Sekali waktu...

...
mari bermain gelembung sabun,
Tanpa alasan apapun, mari bermain gelembung sabun,



Tertawa sejenak, melihatnya menghilang,


bahkan tanpa sedikitpun membayangkan ke mana hilangnya,



Senyumlah, sentuhlah aneka warna pelangi itu,
pandanglah semua itu beterbangan di udara.

Tanpa alasan mengapa---
tanpa tujuan---
tanpa beraturan.

Sekali waktu...
marilah kita
bermain gelembung sabun...

"Listening to the Littlest" by Ruth Reardon

Yep, yep, yep..
Hari ini, kupensiunkan semua urusan orang dewasa,
aku ingin main gelembung sabun!

[And by main gelembung sabun, I mean:

• Watching all episodes of Desperate Housewives! (yea, baby!)
• Watching Oprah with all cast of Friends!
• Playing Myst III: Exile!
• Playing Law & Order, Justice is Served!
• Playing Tabloid Tycoon!
• Playing all the games I haven't got the chance to play!!]

Long Time Friendship: Part One

Look what i've found when I went through all the old stuff at my parents' house:



I don't remember making this. But I clearly remember the two names on the right and left of my own name.

Tia was my childhood friend. We went to the same kindergarten dan elementary school.
I still remember the first time I noticed her in kindergarten. She was a very quiet little girl, always be seated nicely. She was so sweet and had this thick beautiful hair I always admired.
I don't remember exactly when and why I became close friends with her, but I remember she was one of the first three students in class who could read, beside me and my other friend Rere (who later also became my close friend, went through ups and downs before ending up good friends and then she dissapeared to thin air after her parents' divorce. Whole another story.)

Anyway. Tia was a smart girl, fun and honest. We were close for the whole 6 years in elementary school. I frequently went swimming with her family in AIP (Akademi Ilmu Pelayaran - her parents worked for Djakarta Lloyd which, I think, had a connection with this academy) and joined them for a vacation and travelling (Merak beach, Lampung, Sukabumi, to name a few). She has a big sister and a little brother, who got along very well with me. Her parents were wonderful people.
I have tons of beautiful memories with her it would take some times to tell.
The last time I saw her was at her sister's (Santy) wedding reception, I think it's in 2000. She's a career woman now, I think (because her last email's domain was astra-component.co.id). Still a very nice and sweet girl I once knew.

Trully, or Ully, was a girl I knew when I was, I think, 10 or 11 years old.
There was a little shop in our area that sells craft things. You know those knitting supplies, doll-making kit, etc. I had been mastering this kind of craft since I was very little, because my Mom was really really good at it and she taught me how to knit and make crafts. So I visited this place almost everyday. The owner were 2 nice ladies who were always willing to teach us to make everything, from dolls to bags, from pillow cases to rugs. One was a Japanese, we called her "Tante Jepang" and the other one was a Chinese, we called her "Tante Cina".
Once I found this place, just opened, it didn't take too long for me to bring most of my girl classmates there to learn to make crafts. So it's like our second school.
Well, we, Tia and I, met Ully there. Her house was right in front of the shop. We bonded immediately. Soon, we were busy doing a lot of baking projects (Well, not a lot, but at that time, for me it was like the world). We scheduled when to cook what, searched for recipes we like, chose the host, collected our money, went shopping and finally baked together!

So there we were, three 11 years old girls, messed around our parents' kitchen, baking... let's see if I can remember some of them:
Whoopie Pies (it was called Othello), crispy choux a.k.a. Sus Kering, Raisin Bread, Lychee Pudding, Devilled Egg, Creme Caramel (we called it Puding Bakar).
We also sometimes exchanged cookies we baked.
Once we toyed with the idea of naming this 3-girls-band. I think it might be the time when we created that label I found in my parents' house.

Elementary school was done, we lost in touch gradually, but still hung out once in a very while. Obviously Ully and Tia hung out more often than me. They had guitar classes together while I could not (I guess I was too affraid to ask my parents). But I joined their class once, you know, just to watch them practice with their teacher, and simply just to be with them.
I never realized how much I loved them until something happened one day, after junior high was done.

..to be continued..

Happy Today :)

...
I am!




First of all, Uchena and Joyce won the race (yay!). Not the evil lovers Rob and Amber.






Second of all, Bo was unbelieveably amazing! Not only because he sang the song I particularly like (For the Love of the Money, by Gamble and Huff), but because, OW MY GOD, you just know that he is the true American Idol. Not that Carrie Undewear country chick!

And last but not least, Anthony 'Clay Aiken wannabe' Fedorov was finally gone. Not that he is a threat, give me a break. But he's just annoying. Both to the eyes and ears.

I'm happy!!

a Day without Cellphone = a Happy Day :)

...
Oh, how I hate cellphone!!
To be precise, how I hate myself with a cellphone!!
I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, hate it, hate it.

The one and only reason why I still have one is because I need to be able to communicate with my hubby in an easy way when we're not in a same place. That's it.

I have owned cellphones since 1998, never be apart from them since then. Now I'm about to blow!
I'm tired of carrying it anywhere.
Tired of people complaining when I don't answer their calls.
Tired of people complaining when I don't return their messages.
Tired of having to explain why I don't answer or reply.
Tired of protecting it from bad people.
Tired of buying the phone credits.
Tired, tired, tired.

So today, I turned it off the whole day. And my day suddenly became more simple. Brighter.

I'm Happier :)

Selasa Roller Coaster - posting terpanjang

{in the middle of working} {while listening to 80's Decade Channel, keep changing to Planet Hits Radio on Media Player}

Setelah seminggu ngabur dari kewajiban, akhirnya malem ini gue kerjain juga nih job dari ex boss a.k.a klien gue yang paling setia, yang sering jadi dewa penolong saat keuangan krisis dikejar tagihan kartu kredit. Seminggu yang lalu dia ngasih kerjaan terjemahan, plus ngedesign brosur dan price list untuk perusahaan barunya (kok enak ya maen buka perusahaan baru aja. Bukannya dia udah punya 2?). Sementara gue udah gak mau ngerjain design lagi. Tapi kalo gue bilang seperti itu, dia pasti maksa.



"Sorry, Sir. I just don't feel like doing it."


Gak mungkin kan bilang gitu?

Ditambah lagi, setelah sebulan lebih istirahat kerja, semangat kerja gue belom balik lagi. Abisnya sih, biarpun namanya break dari kerjaan, tapi it's been a roller coaster 1-2 bulan belakangan ini. Emotionally and physically.
Dari mulai sedihnya ngelepas rumah ayah & mama yang bikin gue nangis melulu 3 malem berturut-turut, repotnya ngangkutin barang-barang yang serasa gak abis-abis, perjalanan ke S'pore dan Solo, bantuin kakak-kakak pada pindahan (sebelumnya mereka penghuni rumah ayah-mama), masih diperparah sama American Idol conspiracy yang amat sangat ridiculous itu, plus konflik di antara sahabat yang alhamdulillah udah came to an end (mudah-mudahan!).

Roller coaster indeed! Naik, turun, naik, turun...
Alhasil, itu kerjaan gue onggokin aja seminggu, lantaran gak mood sama sekali.

Sehari sebelom dia ngasih job ini, temennya yang di ostrali (namanya Phil -gak penting) ngasih job juga, webdesign. Yang ini dengan gesit gue lempar ke temen gue di Area 51. Haaa, bebaslah gue. Monggo di-design mas... huekekekek..! {Btw, siang ini ada meeting sama mereka di Simpur, Tebet}

Hari minggu kemarin, ex boss gue ini udah nanyain brosur dan pricelist-nya. Yaaahh, mampus deh gue. Ini dia kalo sok seniman. Bela-belain mood, sekarang telen deh konsekuensi kehilangan klien. Akhirnya pagi tadi gue imel dia (setelah sepanjang Senin matiin henfon, takut doi nelpon. -such a small person I am, not proud 'bout this), kasih alasan komputer gue crashed tiap kali ngejalanin picture editor. Jadi gue kerjain translationnya aja, "if you're still interested". Hihihi. Beresss... tinggal nanti malem kerjain terjemahan. Cihuy... *siul-siul*

Abis Dzuhur gue berangkat ke Mal Ambassador, ke BII ngelunasin utang-utang, terus ke Carrefour beli selang bidet baru (yang lama bocor dengan sukses). Yahh, tau-tau udah jam setengah empat aja. Padahal janji meetingnya jam 4. Langsung ngacirlah gue ke Tebet. Cirrr....

Di McD Tebet gue dijemput Maya (marketingnya Area 51), who is temen gue di Ciptamaya dulu, yang dateng dengan kijang merah dan temennya yang baru gue kenal saat itu, namanya Mbak Dewi (penting gak?). Dari situ kita ke Simpur {herrrraaaan, saban meeting sama Maya, pasti ke sini! Padahal makanannya biasssa' banget. Emang sih ambience-nya enak, kayak di resto mahal. Padahal menunya harga 10 ribuan.}

Gak berapa lama kemudian mas Bambang Komik (webdesigner) dateng. Pesen-pesen makanan, baru deh mulai ngomongin kerjaan. Kelar makan, Bambang nunjukin hasil designnya, yang langsung gue OK-in untuk diajuin ke Phil. Cepet aja dahhh...
Pas lagi wara-wiri ngomongin hal lain, si Michael a.k.a. Elias (sorry Mike, gue lupa nama kantor loe, hehehe..), who is also temen gue dulu di Ciptamaya, nongol dan ngegabung. Maka lengkaplah gank 'ngobyek' kali ini. Hihihi. {Maya dan Michael ini paling rajin ngobyek di luar kantor, apa aja jadi duit!}.

Mas Komik pamitan sekitar jam 6-an. Kita yang tersisa ini (Maya, gue Michael, Mbak Dewi) ditinggalin dalam ketawa-ketiwi berkepanjangan ngomongin segala macem.
Mulai dari pertanyaan filosofisnya Michael ("Kalo gue gak ada di tempat gue berada saat ini, ada di mana gue?" -gile dah, Mike, gak nahaaaannn!!!), masalah bosen kerja, cara nemuin motivasi baru (yang seperti biasa ujung-ujungnya,"Nyelem di Bunaken yuk?"), cerita tentang Phil Keoghan-nya Amazing Race yang sangat inspirational, sampe ke hal-hal gak penting...

"Ri, apus dulu tuh foto gue dari henfon loe, tar laki loe marah-marah lagi."
"Ih, gaklah. Laki gue sih gak cemburuan tauk." (Sambil nyeruput teh poci pake gula batu, slurrp!)
"Enak banget sih hidup loe."

Gue ngerti tuh kenapa 'pasangan yang gak cemburuan' didefinisikan si Michael sebagai satu kenikmatan hidup. Masalahnya gue pernah ngalamin punya cowok yang audzubillah posesif dan cemburuan to-the-extreme, dan gue rasanya kayak di neraka! Untung putussssss... alhamdulillah...

Anyway, sore yang sangat nyenengin. Alhamdulillah. Gak nyangka bakal dapet keindahan ini, setelah pagi hari diawali dengan baca blog yang bikin gue sedih sekali, dan ngirim imel sambil keluar air mata.

Dari Simpur, Maya ngedrop gue di Mal Ambasador lagi. Beli cairan solution untuk contact lense 2 botol, plus tetes matanya, abis 100 ribu lebih. (Buseeet.. itu obat tetes kan kecil banget, harganya 30 rebu lebih, rampoooook!)

Terus ke Carrefour lagi, ngelunasin another utang-utang (shame on me!!). Keliling bentar di Carrefour, liat-liat barang-barang (mau beli kompor portable gak jadi, merk yang gue mau lagi kosyong), terus memutuskan gak beli apa-apa karena gak ada yang dibutuhin. Abis bayar utang nih, mosyok abis itu boros lagi, hehehe... Mau niru disiplin nabungnya Nattever nih. Langkah pertama kan membebaskan diri dulu dari utang-utang, dan jangan pernah ngutang lagi. Bener gak, Nat?
{Bokap gue seumur idup gak pernah ngutang. Beli mobil aja pake uang cash. Ayah sering banget ngulang cerita, tentang suatu hari beliau gak punya uang buat pergi ke kantor. Instead of pinjem duit, beliau jual baju untuk ongkos. What a great lesson I could've learnt earlier in my life. Mulai sekarang mau pantang ngutang kayak Ayah. Rajin nabung kayak si Nat. Yea, baby!}

Sebelom pulang, sempet liat-liat DVD bajakan Friends yang dipaket sekaligus 6 DVD. Tapi lagi-lagi gak jadi, karena gak nemu yang season terakhir. Emang Yang Di Atas ini gak ngebolehin gue ngeluarin duit lagi hari ini, hehehe...

Pulang, nyampe rumah bantuin hubby masang selang bidet, buka komputer, baca imel (disela nonton Friends), baaaaru deh ngerjain terjemahan.

Oya, ada imel dari si Mister (ex boss gue itu), katanya dia mau benerin komputer gue kalo itu jadi penghalang gue ngerjain designnya dia.
Tuh kan, gue bilang juga apa. Doyan banget maksa. Dulu waktu gue gak mau terima tawarannya jadi Franchise Manager -dengan alasan sejujurnya gue gak mau kerja sama istrinya, dia juga berusaha meyakinkan gue bahwa perlakuan istrinya ke gue beda, gak kayak ke anak buah yang lain. Yea right :)

Fiuhhh...., sekarang gue tengah nyelesai-in janji gue ke klien setia ini, sambil ditemenin sama smooth sounds lagu-lagu slow 80an. Yeah! 80s rules!!

sekian postingan panjang ini. capek gak sih.

A Gift You Give Yourself

When I was small, and christmas trees were tall ..
"First of May" by Bee Gees

What gift should I give myself today?

A 60 gigs iPod? The latest Nikon SLR digicam? A 400 ml bottle of Pleasures? New original adventure game? That cute white small Fujitsu laptop I saw the other day? A new Palm pilot? Wilton stuff?

I could.
But instead, I gave myself an invaluable gift:
a simplicity of life
by temporarily removing myself from the 2 most active lists I was in.

What gift do you give yourself today?

{Current mision: Missing} {Currently reading: "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown}