IG Yoga Love

It's amazing what internet can do.

When I decided to join IG Yoga Community, all I wanted to do was to learn yoga from/together with people around the world in a fun way. It goes way more than I expected. Not only I 'meet' wonderful people who help me improving my yoga practice, we also build beautiful friendship.

I received this card from Kate (@dennis_and_thewilsons) around January, she lives in US. She promised to let me put my feet on her car window, if one day I visit her.

And this souvenirs are from Kak Yzma (@yzmaiz), she lives in Malaysia. We, and Less (@lessxes) will have a cartwheel race. The race could be here in Semarang. Or in Australia where Less lives, because I want to see small kangaroos called wallaby.

And last month I had a wonderful evening with this warm loving lady Sher (@sheryljou), she lives in Bali but we first met in Instagram. It was so exciting to be able to meet a new friend we knew 'in the cloud', on the ground...

And this beautiful bracellet I'm wearing is from Sonia (@lilsonia_1), she also lives in US. I and her, oh and Steve (@angwin_yoga) is preparing for a practice together there at her house, and a party with beers and soda after that. Steve is still swimming and I am sailing, on our way there.

***

Love knows no language nor origin. It speaks in a universal way.

Receiving those gift from friends across continent, I remember when I was started blogging around 2008, I made friends with people around the world. Not only we communicate through each's blog, we swap gift one another and it was wonderful. Some of them are still blogging now some are not. Most have moved to FB and there we're connected and share about daily things we used to share on our blogs.

It just feels the same. It's beautiful to share love with people we never met before, far away yet feels so close. And I want to thank you, all beautiful souls for befriending me. Meeting you is a bless. 

I have a dream to meet them all. Don't say it will remain a dream. We never know which dream will come true.

Finale (?)

They say February is a month of love. But I experienced broken heart several times instead.

I had to let go Peggy,  me beloved ride, for particular reason. She's healthy. There's nothing wrong with her, unless, we had to choose to keep her or Livy. We thought having two cars in a house would be too much. As we have 6 family members, Peggy would be to small for all. So we decided to keep Livy.

How ever it wasn't easy. We asked a friend to take care everything. The time I got the news, that Peggy was sold, I cried. She was more than a ride. She was a part of me. I and her understood each other. With her I could run fast and always feel safe. It's not that Livy is not safe. It's just, I don't feel any bond with it.

The other heart breaking moment is today as I visited Sunday Scribblings. It's February 2014 and I just found out that it has stopped prompting at December 2013. I know I haven't been participating for over two or three years. I some times stopped by and walk around the link. Today I'm doing it to find it's 400th post, that be the last.

I used to participate regularly around 2007-2008 when I started blogging. I needed some thing to start writing. And I needed to communicate with other bloggers, them who I found on the links. I can't remember exactly when I stopped participating. It's been a long time.

Still it is sad to see some thing good has to end up. I see many people have been 'faithful' being parts of the prompts. So far. Until 400.

***

Life wouldn't end up just because I lost Peggy, and Sunday Scribblings no longer prompting. This is my new part of life: without Peggy, nor, new prompts from Sunday Scribblings. An ending of a scene has always been a new beginning to a new one.

The Telepathy

I and Mel have been bloggie friends since 2008. I forgot how we found each other. But however, now as we no longer blog as much as we used to, we're still connected on Facebook.

Mel and I have daughters of the same age, Emma and Ibit. Couple years ago they wrote letters each other. It was interrupted when Mel's family had to move from Oregon to where they live now. I completely understand.

Few days ago Ibit said she wanted to start writing letters to Emma again. I said i had to ask Mel their new address. Guess I was too busy, I forgot to.

Today when I got home I found a letter laid on the table. It was from Emma for Ibit. Oh wow. I felt so guilty. I thought Ibit has contacted Mel through my FB to ask their new address. Turned out she hasn't. She even was so surprise to receive the letter. And happy.

I think it is cute. Sweet. How Emma and Ibit are connected in a way I don't understand. I mean, as long as I know Emma closed her blog for family and doesn't have FB account.

Ibit said it was like a telepathy. No, off course it is not. Whatever it is, it's great. I know it might sounds like an impossible dream but, I hope one day our families will have a chance to meet up. Amin.

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 :)

android

I wrote a short story 'android'. It told about a human-robot and inspired by the condition when I was tired being a human that had to pretend all the time.
I never thought android would be a platform to a mobile interndt activity. I am now using it and it is darn so cool.
This post is posted from my blogger-droid. The best part is, not like the Blogger application from SonyErricsson that only allow me to post one blog, with this I can choose which blog I wish to post to.
Now I guess I have no reason to feeling lazy to blog...

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

a break

I have nothing to tell about this week. But you might want to read a short story I wrote...

a little make up

a kept awake till over midnight working on Ibit's blog template.
it should not be that hard if only I was familiar with html, but I am not. I just stared at the characters and tried to understand them. I used to have some one some where to guide me editing my blog CSS via Yahoo Messenger or GTalk. but I was afraid that I would be bothering to ask for his help again.
aku melek sampai lewat tengah malam ngutak-atik blognya Ibit.
harusnya ngga sulit-sulit amat kalau aku paham html, masalahnya aku tidak. jadi aku pelototin aja semua karakter dan mencoba mengerti. dulu ada seseorang di jauh seberang yang membantuku mengedit CSS blogku via YM atau GTalk. tapi aku takut dianya keganggu kalau aku minta tolong lagi

*I'm still trying to figure out how my post body could slide a little to the right. I tried to put it back to center but still can not find how*
*aku masih mancari-cari kenapa post body-ku bisa nggeser ke kanan sedikit seperti itu. mau aku balikin ke tengah tapi belum ketemu juga gimana caranya*

so after at least two hours trying, I gave up with Ibit's blog. enough to just change the blog back ground image. I am so glad she likes it :D.
jadi setelah berjam-jam mencoba, aku menyerah. hasilnya cuma ngganti gambar background, untung Ibit suka :D


I think I still need to change some font colors, and make sure Ibitwill always copy-paste her writings from MS Word to blog on 'edit html' -- just to keep the font family and size in defaults...
kayanya masih harus ngganti warna huruf, dan memastikan Ibit selalu kopi paste tulisannya dari word ke blog di 'edit html'-- supaya bentuk dan ukuran hurufnya ngga berubah...

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.

*******************************************

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

I am Published.

Hosted by Cecily and Kelli

I can't remember exactly when I started writing. If writing in blog counts, then may be when I started this blog over two years ago.
Aku tidak ingat dengan pasti, kapan aku mulai menulis. Jika menulis di blog dihitung, berarti itu adalah saat aku mulai bikin blog ini.

But writing short stories, umh... I've just been doing it in the past year I guess, on my other blog. I tried to translate some to English. But as English is not my mother language, I bet they don't feel as good as they were in Indonesian.
Tapi menulis cerpen, umh... baru sekitar setahun belakangan ini, di blogku yang lain. Aku sudah mencoba menerjemahkan ke bahasa inggris. Tapi bahasa inggris bukan bahasa ibu-ku, jadi rasanya tidak seindah yang seharusnya.

A good friend of mine suggested me to try to send my writings to magazines or news paper. Hohoho, I wasn't that confident. But I gave it a try. I sent it to a local tabloid, 'Cempaka'.
Few days after I sent my writing, I received a message from the tabloid. They said my story was good but too long. I was asked to edit it become 5-6 pages (from 8). No it wasn't easy. I use to write like water flow, and cutting some parts might change the idea I wanted to share. But still I worked on it, and resent it.
Seorang teman menganjurkan aku untuk mencoba mengirimkan tulisanku ke majalah atau koran. Hohoho, aku masih kurang pede. Tapi aku beranikan mencoga. Aku kirim ke tabloid lokal, 'Cempaka'.
Beberapa hari setelah aku kirimkan cerpenku, aku mendapat sms dari tabloid tersebut. Katanya ceritaku bagus, tapi terlalu panjang. Mereka minta aku mengeditnya menjadi 5-6 halaman (dari 8). Agak susah. Aku terbiasa menulis dengan mengalir, memotong sebagian mungkin akan mengubah ide yang ingin kusampaikan. Tapi aku berusaha, lalu kukirim lagi hasil editanku.

I didn't receive any notification that I would be published. Oh it sucks. I mean, if they didn't mean to publish it, why did they ask me to edit it? But if they would publish it, why didn't they tell me?
Aku tidak menerima pemberitahuan bahwa itu akan dimuat. Menyebalkan. Maksudku, jika memang tidak akan dimuat, kenapa mereka minta aku mengeditnya? Tapi jika memang dimuat, kenapa aku tidak dikabari?

So I just prepared myself for the worst. May be they didn't like my editing and decided not to publish it. But in another side, I still hope that wasn't what happened. So I bought an exemplar of the tabloid this morning, and...
Jadi aku menyiapkan diri untuk kemungkinan terburuk. Mungkin mereka tidak suka hasil editanku dan memutuskan untuk tidak memuatnya. Tapi di sisi lain aku masih berharap bukan itu keputusannya. Maka pagi ini aku membeli 1 exemplar Cempaka, dan...



Unfortunately the tabloid is not available in online version. So I just share a picture of it here. I wanted to translate to 'whatever-English' so any English reader can at least have an illustration what it was about. But.. ah may be later. Forgive my limited time (and energy).
Sayangnya tabloid ini tidak tersedia dalam versi online. Jadi aku bagi gambarnya saja di sini. Aku ingin menerjemahkannya ke 'Inggris-saksake', jadi paling tidak para pembaa yang berbahas inggris bisa punya gambaran aku bercerita tentang apa. Tapi... mungkin nanti ya. Mohom maaf atas keterbatasan waktu (dan tenaga).

Fiuh, I guess I need to send a copy to my father. He was the one who taught me to tell a story... Thank you, Bapak.
Fiuh, sepertinya aku harus mengirim satu kopi ke ayahku. Beliau yang mengajariku bercerita... Terima kasih, Bapak.

*****

Updated:
I have given my self some time, and now you can read the whatever-English version to the story here.
versi bahasa Indonesia bisa dibaca di sini

what have I done?

I know it's been a while I didn't post here. I have been (pretending like I have been) busy with work. Tonight I was planning to post something about, as usual, my children -- my inspiration.
But this view has shocked me when I logged in and face my dashboard.
Iya, memang sudah lumayan lama ngga posting di sini. Lagi (sok) sibuk dengan kerjaan. Malam ini rencananya mau posting tentang, seperti biasa, anak-anak -- inspirasiku.
Tapi pemandangan ini membuatku shock saat aku log in dan melihat dashboard-ku




So I sent an unlock request. My blog is not a spam. Did any of you ever think so? I am not an android, I am I real human. My heart beats, I breathe, I think, and I feel. And I am annoyed with this message. See? A spam would never ever feel so!
Jadi aku langsung kirim unlock request. Blog-ku bukan spam ya. Ada yang pernah merasa begitu? Aku bukan manusia buatan, aku manusia beneran. Jantungku berdetak, aku bernafas, aku berpikir, dan aku merasa. Dan aku lumayan terganggu membaca pesan itu. Ya kan? Spam ngga akan bisa merasa seperti itu!

Then I signed in to my mail to see if I had an answer right then. But this was what I found:
Lalu aku sign in ke mail, siapa tahu langsung dapat jawaban. Tapi aku malah nemu ini:

click on the picture to see bigger image

No way. They said this blog will be deleted in 20 days? Come on... my almost 3 years hard work?
I hope they received my request. Then as they promised some one will look at this blog and realize that I am a human. I have kids those were born by me. And it's them most of this blog posts are about.
Enak aja. Katanya blog ini akan dihapus dalam 20 hari. Yang benar saja, kerja keras selama hampir 3 tahun? Mudah-mudahan mereka meneriman pesanku. Dan seperti yang mereka janjikan, akan ada yang melihat untuk memastikan bahwa aku manusia. Aku punya anak-anak yang kulahirkan dari rahimku. Dan memang tentang merekalah kebanyakan isi postingan di blog ini.

Or... I hope this is just a mistake, an error the Blogger team will soon fix.
Okay, I guess I will have to pend what I wanted to write about for... some day later. But first I need to save my xml-data, just in case...
Pray for me guys, please... pray for the continue of this blog... *amen, thanks for praying :)*
Atau... mudah-mudahan ini cuma sebuah kesalahan, error yang akan segera diperbaiki oleh team Blogger.
Oke, kayanya aku harus tunda apa yang tadinya mau aku tulis malam ini hingga... beberapa hari nanti. Tapi sekarang yang terpenting, aku harus selamatkan data xml-ku. Jaga jaga....
Tolong doakan ya teman-teman... doakan kelangsungan blog ini.... *amin, terima kasih do'anya :)*

****
updated 31st july 2009 (18.45pm): the message on the dashboard has gone. yup, my Dandelion is unlocked, and free from accusation as spam. alhamdulillah, thanks for all the supports :D
and thank you Blogger Team for let my blog free...

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

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

sharing smile with Loenpia.net

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

aku merasa sangat beruntung punya orang tua. anugrah. dan aku bahagia mereka berdua masih hidup dan sehat.
I’ve been so lucky to have parents. Blessed. And I’m happy they both are still alive, and healthy.

pun anak-anakku. kuharap itu pula yang mereka rasakan tentang aku dan Dan.
I hope that's also how my children feel about me and Dan.

aku membayangkan bagaimana rasanya tidak punya orang tua, jika kita masih anak-anak. kita pasti butuh tempat bernaung, tempat bergantung, yang akan melindungi dan menjaga kita. orang-orang yang terikat secara emosional maupun biologis.
I wonder how it fells not to have parents, while we are still children. We would need ones to hold on, to lean on, to protect us, to keep us secure. Ones emotionally tied, as well as biologically.

hari ini, aku bersama Loenpia.net, komunitas blogger Semarang, mengunjungi yatim piatu di panti asuhan Fatimatuzzahra. ini adalah salah satu bentuk aksi Loenpia peduli.
Today I joined Loenpia.net, Semarang blogger community, visited parentless children in a charitable institution, Fatimatuzzahra. This is one of Loenpia charity act, bloggers care.

aku mengajak anak-anak, agar mereka tahu ada orang-orang yang kurang beruntung, agar mereka lebh bisa berempathy. aku menjelaskan bagaimana keadaan anak-anak yang tak punya orang tua ini.
I took my children with us, to show them that some people are not as lucky as they are, and learn to have more empathy. I told them what parentless children are, and how they have to live harder life in the institution.

Ar: ke mana orang tua mereka?
Ar: “Where are their parents?”

aku: meninggal
Me: “Died”

Ar: mereka tinggal sama siapa?
Ar: “Who do they live with?”

aku: orang tua angkat mereka di sana
Me: “Their foster parents there”

Ir: aku jadi sedih
Ir: “This makes me sad”

Ibit: boleh aku berikan beberapa bukuku pada mereka?
Ibit: “May I give some of my books to them?”

aku tahu anak-anak ini butuh lebih dari sekedar baju bekas pantas pakai dan buku-buku. mungkin hal yang paling mereka rindukan di dunia, adalah kasih sayang orang tua. tapi setidaknya, apa yang kami lakukan adalah juga berbagi kasih sayang dengan mereka. semoga bisa membuat hari mereka sedikit lebh berbahagia.
I know they need more than just some used clothes and books. May be love and comfort from parents is the thing they miss most. But at least, this way we can share love and caress to them. Hopefully what we did to day could bring them a little happiness.

mudah-mudahan aku masih bisa mengikuti lagi kegiatan-kegiatan Loenpia.net di waktu yang akan datang. dan mengajak lebih banyak lagi orang di sekitar kita, tersenyum
I hope I can still join Loenpia.net in more activities in the future. and make more people around us, smile.

I speak trilingual, do you believe it?

aku bicara tiga bahasa, percaya ngga?

for this weeks sundayscribblings prompt: language

click my blog tittle and scroll down slightly, or you may want to read my post one by one. like doing a psycho test, you'll find a pattern...
klik judul blogku lalu scroll down pelan-pelan, atau mungkin mau baca dengan teliti satu per satu. seperti ketika mengerjakan psycho test, kamu akan nemu sebuah pola.

yup I write bilingually. in English and Bahasa Indonesia. I know my English is not so fluent. my grammar is far from perfect. I never took an English course. I only learned it at school, and listen to or read some "English" I can see or hear around me.
yup. aku menulis dalam dua bahasa. Inggris dan Indonesia. aku tahu sih bahasa Inggrisku ngga sempurna. lha gimana, aku memang ngga pernah kursus bahasa inggris. belajar cuma waktu di sekolah, ditambah baca dan mendengarkan apa yang bisa dilihat dan didengar di sekitar..

do I care at all? oh I did, long ago. but people, from Indonesia and even the English native speakers said that my English, with some mistakes here and there, is understandable. *wow, I thought 'understandable' wasn't a word, but my spelling checker didn't underline it red, so it is a word...*
memangnya aku peduli? dulu, iya. tapi kata orang-orang, bahkan yang native speaker bahasa Inggris, katanya bahasa Inggrisku walaupun salah di sana-sini tapi bisa dimengerti.

did I make a mistake writing my post tittle? no. I do speak trilingual. my third, which is actually the first language I learn in my life, is Javanese.
eh, apa aku salah nulis judul? engga. aku memang bisa bicara tiga bahasa. yang ketiga, adalah justru bahasa yang pertama kali kukenal dalam hidupku: bahasa Jawa

there are hundreds (or may be even thousands?) origin languages of hundreds (and again, may be thousands) tribe in Indonesia. Javanese is only one of those. I know some people don't speak traditional languages any more. for many reasons. some because they married people from different tribe with different language. some, married people from the same tribe with the same language, but live in community of vary tribes. so it will be easier for them and children to communicate each other with Bahasa Indonesia. some even speak English daily for many reasons too.
ada ratusan (atau mungkin ribuan) bahasa asli di Indonesia, yang dimiliki oleh ratusan (lagi-lagi, mungkin malah ribuan) suku. Jawa cuma salah satu. aku tahu sekarang banyak yang lebih memilh bicara Bahasa Indonesia. karena perkawinan antar suku, atau karena lingkungannya memang bhinneka tunggal ika, jadi lebih mudah memakai bahasa Indonesia untuk berkomunikasi satu sama lain. malah ada yang sudah pakai bahasa Inggris untuk percakapan sehari-hari.

I speak Javanese and Indonesia to my children. but they prefer to speak Indonesia more. what can I say, people around us, their friends and teachers, mostly speak Indonesia.
aku bicara bahasa Jawa dan Indonesia kepada anak-anakku. tapi sepertinya mereka lebih suka ngomong bahasa Indonesia. mau gimana lagi. sekitar mereka hampir semua memakai bahasa itu.

how dare I call my self trilingual when I don't speak English daily! oh pardon. I do, some times, with some friends and Dan *but Dan always replies in Javanese... he understands but can not speak it*. and off course I speak English a lot, here in my blog. enjoy....
pede banget aku menyebut diri bicara tiga bahasa! oh maaf. paling tidak aku suka ngomong Inggris juga sedikit-sedikit dengan teman dan Dan *meskipun Dan selalu nyautnya malah pake bahasa Jawa*. dan lihat saja, aku bicara bahasa Inggris banyak, di sini, si blogku.

making friends through blogging

Diane from forgetfulone gave me this beautiful award. Thank you very much...
aku dapat award lagi dari Diane di forgetfulone. terima kasih banyak...

Tell me, how can you be friends when you never met before? Does it make sense to you?
Off course it does! Did you ever have a pen-pal when you were kids? I Did. I found them through magazines. Most of them didn't last long though.
katakan padaku, gimana mau temenan kalo belum pernah ketemu? masuk akal ngga sih? tentu saja! pernah punya sahabat pena waktu kecil? aku punya. dapet dari majalah. memang sih, kebanyakan ga bertahan lama.

Now I make 'never-met-before' friends through blogging. Just like in the real world (that if you consider blogging world is not real :P) I find friends that I like and I don't. Some people are not so nice in the network. But you can still find much more nice people, if you want to.
sekarang aku dapat temen yang-belum-pernah-ketemu lewat blogging. seperti di dunia nyata (itu kalau kau menganggap dunia blogging tidak nyata) aku menemukan teman yang kusuka dan yang tidak. tapi tetep masih banyak orang baik yang bisa kau temukan, kalau kau mau.

I have this blog with most readers are from outside Indonesia, and I have another blog with readers from all over Indonesia. Both gives me lots of blogger friends, the nice ones. With my Indonesian blogger friends I do more than just commenting on each other's blog. We chat, we talk and send messages via phone, and the best part is: we meet!
aku punya blog ini, yang kebanyakan pembacanya dari luar Indonesia, dan aku juga punya blog lain yang pembacanya dari se antero Indonesia. dua-duanya meemberiku banyak teman blogger. dengan teman-teman blogger Indonesia, aku melakukan lebih dari sekedar saling berkomentar di blog masing-masing. kami chatting, sms-an, telpon-telponan, dan yang paling seru.... ketemuan!

I want to meet you Dandelion's readers. But most of you live on the other side of the earth! Enough for me to be able to keep this friendship through blogging, still hoping some day we have a chance to meeting.
aku pengen sih ketemu pembaca Dandelion. tapi kebanyakan tinggal di paruh lain dari bumi. cukup deh ngobrol dan berteman lewat blogging. tetep sih aku berharap dapat kopdaran...

So....

This is what the "Let's Be Friends" Award represents:
jadi inilah yang ingin diwakili oleh award "Let's Be Friends":

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement (? big word, lol). Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

blog-blog berikut ini hangat mempesona. para blogger yang baik hati ini bertujuan dan ingin mencari teman. mereka tidak tertarik dengan kejayaan pribadi. harapan kami adalah bahwa setiap kali pita penghargaan ini dibagi, akan makin banyak persahabatan terjalin. berikan perhatian lebih pada para penulis ini. sampaikan kepada delapan blogger yang juga harus memilih delapan lagi, dan cantumkan teks yang telah ditulis secara cerdas ini bersama awardnya.

don't forget to let them know they got this.
jangan lupa kasih tahu apa yang barusan mereka dapatkan.

I have chosen these 8 friendly blogger friends to receive the award:
aku memilih 8 blogger bersahabat ini untuk menerima awardnya.

Bloggers outside Indonesia:
melissa from areyouserious
triplet mama from loving my triplet
heather from a day in the life
G from where's my angel?

Bloggers from Indonesia:
easy from easy
abdee from baladaPNS

nina from simple life

evi from grow and shine
rice2gold from beemyfriendblog

you are great friends I have, thanks for being ones.

I lied about the batik contest...

aku bohong soal kontes batik...

have I told you that I can be unpredictable some times?
pernahkah aku bilang bahwa kadang-kadang aku berbuat tak terduga?

I told you that I am giving away a batik blouse, and a pair of batik sandals. well I lied. because I have more to give. I have this:
di sayembara yang aku bikin beberapa waktu lalu aku bilang aku akan bagi sebuah blus dan sepasang sandal batik. aku bohong. karena aku punya satu lagi:


okay. this means I have three stuffs to give away.
berarti aku punya tiga hadiah

first, I'm giving this:
pertama, aku berikan ini:


unconditionally, to easy, for being so kind putting a banner to the contest on her blog. thank you dear....
tanpa syarat, kepada easy, karena telah begitu baik hati memasang banner di blognya. makasih sayang...

may be I have asked too much for the tag in joining the contest. but thank you very much for saying what you think about this blog by leaving a comment. you have supported me. I finally change the rule. every body commented, counted. here are the contestants:
mungkin permintaanku terlalu sulit untuk mengikuti kontes itu. tapi terima kasih kepada semua yang telah menyampaikan pendapat tentang blog ini walaupun hanya lewat komentar. semua sudah memberi support buat aku. akhirnya aku mengubah peraturannya. semua yang komen berhak ikut undian. inilah pesertanya:


I made a special drawing for three people who have been very kind doing what I asked, correcting my post. they are Heather, Asma Ahsan, and Carrie Keiser. I have more thank yous for you... :D
aku membuat undian khusus untuk mereka yang benar-benar melakukan yang aku minta: mengoreksi tulisanku. mereka adalah Heather, Asma Ahsan dan Carrie Keiser. aku punya terima kasih lebih untuk kalian... :D



and this name came out from the first bowl:
dan nama ini yang keluar dari undian pertama:

you won the surprise blouse I just told in the beginning of this post.
memenangkan blus kejutan yang kuceritakan di awal postingan.

Easy, Heather, Asma, and Carrie, have second chance to win this:
Easy, Heather, Asma, dan Carrie, punya kesempatan tambahan untuk memenangkan ini:



together with other commenters.
bersama komenter yang lain.



and this name came out from the second bowl.
dan nama yang muncul adalah:


this is a little bit funny, because Phery lives in Yogya, and he can find this sandals easily there. but I didn't want to cheat. so Pher, if you think you don't want this, let me know. I have made an additional drawings with a name is still a secret, that will be the one to receive it -- if you consent it.
ini agak lucu. masalahnya, Phery tinggal di Yogya. dia bisa dapetin sandal beginian dengan mudah. tapi aku ga mau curang, jadi tetep nama ini yang aku umumkan. so Pher, kalau kamu ga ingin benda ini, kasih tahu aku. aku sudah menarik satu nama tambahan (masih kurahasiakan) yang insya Allah akan dengan senang hati menerimanya, jika kamu ikhlaskan.

okay, congratulations to all the winners, and thank you very much for joining the contest in any way..
(easy and phery, you know my email address, sent me your addresses so I can send your prizes. heather, I've left comment on your blog. my email address should appear in your notification mail, let me know where I should send your prize to)
oke, selamat buat para pemenang, dan terima kasih sudah bergabung di sayembaraku...
(easy dan phery, kalian sudah tahu alamat emailku, kasih tahu alamat kalian jadi aku bisa kirimkan hadiahnya. heather, aku sudah meninggalkan komen di blogmu, alamat emailku mestinya muncul di email notifikasi komen, jadi kasih tahu aku harus kirim hadiahnya ke mana)

birthday

ulang tahun

how important do you find birthday is?
what do you do in that time?
whose birthday is most important to you?
penting ngga sih?
apa yang kamu lakukan saat-saat itu?
ulangtahun siapa yang paling penting buatmu?

my birthday is important and not at the same time to me. it's not only something to celebrate, but also a time for me to take a look at myself for a while and see, what have I been doing in my life?
ulang tahunku sendiri sih penting ngga penting. bukan sekedar sesuatu untuk dirayakan, tapi jadi waktu untuk berhenti dan melihat diriku sendiri barang sesaat, dan mencari tahu, apa yang sudah kulakukan seumur hidupku?

the most important birthday, would be my children's, then husband's. I don't know why I put children's first, it just feels that way. because I watched them grow day by day, from their first day until now and hopefully on. I want to see their next and next and next birthdays...
ulang tahun terpenting adalah ulang tahun anak2ku, setelah itu suami. ga tahu kenapa anak2 aku dulukan. ya pokoknya rasanya begitu. masalahnya, aku melihat mereka tumbuh dari hari ke hari, sejak h ari pertama mereka lahir di dunia, sampai sekarang dan mudah-mudahan seterusnya. aku masih ingin melihat ulang tahun mereka yang berikutnya dan berikutnya dan berikutnya...

what about your blog? does it have a birthday? well it should be. but, I don't know is it right or wrong, I didn't pay too much attention to my blog's birthday. I need to look back way there to see when I did my first post.
bagaimana dengan blog anda? punya ulang tahun juga? mestinya begitu. tapi, ngga tahu ini baik atau buruk, aku ngga terlalu peduli dengan ulang tahun blogku. aku musti nengok jauh ke belakang untuk melihat kapan aku pertama kali posting.

my bloggie friend forgetfulone will be celebrating her blog's third anniversary on saturday. wow, three years! I hope some day I will get there. you know, some time I feel so bad mood about blogging, tired and no eager at all to write mine or read my friends'.
temen blogku forgetfulone akan merayakan ulang tahun blognya yang ke tiga sabtu nanti. wow, tiga tahun! mudah-mudahan nanti aku sampai ke sana. tahu kan, kadang-kadang aku bad mood banget dan jenuh blogging. males nulis, males juga baca tulisan orang...

have you noticed that I only blog once a week lately? how do get my passion in blogging back?
I hope I will find a way to. so I can keep blogging and meet friends, share with and learn from other bloggers around the world.
perhatiin ngga, sekarang aku cuma posting di sini seminggu sekali? gimana ya caranya biar semangat ngeblog lagi? mudah2an nanti bisa, jadi aku bisa tetep blogging, ketemu teman, berbagi dan belajar dari blogger lain di seluruh dunia...

happy third blogversary, diane!

I never wanted to be a teacher

aku ngga pernah ingin jadi guru

it is a BIG obligation. but not being a teacher, doesn't mean we can not teach any thing. well, at least I taught my kids some things. I share with my friends how to blog, how to work with computers, and many things that we thought simple but mean some thing to some people.
itu tanggung jawab yang besar. tapi dengan tidak menjadi guru, ternyata bukan berarti kita tidak bisa mengajarkan sesuatu. paling tidak aku mengajarkan banyak hal kepada anak-anakku. dan aku berbagi ilmu dengan teman-teman yang mulai ngeblog, bagaimana bekerja dengan komputer, dan hal-hal lain yang kita kira sederhana tapi ternyata berarti buat orang lain.

like this blog I do. all I did is writing about things that cross my mind, telling about things that happen around my in my daily life... but forgetfulone said: I learn about her country and her culture every time I read her blog. isn't it sweet?
seperti blogku ini. aku cuma menuliskan apa yang terlintas di kepala, dan kejadian-kejadian sehari-hari di sekitarku. tapi kata forgetfulone: aku belajar tentang negaranya dan kebudayaannya setiap kali aku membaca blognya. manis sekali kan?

and I am happy that without realizing, I have done something worthy. and what have made me even happier, and honored, is, she awarded me this:
aku bahagia bahwa ternyata tanpa kusadari, aku berbuat sesuatu yang berharga. dan yang bikin aku lebih bahagia, sekaligus terhormat, adalah, dia memberiku ini:


so I proudly give this award to:
jadi dengan bangga aku sampaikan penghargaan ini kepada:


angie, for teaching me how to write with hart (mengajariku menulis dengan hati)
melissa, for teaching me how to deal with 'catastrophe' the kids make (mengajariku menghadapi 'bencana' yang ditimbulkan anak-anak)
carrie, for teaching me how to love and tolerate each other (mengajariku untuk saling mengasihi dan bertoleransi)
mlandhing, for teaching me how to cook (mengajariku memasak)
ndorokakung, for teaching me how to write with passion (mengajariku menulis dengan hasrat)

thank you, for all the lessons you give.
terima kasih atas semua pelajaran yang kalian berikan.

am I brilliante enough?

carrie awarded me this:

so confusing. what is so brillante about this blog? especially when I don't blog much lately.
to let you know, I also get this for my one indonesian blog, and it leaves me the same question. I really thank you for this appreciation.
agak membingungkan. apa brillante-nya blog ini? apa lagi akhir-akhir ini aku males poting. sekadar memberi kabar, aku juga dapat award ini di blog-ku yang berbahasa indonesia, yang juga membutku menanyakan pertanyaan yang sama, bagaimana pun , terima kasih atas penghargaannya.

Here are the rules: I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others! I guess this one also comes with a list of questions (what if don't answer these question? you'll take back the award? ahahaha :D):
ini peraturannya: aku harus menjawab pertanyaan ini hanya sengan satu kata, lalu pass on ke tujuh orang dan menanyakan hal yang sama. (gimana kalo aku ga laksanakan aturannya, awardnya dicabut? ahahahah :D)

1. Where is your cell phone? hand
2. Where is your significant other? office
3. Your hair color? black
4. Your mother? shelter
5. Your father? art
6. Your favorite thing? blog
7. Your dream last night? forgotten
8. Your dream/goal? twister
9. The room you're in? bedroom
10. Your hobby? singing
11. Your fear? left (being left, not th opposite of right)
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
13. Where were you last night? out
14. What you're not? patient
15. One of your wish-list items?home
16. Where you grew up? Wonogiri
17. The last thing you did? sholat
18. What are you wearing? short
19. Your TV? living-room
20. Your pet? none
21. Your computer? my life
22. Your mood? sad
23. Missing someone? yup
24. Your car? none
25. Something you're not wearing? shoes
26. Favorite store? ADA
27. Your summer? long
28.Love someone? lots
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
31. Last time you cried? today

seven people to pass on, would be:
awardnya aku lempar kepada:
granny smith with her amazing stories and poems
wheresmyangels with her wonderful angels
diane-the-forgetful-one who never forget do her memes
susan who understand my limitation in words in writing poems
burpclothebabe with her wonderful mini hunk
mamashasa with her bling bling little angel
eva the super mom which means as gokil as I am

I am done. am I done? Iam done.

friends

(I promise Diana from forgetful one to write about this, dedicated to all my bloggie friends)

are those who are there
through good times and bad times

to laugh with you
not to laugh at you

to cry with you
not to make you do

I thought friends were
just people around me
those who I can hear
those who I can see

but come here and take a look
who are they who come to visit me almost everyday
in my imaginary home?

I can't touch them
I never heard them
but still they are real
ones I hope I'll have a chance to meet
someday
someway

perbandingan (bagian 2)

pada umumnya.. (pada dasarnya?)
Apa perbedaan antara kembar dan bukan?

Aku selalu beranggapan bahwa Ar Ir adalah dua saudara yang k ebetulan lahir cuma berselang 6 menit. Itulah kenapa aku ga pernah beliin baju yang persis sama. Sama warna beda model, sama model beda warna, atau beda sama sekali. Aku senang bahwa mereka sekarang sudah bisa memilih sendiri tanpa harus merasa bahwa mereka harus berpakaian kembar. Kedengarannya sepele dan gak penting, tapi buatku penting. Aku lihat banyak pasangan kembar yang masih pake 'seragam' sampai mereka dewasa. Bukannya menurutku itu salah, cuma bukan bagaimana aku inginkan kembarku jadinya seperti itu.

Tidak bisa dipungkiri ada ikatan yang berbeda di antara keduanya, lebih erat daripada ikatan dengan mbak Ibit. Normal kurasa. mereka sudah tidur di 'kasur' yang sama sejak mereka masih berbentuk zygot

twin bed tidak berguna buat mereka

malam pertama

beberapa malam kemudian

Apa yang kubicarakan di bagian 1 hanyalah hal-hal teknis, yang pada dasarnya berarti, butuh energi dua kali lipat diperlukan untuk mengurus kembar, dibandingkan bila hanya satu bayi. Yo mesti. Maksudku, bayinya kan memang ada dua (ga bisa bayangin yang kemar tiga atau lebih...)

Hal terberat, yang tidak kutemukan pada Ibit, adalah kebiasaan rebutan. Emangnya Ibit mau rebutan sama siapa? Dia malah penginnya berbagi dengan seseorang. Ar Ir selalu berebut, bahkan selembar daun. Masih, sampai sekarang. Kelihatannya bukan masalah apa yang diperebutkan, tapi rebutan adalah bagian dari permainan.

Tapi di sisi lain, mereka tidak dapat dipisahkan. Mereka akan merasa ada yang hilang kalau tidak m elihat yang lain. Dan ini adalah tantangan terbesarku, untuk membuat mereka tidak saling tergantung. Aku sudah membuat kemajuan besar, dengan berhasil membuat mereka pisah kelas. Aku sedang berpikir untuk memisahkan sekolah kalo mereka masuk SD nanti, tapi kedengarannya terlalu kejam...

Aku banyak menghabiskan waktu berdua Ibit. Hampir 24 jam sehari, sampai kembar lahir. Dengan adanya kembar, ngga bisa begitu lagi. Aku harus m embagi perhatianku untuk tiga anak.Ini adalah penyesalan terbesarku: mengabaikan Ibit selama dua tahun pertama Ar Ir. Dua anak ini m enyita hampir seluruh perhatianku.

Penyesalan yang lain adalah, aku tidak bisa mengajarkan banyak hal, seperti yang kuajarkan pada Ibit waktu seumuran mereka sekarang. Ibit itu seperti bintang. Dia cepat belajar, dan masih selalu ingin belajar. Ar Ir ga pernah berkata, 'Ibu, ajarin baca dong' atau 'Ibu, ajarin main k ibod dong'. Mereka hanya tertarik untuk bermain dan bermain. Apa karena mereka laki-laki? Apakah karena mereka sudah selalu bermain bersama, bakan sejak mereka belum bisa beranjak dari kasur? Atau karena waktuku yang kurang buat mereka?

Sekarang, aku kerja, waktuku buat mereka makin kurang saja.

Aku tahu aku bukan ibu yang sempurna. Masih jauh dari itu. Dan mungkin aku melakukan banyak kesalahan membesarkan anak-anak. Tapi sejauh ini, itulah yang kupikr yang terbaik buat mereka yang bisa kuberi. Dan inilah alasan lain kenapa aku bikin blog ini, selain karena aku suka nulis, dan kenapa aku suka jalan-jalan ke blog ibu-ibu yang punya anak kembar. IPengin belajar bagaimana membesarkan anak kembar..

Membesarkan anak kembar lebih sulit dari yang tidak. Bisa dirasakan, tapi ada hal-hal yang sulit untuk diungkapkan. Ada yang mau bagi pengalaman?