The Shelf

This shelf is for Ibit books. We just finished moving the books from the small and crowded one. She left me a little space there, the top left one.

These are some of her collections since the first days she read books, early elementary school. In the beginning I chose the books she read. But later she has her own taste in books such as teenlits an teen comics. Still I some times give her books I think she should read to enrich her word bank and improve composing sentences in writing.

She's now in book 6 out of seven Harry Potters books. Some where in a secret place I've prepared some collections of Agatha Christie's and Sydney Sheldon's, awaiting to be read. Hope she'll like them.

Well I... I... Ugh. Half of the books in that top left compartment are still wrapped. I guess I... Ugh... Have a lot to.. Ugh.. Excuse me.. I have to.. Argh.

The Trio

June 10th was a special day, when I and 9 other writer friends launched our book, an anthology of ten stories for children. This book is a media literacy project by LESPI and Tifa Foundation.

As I wrote a story in it, I also wrote a song based upon my story, with the same title 'Mumpung Tak Ada Ibu' (When Mom Was not at Home). It tells about a girl who secretly watched an adults program on tivi, while her mom was not home. In the end she regret it, for the ghost she watched on TV haunted her around, even into her dream.

The cool thing about this is, Ar and Ir asked me to join Ibit to sing the song and performed at the launch, just because they thought the song was cool. This is fun. I didn't think it was that cool. But my kids loved it. And they who usually refuse to perform, wanted to.

Here is their performance... :D

There was an error with the sound system but the show must go on, and there they go.

Oh and you can see Dek Ai' running here and there. He looked so excited watching his siblings performing :D

what. a week!

this week Ar and Ir got their green Tae Kwon Do belts, and Ibit got her striped yellow one.

then finally our flash fiction anthologies were finally published! Ibit's ff in book #1 and mine in book #2. these books were written together by 80 bloggers over Indonesia...

and the fun thing was the Kartini Day, when Ar and Ir and Ibit decided to wear 'profession costumes' instead og traditional tribal costumes. Ar and Ir chose to be Indonesian Army Generals, while Ibit liked to wear my uniform and be a Governance Officer...

the good news

Ibit has stopped writing since the day she received the rejection letter from the publisher she wanted to publish her writing with. I did my best to tell her that it happens to writers. Even to the famous author, and she was only just beginning. But it didn't work. So I just let her take a break. 

It was Unge and Momo who held a fun writing game, #15HariNgeblogFF (15 days blogging flash fiction). The rule was you had to write one flash fiction a day for 15 days on your blog, with the tittle that the hosts made. I thought it was fun and would be a good way to practice gaining ideas in limited topics and time. I asked Ibit if she would join it as I did, and she would. She was so enthusiastic, she didn't want to skip a day. Even when she was having examination at school, and when she had toothache, she still worked hard to write and submit before the daily deadline.

At the middle of the game, the hosts announced that chosen flash fictions would be published together in a book. This has hit Ibit to write better and harder. At the end of the game she asked me. 'do you think your story will be picked?'. I said I just hope so. There were over 100 participants and they all wrote great. Ibit thought she had some flash fictions good enough to be chosen and hoped she will be picked.

Yesterday evening I was watching time line on twitterland and found a news I shoud check. The contributors for Book 1, and taadaaaa....

I showed Ibit what I found. She smiled. She laughed. She cried. 

She was so happy.

Now she just needs to wait for the book to be published. She deserves it.
Thank you Unge and Momo for bringing Ibit's writing passion back :)

books beside beds

I know this isn't my best shots, or best story. it's just a story with some shots :D



If it is besides Ibit's bed, it's not a special thing. Ibit has been in love with books since she was able to read at grade 1. She can not go to sleep without reading before. She often re-reads her old books when she has no new books to read. She even has finished reading some books I bought, that I haven't even read a page.




But this morning I found books on Ar and Ir's bed. I asked them what were those books doing there. They said they read them before sleeping.

It's a good news.







Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

from the launch of 'suicide' - my book.

Alhamdulillah, it was finally launched.
My first book, a collection of 13 short stories I've been writing in the last couple of years.

Alhamdulillah, akhirnya diluncurkan.
Buku pertamaku yang berisi 13 cerpen yang kutulis dalam dua tahun terakhir.



The event was held in Gedung Ki Narto Sabdo, Raden Saleh Cultural Park, Semarang.
Acaranya digelar di Gedung Ki Narto Sabdo, Taman Budaya Raden Saleh, Semarang.

I handed the books to my parents, a friend from Loenpia (a blogger community I joined) and a friend from government office, as a symbol of the launching of the book.
Aku menyerahkan buku kepada kedua orang tuaku, seorang teman dari komunitas Loenpia dan seorang teman dari Pemerintah Provinsi, sebagai simbol diluncurkannya bukuku.


We had two theatrical performances as responses to my stories 'Kondom' and 'Alarm 07.30'.
Ada dua penampilan teatrikal sebagai respon terhadap cerpenku yang berjudul 'Kondom' dan 'Alarm 07.30'




I also played piano and sang the song I wrote, with the same tittle as the book's, 'Suicide'
Aku juga bermain piano (asal-asalan) membawakan lagu yang kutulis sendiri, berjudul sama dengan judul bukunya, 'Suicide'



And a discussion about my book with Triyanto Triwikromo and Aulia A Muhammad, and Agunghima as the Moderator. They all are senior authors from Semarang. What an honor to have them in my event...
Dan sebuah diskusi bersana Triyanto Triwikromo dan Aulia A Muhammad, yang dipandu oleh Agunghima sebagai moderator. Ketiganya adalah penulis senior di Semarang. Sebuah kegormatan bagiku mereka berkenan hadir di acaraku...


I definitely thank everyone who has supported me during the process of building the book, and the launching. Hopefully this would be a start to my journey, as a new born author.
Aku berterima kasih kepada semua pihak yang telah membantuku dalam penyusunan buku, dan peluncurannya. Semoga ini bisa menjadi langkah awal bagi perjalananku, sebagai penulis baru.

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this post is for Photo Story Friday

Hosted by Cecily and Rachael


and also for this week's Tuesday Toot. I think this was a BIG TOOT :D

what do blogs do to you?

about a week ago I (Ibit, Ar, and Ir -- actually) received a package from my Multiply friend Tary. it was three books for Ar Ir and Ibit. thank you very much, auntie Tary...
sekitar seminggu yang lalu aku (tepatnya Ibit dan Ar Ir) menerima paket dari Tary, teman Multiply-ku. ada tiga buku buat bertiga. terima kasih tante Tary...

Tary and I have found each other about 10 months ago. now as the world has turned to Facebook, I and Tary continued our friendship there.

Tary dan aku berkenalan sekitar 10 bulan yang lalu. karena sekarang dunia lagi asyik dengan Facebook, kami melanjutkan pertemanan di sana.

but not only there. because as you see, our friendship has grown more than just commenting on each other's posts. I feel like she is a friend in a 'real' world, although we never met physically. oh I hope that' day will come soon...
tapi sebenarnya bukan hanya di sana. karena ternyata, pertemanan kami tumbuh lebih dari sekedar saling mengomentari postingan masing-masing. aku merasa dia adalah teman di dunia 'nyata', meskipun secara fisik kami belum pernah bertemu

I asked her, for what occasion this pakcage was. it is not the birthday of any one. she said it was not for any specific occasion. she just thought my children are cute and she fell in love with them. she knows how Ibit lives to read, or how 'naughty' Ar and Ir are. she's been following this blog (but never commented, I wonder why?) and thought my kids are lovable. well off course, you know who their mother is :P
aku tanya ke Tary, dalam rangka apa dia mengirim buku itu. soalnya tidak ada yang sedang ulang tahun. katanya, bukan dalam rangka apa pun. dia pingin aja karena menurut dia anak-anakku nggemesin, dan bikin dia jatuh cinta. dia tahu kalo Ibit suka dan baca, dan Ar IR suka iseng. dia mengikuti blog ini (tapi ga pernah ninggalin komen, heran deh!) dan menurutnya anak-anakku menyenangkan. ya iya lah, siapa dulu ibunya... :P

no lie, I can relate to how she feels about my kids. I feel the same about my bloggie friends' kids also. reading all post about them like watching them grow in front of me. I mean, you know when Baby O has to go to a doctor, you witness Baby L is now six, you see Baby Z doing cute things with mom's lipstick...
then you feel sad when they get sick. and you can feel the happines when they do some thing great. and you laugh to die when they do funny things...
bukan isapan jempol. aku bisa kok merasakan yang dirasakan Tary. aku juga merasa begitu dengan anak-anak teman-teman bloggerku. membaca postingan tentang mereka dari hari ke hari membuatku rasanya melihat mereka tumbuh di hadapanku. kau tahu kapan Baby O harus pergi ke dokter. kau menyaksikan Baby L berulang tahun yang ke enam, kau melihat Baby Z berbuat hal lucu dengan lipstik mama...
lalu kau ikut sedih kalau mereka sakit, ikut bahagia kalau mereka melakukan hal yang luar biasa, dan ikut tertawa setengah mati kalau mereka melakukan hal lucu...

it is the power of blog. do you ever feel the same?
kekuatan blog. apakah kau merasakannya juga?


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

my little book worm

kutu bukuku




is she?
well may be. she really likes to read. this is what she does when she's out of something to read: go to an online kids magazine web and print some short stories.

apa iya?
ya... mungkin. yang aku tahu dia suka sekali baca. ini yang dia lakukan kalau kehabisan bahan bacaan: klik ke BOBO-online dan ngeprint cerpen.





Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

gokil mom - diari seorang mami dodol

crazy mom - diary of a stupid mommy

kemaren pulang kantor mampir gunung agung. beliin buku buat ibit, yang gak bisa gak ada bacaan. iseng ngiter di deretan best seller ada buku ini. ngerasa diri ‘mami dodol’ dan sekaligus ‘gokil mom’ aku beli buku itu. curious, how gokil a mom could be.
on my way home from office yesterday, I stopped by in a book store, looking for some books for ibit who can not be left without something to read. I walked around the best seller rack and saw this book. feeling as a crazy mom, and a stupid one at a time, I bought this book. I was so curious, how crazy a mom could be.

aku emang gak suka bacaan berat. dan menurut komentar-komentar yang memenuhi sampul belakang buku ini, kayanya ni bacaan emang ringan dan buat hiburan aja. cocok.
I don't like hard thinking stuff to read. the comments filled the back of the book said this book is just for fun. okay.

baca punya baca, aku bertanya-tanya. benarkah semua yang ditulis ini kenyataan: baik pikiran maupun kejadiannya? karena kalau iya, ternyata aku masih jauh dari ‘gokil’ dan ‘dodol’. mami yang nulis buku ini bener-bener s*****g!
read and read, I asked myself, are all these stuffs written here real: the thoughts and the story? because if they are, then I'm far away from crazy and stupid. the mommy who wrote this book is completely s***!

paling tidak aku setuju dengan salah satu quote-nya:
‘being a mom bukan berarti kudu jadi ibu-ibu atau emak-emak’
at least I agree with one of her quote:
being a mom doesn't mean you have to be an old lady

yang lain, terserah yang lain deh. aku….. no komen. buku ini bener- bener buat hiburan.
the rest... up to the rest. me... no comment. this book is surely just for fun.