HANZKY

My oh my.

Has it really been 20 freaking years since the last day I wore the white and gray uniform? (ya iya lahh bentar lagi Jibran yang pake seragam putih abu-abu :D). Wow, time does go by quicker as we grow older, doesn't it?

Anyway, I can't help but feeling nostalgic. I enjoyed my whole 3 years in that school, I was about to write about my experience there but then I realized that I've wrote about the school back in 2004. You can read it here, siapa tau bisa jadi acuan untuk cari sekolah anak.

Ok, I may or may not come to class everyday :p , and I'm not proud of my grade but...aside from those two, there are things that they were trying to develop us into, stick with me to this day. Sometimes the things that don't show on paper are more valuable you know.

And you know what I did most of the time when I was in class and the teacher was explaining something?

I was busy writing.

Writing about anything and everything.

Every single day!

I loved to write since I was a kid. I was one of those kids who always have a diary. By 2nd grade of junior high school, I started writing letters to my closest friends, even though some of them were also in the same class with me or even sit next to me. I had stacked of books filled with my writings as well as my letters to my friends and their letters to me (we wrote the letters in the notebook). It went on all the way to high school graduation day. I still wrote letters when I graduated but I typed it in MS Word in my school computer lab. After that, the Internet came so I continued my writing in the form of email and then in 1999 I found out about this thing called blog and the rest is history.

So is it a coincidence that a few years later, sometimes in February of 2005, I started a beauty and fashion blog that later known as Female Daily Network? You can read my first writing in here, btw. Now that I look back, it didn't feel like it was a mere coincidence. It was something I had been doing all along. I just expanded it to something that could potentially be big. It was as if I was destined for it and I was doing my part in participating on how my life would unfold. It's funny on how can only be understood and narrated beautifully backwards for forward is still a mystery.

One thing that remains the same up until now is writing gives me joy. I get the sense of peace and joy whenever I write. It's like no matter how crappy my days have been, I can feel content as soon as I ramble about whatever it is I feel like rambling. I still write on my notebook too. I carry a small one with me everyday. Only this time is an upgraded Moleskine instead of you know, Kiky, AA, or Sinar Dunia :D

Lesson learned: If you have something that gives you energy, keep doing it, cultivate it, maintain and expand it and share it with the world. Who knows it might turn out to be something awesome.

Anyway,  I had fun during the event relishing all the memories, there is a sense of comfort about meeting people from your innocent days that have no expectation of you and accepted you for who you were.  And if I could do it all over again, I would still pick the same friends to spend the whole 3 years.

• The ability to know yourself; to be able to assess your strengths, weaknesses, talents and potential.


• The ability to love and accept yourself as you are, knowing that you can improve and develop any aspects of yourself that you choose.


• The ability to be honest with yourself and be true to who you are and what you value.


• The ability to take responsibility for your choices and actions.

Taken from essentiallifeskills.net

Tadi di Jalan ada sms dari Tommy, one of nduti’s bestfriend, asking for prayer for his wife who will have a heart surgery tomorrow. I made a promise that we have to visit her in the hospital, I know living in this city, we always blame the traffic for everything, getting from point A to point B takes forever and our time is precious. But isn’t it ironic if we can make time to go to a friend’s wedding, to a friend’s birthday party and other happy events that we probably need 2 hours to get ready to yet we never have time to visit those in need. Who do you think will appreciate our present more?

Kemaren saya baca berita ini di Gatra. Cerita tentang satu keluarga yang hijrah ke Amerika Serikat demi kehidupan yang lebih baik. Tapi kehidupan yang lebih baik itu ternyata tidak bertahan lama. Si bapak di ciduk petugas imigrasi, si ibu terpaksa bekerja untuk membayar uang jaminan dan meninggalkan dua anak nya (6 tahun dan satu lagi masih bayi) di rumah setiap hari. Suatu hari si adik jatuh dari gendongan kakaknya sampai gegar otak. Seperti si bapak, si ibu pun di giring ke penjara dengan tuduhan menelantarkan anak dan tuduhan tuduhan lainnya. Anak anak nya di ambil hak asuh nya oleh pemerintah.

Tragis.

I feel bad for them, I really do and I hope they can get out of this horrible situation as soon as possible.

But I just have to say that I don't like the sneaky way the father took to be granted a political asylum. Si bapak, atas saran lawyer nya, menjelek jelekan Indonesia dan mengarang cerita bahwa dia di buru oleh pemerintah Indonesia karena di anggap membelot. Padahal, keluarga nya di Indonesia tidak pernah terancam keselamatannya.

Di sini memang banyak orang Indonesia yang meminta suaka karena merasa tidak aman lagi tinggal di Indonesia, apalagi sejak kerusuhan yang pernah terjadi pada akhir tahun 90-an. It's fine if that's what they truly feel deep down. I mean..we can't blame people who want to live their life in a place where they feel secured, where no one is threatening them and their family. It's their right.

But it's just not right when they use political reason to request an asylum where the underlying reason why they want to live in that particular country in the first place is actually economic opportunity, no more no less. It sickens me to think that they come up with bad stories about Indonesia that are not true to make their chances as high as possible. They give the country a bad name, and they take up the asylum quota that can be allocated for refugees that desperately need protection, because those real refugees are being persecuted in their home country.

I have watched quite a few basketball games these past weeks..and the more i watch it the more i think that the game gives a pretty similar picture on life in general, the only difference is that it is played on a smaller and simpler stage. I believe we can follow example on how we're supposed to live our life from how a good basketball player conduct his game and how he handles his attitude on and off the court

So here are some thoughts that i have gathered from watching too many games.. (maap yaa kalo nggak penting..:p)

- Life is just like a basketball game, there's always the ups and downs. In basketball, sometimes you lead, sometimes you have to trail..and when you're up by more than 10 points doesn't mean you can sleepwalk for the rest of the game, you still have to play your A game, be aware and watch your back because your opponent will try hard to snatch the victory away from you. nothing is for granted.

- I have learned that mo matter how bad you are beaten, you will always see hope. Being beaten is often a temporary condition, GIVING UP is what makes it permanent. Besides, the world doesn't stop for your grief, so you might as well fight your way through the game. remember, it isn't over till the shot clock hits zero and the buzzer beats. one second certainly can change the outcome of the game, unless you're down by 10 with 5 seconds to go..but even then..you can still make the situation better. I know a loss is still a loss, but there is a difference between losing by 20 points and losing by 5 points.

- If you win games, win with class, you don't need to rub it in your opponent's place about how you are better than them..and when you lose, don't be a sore loser, don't whine and make excuses, just feel grateful that you get to experience it all.

- Sometimes, the players have some off night, a night where they couldn't throw a rock in the ocean, much less the basket. But there are still other things you can do to help by playing good defense, rebounding, setting up screen and all that. Same thing happen in life too, maybe you just lost your job and can't help your family financially..but you can still do other things to help in the meantime...or maybe you don't have have much money left in your disposable account to help the poor, but you can still do other things to help like donate some of your used clothes or something (aduh kok contohnya uang2 terus yaa....I'm so lacking in analogy.:p).

- Your mental has a lot to do with how you play your game. Your opponent might be talented and have that famous school name on their jerseys and have a hall of fame coach sitting on the sidelines..but then so what..it doesn't mean you can't compete with them. the thing is to not be easily intimidated, it doesn't mean that you have to disrespect other people or your opponent, but you just have to realize that they are all human too and they are not immune to losing. besides, it is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog that matters the most. so you just got to be tough and lay it all on the court. tough times never last, but tough people do.

- Same goes if you are from the so called power conference..you might be talented, but if you are not willing to give 100%, somebody else will. nothing is a gimme.

- Respect has to be earned, and in basketball..it is earned on the court. you don't need to be offended when others do not respect you because you're not from the power conference. by being offended means that you're not content with yourself.

- Don't be selfish. teamwork is the key. you may have the all american atheletes, but if they don't play together, it won't mean a thing, it might win you games, but not championship.

- Be cool. just..be..cool. don't yell and curse at the referee (or anyone else for that matter) ...or doing anything that shows your anger. relax, it's not a life and death matter. losing your composure only makes it easier for your opponents..they are the ones smiling cause you've let them know that you're frustrated. just like in life..you need to be able to manage your emotion, you need to have a poise to get the job done and have the attitude of a winner. losing your composure signals insecurity.

-Preparation is the most important thing, the will to win is worthless if you don't have the will to prepare. you can't depend on your luck, afterall luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. (coach Darrel Royal)

anyone want to add to this?..:p

four year of J.J Redick, and no championship title for the dukies..he didn't even have a good game to end his career.. the duke haters are now happy to see them gone. I personally never have anything against them, i don't hate them but i don't root for them either, i don't really understand the root of the duke hatred. it seems to me that they run a clean program that is not scandalous, a respectable program in all the land of college basketball. their players are far from the thug types, they stay out of trouble, they are good athletes and good students all around. you have to admire the loyalty from the athletes for sticking around for 4 years to get a degree while many other athletes jump straight to the NBA at the first opportunity that they encounter. maybe they learn the loyalty from the coach who has been there for more than 20 years, resisting to coach in the nba that can triple up his salary. i think he is a classy coach. lots of people hate him..but i guess it's all the media's faults who sometime go above and beyond with their loves for all things duke. overexposure can hurt you. anyway, kasian si JJ kemaren fighting back his tears..it must be sad realizing that it's all over..hehe..i just felt bad for him. but i didn't feel bad for morrison though, if anything, i'm glad i don't have to see him all the time now (if he decides to turn pro that is)..hehe..i just can't stand the guy, i know it's okay to cry and show emotion but at least be a man and try to suck it up instead of bawling like a little baby.

anyway..game2 sweet sixteen lainnya seru seru, the ending of west virginia vs. texas was tragic, they lived by the three..only to die by the three at the very last second..tsk tsk. Villanova Vs. BC and Uconn Vs Washington stretched to overtime with 4 of the washington players fouled out in the last minutes. two of my final four picks are still alive in the elite eight..yay!

It's Friday Morning..i am so TGIF, i always loved weekend, and i still love it now even though everyday feels like weekends for me for these past 4 weeks, but the fact that dendre does not have to go to work is what makes it difference. And this weekend, we're going to Carbondale..hmm i can smell the House special chicken already, hehe..and we're going to see the salukis..they have been pretty good this season, i hope they can come out as a winner in the end..so at least there can be something that i can be proud of.

When in Famous Barr, i walked pass the watches section and i noticed that they still have the red nine west watch that i had been eyeing on. I called Nduti to ask for his opinion..whether i should buy the watch or not..of course he said that i don't need another watch, but i said i wanted it so bad...and then he said okay but not today, we can go back to famous barr tomorrow and he'll buy me the watch. Hehehe..=) The next day, i went back to the mall with him, when i tried the watch..it didn't look that good on my wrist, besides it needs to get another hole so it will fit perfectly and unfortunately they don't have the punch to make another hole. We almost went back with empty hands, but dendre noticed that i turned a bit sad by not buying the watch, hehe..so he gently took my hand and led me back to the counter..so were waiting patiently at the cashier to pay for the watch. But there was another customer who took forever. To kill the time, we were looking at another watches and i found this cute guess watch. It has the same red alligator texture genuine leather strap and a silver face. The face of this one is silver and kinda elongated square, whereas the one that i wanted to buy is more square and of course the Guess one is look fancier and it looks good on my wrist..and it just another ten bone...and dendre likes it a lot better. So..we decided to take the guess instead..=) and we (i obviously) went home with a happy face. I love you nduti...

So, the lesson that i can take from waiting so long at the cashier is...just be patient..because good things happen to those who wait patiently. Don't you agree?. Had i didn't wait patiently and just went to another cashier to pay for the watch..i wouldn't have the one that actually looks 100 times better than the one i intended to buy previously. Oh I am so happy...*smile*

History test was okay,  I didn't study that much tho..because the material that covered on test were Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I felt like I didn't have to study the Islam part since I was born with it . Anyway...Ilike this history class, it's a history of religion class, but I prefer if it's more like a discussion thing..with no test or anything...:), because it really is interesting. To be honest, this class makes me think that all religions are basically the same, especially the acosmic religion like Judaism, Christian, Islam, Baha'i and all that. I didn't know that Islam in fact is the youngest religion, I thought Islam like the first religion ever..hehe. I think that's how I believed all this long!..Now I've learned that Islam came after Judaism and that's why we have a lot in common with Jewish. I also learned that basicly all religions established of the same reason. Somebody who then called its founder figure claimed that he received a message from God and then he spread it to all of the people...!.

So my question is, how do we know which one is the one if there is more than one who claimed that he received a message from God?...I don't know..it's not like Im starting to doubt my own religion or anything, but it makes me think that maybe all religion is almost the same, at least it aims to bring people to do good deeds right?..Well, my teacher made a good point, he said that we don't have to bother whether all the history that we have been told were trully happened or not, whether the founder really received the message or whether all the miracle things were really happened...what's matter is that the story have a good purpose..to tell people that they have to do good things to others...!.so..yea...I follow him .