced effects and understandable storyline.

Any of the Grid fights are absolutely my favourite. The motorcycle race is superb—I wonder if that kind of race track actually exist. And I love the design of the Tron world. Jeff Bridges successfully brings the ‘feel of the movie’, as a hopeless father/ inventor who’s ‘alienated’ by his own creations. I gotta say that Bridges is the star, and even though I love Hedlund and Wilde so much, they simply work as the ‘eye candies’.

Since I haven’t watched the first movie, I actually feel that I didn’t watch this movie as a whole. I mean, I still need to figure out some things: Flynn said he created Clu and Tron to help him build the real Tron world. But unfortunately I, as the viewer, don’t have much information about the Tron himself (even though at the end of the movie they reveal it). The ending is cheesy and unsatisfying, but I almost cried when Flynn let his son get away with Quorra and he sacrifices himself (I told you, Jeff Bridges is the man!). Not forget to mention that seeing the incredible effect is so worth it! Plus, Daft Punk did a really great job on scoring this movie. The epic-techno (OK to be honest I don't know the genre name) music suits the movie theme: sophisticated and futuristic.

So what are you waiting for? Go to your nearest theatre to experience the Tron world itself. Don’t forget to choose the 3D version if you have an extra cash. In case you want to go out and hang out with your family in this Christmas holiday, watching Tron: Legacy might be a great choice. Happy Holidays and have a great weekend, people!

Happy Mothers Day!

2010-12-22T05:36:00.000+07:00

At this very special day, I dedicate this post to the most wonderful human God ever created... Mother! So say hi to all of your mothers from me! =)

I'm planning to get my mum something, but still haven't figured it out yet. Any suggestions? :D

Anyways, have a great Wednesday, people!

B I N G O !

2010-12-21T06:06:00.002+07:00

Playing BINGO was probably one of my most favourite activity during class—when it gets boring. Me and my friend were usually playing the most simple type of bingo. We wrote numbers from 1 to 25 in five columns and five rows of random order. Then we mentioned the numbers that are in the same horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line. When we finally got 5 different lines, we got to say, “BINGO!” straight after. It’s fun and simple!

This game is absolutely popular in the Western countries, so don’t be surprised if you found a lot of bingo parlours in United Kingdom or United States. It also varies to a lot of bingo style, but the most common bingo is the “bingo cards” game. (I’m not sure of the type of bingo game I used to play—I don’t know the name! LOL.)

Apparently, this bingo game has many advantages, especially for elder people. Simply because it requires core mental abilities and playing it helps use the part of the brain which often decline with ageing.

According to this article from BBC, “Playing bingo can keep the mind in trim—and the older you are the more agile you may be.” According to a research conducted by Julie Winstone, a cognitive psychologist from University of Southampton, bingo players—both young and old—were faster and more accurate than non-bingo players in many of the tests she performed. And in certain tasks, even the elder players “outperformed” the younger ones. :D

Now, thanks to the very advanced technology, we don’t have to look for those bingo parlours because we actually can play bingo games online. There are TONS of bingo sites on the internet, but many people said that 888bingo is the best one, because it offers free bingo as well.

Well now if you’re bored and looking for some fun games to play with your pals or family, maybe it could be... BINGO! ;)

The Bed Intruder

2010-12-20T21:12:00.001+07:00

Just like Star World Asia, I'm going to give you a Monday night laughs. You know there's a lot of super creative people on YouTube, who makes super funny videos just to make you laugh out loud. I've found tons of funny vids on YouTube, but this one currently stuck in my brain. Please welcome, Antoine Dodson with The Bed Intruder Song!

Note: This video was certainly made just for fun and for entertainment purposes only. I really hope if you popped in to my blog and watch this video you'll be laughing instead of offended. ;-) So please just take off your "serious thought" for a few minutes and enjoy! :D

It was all started with this "fake news" video. So there's a guy intruded the woman's bed who lives in Lincoln Park. Then her brother named Antoine Dodson got interviewed by the news channel and had something to say to the intruder. Without listening to his words, just looking into his face I laughed out loud already. He's just sooo funny!

Antoine said, "Obviously we have a rapist in Lincoln Park. He's climbing in your window, he's snatchin' your people up. Tryin' to rape 'em so y'all need to hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your husband 'cause he's rapin' everybody out there."

But apparently the intruder was stupid, since he left his t-shirt and fingerprints on it. *LOL*. So Antoine continued his speech, "We got your t-shirt, you done left fingerprints and all. You are so dumb. You are really dumb. For real."

And then the very famous closing line, Antoine said, "You don't have to come and confess, we're lookin' for you. We gon find you, I'm lettin' you to know that. So you can run and tell that, homeboy!".

And then here comes The Bed Intruder Song, a hip-hop song created based on Antoine's "speech" from the first video verbatim. I think this song is pretty catchy and I can't stop listening to it over and over again! And apparently this song went to the "Top Download List" on iTunes. Haha.

But of course I won't left this post without any Andrew Garfield cuteness. Why? Because Andrew actually sang the song during an interview!! And yes he did it with his uber cute British accent. With his uber cute giggles. Oh boy. And yes all of this was actually an excuse for me to post something about Andrew Garfield. Hahaha.

Hope you enjoy my Monday night laughs, and hope you had a great Monday! xoxo

Internet

2010-12-19T16:15:00.000+07:00

Globalisation and the advanced information & technology have changed the way we live significantly. Now we can communicate very easily, especially if you wanted to keep in touch with someone who lives in the galaxy far far away (read: different country). Internet has inevitably become the most important thing in our life—I can say that maybe 50% of our activity does need internet.

In Indonesia, I can really feel the evolution of internet connection. My daddy first introduced me to internet when I was in elementary school. He took me to an internet cafe, and taught me how internet works. I've been "addicted" since then. And as the demand of internet have increased, one of the local communication company (read: Telkom) "released" their user-friendly internet connection package called Telkomnet Instan. It was very pricy because we got to paid Rp 150 per minute, with a really slow connection. And I understood because not so many people used internet that time.

I still prefer to go to the internet cafe than using my home internet connection. My uncle found a very fast internet cafe, its speed was almost 2 Mbps. I gotta say it was bloody fast! I was in junior high school and my daily website was BackstreetBoys.com, BBoys.com, BSBBlvd.com, and any other Backstreet Boys and Nick Carter fan sites out there (LOL, so old school!). Thanks to that super speedy internet cafe, I could watch Nick Carter's self-made Backstreet Boys comic superhero by Adobe Flash. (The next day I went to school and told my friends about it, and they were like "Oh my God where did you watch it?" I said "On the internet." And they're like "You got an internet? AWESOME!").

And right now, as you can see, internet providers are like EVERYWHERE. They offer a lot of packages for time based or volume based. The price varies depend on the speed we want to have (geez, now we can choose the speed we want!). The device also varies: from a USB modem, wi-fi enrouter, LAN, etc. Everyone uses internet, from kids to grandparents. Suddenly it's a primary need, just like clothes, house, and food!

But unfortunately, it's too bad that the spread of internet in Indonesia is still limited. People who live in sub-urban areas still don't have the chance to enjoy internet. But it's actually a good thing though, you know because the spread of pornography is a huge case here. People (especially young boys) need to be educated first before allowed to use internet. Thankfully there's a lot of internet cafes which supports "Blocking Adult Content" but still, we need to "kill that naughty thoughts". I'm not trying to be a saint or something, but if you check the criminal cases of rape and sexual harassment in Indonesia, they're mostly caused by the "curiousity" after watching or reading pornographic content. Pathetic.

There's actually no free wi-fi here (except in campus area, offices, or the mall. And you actually have to buy a drink or food first at the mall, so it's basically not a free wi-fi). And even though we are able to choose the package that suits our need, it actually doesn't fulfill our need. In my campus, there's a correspondency program with students abroad, and usually my friends who join the program have a weekly (or monthly?) meeting with those international students by webcam chat. My friends usually use our campus internet service for the webcam chat, but still it wasn't satisfying.

In another case—well, my case—I need to update my fan sites everyday. And I do strive to make my fan sites as the best ones, so I provide the visitors with the latest news and the highest quality media (photos, videos, etc.). Unfortunately, I haven't been able to satisfy my visitors' need with the multimedia content. I can't make a special menu to collect and share the videos, simply because of the internet connection (I tried to upload a video once, it was oh-so-slow!). I totally envy the fan sites which provide this video menu. =(

I just really hope that the government understands about this. Internet is now a primary need. Would you, government, please make a special budget for internet so each city could expand its bandwidth and finally we can be as cool as Singapore which has been enabling free wi-fi connections everywhere?

But this problem actually motivates me to go and live abroad. Hopefully soon in 2011. Who knows?

Well that's all I want to share today. Happy weekend everyone! Have a nice one! xoxo

Teenage Dream(s)

2010-12-17T11:47:00.000+07:00

Call me weirdo, but dreaming of my favourite celebrities have been a “routine” on my nights. I don’t even know why, somehow our favourite things are attached to our sub-conscious minds—if you don’t believe me. So it proves that we actually like them, from the bottom of our hearts. Ha!

And it happens to me quite often. I dreamt about my favourite people in a very strange circumstances. (Well it’s a dream so it’s always weird!). I’m going to pick 3 of my most favourite dreams with my most favourite 3 boys: Kaka, Shia LaBeouf, and Andrew Garfield.

(When it said ~The End~ on each story it means that I didn’t remember anything afterwards. Biggest probability is: I was suddenly awake. :D)

Ricky, We Need A Ride Home

Me and Grandmere were shopping and hanging out inside a building. But suddenly people screamed: “FIRE!!!” so we immediately ran to find the exit. After getting out of the building, we were so confused to find Grandmere’s ride since everyone was running around. The building was “demolished”—it just fell down! But then an angel named Ricardo Kaka came to us.

Kaka: (looking at the very confused us) Hey, do you need any help?

Me & Grandmere: YES.

Kaka: Do you need a ride home?

Me & Grandmere: YES, PLEASE!!

And then he took us to his car. We didn’t go home immediately, we stopped by to—well, allegedly—his house, and he introduced us to his wife and mum. His mum gave us some cookies.

~ The End ~

The next day, a building in Tanah Abang was destructed. And in the night, Grandmere’s motorcycle tire was leaked. She definitely needed a ride home. But nothing to do with Kaka though. What a coincidence!

Megatron Attacks!!

It was a very sunny day in my campus. Me and some of my friends were hanging out in the lobby, chattering and laughing. But then suddenly, we heard an explosion from the south—and then more explosions at Grha Sabha Permana—a building located just a few metres away from where we were sitting on. People started to run and scream, and I heard some of them said, “MEGATRON!!!”.

Me and my friends tried to escape but not until my friend Sasa did something insane by running to the south, where “Megatron” attacked.

Me: Sa, lo mau ke mana?!?! – Sa, where are you going?!?!?

Sasa: Anjrit keren banget Nit sumpah!!! – Shit, this is bloody great!!!

Me: Hah?!? Lo udah gila apa?!?! Balik sini jangan ke situ!! – What?!? Are you crazy?!?! Get back here don’t go that way!!

As I watched crazy Sasa went to the south, there was a guy who’s really familiar running to me. Oh yes, it’s the love of my life and the arch enemy of Megatron itself, Shia LaBeouf.

Shia: (running to me and squeezed my arms) You have to get out of here.

Me: (stunned by Shia) Wh... wha... what?

Shia: (in a big rush) You’ve got to get out of here, it’s so dangerous.

Me: (foolishly didn’t want to lose any moment with my Shia) I’m not leaving without you.

Shia: (started to be emotional) Are you crazy?! You have to get out of here NOW!! RUN!!

And then Shia was gone. Just like when Harry Potter did an apparition.

~ The End ~

I remember I had that dream in 2008, when the Eagle Eye buzz was everywhere. And then, in 2009, when the official trailer of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen came out, there was this scene where Shia said to his Dad, “You don’t hide, you don’t stop, you run!”. And then in the second trailer, there’s a scene with M Fox where she said, “I’m not gonna go without you!”. And I was like, “Hey, she stole my words!!”. LOL.

Stargazing

One night, me and the guy who’s currently all over my blog and Tumblr posts, Andrew Garfield, were laying on the ground and chattering. He looked really handsome and he wore... a plaid shirt. (I started to believe the relation of our favourite stuff and the sub-conscious mind, somehow it’s correct!!).

Andrew: So, what’s your zodiac?

Me: I’m a Gemini.

Andrew: Oh. Do you know Gemini and Leo are compatible to be together?

Me: (reluctantly) Well, yeah... Many people said so.

Andrew: Why do you think Gemini and Leo are compatible together?

Me: Well, um... I don’t know, maybe they complete each other. Gemini is impatient and compulsive, while Leo is more laid-back. Gemini is sensitive, while Leo is somehow careless. Gemini is very empathetic, while Leo is sometimes self-centered. So I think they could create a balance.

Andrew: Do you think any of that is true?

Me: I guess so.

Andrew: How do you know that?

Me: My life is surrounded by Leos.

Andrew: Do you like it?

Me: Yeah, they’re fun. I like them. Most of my closest friends are Leo.

Andrew: Cool. And I’m a Leo by the way.

~ The End ~

The next morning, I googled ANDREW GARFIELD and found this on his IMDB profile: Andrew Russel Garfield. Born in Los Angeles, California, 20 August 1983. That’s when I found out that Andrew is a freakin’ Leo, just like what he told me in my dreams.

Oh dear God, is this a sign?!? That someday I’ll be marrying a Leo-who’s-compatible-with-Gemini named Andrew Russel Garfield?!? AMEN.

***

OK guys, that’s all I want to share with you today. Quite random, I know. Hopefully it will entertain you!

xoxo

"Boy A" Appreciation Post

2010-12-06T13:06:00.005+07:00

I guess my yesterday's fangirling for Andrew Garfield isn't over yet. Yesterday I made a few graphics (again), with the Boy A theme. I love this movie—you really have to watch it! Andrew was so melancholic and did a great job playing the character. =) Now enjoy my "screen-capping" fan arts! :P

The opening scene of the movie.

The restaurant scene. It's really cute that he had no idea about Mexican chicken.

The last scene. A very very sad ending. This movie fits to the quotations I wrote above in the image. The best expression after watching it would be "Poor guy!!! *weeping*".

Andrew deserves his BAFTA for this role. I guess he'll be a great Spider-Man/ Peter Parker. And for those of you who are wondering why didn't I put these up to my Tumblr: whenever I tried to visit the site, it's always said "We'll be back shortly". And that would be one of the least favourite thing about Tumblr: unstable server.

Note: I made all of these in Photoshop. And click the picture for bigger size. :)

Sunday Crush: Andrew Garfield

2010-12-05T11:05:00.002+07:00

I just learned a new techniques of colouring in Photoshop—it was the one I've been looking for lately. And I took Andrew's photo for some practice. But this photo is originally gorgeous, because it's him looking really hot!

MTV "awarded" Andrew Garfield as "The Stars We're Most Thankful For in 2010". And I couldn't agree more! He's a cute yet talented British actor (well he's half American—but I still prefer call him British actor), he was the BAFTA winner for his critically-acclaimed role in Boy A. Seriously guys you have to watch Boy A, if I didn't watch it with my mum I would definitely weep a lot.

Not to mention that he played in this year's biggest movie The Social Network as Eduardo Saverin. Also starred alongside Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan in Never Let Me Go. Oh and he was also chosen to play Peter Parker / Spider-Man in the next Spider-Man Reboot movie franchise. Can you believe he's the new Spider-Man—my most favourite superhero of all time?!? CHEERS TO THAT!

So I've been fangirling all over him these days. I made a few edits of his photos and posted them to my Tumblr (oh yes, my place to post random stuff and such! :D). I just feel like I have to share his uber-cuteness to you!

And these are my Andrew edits. Feel free to comment! :)

Happy Birthday, Mum!

2010-11-28T19:51:00.002+07:00

Today is my mum’s birthday. To be honest my family never celebrates each of our birthday specially—we often go to lunch or dinner together, and that’s it. I’m probably the one who’s always been celebrating my birthday with my friends (never heard of my brother preparing his birthday party—ever!). But my parents seem to have no problem with it. And today my mum celebrated her birthday with me and my brother (unfortunately my dad is still in Jakarta) at lunch. Simple and minimalist but it was fun!

I purportedly give her my graduation ceremony as an early birthday present, but I guess it wouldn’t happen. She never asks me to give her anything, all she wants is to see me become a successful person. She never wanted me to return her favour, for I can’t even return it to her. I literally owe her my whole life—I’ve been spending each second with her until now.

Speaking of my mum, I think she’s the coolest mother in the world (well, each person will definitely think this way). Why? Because I think she’s different. She’s not your average type of mom. She’s very casual, rather tomboy. You’ll never see her dress up or wear any make up, she only does this occasionally. She never goes to the salon to get her hair done, or even shop till drop. She’s not that kind of woman. Of course we go to shop together, but not excessively. Whenever she has more amount of money, she won’t spend it by buying clothes or skin treatment. She only puts interest in one thing: cooking.

She’s the best cook. Ever. At least in my world. I never see her stop cooking. She can cook two or three different menus on a day, and they’re all always delicious! She’s so creative in cooking things—mix and match, and voila! You’ll taste the best food. Her dream is to have her own restaurant, but she holds back. Her main reason is that she’s afraid to miss the moments with me and my brother, she’s afraid that she’ll be too busy maintaining the restaurant. Well it happened once when she opened her own canteen in one of Yogyakarta’s private university. She really enjoyed cooking rawon, opor, and soto every day. But she felt that she missed quality time with me and my brother (plus, the place rent tax and price of meat were increased, and she wasn’t allowed to increase her foods prices) so she decided to quit.

Well, maybe this is not a birthday present, but I promise her that one day I’m going to help her building her own restaurant. The best way to channel her favourite activity, cooking. It’s a shame that her delicious cooking only kept by our family. I often invite my friends to have lunch in my house, with my mother’s cooking, and they all love it! Now wish me luck finding my dream job—so I could make a lot of money and make my mother’s dream come true. ;-)

Thanksgiving & Things To Be Grateful For

2010-11-26T19:33:00.002+07:00

Thanksgiving may be not a holiday nor a common celebration in Indonesia, but I just can’t get away from its wonderful meaning. I celebrated Thanksgiving once in 2008 with my college friends. It was held by American Corner library, and I luckily got invited. We watched classical movies, the first was an explanation movie about Thanksgiving itself—where the Native Americans finally made truce with the explorers. The second was The Wizard of Oz, but because the movie duration was too long, we didn’t finish it and straightly go to the next event. There was a fun game, and then finally the time to eat! I think there was a turkey, but I got home earlier so, alas, I didn’t enjoy the turkey.

I’m not American, so cooking turkey in Thanksgiving isn’t compulsory for me, but I feel that Thanksgiving is a really special day where we to be grateful for all the things we have. Although we are obliged to be thankful and grateful in every day (even in every minute of our lives), celebrating it once a year in a huge event is a nice thing to do. You know, this could be a reminder—and it’s a great thing that it’s celebrated in the end of year, so we can actually reminisce the wonderful things happened and belong to us through the year.

There are many things—wonderful things—happened to me this year. I don’t even know where to start. Bad things happened as well of course, I won’t deny it. (Not to mention Mount Merapi eruptions and cancelled graduation—as the highlights.) But why do I have to talk and whine about it when the good things are way bigger and more important?

And I couldn’t overcome those sadness and experienced the happiness without the supportive and loving people around me: my family and friends. Don’t know if I could do anything without them. Thank You God for creating them to the world. And of course, I’ve “met” so many inspiring people—from real life, through reading, through music, through television, through movies... I can say that I’ve been listening, watching, reading, a lot of inspiring stuff.

One thing I’m pretty proud of myself is maturity. I do feel that I grow up a lot (not the height, I’m still as petite as I used to be. Definitely have to make a new swimming suit and start swimming again!), my emotion is much stable, I could take a quite huge responsibility, and I can eliminate the ‘laziness’. Now I’m learning to be more discipline, because this is the time where I see the real world. No more safety zone, I have to get out of my shell.

Keep yourself ‘thankful’ and ‘grateful’ because that’s when you’re receptive to life. :)

Bully Has to be Beaten Down!

2010-11-25T07:40:00.000+07:00

I just read this article from Huffington Post, about New Jersey's school officials which have failed to stop bullying for six years:

New Jersey's attorney general said Tuesday that school officials in Emerson, N.J., failed to stop the bullying of one of its student -- which included threats and assaults -- for six years, according to the Boston Herald.
Attorney General Paula T. Dow announced that the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights found that there is probable cause that the district's board of education ignored the harassment, violating the state's anti-discrimination laws.
According to The Herald, Dow said:
"Our investigation suggests that this young man was the target of consistent harassment for a period of years and that despite the existence of a written 'zero tolerance' policy regarding such conduct, his fellow students routinely subjected him to the kind of torment no one should have to endure."
The student, identified in documents as J.C. Jr., was allegedly assaulted on numerous occasions by classmates at school functions, mocked on MySpace and threatened to have his throat slit by a male classmate.
The announcement came just a day after state legislators passed one of the nation's toughest anti-bullying bills. The bill still awaits Governor Chris Christie's signature.
The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act, named after the Rutgers student who committed suicide in September as a result of harassment, will require officials to intervene if a student is harassed based on sexual orientation, race, gender or other factors.

This might be rather 'common' case in United States, since a lot of victims committed suicide because of bullying. One thing that bothers me is basically about United States itself. Well, there are a lot of bullying cases as well in Indonesia, for example the case of Nero gang. Nero consists of six or seven obnoxious girls who loves to beat the others out of their group. They had been taken to the police station but I never heard about them anymore. Hopefully the local government takes the right action by putting them to the rehabilitation or counseling programs rather than jail. They're still young and I'm sure they still have future. But this Nero case might be still understandable, because these girls are likely impoverished, they do go to school but I guess their behaviours aren't adjusted. I have no idea about their parents though, but knowing that they live in a sub-urban area and not well-educated, I think it simply answers the question why.

Differs from the Indonesian case, I still find it very weird to see such thing in United States. It's a liberal, democratic, and open-minded country, for God's sake. And apparently their teenagers still act like that? That's shameful. I know this guy from the internet, we knew each other because we both have a fansite and affiliated. We talked a lot and he told me he hate school solely because of the bullies. He said, "I don't want to go to school. If I should then I want to be invisible,". In contrary, I had always been passionate when it comes to go to school -- meeting my friends, studying, socialisation, etc. Because there is actually no such thing in my school -- there are a lot of girls fights but it happened to those who actually had problems with each other.

I love Mean Girls movie, I think it's funny and awesome, but it actually shows that those mean bullies are simply stupid. They don't have any life besides making the others miserable. I don't think they even have life goals, ambitions to change the world, or something like that. Their minds are shallow, rather primitive, they're not empathetic, let alone understand someone's feeling. They're like devils in disguise. And I feel really sorry for them, for being useless but sorrows to everyone. And I must say, Hey bullies, why don't you get a life?!?

I totally agree with the New Jersey attorney to investigate the bullying case further. Someone has to do this, initially, and if she can get it right then hopefully the other states will follow her steps. Anti-discrimination laws might have an extensive meaning, I think a special law about 'bullying' will be more specific. Unfortunately most anti-bullying movements are limited and not able to make such legitimate rules or laws. Those are created to raise the bullying awareness socially, so the teenagers will be brave enough to stand up and fight bully by themselves. Of course I agree and support this, but without teacher's counseling or local authority's law enforcement, it will take even longer to finish this problem.

The implications of bullying vary depends on each victim's characteristic. One will loathe herself/himself so much, causing them with a very low self-esteem. One will despair, and might end up badly with suicidal actions. One will probably keep a huge revenge, and turn out to be worse than the ones who bullied him/her (I watch Criminal Minds a lot so I know this might be happened! ;p). Parents have a huge part in this, no matter how busy they are, they have to arrange at least one quality time with their kids, talking about how's their school going, how do they feel about it, etc. Be friends with your parents isn't a bad thing, I do so and it does great! I tell my mum & dad almost everything, and they don't have to worry about me (read: being overprotective) in return.

I'm sorry for giving too much rant in this post. I'm just so angry that there are more victims of bullying, but the authority doesn't do anything about it. All I'm praying for: hope God will give a huge patience and wonderful future to the victims, and hope the bullies will aware of their actions and one day someone will get back to them in return -- haha, okay I'm joking -- I hope God will give them a clue to realise that they are completely wrong, God will guide them from the darkness to the light. :D

Have a nice Thursday, people!

Choosing the Hard Way

2010-11-20T21:26:00.002+07:00

Apparently today is the birthday of Mr Eric Hiariej, my undergraduate thesis supervisor. He guided me step by step throughout the whole process of working my thesis. I must say that I owe him a lot, because he didn't only teach me how to write a good thesis with his very logical and 'perfectionist' method, but also how to deal with life. So now I'm wishing him a really happy birthday!

What I'm trying to talk about here is about the very memorable process of making my thesis with him. It wasn't easy--there was a lot of revisions, even I for once fell to the lowest point by thinking, "Oh my God, what should I do?!? I've been writing a lot of papers in the last three years and apparently, comparing to this one, they were all nothing?!? Should I take a special course on writing research papers?!?" Okay this was exaggerated of course, but it encapsulates what I really felt back then.

It took almost a year to actually finish it. I submitted my first title and abstract in October 2009, finished my proposal in January 2010, did the seminar in February, and then officially started the process right after. I picked a very recent issue that just came out in August 2009 (it's about the historical winning of Democratic Party of Japan in the 2009 election), and basically I had to wait for the newly formed government's actions to answer my research questions. The most recent data I used for the thesis was from May 2010, the final month when I actually had finished writing (before regular counsellings). And there were actually no books written specially about this topic (if there was then it must be un-affordable to me). You may say that I was a 'pioneer' because I wrote about this. ;)

The counsellings started from June to July, and this was the most interesting part. Mr Eric kept telling me that my writing was rather 'sucks' (well of course he didn't say it like that--he was really nice but I got his point.) And he was also very accurate in details. I mistyped a few words, ie 'Amrica', and he actually pointed it out. Amazingly, even though Japan and East Asia aren't his fields, he understood what I tried to pull out from the thesis just by reading my research questions and conceptualisation. And since I know he's a real genius, I actually never complained about the revisions, because I realised that I was still learning to make a good research and writing, and he's the 'maestro', so I just did what he said.

After having the scientific talks, we usually talked about casual stuff. He often asked me about what I'm going to do after graduating, what is my dream job, etc. We even talked about football, since we support the same team (Liverpool and Chelsea, haha). He had a great experience I must say. Even though he said that he wasn't a nerd, rather a rebel during college, he really loves to read books. That's why he received an A straight after presenting his under-graduate thesis. He continued his study until doctorate--I don't even know why he really loves to study scientifically. The most valuable lesson he ever taught me was: when it comes to work on something that you love, you have to let it out, giving the best out of you so it will turn out best as well. Paying attention to the smallest things--the details, is absolutely important.

Finally, my thesis was 'accepted' in the end of July, and officially passed the test in August. That was one of the happiest day in my life! This whole process was intriguingly controversial, because a lot of my friends, who were supervised by other lecturers, actually able to get 'accepted' shortly, with only a few counselling sessions. My fellows who are in the same boat mostly felt it was unfair for them. But thankfully I always looked at the bright side. Those who was accepted fastly didn't have a strong bind with the lecturers, I wasn't even sure if they had a fun and warm conversation like we had--even we had a special dinner at the fasting month this year.

I actually had a choice. When I submitted my abstract last year, the head of lecturers asked me if I wanted to choose Mr Eric or another lecturer who's actually mastering the theme of my thesis (I don't want to mention any name, haha). I knew that the other lecturer would easily accepting my thesis, without any detail revisions as Mr Eric did, but I didn't choose him. And I didn't regret that I chose Mr Eric even though it took a pretty long time to finish the thesis--because I believed that there would be great lessons and experience along the hard way. And usually when we chose the hard way, everything will come out best--well at least in a very satisfying level. And I proudly proved it right in this. :)

Drop-Deathly-Awesome-Hallows

2010-11-20T08:19:00.001+07:00

Last night I finally watched the most awaited, anticipated movie of the year, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1). The movie was inarguably great! Just like David Yates did at the two previous installments, Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, he brought this deep and dark touch on the movies. Since the beginning of the movie, you’ll somehow feel the horrifying situation that befell to the characters—I was even nervous!

When Hermione ‘obliviate‘d her parents memories in order to protect them, when the Order members disguised themselves as Harry, when Xenophilius Lovegood was so desperate that Luna got kidnapped by the Death Eaters, how Ron felt so insecure joining Harry’s ‘clueless-Horcrux-finding’ adventure because he’s worried that his parents & siblings would be listed in ‘Missing Wizards’ list, and most of all, you could actually see deep deprivation within the actors facial expressions—which was amazing!

The ending was of course left us with a huge expectation, wishing the second part would come out the next day (which is impossible of course, because it’s set to release July next year :<) Don’t ask about the special effect, it was superb! There were shots—but not by guns, simply by the magic wands. Ron and Hermione were so adorable, I can’t wait to see them with children next year! Big four thumbs up for the movie!

I also called this a "Horror Potter", because it's truly horror! Go watch it by yourself if you don't believe me. ;)

Blog Comparison

2010-11-18T13:46:00.000+07:00

I've been blogging for quite some time, and pretty much tried all kind of blogging services (the free ones, of course). And I'm trying to compare three of the most used and favourited blogging service on the internet:

WordPress
I use WordPress as the CMS in my fansites, it's the most user-friendly and open-source. You can download it at WordPress.org, and upload it to your own server if you have your own domain name and host. For those of you who doesn't have a domain, they also offer a free blogging host at WordPress.com.

Everything is almost the same as WordPress.org platform. 'Categories' and 'Tags' are separated in WordPress. The former is usually used to group a common field, while the latter is used to group the most specific one. (ie you make a post about New York Fashion Week, and you add it to the 'Fashion' category. But if you want to make your post searchable in specifics (you know visitors usually use search engines to search for specific stuff), then you add new tags: 'Marc Jacobs', 'Fall/Winter Collection', 'New York Fashion Week', etc.)

Even the 'Categories' feature itself offers 'Sub-Categories'. So if you have a 'Fashion' category, you can add the more specific fashion-related group, for example 'Fashion Show'. The scheme will be 'Fashion' > 'Fashion Show'. Besides 'Categories', WordPress also provides us to make an individual 'Page' (ie if you want to make an 'About Me' page with your mini biography in it). Basically, WordPress is suitable for you who's well-organised.

Fun plug-ins/ widgets also available in WordPress. A lot of WordPress-based blogs function this feature, making their blogs more alive and interactive. Adding your 'Latest Tweets' (from your Twitter account), calendar, showing latest posts, photo slide show, regular text widget, even RSS/ feeds from other website (ie if you add New York Times' feeds then people will be able to see the latest headlines of NY Times on your site.)

That's what I like about WordPress. Unfortunately, unlike the WordPress.org platform, the free WordPress blog doesn't allow you to make your own 'Themes' (layout). I know there are a lot of websites offering free WordPress layouts, but none of them caught my attention personally. I mean those are really cool but I'd rather have my own-customised layout. :P

Blogger
This is the blogging service I'm currently using. Just like WordPress, it has a lot of fun widgets to choose. But I personally not a huge widget fan, so I just put up the most relevant and important ones on my sidebar. What I like the most about Blogger is the 'Layout Design' settings. I can make a custom-made layout by myself, and the layout template is easy to learn. One thing about costumise-able layout, I think we can make the blog more 'personal' if we add our own personal touch on it, you know. :P

Even though Blogger has 'Labels' feature in each post, I think it's not as organised as WordPress. So basically 'Labels' functions both as 'Categories' and 'Tags', so in each post there will possibly be a LOT of 'Labels'. You can say that I kinda have an OCD regarding to this 'categorising' issue (and I think I do), because looking at the unorganised posts just annoys me so much.

Tumblr
I've been Tumblr-ing since 2007 with http://neethonk.tumblr.com URL, but then I left it behind because it was used to post very random stuff. One day I felt like I want to activate my Tumblr again, but then I forgot my password -- and the 'Forget Password' system didn't work. So I made a new one, and then I suddenly remember the password (geez, this is so lame). Then I decided to delete the old Tumblr.

Here in my new Tumblr, I still post about random stuff. From fangirling over the handsome gentlemen, to inspiring quotes, to fashion, to editing (yes I post a lot of my editing there)... I just simply post anything I want. The Tumblr system isn't as rigid as WordPress and Blogger -- seems like it actually made for fun (but there are people who use Tumblr as their work place, posting their creations and stuff, and important people seem to enjoy it too. I can say Chris Hughes [the Facebook co-founder] and Joseph Gordon Levitt are Tumblr users.)

Tumblr layout is also change-able, I can make any layout I want. It is also more interactive than the previous two: it uses 'Follow' system like Twitter and Blogger, so if you join a particular blog, just click the 'Follow' button and its updates will be displayed on your 'Dashboard' every time you log on. You can also 'Like' a post if you find it amusing (and your 'Liked' pages will be archived automatically).

What makes Tumblr different from the others are the 'Reblog'-ing system. It doesn't have a 'Comment' feature, so you can't add a comment directly to the post. In order to give your own opinion to certain post, you MUST 'Reblog' it first, and then add your comments. So the display will be: original post in quotation format, and then your comments. This system is kinda annoying, because whenever people 'Reblog' and give comments, your post will be multiplied, and it'll be very long.

Categorising isn't prioritised in Tumblr. It only has a 'Tag'-ing system (in this case, just like Blogger). So one post will possibly have a LOT of 'Tag's on it. And we don't have any option to display the only tags we want to display. So people will have to look at the bottom of the post and click the tag by themselves if they want to see particular posts. Knowing that I have an OCD in this, I put up my most used tags by myself on the sidebar, so people could navigate easily.

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Conclusion? It actually depends on your needs. I, personally, blog to post ANYTHING I want, whether it's something serious (giving my opinion about the most popular news or global issues) or fun (writing about how much I love Shia LaBeouf, Kaka, and other handsome footballers, or even some random story and thoughts I'd love to share).

I think WordPress is suitable for the more serious theme because of its categorising system, but not fun enough if you want to be more 'creative' by making your own layout. I mean, I don't want to pay any single bucks in order to be able to create my own layout. Duh. WordPress.com free blog is too rigid for me. If I wanted to use WordPress, I had to register for my own domain and apply in web hosting service first, and then use the WordPress.org platform.

Tumblr, I think, is best for those who doesn't blog regularly (by this I mean you who doesn't like to write something really long like what I'm doing right now). It's good for you who finds blogging amusing but doesn't really care much about it. It's a great place to share the photos you like, the quotes you like, the videos you like, etc. If only it enabled to add 'Comments', then I'll probably choose Tumblr (well it does enable 'Comments' but in particular layout -- you have to activate the 'Comments' code or something. Duh.)

So I think I'm going to go for Blogger right now. So far it's satisfying. I can make and upload my own layout, the widgets are cool, people can add comments, we can sort the only categories/ labels we want to display, and because it's owned by Google, any Google Account users (who doesn't even have a Blogger account) are able to follow their favorite blogs and it will appear on their Google Reader. :)

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Okay, that's it for now. To be honest I write this just to kill time, I have an appointment with my lovely friends (read: my friends, in the same boat, whose graduation ceremony has been cancelled by our campus). We will have our own photoshoot with ~~Mario Testino~~ a professional photographer we've hired. Hopefully it won't be raining.

See you next time!

Lovely Tunes...

2010-11-14T20:14:00.000+07:00

I've been listening to a lot of fresh music lately (but also the old ones), and here are some of my favourites!

The Script "Nothing"
This band always catches my heart! I've listened to their new album Science and Faith, and the songs are all great! This is the second single of this album after For The First Time. Now I can't stop listening to this song, the music is really easy-listening, and the lyrics is great!

Imogen Heap "First Train Home"
I must give credit to my friend Kinong who introduced me to Imogen Heap. She's a big fan of hers, and whenever we hang out in her car she often plays her CD. The first song I caught was Goodnight and Go (yes, from The OC soundtrack), and her voice has stuck in my head ever since. First Train Home is the lead single of her latest album Ellipse and I think it's been released two years ago but I just heard it a few weeks ago. The sound of her voice and music are just wonderful! (Don't forget to check out the live version -- I was so amazed looking at Imogen Heap working her magic on the stage!)

Rihanna "Love The Way You Lie (Part II)"
I'm a fan of the first part, but I think the Rihanna version is much better. The music changed, even though the reffrain is still the same. Eminem made a little appearance in this song, but not as significant as in the first one. Rihanna's voice is really nice! Her new album, Loud, it's pretty nice I think. She goes techno and there's nothing wrong with it.

Glee "One Of Us"
This is a cover version of Joan Osborne's old song One of Us, and featured in Grilled Cheesus episode. I cried when I saw this episode because somehow I can feel Kurt's dilemma and pressure. And when this song was chosen as the closing, this episode just get better. I like the Glee version better than the original. :)

Bloc Party "Signs" (Acoustic Version)
I first caught this song in Gossip Girl, at the wedding of Eleanor Waldorf and Cyrus Rose. I've heard the original, which is very techno, and I absolutely prefer the acoustic version. I don't know, I kinda have a thing for acoustic-version-songs, you can really feel the difference of how the song feels.

Evan Rachel Wood "If I Fell"
This is a soundtrack for 2007 movie Across the Universe, where the actors sing The Beatles' songs. It's really awesome to watch those multi-talented actors. Evan Rachel Wood played an American girl named Lucy, who fell in love with a Scouser (oh yes he's from Liverpool!) Jude, played by the very handsome Jim Sturgess. This song was sang by Lucy when she realised that she's in love with Jude. Evan's voice is amazing!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2010-11-14T18:59:00.003+07:00

I’m not talking about my dad’s favorite cowboy movie here, but I’m just going to do a quick review of movies that I’ve seen for this week. The condition might be unstable because the mount could erupt in any time, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t have spare time to do my favorite activity: watch movies! For the first two weeks of November, I’ve seen Takers, Step Up 3, The Social Network, and Skyline (I’m planning to watch Megamind tomorrow!). And here goes the review:

The Good

The Social Network

Besides Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I (which will be released in Wednesday – according to its release date in Indonesia), I think The Social Network will definitely be “movie of the year”. As you can see from the logo, it actually tells about the making of the most popular social networking website Facebook. Jesse Eisenberg stars as the genius Mark Zuckerberg, the guy behind the US $ 500 billion worth company. I really enjoy watching Jesse in Zombieland, and I basically love the kind of guy who looks nerdy and talk really fast *wink* (Matthew Gray Gubler counts!). Here in The Social Network, Jesse becomes even nerdy-er, blogging and coding in front of his computer.

So basically the movie is about the obstacles around the success of Facebook, the indictment. Mark’s personal problem with his then girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) comes first, before he has the idea to make Facebook. He writes in his blog, calling Erica a “biatch” and reveals her bra size. Erica is so pissed off and don’t want to reconcile with him.Winklevoss brothers, the initiator of Harvard Connection, sue Mark Zuckerberg accusing him of stealing their ideas. Eduardo Saverin, Mark’s best friend and co-founder of Facebook, sue Mark because of his little equity sharing.

But of course this movie isn’t about who did what, who said what, who’s right, who’s wrong – I’m sure the real condition isn’t like this. This is a movie to inspire and motivate young people who’s in their way to invent something – that might become big. Obstacles are always on the way, but when you are really sure and capable of what you are doing, I think you’ll handle everything well. The plot and storyline are so interesting they won’t give you a bore. The screenplay is so smart and witty, and I love the way the actors said it really fast (I saw it without subtitles, and I actually caught what they say – which means, yay my English improves!). I salute David Fincher for making this really cool movie. Four thumbs up!

Between The Good & The Bad

Step Up 3D

I have to say this movie has better storyline than the Step Up 2: The Streets and much much better choreography and visual effects of course! Rick Malambri stars as a very hot film maker / dancer, Luke. He’s gathering all street dancers in his house, and is making a movie about people who have a big passion in dancing, titled Born From a Boom Box. He falls for another street dancer Natalie (Sharni Vinson), and asks her to join his dance group, Pirates. Moose (Adam G. Sevani) and Camille (Alyson Stoner) who made appearances in Step Up 2 and Step Up respectively, also make a come back in this movie. Pirates must win the global dance competition, World Jam, in order to pay the house rent, because the owner has already put it in an auction. But they have to face their biggest competitor, the Samurai, which was formed by former Pirates’ member Julien.

I couldn’t do anything except letting my mouth opens when I see the final dance. THEY WEAR CLOTHES WITH LASERS ON IT, it’s freaking awesome! And the dance moves, oh my God... I feel like I want to give a box of chocolate to the choreographer! I really enjoy this kind of dance movie, somehow it makes me want to move and stuff. But unfortunately I haven’t found the really inspiring one. The storyline is always cheesy, the characters are not that inspiring. Or maybe any of you have suggestions for a really good dance movie?

The Bad

Takers

What attracts me the most to watch the movie was Hayden Christensen and Paul Walker. When I heard the news about them going to be in a movie together I was like “Hell yes!”. I can’t imagine two hottest Hollywood blonds will take over the cinema. They do look so appealing throughout the movie, but unfortunately the storyline isn’t strong enough to make an ensemble cast action movie.

They tried to make an action movie about a group of professional bank robbers (consist of hot robber guys), and take a deeper look to their daily lives. They’re not basically bad guys, they have their own reasons to do such things, and they’re very loving and close to each other. This is a great value to show, and even each individual has his remarkable character. But the plot is rather predictable, and the screenplay isn’t as informative and exciting as any other action movies. The action is pretty cool actually, but the climax is so on, but the finishing is just bad. It’s like they’re rushing to the conclusion. For some reason if there’s a good movie but with bad ending, it doesn’t leave any impression to me, so I just forget the movie easily. (It’s weird I know, but it happens many times.)

Spoiler: Hayden Christensen still looks really hot even after he got shot. x)

The Ugly

Skyline

Science fiction is my favorite movie genre. And when I saw Skyline’s trailer I was pretty excited about it. When I decided to watch this movie, I actually had a feeling that “this movie isn’t going to be as good as the trailer” and it proved it. This movie was nothing but a bore. I regretted myself to watch this at the weekend (the ticket price is slightly more expensive in weekends), and thankfully it wasn’t featured in 3D.

I think Brothers Strauss wanted to make a victim-point-of-view story like Cloverfield, where we, the viewers, will have no idea about what’s actually going on. The movie only follows how the actors will survive from the kidnapping aliens. It’s not like Independence Day, where we can see how the government tried to find some information and interact to the alien, so we know what’s the plan and what’s going on. It is a good thing that the main focus is the actors themselves, but unfortunately this movie failed to deliver the meaningful message.

The actors are all uninspiring, they’re really boring. Maybe it’s the screenplay, but if you compared it to the Cloverfield actors, they’re keep on running and keep up the plot – so we won’t be bored. But in Skyline, *sigh*, they seriously do NOTHING. Maybe it’s pretty realistic that if we don’t know what’s going on so we stay at home waiting for the rescue, but we the viewers don’t want to waste our time looking at those people sitting and sleeping. I mean, why don’t they show us the other people who’s trying to survive as well? Or how the aliens abduct the other people? The plot is really slow, nothing like Cloverfield. Despite the bad plot and storyline, I really enjoy the flashy special effects. I found out that Skyline is a low-budget movie, it’s a great thing that they’re able to create such cool effects. My suggestion for those of you who haven’t watched this movie yet, better be waiting for the DVD.

Feel Like I'm Livin' a Teenage Dream

2010-11-13T08:18:00.003+07:00

So I visited YouTube and found this amazing cover of Darren Criss (from Glee) singing Katy Perry's Teenage Dream. Glee has succeed covering songs in acapella version, and they did really great! But I think this cover is so far the best one. Hopefully you guys agree with me!

What a Weekend!

2010-11-09T09:43:00.001+07:00

It's been more than a week since Mount Merapi's first eruption occurred, and thankfully my house has been okay until now. It's pretty shocking that in Sunday, policemen evacuated people in Jl. Kaliurang Km 10 area (which is only 1 km away from my location). Me and my brother went to check it out by ourselves, and I spoke to the policemen who confirmed it. Me and my family got ready to pack if the evacuation area reached our location, but no further announcement made.

The volcanic ashes I took outside of my house. Some say it's good for your skin. ;-)

The situation was pretty intense though. In late Friday (November 5), Mount Merapi erupted in its highest explosion so far. It was 2 am and I was sleeping, but then woke up because the air is suddenly smelt like ashes. I went outside with my mom to check what's going on, while the ashes pour down just like rain. The electricity was out, my cellphone was dead, all I could rely on was my mom's cellphone -- to check the news and Twitter. It was probably the most horror timeline I've ever seen. A voluntary rescuer tweeted "We've arrived at Bronggang village (it's about 7-8 km from the top of the mountain). The temperature is really hot, we can't get in. We hear people screaming for help and got burnt, but there's nothing we can do."

I couldn't sleep well, waiting for any information and updates. Finally when I heard the Shubuh call to prayer and the sun came up, I went outside. The ashes weren't as thick as the first eruption, the weather was pretty damp. The air was pretty fresh as well, even though wearing a mask still required.

I don't usually see my own footprints in the yard, because it's all pavements.

Grey sky morning.

My mom's purple flower.

My mom's another plant.

Ring Road, Yogyakarta (5 November 2010) from Benita Amalina on Vimeo.

In Saturday, November 6, me and my brother went to the barracks of the refugees. We tried to help the refugees by giving them proper second-hand clothes. We gave it to the barracks in UPN, but then decided to take a look in Maguwoharjo Stadium. It was so crowded, but in contrary to what has displayed by the television, people there were actually doing their usual routines. They did look sad but they seem calm and moved on. :) I wanted to go inside to take pictures, but I don't think it's appropriate because I didn't bring anything to give.

Maguwoharjo Stadium is now functioning as refugee's barracks.

This seem to be the 'front office' of the barracks.

I'm wondering why do these people live outside the stadium. :(

The barracks are so crowded. But I didn't know what does it look like inside.

People are lining up to get some food.

This is the general kitchen. The men of TNI (national army) cooked the food.

Until now, I think the condition is getting better. Well, there are still rumbles but now the people have been evacuated outside to the safety zone. The lava are now coming out of the mountain, flowing to the rivers (now people who lives near the rivers must kept themselves away at least 300 m). Some sad news happened, a few volunteers said to be dead during the rescue. :'( All I can do now is to pray for the best. For the people, for my hometown, for my family.

Ashes

2010-11-01T13:37:00.000+07:00

This isn't beach sands. It's volcanic ashes.

Everyone knows that Mount Merapi erupted two days ago, continuously until now. This is absolutely not a good thing, especially for people who lives near the Kaliurang area, like moi. My house is located around 20 km south from the mountain, and the volcanic ashes did flow to my area. Merapi first erupted in Saturday afternoon, but then when I woke up in the Sunday morning, I got shocked by this terrifying view. There are a lot of green fields around my house, and you can see the Merapi view very clearly (along with beautiful blue sky, and fresh air). But that morning, everything was grey. No green field that I could see. No blue sky. No clear view. The ashes has covered the whole area -- until now.

Green leaf no more.

This was taken around 5.30 am.

In usual days, there are no footsteps like these!

The road is just dusty.

One of my mother's plants.

This one is usually green & fresh. Now look at it! :(

This is absolutely a horrible experience, but I'm still thankful because the hot clouds don't flow here. You know, the hot clouds killed 18 people in Merapi (including the Merapi "gate keeper" Mbah Maridjan), it burnt the village and people down. Reportedly, the hot clouds has 400 degrees Celcius temperature, it surely will burn anything easily.

I'm praying for the best, hopefully this won't get any worse. I also want to deliver my deepest condolence for the people in Mentawai. May God give you the strength to continue your life -- don't give up just yet! You'll never walk alone. =)

(All photos were taken by the very lame camera of my BlackBerry, Fernando -- yes it has a name, haha --. Sorry for the low quality.)

Hola, Senor Alonso!

2010-10-28T19:52:00.002+07:00

Classy Xabi. *v*

This very fine footballer named Xabier Alonso brought Liverpool to victory in Champions League 2005. His skill is unarguably AWESOME. He has a wonderful family. His another awesome-ness? His ability to MODEL. Yes, I've been "stalking" his magazine photoshoots for a while, and hell yeah he did really good -- he doesn't even look like a footballer! People know him as a very classy man, not because of his sense of fashion (trust me, he never chose the wrong outfits!), but also his well-behaved and elegant attitude. What a real gentleman! :">

Classy man is classy. *_*

Photos courtesy of DT Magazine

Keira, Ooh La La!

2010-10-25T21:14:00.000+07:00

Keira Knightley, the living goddess.

This afternoon I watched Fashion Police, an eccentric show focusing on celebrity style, both in daily life and special events. Joan Rivers is such a witty and funny presenter, she always makes me laugh even when she mocks someone. And I barely see her praising someone's style -- literally. So when I watched today's episode, I was quite shocked when she talked about Keira Knightley's appearance in Never Let Me Go premiere in London a week ago. Keira looks beautiful (as always, in front of my eyes), and then suddenly Joan grabbed Kelly Osbourne and George Kotsiopulous' hands making a prayer circle and said, "This is perfection. She looks amazing.". I AGREE WITH YOU JOAN! And for those of you who haven't seen it, take a look at these amazing photos below. I'm loving the black and white shots, so dramatic! =)

Photo credits: Getty Images

I ♥ Monday

2010-10-25T05:36:00.000+07:00

As a football enthusiast, nothing more wonderful than knowing my favorite team Liverpool won and my favorite player scored. I dedicate this post to the super duper lovely Fernando Torres. Well done, The Reds! =)

This might sound superstitious and ridiculous, but this kind of thing really inspires me. So in the end of August, Fernando scored and Liverpool won. In the morning, I passed my thesis test, and officially became an SIP (Sarjana Ilmu Politik - Bachelor of Political Science). How cool was that? ;-)

Now that he scored and brought the team to victory, it means I have to accomplish something good/ important today. =D Thank you Nando for inspiring me, every time.

Kitty Kitty Cute!!

2010-10-21T19:49:00.001+07:00

So my friend Ponti aka Grandmere introduced me to her friend Mbak Tita before watching Jogja Java Carnival, and she introduced me to her super duper cutie lovely cats!! I want to kidnap one of them and make a lot of clones. x)

(Pardon my lame-o camera, these pictures are mostly blurry. x[ Click the picture for larger version.)

Jogja Java Carnival 2010

2010-10-18T09:26:00.001+07:00

I'm sorry I'm late for posting this, I was just so tired and had to sort out the photos. You know, my lame-o camera worked terribly at night, so these photos absolutely need re-touch. So overall, the show was totally cool -- a lot of people came to Malioboro and it caused traffic. But this kind of event wasn't so good for short person like me, I actually had to bring my camera up up to the sky to be able to take the parade pictures. And it's too bad I didn't capture my bestfriend Yurti who was joining the parade (a bit too late to watch him, haha). Enjoy the photos!

There were dancing trees.

And a green dragon.

People dancing in feathers.

And then Nyi Roro Kidul with her 'unicorn' horses.

This one looks like 'gunungan' in 'wayang'.

And there was also this Chinese lamps.

And then the closing part was: FIREWORKS! (These fireworks photos are actually disaster -- the lame-o camera doesn't have good enough shutter speed so when the fireworks cracks on the sky I only got the 'delayed' pictures. But at least I found a few good ones!)

Looks like a coconut trees! :D

I LOVE this one. Looks like I went outside space and took photo of the galaxy. ;-)

Sweet, Sweet Pooh Bear

2010-10-14T20:43:00.000+07:00

I believe nobody really hates Winnie the Pooh. He's a very cute and silly bear who has a 'tiny brain' (as he said so) and loves to eat honey. His innocence is what makes him funny and light-hearted. I also admire his loyalty to his friends - which is incredible. I'm going to find all of my old Pooh videos tomorrow and start to watch them all over again! :) Here are some Pooh quotes that I really love, and I hope they'll inspire you!

"It is so much more friendly with two."

"Just because an animal is large, it doesn't mean he doesn't want kindness. However big Tigger seems to be, remember that he wants as much kindness as Roo."

"Some people care too much, I think it's called love."

"Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there someday."

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you."

Why I Want to Learn French

2010-10-13T21:23:00.001+07:00

(This is a special post for the ladies. ;p)

Meet Yoann Gourcuff. Super gorgeous French man. 23 years old. 6' tall, hazel green eyes, and dark hair. People call him Petite Zizou (Little Zidane), because he and Zinedine Zidane have similar style and techniques. He was named as Footballer of the Year in France. He idolizes Kaka. He listens to classical music and love to read (intellectual) books. My knees are weakened every time I see him smiles. Oh, and he's single! (So, what?!) xD

Photo credits: Sempre Yoann

GOD bless him. He's sooo fine!

"The Princess and the Frog" Favorite Quotes

2010-10-12T20:40:00.001+07:00

So I was watching my The Princess and the Frog dvd, and thinking "Why don't I make some screen caps with my favorite quotes in it and share them to my blog?". And here they are, my favorite quotes from the very inspiring movie (I mean, which Disney movie that is not inspiring? ;p). I'm planning to collect all of Disney classic cartoons -- I'm a proud Disney kid! :D

I capped all of these images from the dvd, and added the quotes by myself (I'm kinda get use to this kind of thing ever since I started out my fansites, you know, fangirling, haha.) Click the images for bigger versions. Hope they all will inspire you! :)

"You know the thing about good food? It brings folks together from all walks of life. It warms them right up and it puts little smiles on their faces." - James (Tiana's dad). This is so right, no? :)

When Tiana made a wish upon the Evening Star, her daddy said, "But you remember Tiana, that old star can only take you part of the way. You got to help it along with some hard work of your own.". Just like my daddy always said to me.

Raymond "Ray" is probably my favorite firefly ever! "I ain't no firecracker! I just got my big butt glowing, that's right! The women like a man with a big back porch!" And I couldn't stop laughing after hearing this, hahaha. (And look at the naughty face Ray made on that cap, LOL.)

"Hit it hard with a couple of shots of Tabasco and it's the bee's knees." Tiana said this when Mama Odie asked her opinion about the gumbo she just made. I think "bee's knees" is my favorite phrase now!

Mama Odie taught us to make difference of what we want and what we need. "You got to dig a little deeper, find out who you are. You got to dig a little deeper, it really ain't that far. When you find out who you are, you'll find what you need. Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed." Nice lesson, Mama Odie!

Prince Naveen was about to propose Tiana but he was afraid, so he said, "Tiana I love... The way you light up when you talk about your dream. A dream that... It is so beautiful, I... I promise I will do whatever it takes to make it come true." Aww spoken like a true prince!

"My daddy never did get what he wanted. But he had what he needed. He had love. He never lost sight of what was really important. And neither will I." This is my most favorite quote throughout the whole movie. Gotta tell my daddy about this! :")