it’s not easy being kidal a.k.a left-handed. but i’m not complaining!! :D

ever since i was little i experienced people saying bad things about being a lefty. kukira itu karena Indonesia mayoritas negara Muslim aja. but when I was surfing on the net on the topic of left-handedness I found out that the left side is viewed as inferior than the right side in almost every culture. It is even more obvious in the English speaking world. The word “right”, other than to describe the side opposite to left, also means correct. And in Latin, the word “sinister”, which means the left is also used to describe something evil. This perfectly describes the general view on the left in this world I think. Which is LEFT IS EVIL

Kalo dipikir-pikir, kok kasian kali orang-orang kidal di dunia ini ya (hahaa mendramatisir.. ). Kadang kalo ada orang yang ngomentari aku, “pake tangan kanan dong..” Rasanya pingin kubilangin, “Cok ko pake tangan kiri. Susah kan? Nah kek gitu lah kesulitan yang dihadapi orang kidal. And they have to deal with it everyday in their whole life.” Whether you realize it or not, since most people are right-handed, everything in this world is made to suit them. Resulting in lefties having to adapt to this right-handed world.

No, I’m not exaggerating. Have you ever looked at a normal scissors and thought that if a lefty uses it, he/she won’t be able to see the line to be cut? Of course you haven’t. I never thought about it myself before. In kindergarten, I was never good at menggunting dan menempel (apa ya englishnya? ). I couldn”t follow the line. Gak akan pernah rapi lah guntinganku. But I never thought it was because I’m left-handed. Kirain emang kemampuan mengguntingku aja yang di bawah rata-rata. And this is just scissors. There are other right-oriented apparatus that lefties struggle to use. No wonder most lefties (especially those who are forced to use their right hand) are clumsy.

I, myself, am also clumsy person. I still remember the first time I put the drinks for the guests who came to our house. The glasses fell and it was a total mess. My sister would often scold me for my clumsiness (and she still does). I never gave much thought as to why I’m the only clumsy one among my brothers and sister. I thought I inherited it from my mom, who is also very clumsy. But when I stumbled across one lefties forum, I was enlightened!! Other lefties who were forced to use their right hand suffer the same thing. Being clumsy and scolded by everyone around them . And when I think about it, my mom is also a lefty who was forced to use her right hand ever since she was small. But what about my left handed brother then? HE’s not clumsy. Ahaa but unlike me and my mom, he is a true lefty who was never forced to suppress his true self. (hueheheee mendramatisir lagi )

Sebetulnya aku mo ngomong apa yaa.. kok jadi gak jelas gini My point is, be more understanding to a lefty. It’s hard enough being a lefty in a right-handed world (cailaa..). It’s EVEN MORE difficult for him/her if he/she is forced to not use his/her left hand and use the right hand instead for everyday tasks. Jadii kesimpulannya:

1. DON’T YOU DARE tell a lefty to use his/her right hand before you experience the hardship of using your less dextrous hand.
2. Don’t say “ihh kiri itu jelek”. :x Put reason to it. “Nabi SAW menganjurkan blah blah blah..”. Kalo kek gitu kemungkinan didengarkan lebih besar (kurasa.. ).
3. If your kid is left-handed, NEVER force him/her to use his/her right hand. And if it’s the teacher who forces dia (duh capek pake him/her ) then tell the teacher not to. Kecuali untuk makan dan minum oke lah pake tangan kanan. oya, tapi bilangin ke anakmu kalo BAB bersucinya pake tangan kiri. Karena menurut pengalamanku, orang kidal otomatis pakenya tangan kanan (karena kiri dipake untuk makan )

 

The Dark Knight

The dark knight = kereeeeennn!!! Great movie An exhilarating fast-paced action movie. Another one of those rare movies where I didn’t glance at my watch in the first 15 minutes :) I walked into the cinema expecting just another run-of-the-mill action movie and boy, was I in a surprise. And a very pleasant surprise it was I didn’t expect too much since the first movie was just so-so to me. But this one exceeded my expectations and showed that Hollywood can still dish out a great movie every now and then. Christian Bale IS Bruce Wayne. You cannot picture anyone else playing that role (George Clooney, anyone?). Heath Ledger acting was superb. He made the psychotic Joker a believable real-life character. Joker is no longer just another villain from a comic.
Another thing that I love from the movie is the setting. All the previous movies were shot mostly at dark. Since Gotham has always been described kind of like a city in eternal night. But Gotham in “The Dark Knight” was different. Just like real cities, it has day and night. In short, Christopher Nolan has turned Gotham from just a fictional city in a comic into a city so realistic you’d think it actually exists in reality. That Batman lives there. And I mean he LIVES there. He doesn’t just happen to live in a city named Gotham. That the action could take place anywhere. No, with this movie you could never imagine Batman is from a city named XX (write in any name you want here).
However, one thing to keep in mind, DO NOT LET CHILDREN WATCH THE MOVIE. The violence was a bit, well, above standard. I actually grimaced at several scenes though I’m usually not disturbed by violent scenes (or is it because I’m getting old?? :p)
Bottom line, it’s a great movie. Even if you weren’t interested in it, give it a chance. VERY satisfying. I’d say 9 out of 10 :)

 

Double Arts

Time for another manga review This time, the spotlight’s on Double Arts, a shounen manga. It was begun only recently, still on chapter 13.  But it looks promising. I love the arts. AND the storytelling. AND the setting. It’s set in an RPG-like setting. And the flow would actually remind you of an RPG game. You move between towns. You gather information at each town. While having enemies jumping out every now and then. (Sebetulnya ini hanya perkiraanku. Wong baru dua kota kok. :p)

Apalagi yaa.. Yah gitulah.. Bagus pokoknya :p

Summary: give it a try. I think it’s sooo much better than Psyren which has been given many positive reviews

 

Death by Chocolate (yeah, right)

Death by chocolate is a cafe in PIM 2 specializing (so they claim) in chocolate. If chocolate is what they specialize in, I shudder when I think of how the non-chocolate products might taste (brrr). I mean, do they seriously think anyone will like those so-called “food”? And what’s with the name? The food is so good that you’d die?? Not a chance. If there’s anything in that cafe that can kill you, it will be the boring, definitely not cozy nor hip, atmosphere. And it’s also very, and I repeat, very, expensive. A slice of chocolate cake costs 40K and it doesn’t even taste decent!! (Actually, I’m exaggerating here, the chocolate sauce is actually okay.) But overall, another expensive-yet-definitely-not-worth-your-money cafe. I suggest you stay away from this one.

 

say goodnight and go

though i finally managed to kick it out of my head, lately this song is back to haunt me
excerpt:
oh why’d you have to be so cute
impossible to ignore you
must you make me laugh so much
it’s bad enough we get along so well
say goodnight and go

 

NEVUH. EVUH. EAT AT CHOPSTIX!!

ever heard of chopstix? if you haven’t, then good. it means you’ve never eaten there. and you better stay away from it!! FYI, chopstix is a restaurant. supposed to be chinese cooking i guess. only three words to describe it. the. food. sucks. oh, two more words. big. time. it doesn’t taste good at all. and it’s expensive. the price seems even more outrageously expensive when you consider the taste. bleaagghh >_<

if after reading this, you still insist on going. well…

note: maybe i’m being a little bit unfair here. maybe i just happened to order the worst food there. so, for those of you actually wanting to go there after reading this, then don’t order the black pepper beef. be it with  fried rice or just white rice. those two are what made me write this.

 

Polisi gilak..!!

Pertama-tama aku merepet dulu: DAMN COPS!! Yang gilaknya kurasa kelen..

naah sekarang baru aku cerita tadi pagi aku pergi ke kantor seperti biasa kan, jalan ke salemba. naah sampe di simpang salemba aku agak heran kok gak ada angkot yang ngetem ya?? tapi ya udah gak kupikir lebih lanjut. soalnya toh aku yang untung karena berarti aku gak perlu jalan agak jauh kalo mo nyetop angkot (biasanya aku agak jalan lagi dari simpang biar bisa nyetop angkot yang lewat. aku malas naik yang ngetem ) nah lewatlah sebiji angkot dan kustoplah ya. ehh dia gak berenti. dia malah nunjuk-nunjuk. mulanya kukira lagi ada yang ngetem di depan-an dia tapi pas kuliat ternyata.. oalaahh ada polisi. ntah kesambit apa tu para polisi pagi-pagi bediri-diri di salemba. heran la aku. tahapa pulak gunanya orangtu bediri-diri di sana

ya udah la ya, jalan la aku ke halte. namanya aja halte, tempat nunggu. ya wajar kan kalo angkutan berenti di halte. ehh ternyataa masak yaa. waktu ada bis yang berenti, ngangkut penumpang si polisi marah-marah. “yah, yang gilaknya si polisi ini. kalo gak di halte mo di mana lagi orang nyetop angkutan??” kupikir. “bah, kalo kek gini gak pigi-pigi la aku. gak ada angkot yang berani berenti.” jadi jalan lagi lah aku sampe ke bawah jembatan dan udah melewati mobil si polisi bedua tu. dari sana baru la angkot berani berenti. baru la aku dapat angkot dan off i went to the office..

kalo dipikir-pikir kan gak masuk akal kali polisi bedua tu. apa la guna orang tu berdiri-diri di sana?? salemba yang rush hour kalo pagi kan yang sisi fk ui. ngapain la orang tu justru berdiri di sisi seberangnya?? bus berenti di halte dimarahinnya. tapi angkot-angkot yang berenti sembarangan, asal dah lewat dia, gak papa. gilak kurasa.. :(

 

amber spyglass

sebetulnya postingan basi. tapi gak papa lah ya. kan aku dah lama kali gak ngapdet blogku tercinta ini

jadii setelah menunggu bulan baru (berhubung bulan sebelumnya aku bangkrut habis-habisan :D) akhirnya aku membeli si amber spyglass, the third installment of his dark materials series. nah, dari halaman pertama, aku dah bingung. emang yang the subtle knife bersambungnya gini ya?? kok kayak gak nyambung?? tapi berhubung aku malas mengecek (padahal the subtle knife-nya cuman berjarak semeter dariku ) ya udahlah. lanjoottt.

naahh semakin lama aku membaca, kok rasanya.. semakin membosankan ya????!!!! jauh berbeda dari buku pertama dan keduanya. dan yang bikin gak nahan tuh ya, sepasang angel homo!!!! astagaa.. ini buku betul-betul heresy nih. gak heran kalangan gereja di amerika mencak-mencak sama ni buku. aku juga kalo yang dihinanya agamaku gak bakal tahan bacanya. and FYI, si amber spyglass ni ya, udahlah sangat ngawur, gak seru pula!! cihh untung aku belinya di periplus, gak di kinokuniya. kalo di kino kan lebih mahal 15 ribu (gak penting )

pokoknya bukunya sangattt membosankan dan tidak menarik. apalagi bagian yang si doctor roberts. gak penting kali kurasa. ih pokoknya ni buku amit-amit dahh. definitely not recommended. tapi yang bikin aku heran kok malah yang buku ketiga ini yang dapat award ya?? sungguh mengherankan..

edited: ternyata nama si dokter bukan roberts, tapi malone. tu kan nampak kali gak berkesan bukunya..

 

Wanita merokok = gak bener???

Di kantorku hampir sebagian besar pegawai laki-lakinya merokok. Jadinya kalo makan siang rasanya menderitaa kali. Soalnya asap di mana-mana..
One time, waktu mengobrol dengan sesama pegawai, i don’t remember how pokoknya jadi membahas merokok. dan si bapak itu, suddenly said, “Saya gak suka wanita merokok. Bagi saya wanita tidak sepantasnya merokok. Wanita yang merokok itu identik dengan wanita gak bener” Dan di dalam hatiku langsunglah timbul rasa sebal. Maksudnya apa sih?? Jadi kalo laki-laki boleh merokok gitu??
Aku bukannya membela sesama wanita ya (or maybe i am, ). Aku benci rokok kok (dan aku lebih benci lagi sama perokok). Tapi ya itu dia. Aku benci sama perokok. titik. Tanpa mempedulikan si perokok itu lelaki atau wanita. Lah si perokok sebiji ini kok dengan seenaknya bilang wanita yang merokok itu gak bener sementara dia sendiri menghembus-hembuskan asapnya ke orang-orang sekelilingnya. Jadi kalo lelaki yang merokok itu bener gitu?? Nenekmu lah!!

 

Plot vs Storytelling

Dulu kalo baca a review of a book I used to not understand what the reviewer meant when he said plot and storytelling. I thought to myself, “aren’t they the same?” and thought that the reviewer was just being snobbish and that he deliberately used literature jargons just to show off (and to confuse the reader. ).

I started to realize the differences between those two things when I read a book of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. I found the plot fascinating. I was very curious as to what would happen to the characters. Unfortunately I couldn’t stand the storytelling. The storytelling, I must say, simply sucked. It was very soapy. Numerous characters (new characters keep appearing even near the end of the book) with story twists which were not unlike those of soapy tv series. In fact, it was one of those rare books which I could not stand to read that i skipped through parts of minor characters. In fact, I skipped through the part of the battle between Stark and Lannister!! Can you believe that?? I mean, how could a battle be boring?? That shows just how soapy the book was.

At that time, I could not comprehend what the boring part was. When asked about the book, I would always say, “The big story is interesting but the story unfolds in a very boring way”. I still did not realize that it was the storytelling.

And then i read Phillip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” series. and what do you know, it was the exact opposite of “A Song of Ice and Fire”!! I found ‘The Golden Compass” as an exciting, fast-paced and, at times, thrilling. But nearing the end of book 1, I thought to myself, “what a lousy story..”. Nevertheless, I bought the second book, “The Subtle Knife”, because I wanted the excitement I had when I was reading the first book. And I was not disappointed. The second book lived up to my expectation both in the storytelling but, unfortunately, also of another lousy plot.

The storytelling of “The Subtle Knife” was brilliant. I held my breath, cried, and basically felt involved with the story. But time and again I couldn’t help thinking to myself “the story was getting even worse..!!”.

Jadii mo ngomong apa sih aku nii?? :p You could stand a book with a lousy plot if the storytelling is good. But you would NOT, I repeat, YOU WOULD NOT read a book if the storytelling sucks even though the plot is the most original ever. And I’m going to buy the third installment of “His Dark Materials”.