Would You Say "Thank You"?

And while sitting here staring at nothingness, would you want to say "Thank You" for all the pain?

meminjam sinar matahari

pernahkah kau sadar kalau selama ini hidupmu bisa berjalan karena kau meminjam sinar matahari?

apapun itu yang kau makan, tanpa sinar matahari, tak kan bisa sampai ke meja makanmu.

jangan jadi bodoh, tentu saja bukan sinar matahari yang mengantarkan makananmu, melainkan dirimu sendiri atau dengan bantuan orang lain. yang aku maksud adalah bahwa makananmu itu adalah bentuk energi lain yang telah mengalami perubahan bentuk sehingga sumber awalnya dari sinar matahari tak dikenal lagi.

kalau kau makan sayuran hijau, berterimakasihlah kepada sinar matahri yang memungkinkan proses fotosintesis.

kalau kau makan hewan pemamah biak, berterimakasihlah pada sinar matahari yang memungkinkan hewan itu mendapatkan makanannya.

kalau kau makan biji-bijian, tentu saja ada peran sinar matahari yang memungkinkan tanaman tersebut tumnuh dan berkembang.

bahkan, di negara tropis di daerah khatulistiwa, pakaian yang kau kenakan di tubuhmu itu hampir pasti dikeringkan (setelah dicuci) oleh sinar matahari.

bahkan malam seperti saat ini, bila tiba-tiba PLN memutuskan aliran listrik yang mendayai lampu-lampu ruangan, sehingga satu-satunya sumber penerangan hanyalah cahaya bulan, berterimakasihlah karena bulan juga meminjam sinar matahari untuk menerangi malam.

tattooed women, bad?

(originally published somewhere in the internet on 20-02-2006)

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yesterday, a friend of mine, what would i think if she get a tattoo.

she just want to express herself more and the best way it seems is to get a tattoo. her concern is that it might just get in the way when she applied for a job after graduated. i told her that i think the only way it'd be an issue if she did apply for PNS or banking institution - or any position where your appearance really matter.

if you're healthy, tattoo can't make you failed on health test/medical check-up. i also told her to sport a temporary tattoo first, to put it right where she want her permanent one, and get the feeling of having a tattoo, for a permanent tattoo is just gonna stick forever to her skin.

she also asked, "what would you guys be thinking of a woman like me had tattooes?"

i told her, "personally, i think it is sexy, it's sensual, it's hot! as long as the tattoo suit her and she is comfortable with them.

"what about the stereotyping of tattoed person = bad person. it worse if it's a woman?"

"well, if you're more interested in what other people might think, then you better not get one. if you feel you can go on ignoring other people's opinion, then go get one!"

now, you, dear reader, after reading this, you know where i stand on this matter. i just asked you for your opinion, are tattoed women equal bad girls?

let me know, please.

Smoking Women, Banned?

(originally published somewhere on the internet on 14-01-2006)

just curious: why is that some people - including some that i have personally known - dislikessmoking women? i mean, to them (and probably you too), think that it is inappropriate for women to smoke, but think otherwise for men. is it okay - and normal - for men to smoke because they are men? is it wrong for women because women shouldn't be smoking in the first place? i had started some never ending debates over this issue and the reason why they were unfinished because both parts kept to their own POV.

that's what i am trying to start right now. i think i am not a feminist, but the idea that women should and shouldn't do something just because they're females just a little bit absurd, since a child can not decide what sex he/she born with (that's why we got transsexual now) and rights shouldn't be limited to some factors that you can't really control (sex, skin color, place of birth, etc.).

i have to admit, i am not a smoker and sometimes i just can not tolerate the billowing smoke. that's why in the past times i just left the room abruptly. so maybe you can say i am biased. when i was a child, my father is a smoker. but he quit for reasons i still haven't found out. of course i stole some cigarette he owned, just out of curiousity, to feel what is it like to be smoking. i lighted the cigarette, try it, then coughed because the smoke stung my senses. i threw it away while my so-called friends laughed at me. i do not left them though. i sat with them watching they consume rest of my thieving goods. yes, afterward there are peer pressure too, but maybe the pressure is not enough to "break" me.

all in all, this is all about option and just to think that there are other people out there that think you SHOULD or SHOULDN't do something because it is inappropirate based on some weak reasons makes me wondering...

cont'd

Menghilangkan Kepala

Seandainya saja bisa, untuk sementara, aku ingin bisa melepaskan kepala dari tubuhku sendiri.

Tak ada yang ekstrim atau maksud klenik lainnya -- hanya saja sampai sekarang aku sering mengalami sakit kepala.

Seandainya saja bisa, untuk sementara, tanpa kepala karena sedang diurus oleh pihak-pihak tertentu yang secara gaib bisa menarik lepas rasa sakit itu dari kepalaku lalu kemudian menempelkan kepala yang sudah "bersih" itu kembali di tempatnya.

Ah, khayalan absurd.

Setidaknya aku sudah mencoba sesekali meminum obat anti sakit kepala yang dijual bebas di pasaran. Murah dan kadang berhasil meredam rasa sakit.

Mungkin sudah saatnya aku mempertimbangkan bantuan profesional.

Day -4 A New Week A New Problem

As I said before, my fever has subsidized (kind of) but my cough seem reluctant to let me go. The doctor said that I might be allergic to dust or small particles not just from cold climate. He even warned me about the risk that my tonsils have to be taken in case it got infected due to the allergic reaction that made me unwell.

Such a horror!

Anyway, I should be using masks everytime I might be exposed to a lot of dust (or fine particles in the air) or else it'll be an operation! Now, I guess I have to get back to work, making list of stuff to bring with on my upcoming travel!

Day -27: Easily Exhausted

Now I really have to admit: My body is a wreckage.

Months -- even years -- of desk job with less than adequate physical activities has already take on its toll. Now I am an overweight-lazy-couch potato with a beer gut. Not that I drink beer, it's just that now I look like someone who's three months into pregnancy. Not that I am pregnant -- I am a male, for crissake! It's just metaphorically speaking.

Even when I tested myself by climbing four-flight stairs, I ended up gasping out of breath on the top floor with my heart thumping loudly in my chest and making me hard to hear anybody. I thought at that time that heart attack was imminent.

No, I am kidding. I just happen to like exaggerating things to impress others. All right, maybe I am a little bit pathetic. But exaggeration sometimes add colors to stories, right?

Okay, back to my point here. I am easily exhausted and right now at three in the afternoon I have to fight this drowsiness eventhough I already gulped a cup of strong black robusta coffee. Okay, I lead an unhealthy way of life and now that I am preparing for an excursion to the east, I realize that keeping a healthy and fit body is a precious thing and appropriate.

Oh hell. I will walk more, climb stairs more, and even take out my old and dusty sneakers from under the cupboard and don them. Come tomorrow, I'll be walking around in the city garden!


... If I wake early enough.

Danger, High Level Of Sugar.

You see, I've always known that too much sugar is not healthy, to the internal organ and your dental too.

So why I ate this deliciously looking, cutely wrapped, heavily sugar coated cake?

Just tearing the packaging to get at the cake made my heart squeamish but after seeing the pink mound made my heart filled with joy!

"Oooohh.... Sooooo cuteeee...."

Maybe because the giver said that it symbolize a pray for me. A good pray. That's the whole reason I ate it all. Because then the pray may be whole.

I ate the cake slowly, appreciating the sweet taste in my tounge, feeling the rush of saliva out to help dissolve the sugar.

That was half an hour ago.

Now my head hurt and my heart throb. The sugar rate in my blood must be spiked. And my gum and teeth, Ouch!

I am stupid.

Eventhough it was a pray for me, I should be greedy and ate it all by myself.