The Spider and The Fly

"Will you walk into my parlour?" said a Spider to a Fly,
"It is the prettiest parlour that ever you did spy,
You've only got to pop your head just inside of the door,
You'll see so many curious things you never saw before,
Will you, will you, will you walk in, pretty Fly? …"

"My fine house is always open." said the Spider to the Fly,

"I'm glad to have the company of all I see go by."

"They go in but don't come down again, I've heard of you before."

"Oh, yes they do, I always let them out at my back door,

Will you, will you, will you walk in, pretty Fly?…"

"Will you grant me one sweet kiss, dear," says the Spider to the Fly,

"To taste your charming lips I've a curiosity." Says the Fly,

"If once our lips did meet, a wager I would lay,

of ten to one you would not after let them come away."

"Will you, will you, will you walk in, pretty Fly? ..."

"For the last time now I ask you, will you walk in, Mister Fly?"
”No! If I do, may I be shot, I'm off now, so good-bye, good-bye, good-bye."
Then up he springs, but both his wings were in the web caught fast;

The Spider laugh'd, "Ah, ah, my boy, I have you safe at last.
Will you, will you, will you walk OUT, pretty Fly? …"
"Tell me, pray, how are you now?" says the Spider to the Fly,

"You fools will never wisdom get unless you dearly buy;

Mostly European nursery rhymes were rather grim compared to Indonesian, especially Eastern Europe, but this one from British and one of my favourites. I like it because it has deep meaning on how we should careful about things that looks appealing, because what we see in the surface may not reflect what’s beneath it.

Hari ini

Hari ini (Jumat 29 Agustus) bangun dan langsung mendapat berita duka.

Sepupuku meninggal.

Aku berasal dari keluarga kecil, hanya empat orang (+ satu kucing). Tapi karena orangtua dari keluarga besar, sepupuku banyak sekali. Ketika sedang niat menghitung, aku dan sepupuku dari pihak ibu berhasil mendata keluarga kami dan jumlahnya ratusan. Karena itu kadang saat kumpul keluarga di lebaran sekalipun, kita hanya bertukar salam dengan beberapa orang saudara sebelum asyik ngobrol dengan saudara-saudara terdekat.

Tapi bukan berarti hubungan kekerabatan kami tidak dekat. Meski bertemu minimal setahun sekali, keakraban itu tetap ada. Mas Jon (alm) bukan sepupu yang ditalikan dengan darah karena Alm adalah anak tiri Bude, tapi dia anggota keluarga dan kami semua bersedih atas kematiannya. Terlebih lagi keluarga inti yang ia tinggalkan masih amat membutuhkan sokongannya.

Hal yang paling aku ingat dari dia adalah sikap menjaga dan melindungi khas seorang kakak saat hampir semua sepupu menginap di vila di Puncak. Sampai kapanpun dia tetap seorang kakak bagiku.

Selamat jalan Mas Jon, semoga diterima di sisi Allah SWT. Kami semua mendoakanmu...

To The One

To the one who understood her task and her purpose.
To the one who looked at the road ahead, and understood that it was a difficult journey.

To the one who did not make light of those difficulties,
but, on the contrary, made them manifest and visible.

To the one who makes the lonely feel they are not alone,
who satisfies those who hunger and thirst for justice, who makes the oppressor feel as bad as the oppressed.

To the one who always keeps her door open,
her ears listening, her hands working, her feet walking.

To the one who embodies the verses of another Persian poet,
Hafez, when he says: Not even seven thousand years of joy are worth seven days of sadness.

To the one who is here tonight, may she be one with all of us,
may her example multiply, may she still have difficult days ahead,
so that she can do whatever she needs to do,
so that the next generations will not have to strive
for what has already been accomplished.

And may she walk slowly,
because her peace is the peace of change,
and change, real change, always takes time.

(Message from Paulo Coelho to honour Shirin Ebadi at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony, Oslo, December 11th 2003).

Daily things...

Every day when I log in to internet, I’ve receive a message in my YM account from my friend. Each day consisted different message, but every one of them is inspiring and sometimes help me through the day.

Although sometimes I do forget the message’s content, but only by remembering there’s someone care enough to send inspiring words everyday for me makes my spirit lifted.

It also made me realizes that it doesn’t take a lot of effort or money to genuinely be kind or inspire people. Just like what my friend did through one message per day, there’s also many ways to tell people that no matter what difficulty they might encounter during the day, there someone who care about them and wishing them a good day.

To Vino, thx and keep sending me messages! :D

pekerjaan

satu pekerjaan selesai!!!!
yang lain menanti. hiks!
kadang bertanya sama diri sendiri, sebenarnya ingin kerja seperti apa?
kerja seperti sekarang seneng juga, tapi ga ketemu banyak orang.
kerja kantoran ketemu banyak orang, tapi ga suka sistem 8-17-nya.
apalagi kalau kantornya jauh, uh... malas!
memang sih, jadi orang susah puasnya. kepingin dapat semuanya.
tapi kalau bisa kenapa nggak?

Languages...

I always fascinated by language. I don’t know why, but the first time I learn foreign language (English) is when I was in elementary school, probably 2nd grade. I was watching Sesame Street and since that day I love languages and eager to learn it. If it’s possible, I want to learn all the language in the world.

Right now I learn French, and it’s cool and fun, and confusing at the same time (j’aime apprendre français, mais difficile). I want to learn other Latin-root languages such as Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. I also want to learn Turkish, Japanese, and any language that I able to learn.

But when my job require me to know more about my own language, I realise that I don’t know that much. And then I chat with my friends from other countries. They asked me about Indonesian language, and I have to open my school book to answer some of their questions.

As an Indonesian, we often take-it-for-granted Indonesian language. We forget about proper Indonesian, we don’t normally use it in conversation, even in formal conversation (which is fine for me).
I got A for English but C for Indonesian. Isn’t that ironic?

I’m an Indonesian in every inch of my blood (as far as I know) but yet I don’t know (and perhaps don’t care) much about my own language. While out there, some foreigners wanting to learn more about it. A chieftain of small ethnic in Alaska said once:

“Without land, without language, and without culture, there will be no native.”

Those words were haunting me. How can we call ourselves Indonesian native if we neglected our land, forgetting our language, and disrespect our culture?

I guess this is the right time to learn more about my own country and pay more respect to what we have as an Indonesian.

PS: but it doesn’t mean I’ll stop learning and using foreign languages. :D

Like the Flowing River

Be like the flowing river,

Silent in the night.

Be not afraid of the dark.

If there are stars in the sky, reflect them back.

If there are cloud in the sky,

Remember, cloud, like river, are water,

So, gladly reflect them too,

In your own tranquil depths.

- - Manuel Bandeira - -

Quoted from Like the Flowing River, thoughts and reflections of Paulo Coelho*

See where I stole my blog title?

The Wall

When we were a child, our parents build walls around us to protect us. They told us not to touch the caterpillar because it might itchy and you’ll suffer skin rash for weeks; you’re not allowed to eat the soil because it definitely unhygienic and you cannot kicks a dog because it might chase you.
When we growing up, we start to experience things and build our own wall based on the foundation our parents created. We build it when we fall from trees, when the dog bite us, or when the driver shouting at us with nasty language because we cross the street carelessly. And then wall became higher and thicker when someone stabs us from behind, when someone cheated on us, when we were fooled and betrayed.
Years passing by and without even realizing it, sometimes we build the wall too high and too thick so no one outside can see through us or even takes a peek. At first we comfortable with it: we feel strong and confident, no one able to hurt us. They don’t even able to touch us. But then, at some point, we realize that we are alone behind the wall, but yet too afraid to open the door because people might see our weakness and use it against us. And when it happen we might hurt deeply or even crushed into pieces. Because we know the one that hurt us the most is the one we love the most…
And although we know there’s no coming back, our biggest fear is that we will never be able to collect the pieces and be as strong as we were before.

Question

Who is the strongest of all? Those who stand behind the thick defences or those who offences non-stop?

But yet again, perhaps those who appear the strongest might be the weakest of all…

The Importance of doing nothing

We always have to do something. We have to go shop, we have to read some books, we have to go to the office, and we have to learn things.

We always have to create something. We feel ashamed if we didn’t move as busy as ants and be as productive as bees.

There so many things yet there’s so little time.

I have to study languages, I have to work to have some money, I have to build a relationship with people, I have to clean my room (something I haven’t done for a while), I have to cuddle my cat or he will despite me all day long, I have to listen those who in need to be listened, I have to assist those who need my assistance, I have to think about my future, I have to buy cereal and bread, and the list goes on.

But sometimes I choose not to do any of those and just do nothing. Simply doing nothing productive, just sit and breathe.

My favourite author once wrote that he feel useless when he didn’t do anything. He feels the urge to do things, and he have to fight with himself for stay where he is and not stand up and go just for buy a glue.

But then he manages to stays, because according to him, he’s doing nothing but also doing the most important thing a person could do. Listen to himself.

It is important to moves and be productive, but never forget to stop and look what you have accomplished and listen what you have to say to yourself. Because perhaps, that is the most important thing you have to listen in your life.

cloudy monday

It's a cloudy monday so I cannot bath my cat.

It's a cloudy monday so I relax and didn't do my job.

It's a cloudy monday so I thinking about someone and the thing he might do today.

It's a cloudy monday so I feel sleepy...

but above all, it's a cloudy monday after sunny sunday of our 63th anniversary of independence day. I hope the weather did not reflect our lifes these days. when we all forgetting the fire that burn our heroes heart when they fight for our country independence...