While the figure an average person living in the Europe is 12 tonnes/year, apparently my carbon footprint is 31.8 tonnes of CO2/year, and I think that only accounts for half of the air travel I normally do in a year. Oh well.

However most of us don’t have the ability to control what we see in our dreams when we sleep, and some even don’t dream at all.

Hmmpff, I guess when you miss someone really really really bad, you are already a lucky person if you could find time to daydream about that person.

When I’m Thinking About You
(The Sundays)

Over the rooftops a plane in the sky
Beat of a bass drum cars passing me by
Under a bridge dark then back into light
A river of raincoats and a forest of faces
Still for a moment then red into green
Slow shuffling shoes whisper sight unseen
Row upon row of houses return an empty stare
Let the daydream for a little while longer

Hope I’ll never wake
When Im thinking about you
Hope I’ll never wake
Cause now I’m thinking about you

Two-minute hailstorm then melts into rain
Sing me a rainbow its sunny again
Swallows overhead while the traffic snarls below
Could I keep dreaming for a little while longer

Hope I’ll never wake
When Im thinking about you
So that you know – I never want to wake
Cause now Im thinking about you

When youre searching your soul
When youre searching for pleasure
How often, pain is all you find
But when youre coasting along and nobody’s trying too hard
You can turn around and like where you are

I hope I never wake
When Im thinking about you
And I close my eyes
Now I’ll never never wake
Why should I stop thinking about you

A good day is not when the alarm manages to wake you up however does not manage to get you out of bed.

A good day is not when the last edible thing available for breakfast is a single slice of dry bread while you know so well that your body needs at least two to get things going until lunch.

A good day is not when you have absolutely no idea what to wear which probably is not so bad after all had you had a walk in closet where everything is all lined up according to the colour category.
So again, a good day is not when you spend almost an hour rummaging through the huge piles of unironed laundry for the sake of finding that very shirt or that very cardigan.

A good day is not when you get out of your door, feeling proud of having pulled together this shirt-skirt-cardi-boots-scholar-look ensemble which would wrap you perfectly under the bright sun (which has been peeking through the window after hiding for so long), then you come to your senses. Zero degree Celsius is still gonna be zero degree Celsius regardless of the sun, thus putting a skirt is definitely a big no no unless you plan to knock the door of your Indonesian friend later to see if they have some stock of Antangin to spare.

A good day is not when you find your car covered in ice from head to toe. Not when you know that your wiper fluid container, normally filled with this magic ice breaker product, is empty. Not when you want to refill it you forget where the lever to open the hood is that you have no other option but to go over the manual.

Anyway… Do you let series of unfortunate events in the morning prevent you of having altogether a good day?

*another ‘curhat terselubung’ post

My mum had her 54th birthday last month. Read this post on my dad’s blog. Loved it sooo much.

Had fun today during lunch time with www.yearbookyourself.com. Here’s what I came up with. What do you guys think?

Bosan dan malas pergi ke dokter, akhirnya saya sering main dokter-dokteran sendiri alias cari informasi swadaya lewat google. Namun kadang saya tidak tahu istilah-istilah formal dalam bahasa inggris untuk dijadikan key words.

Berikut kata-kata tersebut, siapa tahu ada yang memerlukannya di kemudian hari.

Flatulation = farting
Belching = burping
Borborygmi = stomach growl

Liburan terakhir, ketika jalan-jalan ke Jogja bersama Bapak Ibu saya, kami mampir ke rumah Nini Tintin, adik nenek saya, yg memang sejak menikah tinggal di Jogja.

Cerita kesana kemari, akhirnya sampai pada topik bagaimana awal kisah kasih antara Aki Ucup dan Enin Uu, sebelum akhirnya mereka menikah dan punya 11 anak. Ya, sebelas anak, waktu itu program KB belum dicanangkan.

Enin Uu lahir dan tumbuh dewasa di kota Bandung, dari keluarga besar yang bekerja di Pasar Baru. Nenek moyang saya memang ‘orang pasar’, jadi jangan heran kalau banyak anggota keluarga saya yang berjiwa dagang tinggi. Aki Ucup, yang dilahirkan di Gorontalo, Sulawesi Utara, pergi merantau seorang diri ke Pulau Jawa, dan entah kenapa akhirnya memilih kota Bandung.

Keduanya bertemu ketika mereka sama-sama mengajar di suatu sekolah. Nenek saya guru SD, Kakek saya guru kesenian SMP. Setelah lirik-lirikan sekian lama di lorong sekolah, hehe, they were officially together at some point. (Lagu Kisah Kasih di Sekolahnya Obbie Mesakh kayanya cocok jadi OST. Hihihi.)

Suatu hari, akhirnya Enin Uu memberanikan membawa Aki Ucup ke acara keluarga. Launching perdana ceritanya. Keluarga besar geger. Suhanah punya pacar. Pacarnya bukan ‘orang pasar’. Lebih-lebih lagi bukan orang Sunda, perantau yang datang dari Sulawesi.

Dipangillah pasangan ini oleh Bapaknya Enin Uu. Klarifikasi intensi, perkenalan, fit and proper test. Berikut kira2 percakapan yang dalam bayangan saya diiringi suara jangkrik sebagai latar belakang.

Bapaknya Enin (BE) : Namanya siapa?
Aki Ucup (AU): Jusuf Panigoro
BE : Asalnya dari mana?
AU : Gorontalo, Sulawesi.
BE : Bisa bahasa Sunda?
AU : Tidak. (1 point down!!!)
BE : Agama kamu apa?
AU : Islam
BE : Coba ambilin Alquran (menyuruh salah satu anaknya)

Ngiiiiiiiks. Glek. Dites suruh ngaji aja loooh. Untungnya, ternyata Aki Ucup bisa baca Quran dengan lancar. And to make a long story short, direstuin lah kedua sejoli itu untuk pacaran dan akhirnya menikah.
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I can’t help thinking what sort of tests my dad would be giving to the guys I bring home. A simple ‘what is your hobby?’. Good thing he did not ask that to the junky one :p Asking their stance on polygamy. One answered that he principally agreed. Ouch. Or this one time that my dad hunted down this guy to make a value estimation of the company he was working for. Hey.. your daughter’s girlfriend should not serve as free consultant.

On the other hand, I also wonder which skills I should polish in order to be able to face these types of tests whenever the moment comes (fingers crossed…) Culinary expertise? Yes, but not for 50 different spices 2 days to boil type of cooking mind you. Dining etiquette… Just start from the outer knife and fork, rite? Knowledgeable? Live long Wikipedia. Koran reading and interpretation, hmmm, know any crash course anyone???

Had a great time last night watching Brazilian Jazz (not Brazilian people hehe). Too bad they did not perform my favorite Jobim’s piece… So here it is..

Waters of March
(Antonio Carlos Jobim)

A stick a stone it’s the end of the road, it’s the rest of the stump, it’s a little alone
it’s a sliver of glass, it is life, it’s the sun, it is night ,it is death, it’s a trap, it’s a gun.

the oak when it blooms, a fox in the brush, the knot in the wood, the song of the thrush.
the wood of the wind, a cliff, a fall, a scratch, a lump, it is nothing at all.

it’s the wind blowing free. it’s the end of a slope. it’s a beam, it’s a void, it’s a hunch, it’s a hope.

and the riverbank talks of the water of march. it’s the end of the strain, it’s the joy in your heart.

the foot, the ground, the flesh, the bone, the beat of the road, a slingshot stone.
a fish, a flash, a silvery glow, a fight, a bet, the range of the bow.

the bed of the well, the end of the line, the dismay in the face, it’s a loss, it’s a find.
a spear, a spike, a point, a nail, a drip, a drop, the end of the tale.

a truckload of bricks, in the soft morning light, the shot of a gun, in the dead of the night.
a mile, a must, a thrust, a bump. it’s a girl, it’s a rhyme. it’s the cold, it’s the mumps.

the plan of the house, the body in bed, the car that got stuck, it’s the mud, it’s the mud.
a float, a drift, a flight, a wing, a hawk, a quail, the promise of spring.

and the riverbanks talks. of the waters of march.
it’s the promise of life, it’s the joy in your heart,

a snake, a stick, it is john, it is joe, it’s a thorn in your hand, and a cut on your toe.
a point, a grain, a bee, a bite, a blink, a buzzard, the sudden stroke of night.

a pin, a needle, a sting, a pain, a snail, a riddle, a weep, a stain.
a pass in the mountains. a horse, a mule, in the distance the shelves. rode three shadows of blue.

and the riverbank talks of the promise of life in your heart, in your heart

a stick, a stone, the end of the load, the rest of the stump, a lonesome road.
a sliver of glass, a life, the sun, a night, a death, the end of the run

and the riverbank talks of the waters of march. it’s the end of all strain it’s the joy in your heart.

Even though they say that ‘Travel Islam’ is a la mode these days, I try to balance things out by squeezing a short trip to Rome in between trips to Morocco and Andalusia. We had a five-day weekend here in France in the middle of May. Being a first timer to Rome, I pushed away the idea of exploring the off beaten tracks and sticked to the must sees standard touristy places as recommended by the infamous Lonely Planet.

I was very much in the mood of art when I was there, so here’s some of the interesting things I discovered during my visits to the Musei Vatican and the Museo Borghese (Should have known these things had I read more books in my free time :p):

The Last Judgment fresco painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican was Michelangelo’s first painting. He only did sculptures before, but thanks to the recommendation from Raphael, he landed this job for the Pope. When working on this fresco, it was said that Michelangelo stood on the scaffolding for 18 hours non stop with his head looking up and his two arms straight up, paints dripping all over his face and body.

It took Michelangelo 7 years to finish the fresco. And it was not Michelangelo if he didn’t incorporate some personal remarks into his work. It’s well known that Michelangelo did not get along well with Pope Clement VII. The Pope wanted the painting to finish quick so he could have his masses in the chapel, while Michelangelo wanted to take his time. He detested the Pope so bad, that above where the Pope was usually seated during a mass, in the scene where God created the sun and the moon, Michelangelo gave another two moons to the Pope, someone facing backward with his bums totally exposed.

Speaking of body parts exposure and nudity. Michelangelo was strongly criticized for having put nudity in the house of God. One person who gave continuous critics of the work was Biagio de Cesena, Master of Ceremony of the Pope. Guess what Michelangelo gave him? He painted him as the first person who was put in hell by God. He gave him donkey ears and also added a snake that’s biting his testicles. So I guess next time you see an artist in action, be extra nice to him.

It is forbidden to take pictures and record film in the Sistine Chapel. To help preserve the fresco perhaps, as the flash might harm the paints? Nope nope nope. The reason is that Nippon Television Japan has the copyright of the painting. Back in 1990, a restoration project was launched for The Last Judgement. Nippon was the main sponsor and gave not less than 4.2 million euro to the Vatican. In return, they were granted the sole right of documentation during the restoration and until today. I don’t know until when though. I was simply too shocked to ask the question to the guide.

And oh ya, I did fall in love in Rome!
Though Michaelangelo was a genius maestro,it was actually Gian Lorenzo Bernini who was BIG in Italy’s history of art. He started very young as a sculpturer, not a suprising fact since his father was also a famous sculpturer in his time. Many of Bernini’s masterpieces can be found in the Saint Peter Basilica and the Museum Borghese. It’s only him who could carve smooth looking fabric out of marble. In his work Apollo and Daphne, he managed to carve marble so thin that it becomes translucent. But it was his David statue which took my breath away. Bernini tried to capture the very moment before David beat Goliath yet you could tell that victory was already on his hand. And they say that Bernini featured his own face as the face of David. Awww. Look at the the grimace he made. Not only Bernini was talented, he was also drop dead gorgeous. (Which was maybe why 11 women were willing to be his wives.) So, even though I haven’t seen it myself, I decided not to fall in love with Michaelangelo’s David. Too high of a competition. I believe I have a bigger chance to win Bernini’s David’s heart.