A Start-of-Summer Rant.

Hi everyone!

So yesterday (4th July 2012) was officially my last day of school or to be more exciting, it's the start of my summer holiday!

(Yes, it was also America's Independence Day. Happy Independence, Americans!)

I'm actually quite stoked for my summer because this is my first real summer holiday (which has a time span of 2 months approx.) and I never ever had a holiday that long. When I still lived in Indonesia, my longest holiday was probably a month and it passes by so quickly for me. But, I think my holidays before was spent by me being not productive like the usual holidays I have when I'm not going anywhere for recreation. So, this summer I'm trying my best to make myself more productive and do more useful stuff rather than fattening myself while staring at my laptop screen 24/7.

SO, I already have my motivation, now all I need is my heart's will-power to do the things I want to do. To make myself do things, I have to create a to-do list!!! Now I give you:

GITA'S SUMMER 2012 TO-DO LIST

1. Do some DIY projects.

DIY means to do/make/build/modify/repair something by yourself without professional help.

These days, I've been visiting/searching for DIY blogs. One of my personal favourite is a blog run by the Larson sisters, Elsie and Emma. They're really great and I love their style so much. They also create easy tutorials of their DIYs. I might do some of theirs or my own. These are some inspirations from their blog and other DIY blogs.

(from: A Beautiful Mess)

(from: Sincerely Kinsey)

(from: I Spy DIY)

2. Learn how to make GIFs and experiment with Photoshop.

I'm already quite familiar with Photoshop to be honest. But, I need to refine my skills and make it better than my skills now (which is quite crappy). I tried to make GIFs before, but the size was too big, the quality is crap and there are other problems of me making GIFs. I always wanted to make one and definitely not with Photoscape because I'm up for a more challenging software.

3. Do more arts.

I know that I really really enjoy doing arts and I want my career in the future to go on that path. I will practice on drawing people and try to draw animals (and definitely not cartoon-styled). I'm actually quite good at drawing people and a bit of still life, but I'm very very very crap at drawing animals without making it like some sort of character from Looney Tunes or whatever.

Also, I enjoy doing collages of photos or magazine cut-outs. I might make quite a few of them for this summer. I enjoy doing origamis as well, but I'm not quite sure if they're also a form of art (I hope they are). A bit of photography to help refine my skills would be great. I also want to practice using watercolour and acrylic paints. I was actually surprised to find out that there are special pads for acrylic paints! I always thought it's only available for watercolour. So when I fist found it, I instantly grab it and buy it but I haven't use it. This is what it looks like:

I also do collages (sort of) online. It's with a website called Polyvore. You can see my collages here.

4. Practice guitar.

I could handle a guitar quite well, actually. But, I hardly practice anymore so my skills are not even as good as a toddler trying to sing opera. Probably even worse. I love music very very much and as much as I love listening to it, I want to try to play it. This is on my to-do list because I was inspired by my friend, Karima, who is a briliant song writer and she's moving back to her hometown (London). I'm going to miss her so much. Thank you for being a marvelous friend.

5. Read, write, review.

I need to read more books. I have a pile of books that I haven't read and also I want to write stories/poems/songs. I might also do a review in movies and such because apparently, I like reviewing/criticising other people's work. I really need to read though. I have the Hunger Games series that I haven't really touched/read (except the early chapters of the first book), Percy Jackson series, and some other books. I might get to buy some more books if I have read most of them. So, yeah call me a geek but i don't give a single f---

That's basically my to-do list I guess. There are not many, but each of them definitely takes time to do it, some can be longer than the other. Also, I'm going to Jakarta for Eid. I'm going on 12th of August. This may shorten my time to do the things that I want to do. I might get quite busy in Jakarta because I already have plans in mind. I miss everyone in Indonesia. When I'm back there, it will overwhelm me and I'll just breakdown and cry in front of everyone. Life is very different here and there and the people are definitely different. I miss the dynamics and ethnics of my fellow Indonesians.

By the way, I have news for everyone.

Most people know that I am not into pop and certainly not boybands. Most things I listen to are indie rock/alt. rock/punk rock/post-hardcore and I always think Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and stuff are highly overrated. But suddenly, the British invasion came and I can't help but feel guilty to myself because...

I.

Like.

A.

British.

Boyband.

(No, not One Direction. I think they're like multiple Justin Biebers grouped together.)

It's The Wanted, guys.

I CAN'T HELP IT. They stole my heart shortly after Glad You Came kept playing everywhere I go. I just can't. They're all very talented and also very sweet. Their fans (TWfanmily) are also very nice to each other. Haters gonna hate. I've fallen in love and I can't get up. Not only with the band, but also their fans.

After the whole 'breaking my own rule' problem, I realized that setting limits for yourself helds back your creativity. Like what you like and enjoy the thrill it gives you.

(The Wanted is still considered as my guilty pleasure though, because they're pop. I don't really enjoy pop.)

So that concludes my blogpost. I hope this is worth the read and worth your time. And I'm gonna leave you with favourite song from The Wanted so far, Gold Forever.