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.

Me vs. The World

Well, guess I watch Scott Pilgrim too much. But who cares anyway?

It's me, I'm back. I know, I rarely post anymore blogs these days. It doesn't mean I don't bother, I just need a time off for all the messed up things in my world. I need a day off, reality sucks.

First of all, school sucks. I mean I can't open up to anyone even though I tried and I have friends alright. I'm a little bit of an introvert I suppose. I think I'm like John Watson from the BBC Sherlock, I have trust issues. Even though my quite-new friend in my quite-new school said, "don't trust anyone at this point, start trusting when you already stay long enough to open up to people." Yep. It's almost 2 terms and I still can't really trust anyone. But my grades are great, so I'm not disappointing my parents.

Second of all, THE AVENGERS WAS F-ING AMAZING OKAY. I watched it on 3rd May when I went to Bahrain (it takes less than an hour from my city in Saudi Arabia). I was so proud because most of my friends haven't watched it yet and I was being very supportive so I promoted this movie to everyone like, "GUYS THE AVENGERS WAS SO AMAZING!!!!!1!!111!!111!!! YOU GUYS SHOULD WATCH IT!!!!!1!!!!11111!!!!!!" So basically, this is one of my favorite movies by far. The cast is just so perfect. I mean most of the time, I went like "oh why don't they use *insert actor/actress name here* for this character instead of *insert actor/actress name here*?" But this cast is A+ and I love Joss Whedon for directing this movie. And I love Tom Hiddleston.

If I have the time, I think I'm gonna write a movie review about this one. I don't think anyone really cares about my opinion because I'm quite bias about this movie, so yeah.

Last of all, I've been doing a lot of arts these days.  I can't post it right now, but I can post it in my deviantart or tumblr or just this blog probably. I'm writing this blog in my free ICT lesson and my scanner and my artworks are at home so yeah.

I hope this is long enough to post. I haven't posted in a while, I know. Thank you for reading anyway to people who cares enough to read this. I love you all!!!

If you actually believe.

I think this is gonna be a not so long, but thoughtful post.

It's not like, I'm having troubles and anything, this is just a post that I write because I want to remind everyone that life is changing through times. I know most of you experience this, but I know some of you won't believe it.

Well, it happens.

I remember the time when I made tumblr. It was 2009 and I can't stop posting bullshits. Through out the years, I'm growing, and growing, and I grew to be a more mature person and I began to have thoughts of my own; I had becomeIndependent about my thoughts. I no longer post/reblog bullshits people think it's cute (but, I think they're sometimes gross), useless comments to attract the people I follow, and other stuff that's not my interest. I no longer try to be someone I'm not by following people's mind. I have my own mind now and I'm happy with it.

Looking back, I swear a lot of people hates me for my guts and hypocrite attitude in the past years. I want to apologize to people who thought I was extremely annoying and now, you don't have to worry because apparently, I have different interest than some of you did. I think I've proven it enough for the past years.

I know most of you regrets that you spent your childhood by wishing to be a grown up. From my point of view, why regret it? Even though you regret it everyday, you're not gonna be younger. You'll keep getting old and more memories will fill your mind. There's a lot more to experience when you're mature rather than when you were a kid.

Think about it.

When you were a kid, do you have your favorite bands yet? Were you allowed to go to concerts alone without your parents accompanying you? Were you allowed to have your own laptop? Were you allowed to use the internet without accompany from an older person? Were you even allowed to have handphones? Think again this time.

There are more years to come. Don't be afraid. There are thousands of people in the same page as you are. Just believe everything's gonna be fine. Even though you are in a winding road, there will be something worth the wait at the end of it.

The Past Few Weeks When I Was Missing

So, hey!

Sorry for the lack of posts in this blog. I still can't find the perfect thing to write for this blog! Sorry, again. I don't like making other people wait. So, I'll write something.

Jadi 2 minggu yang lalu, gue ada ujian akhir semester. Kalo di sekolah gue, dijamin ujian ini jauh lebih susah dibanding UNAS. Percaya deh. Kalo ujian harus rela belajar non-stop sampe SKS juga. Untungnya, gue bukan orang kayak gitu. I still get some rest and just go with it.

Ujiannya diadain 1 minggu. Dari hari senin sampai jum'at. So, this is the sequence of events that happened that week.

SENIN, 2 MEI 2011 - Hari ini ujiannya bahasa inggris. Mudah, tapi kalo salah nulis aja nilainya bisa berkurang. Nggak banyak yang dipelajarin, jadi lancar. Nilai ujian: 90.

SELASA, 3 MEI 2011 - Hari ini ujiannya IPA. SUSAH. BANGET. Mungkin gara-gara malem sebelumnya nggak belajar banyak sih ya. Satu angkatan aja setuju kalo susah. Kalo di sekolah gue penjurusannya mulai kelas 9. Jadi, yang awalnya mau masuk jurusan IPA kemungkinan banyak yang batal gara-gara mata pelajarannya ini. Sebenernya nggak terlalu susah, tapi gara-gara kurang belajar jadi rasanya susah deh. Nilai ujian: 75 (lumayan lah, bukan dapet 60.)

RABU, 4 MEI 2011 - Pas selasa harusnya gue ada les gitar. Tapi, gara-gara hari ini ujian matematika jadinya bolos deh. Udah bolos les, ternyata, ujiannya beda 135 derajat. Nggak susah sama sekali! Agak nyesel bolos les deh jadinya. Nilai ujian: 92.

KAMIS, 5 MEI 2011 - Hari ini ujiannya bahasa indonesia. Pelajarannya nggak terlalu susah, tapi trauma dapet nilai jelek. Belajar juga akhirnya. Kayaknya pelajaran ini memang paling sering diremehkan ya. Banyak yang ngerasa, "Ah pelajaran gampang ini. Santai ah!" Ternyata dapet nilai jelek aja mampus lo. Belajar itu mengutungkan, jadi ya belajar aja. Eaaa jadinya ceramah. Ujian ini juga sukses! Nilai ujian: 94.

JUM'AT, 6 MEI 2011 - Hari ini ujian geografi. Di sekolah gue ada peraturan kalo ujian harus bawa ID card. And guess what? ID CARD GUE KETINGGALAN DI RUMAH! Gue panik banget sampe nangis. Ngerasa bego banget nggak sih kalo kayak gini? Untung gue bisa tenang. Ketahuan nggak bawa ID card, dikurangi 10% nilai ujian geografi gue. Untung gue dapet nilai bagus, kalo nggak? Bisa lompat dari lantai 4 sekolah gue. Nilai ujian: 92-10%=82.

Kira-kira begitu lah seminggu yang campur aduk itu. Kadang-kadang agak nyesel juga milih SMP disini. Nggak tenang. Takut mati muda gara-gara stress. Eh, nggak gitu juga kali.

The next week, there's 2 days sabbatical. Acaranya adalah lomba antar kelas. Lombanya yang udah mainstream juga: futsal, basket, tarik tambang & estafet. Di hari kedua, setelah acara gue langsung ke kantor imigrasi buat foto passport. Setelah foto passport ke POINS Square (mall nggak penting, tapi agak berguna juga). Disana makan siang dan beli DVD bajakan. Look, I'm human and the original DVDs are expensive to begin with. Pirated DVDs are so cheap, you can buy 2-5 DVDs with the price of the original DVD. Masuk akal dong lebih milih DVD bajakan daripada yang asli. Lagian kenapa sih DVD yang asli harus mahal? Nggak bisa liat orang seneng ya bisa nonton film ini itu? (jadi sewot.)

Anyways, in that week there's Friday the 13th. Let me guess, you think it's gonna be a bad day? Not at all! Actually it was a great day! Hari ini di sekolah agak bebas. Kita cuma nonton film dan video buat tugas bahasa inggris. Pelajaran geografi sama IPA nonton Happy Feet (emang agak nggak penting ya). Pelajaran bahasa inggris ya, nonton video tugas dari sekelas. Pelajaran matematika nonton horror! Filmnya Shutter (Thailand). This is actually the first horror movie I've ever seen. Dulu pernah nonton sekali pas kelas 7. Di hari ini, nonton lagi! It's a very scary movie, might I say. You should've seen everyone in my class freaked out like cats. Even the guys! I laughed at them. Okay, I'm so mean I know. Sue me.

Two very hectic weeks. The events are actually fun. I think this is the end of the post.

Wait, no.

Before I close this post, I want to share the bands I'm hooked to right now. It's A Day To Remember, The Pretty Reckless, VersaEmerge, Attack Attack! and Iron & Wine. Now, I can close this post with All I Want video by A Day To Remember. Thank you for reading and enjoy!

"I think we'd rather be, burning your information."

Kayaknya udah kelamaan gue nggak ngepost sesuatu. Udah kelamaan nggak nyentuh laptop. Well, blame it on my iPod. My handphone and laptop are forgotten because of it. It serves me better and such, and such, and such...

But, anyway.

Belakangan ini gue lagi kena great-mood-syndrome. Gue sendiri nggak yakin kenapa ngenamainnya kayak gitu, tapi emang belakangan ini jarang kena bad mood.

Alasannya cuma satu: 8 Buenos Aires.

Kelas gue yang sekarang itu asik banget. Nggak tau buat yang sekelas sama gue ngerasa gitu juga atau nggak (gue nggak peduli juga sih), tapi buat gue amat.sangat. Tiap hari ada aja yang jadi bahan ketawaan. Entah itu gara-gara guru-gurunya, jayusan-jayusan yang disebar-sebarin ke satu kelas (lah, virus dong?) atau tingkah laku luar binasa makhluk-makhluk di kelas ini. Kelas gue yang sekarang nggak ada duanya deh.

Kelas ini mungkin bisa jadi "kelas paling berisik sejagat-raya". Gimana nggak ya, komplain semua guru juga dibilang kelas ini berisik. Liat aja komentar-komentar dibawah ini.

• "If you keep talking, I will demerit you!" *logat Cina*
• "You guys is always soooooo noisy." (pake IS loh!)
• "Kalian kok berisik banget siiiiiih?"
• "Why do you guys keep talking all the time?" *muka melas*
• "Kalian ini berisik sekali ya..." *muka datar*
• "If you keep talking all the time, I cannot explain to you and you will ask me a lot of questions during the test and it's bothering meh!" *logat Filipina*

See? Berisik kan? Banget.

Percaya atau nggak, kelas ini pernah (well, bukan pernah sih, berkali-kali) ditinggal sama gurunya gara-gara berisik. Guru-gurunya pada ngambek gara-gara dikacangin, terus pergi deh.

Kenapa gue harus diajarin guru-guru labil?

TAPI, masih ada aja guru yang betah ngajarin kelas ini. Terpaksa mungkin ya. Contohnya kayak guru gue yang "poker face". Gila, lo semua harus tau betapa datarnya muka beliau (bukan datar kayak hantu ya. Serem amat) dan betapa sabarnya beliau ngajarin kita. Dia selalu bilang ke kita gini;

"Tolong jangan berisik. Kalau berisik, penghapus papan ini bakal mendarat di muka kalian."

Nggak deng. Nggak jadi sabar.

Beliau nggak bisa marah (katanya), ekspresinya juga datar terus. Santai banget nangepin kelas berisik kayak gini. Beliau memang asik juga kalau ngajarin, jadi murid-muridnya seneng diajarin beliau. Ternyata nggak semua guru-guru gue labil.

Aih, kok jadi ajang pamer guru?

Balik ke kelas 8 Buenos Aires.

Kelakuan si kucing garong, eh, maksud gue kelakuan temen-temen sekelas gue yang luar binasa juga bikin suasana kelas asik. Anak-anak yang di kelas gue suka banget bikin jayusan atau ngeledekin orang. Contohnya ke guru gue yang sekarang. I call it; "How to piss off my science teacher."

Yang ini nih, senengnya komplain mulu kalo kelas gue bau. Gara-gara udah kesel, akhirnya sekelas beli Stella (pengharum ruangan). Setiap mau mulai pelajaran beliau, pasti disemprotin banyak-banyak biar nggak komplain lagi.

Alhasil, banyak yang pada bengek gara-gara bau orange yang nusuk ke saluran pernapasan. Jadi, yang komplain sekarang justru anak-anak kelas gue bukan gurunya. Gantian ya miss.

Udah hampir setahun di kelas ini. 3 ato 2 bulan lagi kelas 9. Rasanya nggak mau pindah deh. Comfortable class it is, my dear friends. Kompak lagi. Kekompakan kelas gue bikin juara di "Speech Fest" yang diadain sekolah. Juara seangkatan. Ah, gue bakal kangen kelas ini.

Selesai sudah post ini. I know it's random and binasa gara-gara awalnya belom ada ide mau ngepost apa. For those who look up to this blog, please keep reading. I will post more stuff for you guys. Thank you! Let me leave you with what I'm listening today; Panic! At The Disco - The Ballad Of Mona Lisa.

HORAS BAH!

Holla holla hollaaaaaaa! Sekarang awak lagi di Medan. Bagi yang nggak tau Medan dimana, Medan itu di pulau Sumatra. Bagi yang nggak tau pulau Sumatra dimana, pulau Sumatra itu di Indonesia. Bagi yang nggak tau Indonesia itu dimana, Indonesia itu di planet Bumi. Bagi yang nggak tau planet Bumi dimana, planet Bumi itu di Tata Surya. Bagi yang nggak tau Tata Surya dimana, Tata Surya itu di Galaksi Bimasakti. Bagi yang nggak tau Galaksi Bimasakti dimana, mati aja lu ke laut sono.

Ehm, maaf. Gue jadi emosi.

Jadi, setelah gue ke Sukabumi, gue naik pesawat Garuda Citilink menuju Medan. Gara gara Sukabumi jauh dari Bandara Soekarno Hatta, gue berangkat jam 10 PAGI, dan sampe di bandara jam 3 SORE. Gaul kan? Gaul dong! Tapi, perjalanan ini bikin gue jantungan. Serius. Jadi, gini ceritanya...

Jam 10 lebih, gue berangkat dari Sukabumi. Salam salaman dulu sama keluarga, terus ngacir ke mobil lalu berangkat. Sukabumi ini banyak banget pasarnya. Angkotnya juga bejibun, mana brengsek semua lagi yang nyetir (maaf nggak enak). Kejebak macet deh.

By the way, gue sama adek gue liburan sendiri. Orang tua gue lagi di Cina. Jadi, yang nganter gue ke bandara adalah Om gue yang mirip Syekh Puji.

Jam 1, gue baru nyampe tol. Untung nggak macet. TAPI, tolnya masih jauh banget sama bandara. Gue udah deg degan setengah mampus takut ketinggalan pesawat. Om gue yang ngeliat gue ngeluh terus, akhirnya nekat ngebut ngebutan di jalan tol.

GUE HAMPIR MATI JADI HANTU JALAN TOL.

Gak usah deh, ke Dufan buat memicu adrenalin lu pada. Minta Om gue aja ngebut di jalan tol yang lumayan banyak mobilnya juga lu bakal merinding. Nggak bohong.

Gue bersyukur banget pas udah nyampe bandara. Nggak usah takut mati lagi deh. HORE.

Gara gara merinding dan gara gara gue belom sarapan, gue hampir pingsan kelaperan. Habis check in, gue beli sop buntut buat makan siang, beli majalah buat baca baca, terus boarding, lalu berangkat ke Medan.

Hari ini gue mau pergi dulu keliling keliling kota Medan. Selesai sudah post siang ini. Stay tuned for more posts :]

Lebaran yaa Lebaran

Percaya atau nggak, gue lagi di Sukabumi sekarang (ya harus percaya sih). Gue kesini buat lebaran bareng nenek kakek gue. Yang gue sebel, disini pegunungan dan koneksi internet jadi super duper whooper (kok nyambung kesini) lemot. Kalo mau internetan cepet, harus ke warnet. Jadi tadi siang gue ke warnet bareng tante gue yang gaul dan adek gue. Nyampe di warnet gue teriak dalam hati;

"ASTAJIM INI WARNET APA WARKOP? PAKE LESEHAN SEGALA!".

Tapi pas internetan, cepet banget internetnya mamenn! Dan akhirnya gue puas internetan 2 jam dengan bonus kaki gue semutan gara gara duduk bersila selama kurang lebih 2 jam juga. Biaya? Relatif murah kok! Cuma Rp. 3000,-/jam (bagus, sekarang gue malah promosi). TAPI, berhubung gue pergi bersama tante gue yang baik hati dan tidak sombong (sok muji), gue dibayarin deh.

Sebelum ke warnet, gue nunggu waktu sholat dzuhur dulu pastinya. Kan gue alim (ini tolong diabaikan ya kawan kawan!). Sambil menunggu adzan sholat dzuhur, gue bantuin nenek gue bikin... (jeng jeng jeng...) KETUPAT! Tepuk tangan dulu dong buat sayaaa (adanya digampar). Cuma bantu ngisiin janur yang udah dibentuk sih, tapi susah juga. Gue hampir nyerah, tapi dengan semangat 45, ada sekitar 4 ketupat dari berpuluh puluh ketupat (nggak bohong, emang banyak banget!) yang gue isi dengan beras. Bangga rasanya bukan cuma ngebantuin ngabisin doang, tapi juga ngebantuin ngebuat. Ah~ This happy feeling feels endless...

Anyway, tadi gue bukber bareng sama sodara sodara gue. Ada kolak, tape uli goreng (my favorite), brownies, pizza abalan, opor dan lain sebagainya. That's one thing that I love about my grandma, she's an AWESOME cook. Seriously. She can cook traditional Indonesian foods with a very delightful taste and full of love for her family (terharu). Ah jangan ngomongin makanan lagi deh. Jadi laper.

Kakek gue sebenernya kakek tiri (emang ada istilah gini?). Tapi, gue udah nganggep dia kayak kakek gue yang bener bener kakek gue. Kakek gue yang sekarang (kata bokap gue) adalah cinta pertama nenek gue dan akhirnya disatukan kembali oleh takdir. Romantis.

Berhubung sodara sodara gue yang dateng adalah anak cucu dari kakek gue, gue kurang akrab bahkan nggak kenal sama sekali sama mereka. Ada cucunya yang masih balita dan pas anak ini ngeliat gue, dia menatap gue penuh ketakutan atau keheranan dan seakan akan ada sesuatu yang janggal dengan muka gue yang eksotis. Sampe sampe dia sembunyi dibalik kaki ibu atau bapaknya.

Just look at my face. AM I THAT WEIRD AND SCARY FOR BABIES AND THEY SEE ME AS THEIR FEAR? Kenapa semua bayi takut pada gue? Apa muka gue seserem itu sampe mereka ngeliatin gue terus dan akhirnya mereka menangis ketakutan? If all the babies in this world are like this, I would want to get all of them into prison. I know I'm mean.

Okay, now back to lebaran.

Besok sholat Eid. Sholat Eid biasanya pagi pagi banget. Tau nggak masalah hidup gue? SUSAH BANGUN PAGI. Jadi selama bulan Ramadhan ini gue berusaha banget bangun pagi. Still didn't work to make my bad habit gone though. Tetep aja gue habis sholat subuh tidur lagi dengan pulasnya. Kalo weekend, habis subuh gue langsung tidur lagi dan gue bisa bangun jam 12 siang. Hebat kan gue.

Jadi kesimpulan bulan Ramadhan bukan cuma merasakan susahnya menjadi orang yang nggak mampu dan susahnya menahan nafsu, juga belajar bangun pagi dan lebih taat pada ajaran agama, kayak sholat subuh (fact: ini adalah sholat yang paling sedikit dilakukan oleh orang orang, karena harus bangun pagi banget dan disitulah harusnya kita tidur sepulas pulasnya. Jadi banyak orang yang malas melakukannya). Alhamdulillah ya, besok udah lebaran. Jadi ngga perlu khawatir lagi tentang puasa dan langsung memikirkan masalah THR (ketauan kere-nya).

To end this post and there's some words for you guys. MINAL AIDIN WAL FAIZIN, MOHON MAAF LAHIR DAN BATIN. SELAMAT HARI LEBARAN 1431 H. Thank you :D