Printed and Good to Go :)

Project: A Week In The Life
Time Limit: end of June
Song: "In My Life" - The Beatles
Sanity Level Status: a bit dizzy of excitement, anxiety, ..and FEAR



To quote Ria Nirwana, The Jedi of Indonesian Scrapbooking, "The photos are here!!"

But of all these friends and lovers
there is no one compares with you..

Jiaahhh..!! *loncat menari salto jungkir balik di udara*

Ok, ok.. woman,.. breathe.. breathe..
Now, now.. they're not perfect. I had hundreds of "what if" moments, and "gosh, it's not supposed to be like this, it should be like that" turning points, and yes, I wished I did some toning to some photos, some cropping, some more toning, et cetera, et cetera, peter cetera. But you know, I'll follow my Jedi Master, who engraved this on her wall:
"I know my limitations, and then I ignore them."

So I just ignored all the flaws. I threw my cautions to the wind and enjoyed the photos anyway. You know I interpret the words to my liking, again, i don't care :)

I haven't done anything to the photos. To be honest, I still don't know where and how to start. And I have to admit I'm a little bit scared. No, I'm scared to death! Actually I've been scared since Ria asked me whether or not I want to join this project. I am so intimidated by those advanced scrappers, I am oh-so-scared to the bones. But, my bad habit is that although I'm scared of doing something, I always end up doing it anyway. Haha.

So yeah, here I am with my photos. Loving Adorama so much. Loving the adventure and all the surprises I know waiting in front me. Loving my life. And still don't know where to start. Help me.

Though I know I'll never lose affection

For people and things that went before

I know I'll often stop and think about them

In my life, I love you more

"In My Life" - The Beatles

...

The Golden Shot

My favorite moment. The golden shot when Lee sang The Boxer in front of thousands of people of his hometown. He looked at his parents, his dad in particular, was singing along, then Lee broke into tears. And his dad broke into tears. Then I broke into tears. Oh, my. What more could one ask.



...

Chocolate++: A Destiny

That cloudy morning I was in my parang rusak batik dress, when I parked Mr. Fordy in the empty lot of  Pizza Marzano. Broken-white sky, fresh cold air, a bit windy.  I stepped into the restaurant with such an excitement I forgot when the last time I had. I met Revy of Ginger Mama at the door, my first scrapper friend, we obviously were the first students came.

I finally met Ria Nirwana in person. A cool chick I knew from Fieli, my student in food photography class, who told me about Bagus Bagus, a.k.a. papers heaven *no, I made that up :) *, a beautiful wrapping store owned by Ria. I did encourage my food photography students to always always look for pretty props: papers, fabrics, napkins, decorations, tidbits, basically anything to enhance the color, texture, ambiance, and story of the food captured in a frame. And they don't necessarily have to be food-related props, believe you me. *stop me from talking about food photography, please. thank you.*

 

Fieli also gave me the link to Ria's blog, from where I instantly learnt that the pretty outlet in front of Food Mart Citos, at where I religiously stop by everytime I went to Citos, is hers! Wow! It's just like a destiny!

It was a destiny.

Because that morning till afternoon, I was on top of the world. Doing what naturally is me in the first place. That afternoon, so many questions that've been lingering for like all of my life were answered. 

Why do I like taking photos that were weird to the eyes of people around me *a.k.a. my sister*. 

Why do I like to keep what my friend Sandhi called "sampah": tissue from a restaurant, brand tags, movie tickets, name tags from events, but didn't know what to do with them, and cried my heart out when I had to throw them all away because people started screaming already.
Why do I love wrapping papers, cards, words.
Why were my photos always "arranged" in such way. Now I know I arranged them like a scrapbook. Thank God. I thought I was nuts.
Why do I constantly feel obliged to tell stories of anything in any form, into any media accessible to me.
Why was all of the above a big deal for me, when nobody cares!!

Remember my story regarding Seseorang Berinisial S? Aha. I guess he was my first scrapper friend. Only we didn't know there was a name for what we were doing back then.

A few weeks ago, I actually managed to drag him to Ria's outlet at Citos.

He said, "So.. you found your home."
I screamed, "I found my mothership!"
He giant-laughed.
"I'm coming home at last!"

All puzzle pieces now fall into place. I am a scrapbooker. And it was a destiny.

Scrapbooking Class for Beginner:

Chocolate++ by Ria Nirwana
this photo is courtesy of Ria Nirwana

...

Fan-bloody-tastic!

Falling slowly, eyes that know me

And I can't go back

Moods that take me and erase me

And I'm painted black

Take this sinking boat
and point it home

Falling slowly

sing your melody

I'll sing along

.: "Falling Slowly" - Glen Hansard :.

...

Matahari dan Bunga Nana

May 12 at 3:44pm
Kurnia Effendi

BUNGA NANA
sebuah kado yang telat untuk Riana Ambarsari

Sepagi ini kutemukan sekuntum bunga Nana. Ungu keputihan, putih keunguan. Berkeramas embun tersenyum kepada matahari muda. Bercecakap seperti sepasang kekasih, menceritakan mimpi masing-masing. Dari sepanjang malam berhias hujan.

Sesudah hamparan pasir putih yang memadat oleh himpunan air, membentang laut yang gelisah. Berulang kali mengirim kabar tentang kabar duka Ratu Selatan, yang ingin meletakkan mahkota untuk selamanya. Matahari dan bunga Nana hanya berbagi senyum. Mengapa ratu manja itu selalu saja berdusta? Atau akal-akalan buih samudra semata yang hendak mencari perhatian?

“Kakang Bagaskara, jangan urungkan niatmu melepas mahkotaku. Embun yang membuatku jelita pagi ini. Namun kini saatnya kukenakan jubah cahayamu. Untuk hidup barang sehari lagi.”

Aku—di luar percakapan mesra mereka—ingin menghindar dari patah hati. Walau tak punya nyali memetik bunga Nana. Demi keabadiannya.

Bengkulu, 12 Mei 2010

Carikan satu bunga sederhana saja, panggil ia Nana.


Demikian balasan singkat saya, menanggapi pesan dari mas Kef yang mengatakan ia sedang dalam perjalanan ke Bengkulu. "Untuk bertemu Kangguru. Dan bunga Raflesia jenis Agnes Majestika." Saya tertawa tanpa suara, teringat satu impian yang dilarikan kangguru dalam kantungnya. Dan Agnes Majestika yang menguntai seribu pelangi dalam cerpen-cerpen remaja.

Malam itu mas Kef berkabar lagi, "Belum kutemukan bunga Dandelionana."


Mungkin memang tak ada. Cukup sampaikan salamku pada ombak menjelang pasang.


Waktu boleh lewat berkejaran. Ulang tahun, ulang bulan, lewat bersicepat tanpa manusia sempat mengekalkan apapun. Kado dari mas Kef ini juga terlambat. Walaupun, anehnya, terpikir oleh beliau tepat pada hari ulang tahun saya, tanpa mengetahui bahwa hari itu usia saya memang berkurang satu.

Terimakasih, mas Kef.
Matahari dan Bunga Nana. Embun dan mahkota sinarnya. Kewalahan kucerna keindahannya.

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