TrueColor Blog Competition 2009

I opened my twitter account and somehow I discovered Raditya Dika's twitter page and spotted one of his tweets saying:

"Nyambung sama Hari Blogger Nasional, ada kompetisi blog berhadiah 50 juta rupiah. Gw salah satu jurinya. Hoho. Here: http://bit.ly/6g2Pe."

 For anyone interested in taking part in the contest, try to browse this page. You can get various prizes like netbooks, iPod, and other gadgets. So why hesitate? Join now, people!

National Bloggers Day + My Birthday = October 27th

Hello guys, regardless of being blogger or not, don't you know that today (Oct 27) is Indonesian National Bloggers Day??! Never knew before? Well, now you know. And what makes it more exciting and thrilling is the fact that I celebrate my birthday on the exactly similar day
when the Indonesian blogggers are celebrating their national day. But why should it be on Oct 27th? Any reason why that date was chosen?

Things to Learn during 'Mudik'

Of all socio-cultural phenomena I've ever encountered, 'mudik' is apparently the most colossal and massive in number of participants. I am never actively involved in this 'mudik' euphoria myself. I'm merely a  bystander, a passive spectator, who is constantly listening to how hectic and screwed up 'mudik' has become lately. Traffic accident here, traffic jam there, dying casualties reported here, survivors reported there... Feels like my head is completely full of the 'mudik' news.
Mudik is definitely a term which is extremely typically Indonesian. I've never seen American call themselves doing mudik, though I know they're doing the exactly same thing for their beloved family members and relatives, like going back to the hometown, family gathering, huge feasts, having fun with people they can't see on a daily basis. American people usually do these things on national public holidays, such as Thanksgiving.

But what makes Indonesian and American different is the level of discipline.  I do not really have to specify the details as it's a series of public secrets (or flaws?) we witness every day. The potentially undisciplined trait of Indonesian society is even much aggravated by the government incapability of providing proper and safe infrastructure for citizens. Impatience sometimes ends tragically for some unfortunate people who are eager to rush to their hometown without even clicking their helmets or safety belts.

And this is the thing I hate most to see. To no end, I curse some parents' shallow way of thinking who wear standardized helmets BUT foolishly let their children's heads unprotected while they're acting and riding the bike in such a carefree way, like nothing wrong is happening. Even they don't get accident, it's totally those  ignorant parents' fault to have their beloved kids exposed to the whole street pollutants, damaging sunlight, dusts. I swear that's not a kind of parent I want to be someday. For parents or parents wannabe who stumbled upon reading this article, stop being  a selfish idiot by wearing helmet for yourselves! And it's time for the country's police corps to send these ignorant parents to jail for not taking care of them properly and not educating them how to drive safely. We can't compromise safety, can we?

Outsmarting Eye Strain

Nowadays there's nothing strange with seeing people staring closely at screens and monitors. Much of humans' life now is revolving around electronic devices. Hand phones, pagers, laptops, netbooks, panel controls, all of them have monitors or screens for people to look at.

There're more and more people suffering from back pain, tense neck, and most of the cases..eye strain. I mean it, I used to think sitting and typing in front of computer wouldn't be quite agonizing. But now I find it truly torturing.
And what I hate is when it happens, I just can't really take my eyes off of the monitor easily as leaving the computer means leaving so much work for tomorrow and I want it done ASAP. I have to do routines like checking emails, writing on my blog, twittering, facebooking, and the list goes on. Then my eyes gradually get strained as the time goes by. And I feel like I had to massage my eyeballs to relieve the pain.

I know it's just the beginning of the next eye-related issues, and I have no intention to have one, of course. But at the same time it's pretty hard to stop when I am in the middle of activity.

Some friends say we'd better stay away from computer monitor every 2 hours, but recently I just got another information. As what Josh Hanagarne stated, it would be better for us, computer users, to stare at an object 20 feet away every 20 minutes and blink 20 times.

Ok, I guess my 20 minutes is running out...Bye!

Hi people!

As Ramadhan was closer to its end, something happened to my body. I found myself less energetic, I even got a slight fever occasionally, I recovered and suddenly it was recurring yesterday. I felt like I was so unfit. I felt cold when other people around me felt hot.Last night the whole ailment was aggravating and I decided to take a rest earlier..Ughhhh. Thank God, I feel a lot better now. Hope I can get well sooner as tomorrow's my family's big day. There's going to be a massive group of people around my house tomorrow and I simply have to host them well.
But anyway..Happy Iedul Fitri for those celebrating it!
It's nice to post again to my blog after some time spent with relatives and getting sick after that. Iedul Fitri is festive, emotionally draining (to witness some people shedding tears while forgiving each other), financially beneficial (to get a great sum of money from relatives), and energy draining as well.

Pandeglang: A Hidden Pearl on Java

Some people might wonder where Pandeglang is, or even worse, never knew that Pandeglang really exists or is listed by cartographers on the Indonesian maps. i am indonesian but I do not think it is shameful to say that I have no idea about Pandeglang whereabouts.

However, thanks to a site called www.cintapandeglang.com, I am now more well informed about the town. As I browsed the web to make a little research on Pandeglang, I discovered lots of information relating to its potentials and touris attractions. The most shocking thing to find, to me, is that I know well where Ujung Kulon National Park is but I did not know it is located in Pandeglang.
Then my virtual online adventure went on to the other fascinating sites to have fun at. Carita Beach is depicted as a beach with white brownsh, or whitish brown, sand scattered to soothe your sight. The clean sensation it creates is unbeatable and never fails to draw more visitors. Maybe you know Cilegon, which is famous for its steel industry, now I tell you that this awesome beach lies on Labuan, Cilegon. If you're a water sport lover, this beach offers you plenty of heavenly pleasure you will badly regret to miss. Cruise ships are pretty much welcomed by a couple of little wharves built here.

Located near the western Java coastal lines, Pandeglang offers us a number of water and beach sports. After the celebrated carita, you might include the other coasts into your itinerary; i.e. Tanjung Lesung Tourist Resort, Bama Coastal Area, and Ciputih Beach. Besides white sand, what these sites offer is relatively the same, except that Bama is now being prepared as a submarine tourist destination where you and your beloved ones can behold and enjoy at ease the splendor of untouched ecosystem.sea corals and myriads fish with lively colors swimming to and fro are some things you can enjoy there.

Enough with the beaches, now for those who do not really like salty water, seas, beaches, coasts, or perhaps those who are worried about sudden tsunami attack, you do not have to leave Pandeglang to find a place where you can unwind yourselves. let's travel to Cikomoroy Swimming Pool, Curug Gendang ('curug' means 'waterfall'), and Cisolong Sulfuric Hot Spring. Cikomoroy is located in Cimanuk district, about 12 kms away from the downtown. Curug Gendang is near the forementioned Carita. Here you may find a camping ground and be able to bathe or dip into the water pool beneath the 15-meter-high waterfall. Cisolong is reachable by heading towards Kaduhejo district, approximately 10 kms away from the town.

And eventually, the most wel-known site in the town is Ujung Kulon National Park, one of natural world heritage sites on the globe. Declared by UNESCO as an endangered Java rhinoceros preservation, Ujung Kulon is truly a natural paradise.

Now it sounds like you have many things to prepare since i know you're giving Pandeglang some serious consideration as your next vacation getaway.

9/11 Memorial: 8 Years after

When this writing was posted, America was still on Thursday, September 10th 2009. That's why when I tried to brainstorm any ideas what to write today, I came to an idea of writing something as historical and colossal as 9/11 tragedy. But as I browsed the web, I couldn't find any news on Obama's speech about 9/11 memorial this year.
That early morning, I was watching TV and rushing to get prepared because within less than an hour I had to be sitting in my Intensive Course class. FYI (for your information), Intensive Course was a set of courses that a freshman at my English department had to take during their first semester. As I took a glance at my landlord's 14-inch TV screen, I instantly dropped my jaw and froze. What I saw was a skyscraper collapsing after being struck violently by a plane, just like a Lego construction kids usually make blown away by some strong wind. Few moments later, the building turned grotesque, piles of bricks with corpses and wounded casualties. I thought the disaster was a pure air accident, which was definitely not something to worry about much, especially here in Indonesia as it happened overseas. But then it turned out it triggered a long domino effect inconceivable to me. The consequences were enormous, massive, and tremendous, not only in America, but also the entire humanity on this very planet.

It's been 8 years and the scars caused by the tragedy hasn't even vanished. It's interesting to see what the recently elected US president, mr. Obama, is about to do to commemorate the nation's great loss.  As I read an article on Obama's view on 9/11 tragedy, I realized that he's got what the terror-torn world needed at that time. He emphasized more on the power of understanding and empathy to seek and eradicate the root of the radicalism. But it was unfortunate of the obscure Illinois senator like Obama in 2001, his opinion wasn't even making a headline in local newspapers of Chicago. 

As Bush Jr's successor, Obama is naturally confronted with plenty of public curiosity on how to keep America (and the world) safe from the real terrorism, without being somewhat offensive like Bush.

Everyone is now crossing their fingers to see a better world with Obama as the US commander in chief. The world needs America not as 'the police of the world' (a notion that has been resounding since forever), but as a 'physically bigger brother' who voluntarily protects its siblings (read; other nations) to defend the brotherhood (humanity).

LIPI Open Source Blog Competition 2009

To support "Indonesia, Go Open Source! (IGOS)" program and Open Source Software Seminar (OSS) III 2009, Pusat Penelitian Informatika (P2I) - Indonesian Science Institution or Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (LIPI) holds Open Source Blog Competition. By writing an open source themed article or articles on your blog, you can grab the chance to win million rupiahs prize and it's worth it, as this contest is free of charge.

Participants requirements:

• Your blog may be free-hosted blog (e.g. wordpress, blogger ) or paid-hosted blog.
• Newly published blogs or blogs that have been established long before the contest are welcomed.
• The competing blog must be owned by Indonesian citizen (WNI).
• The blog is accessible to any Indonesian.
• Overal blog's content doesn't contain sensitive issues (tribe, faith, race related issues- SARA) or morally unacceptable norms, violating laws, and copyright.
• The  article (min. 1 article) must be published using open source as its main theme/ topic.
• The other open source related articles posted on the blog will be an advantage.
• Any other non open source themed articles might be published on the competing blog. 

Article requirements:

• The content is free as long as it's relevant with the theme.
• Any language style (formal, slang, frozen, or humorous style) may be applied here.
• Authenticity of the article is a must, meaning article generated by plagiarizing is not considered.
• Add this sentence to any part of article you'd like : "Tulisan ini dibuat untuk menyukseskan Lomba Blog Open Source P2I-LIPI dan Seminar Open Source P2I-LIPI 2009.", including the links : http://www.informatika.lipi.go.id/seminar/lombablog/ and http://www.informatika.lipi.go.id/seminar/.
• The time of publication is August, Spetember, or October 2009.
• It's NOT allowed to delete the article until the day when Seminar Open Source 2009 P2I LIPI  (7 november 2009).
• After publishing the article, make sure it is registered by sending its URL to semnas[at]informatika.lipi.go.id (cc/carbon copy to seminarlipi[at]gmail.com), with your biodata (Name, date/place of birth, address, job), and brief description onblog's content, not later than November 1st, 2009.
• Date of results announcement is November 7th, 2009 on website seminar P2I LIPI.

PRIZES:
The winning bloggers are going to get free entrance tickets to take part in "Seminar Open Source P2I LIPI" and officially receive these prizes:
Best Blog Award for Public Category : IDR 2m
Best Blog Award for Student category: IDR 2m
Creative Blog Award: IDR 1m
Info : click here to read the details

“Pecunia, si uti scis, ancilla est; si nescis, domina”

“If you can use money, money is your slave; if you can’t, money is your master”, that’s what the Latin line above means..

Don’t know why I suddenly think of that. Money is definitely something on my top search list nowadays. It’s crisis now, I’m jobless. Although some economists stated the worst was already over,but I still can’t see any considerable progress. So I came to a conclusion that I just have to start my own business, but how?? No capital,my bank account is almost zeroed. Ok, stop complaining, onto business!

I was wondering how unfair this world is to humankinds. Some jetset are spending their seemingly bottomless accounts extravagantly, while some others are starving to death. Some executives are overwhelmed by job offers, whereas the others are completely discarded by employers and companies, even if they wanted to work without getting paid.

And all of a sudden, Bernard Madoff crossed on my mind. I’m not really familiar with financial world,but still I know who Bernard Madoff is. Thanks to his notorious international reputation, almost everybody knows him now.

According to Former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt, the actual net fraud to be between $10 and $17 billion, as this calculation does not include the fictional returns Madoff credited to his customer accounts. Prosecutors identified $13.2 billion in losses in accounts opened since 1996. On June 29, 2009, Madoff was sentenced to 150 years imprisonment as inmate number #61727-054 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City. As parole has been abolished in the federal prison system since 1984, it was equivalent to a life sentence. Despite its length, at least three other white collar defendants have received longer sentences. At sentencing, Madoff apologized to his victims, saying, “I have left a legacy of shame, as some of my victims have pointed out, to my family and my grandchildren. This is something I will live in for the rest of my life. I’m sorry.” He added, “I know that doesn’t help you,” after his victims recommended to the judge that he rot in jail. Chin had not received any mitigating letters from friends or family testifying to Madoff’s good deeds. “The absence of such support is telling,” he said (see here for details).

How could he have had heart to commit such horrible crime??! Fraud with the total sum of billions dollars is beyond my ken. Madoff is really mad, and folks are deeply maddened by him! He’s become a slave for his money.

NOORDIN VS AUSTRALIAN FIREFIGHTER

I know how weird it sounds to compare ‘Noordin’ and ‘Australian firefighter’, but that’s exactly what snapped on my mind.

Watching Indonesian TV stations news has been kind of boring these last two weeks. The resounding word “terrorism” seems to terrorize the viewers perpetually. Get sick of it sometimes.

Around 6 a.m., I woke up this morning, startled gradually as the fluent-speaking TV anchor started to read the news, which is always related to terrorism. Day and night, the press is continuously reporting how police are trying to track the most celebrated terrorist fugitive ever, Noordin Moh Top,

who evades the Indonesian well trained cops named Densus 88 as easily as an eel. Even Sirius the witch prisoner of Azkaban can be rearrested, why can’t Noordin? He’s not a witch who could merely swing his magic wand and vanish, being teleported to somewhere else.

Getting bored with the monotonous TV news, I turned to the Internet where I can find any news I want,other than the terrorism-related news of course. I spotted some lines of news reporting a koala whose nickname is Sam was eventually euthanized owing to “her” (it’s female!) terminal disease which was specifically described as cysts. The cysts apparently murdered her slowly but surely. The vet taking care of her resolved to kill the 4-year-old koala.

And what strikes me is the photo in which the koala looked terribly thirsty and a firefighter David Tree shared his water with an injured koala, at Mirboo North amidst a wildfire. As fires raged, Sam was gingerly making her way on scorched paws past a fire patrol north of Melbourne when one of the firefighters spotted her. The firefighter was photographed holding a bottle of water to her lips, an image that resonated around the world. To Kevin Rudd, Sam is definitely a representation of hope.

So what’s the point of comparing these two, Noordin and David Tree?? On one hand, as an excelled, skillful bomber, Noordin – who claimed himself to be a moslem- has victimized numerous number people. For his own belief, this self-righteous culprit doesn’t really care about his moslem brothers and sisters’ lives. He doesn’t give their safety damn, what Noordin has in his mind is only a wrongly interpreted belief of Jihad. Jihad isn’t like that, as far as I’m concerned, it’s not like a massive, blind massacre and mercilessly done bloodspill. Our prophet Mohammad never teaches such type of Jihad. My religious knowledge on Islam isn’t quite profound but I still recall that even Mohammed prohibited the Islamic troops he led to cut trees without any sound reason, or killing the elderly, kids,and women who were assumed to be unarmed, less powerful, and less likely to attack. Deep inside his heart, he knows that bombing doesn’t solve, but in fact creates more and more problems, aggravates the complicated conflicts which has been previously enigmatic and seemingly impossible to .

On the other hand, the firefighter -whom I assumed to be a non-moslem- mirrors some of the Islamic teachings Mohammed has taught us, i.e. being very compassionate to our environment, including other people, animals, or even plants. And alas..Noordin fails to follow Mohammed’s teachings……

I don’t want to be judging here,but I guess people need to know how hazardous and misleading the “Islamic” teachings those radically-thinking men have are. So subtle, undetected.

That firefighter helped Sam the powerless koala, and I think it’s more likely for him to treat other people’s lives better than he did Sam. And I simply can’t imagine seeing with my own eye balls Noordin does the same thing to Sam…I suppose Noordin doesn’t even care about environment, animals, or the like.

As my memory serves, the blessed prophet Mohammed never teaches us to take revenge blindly. Moslems are ordered to treat someone who treats them badly in a better way. It’s in accordance with Qishash Law, when somebody is proven to murder someone else, the family of the victim may want the murderer beheaded. However, if the family wants to forgive the murderer’s bad deed by giving diat (=fine, perhaps a sum of money to compensate the loss of income the victim may get if s/he is still alive), then the case is closed.

So, whoever we are, Christians,Moslems, Jews, Buddhists or even Atheists, we should be pacifist Christians, peace-making Moslems, and so on. In a nutshell, let’s live together and respect each other regardless of faith we have. That’s what the whole humanity needs…..XOXO PEACE!

LIFE’S TOUGH,BUT GREAT

 Why should we thank Pandora for opening the box?

It was a coincidence that I stumbled upon a Greek story about Pandora on a site about Greek myths. After I thought a moment after that, I realized how inspiring this story/myth can be for us and can be a theme story for this blog. Human beings were destined to live in sufferings, pain, difficulties, and lots of others untold predicaments.

After Pandora stole and opened the lid of the box Zeus gave to her husband, it is told that:

“Out flew every kind of disease and sickness, hate and envy, and all the bad things that people had never experienced before. Pandora slammed the lid closed, but it was too late. All the bad things were already out of the box. They flew away, out into the world.

Pandora cried and cried. Epimetheus woke up at the sound of her sobbing. I opened the box and all these ugly things flew out,?she cried. I tried to catch them, but they all got out.?Pandora opened the box to show him how empty it was. But the box was not quite empty. One tiny bug flew quickly out before Pandora could slam the lid shut again.

Hello, Pandora,?said the bug, hovering just out of reach. My name is Hope. With a nod of thanks for being set free, Hope flew out into the world, a world that now held Envy, Crime, Hate, and Disease, and also Hope.”

So many people out there are struggling to figure out the mystery of life and each of us is having problems with our lives. Frustrating but true, we need those ugly things named Envy, Crime, Hate, and Disease to make our extremely gloomy world turn bright. Those ugly things seem to be blessings in disguise, for those who know how to live this life.

As for me now, I need to open another ’Pandora’s box’ not to make myself suffer from all the misery it may cause, but to give myself the hope I need to continue this life in a more meaningful way. Starting something new is like opening a box we don’t know the content at all. And what it all takes is the courage to simply open, start, begin, and dispel the haunting fear at the very same time. Pandora had risked herself by opening the box and finally gotten the merits of Hope. So? Let’s focus on releasing Hope in our own box,as Hope is worth releasing.

Thanks Pandora for releasing hope for us…

RAMAYANA BALLET:ANOTHER EXOTICA OF JAVANESE CULTURE

How strange it is to be a native Javanese who hardly ever watched Javanese traditional dances…..

All of a sudden,I stumbled upon an article of newspaper reporting a Javanese traditional performance which looks luxurious and outstanding as it is held at Prambanan Temple,Yogyakarta, starting from Friday,8/7/2009 to Monday,8/10/2009. It is a highly well-known tourist attraction after Borobudur,so I concluded there must be some government officials watching it.Presented by more than 250 artists at its original place: Ramayana Open Air Theater & Trimurti Theater Prambanan Temple complex – Yogyakarta – Indonesia.

Here is the factual report on the ballet I read on The Jakarta Post:

“Ramayana Ballet at present time being the most popular performance in Yogyakarta. It is held at an outdoor theater (episodic) and Trimurti indoor theater (full story) in Prambanan, 16 km east of Yogyakarta, with the magnificent Prambanan Temple as a scenic background. Ramayana Ballet presents the finest dancers from the region.

 

The entire Ramayana epic consists of four episodes, each night one episode, presented from 07.30 to 09.30 p.m. in four clear nights on and around the full moon, each month from May through October. The full story is held at Trimurti Theater every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; presented by more than 50 professional dancers. The large outdoor amphitheater, more than 250 assorted dancers and gamelan musicians, four clear tropical nights on the full moon, a thousand-year-old temple of inspiring beauty as part of the scenery; Ramayana, the story of gods, mortals, giants, monkeys and beautiful women based on the epic of Hindu found in the relief’s of Prambanan Temple, are the reasons for its popularity, reputation and appeal with every performance.”

“Looks like the Indonesian tourism is starting its toil to restore its fame and regain tourists’ sympathy after the terrifying, deadly blast of J. W. Marriot and Ritz Carlton“, I thought. But apart from that, I feel a bit odd as I realize how rarely I watch any Javanese shows or art performances for my 25 years of my lifetime.”This is wrong,so wrong!”, I said by heart. I can’t even read Javanese alphabets well which I used to learn in my elementary school days (a series of alphabets that I didn’t really skillfully write and read at that time and -tragically-still now). What strikes me is the fact that bunch of foreigners are found more atttracted to Javanese cultural products than I am. This is, to me, like an indirect slap on my bare face. I don’t hate those who love Javanese stuff but it makes me lament my loss of Javanese sense and my being a Javanese and living as a Javanese. An ironic,bitter fact that, I’m pretty sure, many other Javanese may encounter either consciously or subconsciously.

 

Occasionally,I try to listen to kethoprak shows aired on local radio stations,but find myself fail to enjoy the story. I feel like I’ve betrayed my Javanese origin and ancestors. I guess,it is because of Javanese natives-who don’t enjoy Javanese shows like me, Ngesti Pandowo (a celebrated Javanese artists group) is now gasping to survive,though succeeded to remain active for decades.

 

Ok, enough with all complaints, onto business. As I can’t literally do anything significant for the betterment of Javanese culture,perhaps this is the one and only good deed I’ve ever done for the culture,i.e. posting this article. For anyone who may find this show interesting, click here to book the seats.

LESSON TO LEARN FROM SPONGEBOB

I don’t care about being 26 and still have an urge to watch Spongebob the most ridiculous nautical creature series, but it’s true i watch it everyday and still can learn lots of lessons by laughing to tears.

 

In this episode I watched the yellow protagonist was on his way to watch Squidward’s solo performance. Spongebob was so eager to watch his best pal (though Squidward doesn’t think the same) playing clarinet on stage. The clarinet, sadly, was kind of broken just right before the performance. Squidward, as usual, was terribly frantic and nervous about what to do. He always wanted everything to go smoothly, and you know how annoyingly perfectinist he can be. Somehow Spongebob came along and got an idea to fix the ill-fated clarinet, and it did work. Poor for the helpful Spongebob, Squidward left him outside and ignored him completely. Spongebob forgot bringing the ticket along so he couldn’t get in to watch the mediocre clarinet player. As Spongebob got the seat somehow, the show was over. Spongebob suddenly cried as he felt like he couldn’t content his disappointment which had reached its peak. Squidward then soothed his friend hurt feeling by telling him the show wasn’t a success and Squidward couldn’t perform well without Spongebob immediate help. Soon after, Spongebob knew he’d done lots of good deed. And it wasn’t about what he can get from his buddies but what he can give to his buddies.

 

Then I finally realized how wise this cartoon series can be. I got a pal, who seemed to never do me a favor. Rather, it’s me who always lends him a hand. One day I got stressed out and he asked for my help but my anger couldn’t tolerate it anymore. I finally lost my temper and broke the wall of patience. I scolded him not to bother me again as I got so sick with him and his perpetual requests of help. And now I regretted that a bit. I should’ve been treated him better but….I didn’t. Now I know the more we give, the more we accept. The common problem is we are ignorant of the numerous, innumerable rewards we accept, thinking that the rewards won’t come, but actually they are overflowing us but we don’t know…..So, have more friends who can remind you of the blessing feature of helping others.

SUDDENLY MY HOMETOWN’S MORE FAMOUS THAN EVER…

It’s not a surprise to read some piece of local news on local newspapers that mentions Kudus as its background or crime scene. Today is however quite different . What a real surprise to read one of the bold printed headlines on the frontmost page of a local newspaper - wawasan-my father subscribes to. It read there “Warga Kudus dan Kendal jadi DPO Densus”. While I was dropping my jaw, I scrutinized the whole news fervently and found some shocking facts. What the hell is this???

I know now why some people say “you’ll never believe in something until it happens before your eyes”! How on earth is there a suspect of terrorist coming from this so-called religious, tranquil town like Kudus? An unbelievably bitter fact, if the police’s allegation is true.

The wanted culprit is Bagus Budi Pranoto, aged 31. Like other terrorists fugitive chase classic stories, the suspect was known as a decent man, having no flaws as a society member. Pranoto’s childhood pal, Mbarsidi, remembered Pranoto as a student with a relatively nice personality and an easy learner. There was no indication of mischief or any deviant behaviors or way of thinking. Therefore, the whole neighborhood is wondering and guessing whether the allegation is true or not.

 

Bagus was raised by his parents at a village called Mijen (which is only a few kilometers from my seat where I’m typing this post now!). He was known as a recidivist as years before he was detained for being accused of concealing Dr. Azhari and Noordin (our most frequently mentioned man in Indonesia these days).

 

Isman, Pranoto’s father was continually complaining about the accusation effect on his family members. As a parent, Isman naturally wanted the negation for his dear son’s involvement in a series of terror actions and plans thus far. He doesn’t see his son quite often as Pranoto is living somewhere out of town and married a Solo origin woman who usually wears chador.

Suddenly…I feel like I could sense and feel the breath of terror phantom nearer than I thought before. So a tickling question crossed in my mind, “Has Noordin M. Top once passed me somewhere but I wasn’t completely aware of?” Hmmm…wish I could run into him again and report his whereabout so I could win the prize the police have promised!

LISTENING: SOMETHING THAT MAKES A BETTER PERSON

Les Giblin stated in The Art of Dealing with People:"Oilver Wendell Holmes once said being able to listen to others in a sympathetic and understanding manner is perhaps the most effective mechanism to have a better interpersonal relationship and a better friendship".

Listening makes you smart!

Contrary to popular opinion that we have to speak to show we're smart, listening in fact may cause the same effect. Sometimes I let myself silent and listen to others' opinions, complaints, and then I find myself a wiser person. Yeah, it's true...When pals of mine tell some bad experiences they had, I tried to soothe them, comfort them, and by this, I tried to overlook the downside of the matters. Turns out the problems weren't that bad....So listening really teaches me sensitivity and wisdom and of course the art of positive thinking.

People will say what they want so long as you're available for them

Two-way human interaction is the best type of interaction. So don't let you deaf to what others people want you to know. Sit together, sip some tea or coffee, listen and respond properly. It works most of the time.

Talking too much is a self-suicidal act

Successful people are skillful at making others talk and reveal their opinion and thinking. Speak moderately. Sometimes it's better for you to keep silent a while, let our partner spill everything s/he wants and there's some point where you can respond wisely.

Self-absorbed people tend to have less friends

I know some people in my social life who seem to have no close friends. As I tried to find out why by talking to them in person, I instantly knew they're such a self-absorbed person. They gave me a little amount of chance to speak, they're relentlessly rambling about their achievements, in a seemingly very proud manner...They tried hard to impress other interlocutors, they kept talking about something boring, their own personal experience everyone else can't even grasp or ever had...Talk and get laid back, you'll get more than what you expect.

Know what they want, what they need, who they are, and you'll be able to communicate effectively

Listening to someone while s/he's talking is simply an appreciation of their existence. When you're listening to what they speak, they feel like they're an important person. Remember, most of us are glad to get other people's attention and appreciation.

THE SHORTEST SHORTCUT

It's been a while since the last time I sat in a classroom staring at a tutor,lecturer, or whoever it may be called. These past three and a half years what I've been doing is presenting and explaining materials in front of others, simply put.

But this is definitely a new experience....Learning a foreign language from almost zero..yeah pretty much from the very bottom, the very basics of everything. Being a novice still gives a different sense to me. I love the challenges, adore the complaints I'm continuously saying when ordered to memorize numerous number of new vocabularies, and definitely enjoy the satisfaction when winning the race against the lazy part of me.

Today wasn't quite fun. My tutor, Anwar Sonsaengnim (that's what we should call him-I'm taking Korean course), was away and we -other students and I- were simply abandoned in a not-so-spacious classroom.

Some strangers were coming into the door, wanting to meet our sonsaengnim ("teacher/someone clever" in Korean). They were apparently his guests wishing to discuss something with him.

Before leaving us, he assigned us to do the exercises. I happened to know that there was already a answer key page attached in the rearmost part of the textbook. No one in my class, however, was aware of this, at least as far as I knew. It seemed that they never read or scrutinized the book before, which is so unbelievable as we have it as our sole source of learning. Yeah, they didn't know until I disclosed the fact that there was an answer key! At first they all took the assignment quite seriously...but I then decided to test how far they can think for their own sake. And I should've known they'd fail it. I spilled out the 'top secret', the rest of the class heard it, and proved my word. Some looked so surprised (they found all of the answers), and of course happy at the same time. Without even thinking twice, they copied all the answers.

I felt so sorry for their failure of being a good, sensible student. Most of them are younger than me, and they have less motivation to absorb the knowledge...What they always think is the shortest shortcut...

But I hate shortcuts that intensify the complexity of my life...I hate shortcuts that create more problems than solve problems.

As I finished my course, I also tried to build my own Korean learning blog

WHY SHOULD WE THANK PANDORA?

It was a divine coincidence that I stumbled upon a Greek story about Pandora on http://greece.mrdonn.org/greekgods/pandora.html. After I thought a moment after that, I realized how inspiring this story/myth can be for us and can be a theme story for this blog. Human beings were destined to live in sufferings, pain, difficulties, and lots of others untold predicaments.

After Pandora stole and opened the lid of the box Zeus gave to her husband, it is told that:

“Out flew every kind of disease and sickness, hate and envy, and all the bad things that people had never experienced before. Pandora slammed the lid closed, but it was too late. All the bad things were already out of the box. They flew away, out into the world.

Pandora cried and cried. Epimetheus woke up at the sound of her sobbing. I opened the box and all these ugly things flew out,?she cried. I tried to catch them, but they all got out.?Pandora opened the box to show him how empty it was. But the box was not quite empty. One tiny bug flew quickly out before Pandora could slam the lid shut again.

Hello, Pandora,?said the bug, hovering just out of reach. My name is Hope. With a nod of thanks for being set free, Hope flew out into the world, a world that now held Envy, Crime, Hate, and Disease, and also Hope.”

So many people out there are struggling to figure out the mystery of life and each of us is having problems with our lives. Frustrating but true, we need those ugly things named Envy, Crime, Hate, and Disease to make our extremely gloomy world turn bright. Those ugly things seem to be blessings in disguise, for those who know how to live this life.

As for me now, I need to open another ’Pandora’s box’ not to make myself suffer from all the misery it may cause, but to give myself the hope I need to continue this life in a more meaningful way. Starting something new is like opening a box we don’t know the content at all. And what it all takes is the courage to simply open, start, begin, and dispel the haunting fear at the very same time. Pandora had risked herself by opening the box and finally gotten the merits of Hope. So? Let’s focus on releasing Hope in our own box,as Hope is worth releasing.

Thanks Pandora for releasing hope for us…

GOSSIP GIRL

Gossip Girl is a satirical American teen drama television series based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series is created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, which premiered on The CW on September 19, 2007. On February 24, 2009 The CW renewed the show for a third season.[1] Narrated by the omniscient yet unseen blogger "Gossip Girl", the series revolves around the lives of privileged teenagers attending an elite private school in New York City's Upper East Side. The series began with the mysterious arrival of bad girl turned good Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), who attempts to start a new page in her life with her friends and family, starting a relationship with Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), an outsider who becomes a part of the turbulent Manhattan scene. Gossip Girl also features Serena's best friend and ally Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), a beautiful Queen Bee of Manhattan's social scene. As of the third season, students who graduated from high school navigate their way through the real world or university.