Vietnam Rose

A very good friend of mine got married recently. Her husband gave her a romantic nickname, Rose. I bet the nickname is supposed to describe how my friend is. It s true, she’s a like a rose. She is pretty, smart, lovely and can be a total bitch. She’s sharp, she knows what she wants and she makes her dreams come true. What a rose with thorns.

But heck, my friend is a Vietnamese. I mean…come on buddy, give your bride any flowery nickname, any flowers at all, but rose. A Vietnam rose?

Fallen Apart

Grenouille was terrified. What happens, he thought, if the scent, once I possess it…what happens if it runs out? It’s not the same as it is in your memory, where all scents are indestructible. The real thing gets used up in this world. It’s transient. And by the time it has been used up, the source I tool it from will no longer exist. And I will be as naked as before and will have to get along with surrogates, just like before. No, it will be even worse than before! For in the meantime I will have known it and possessed it, my own splendid scent, and I will not be able to forget it, because I never forget a scent. And for the rest of my life I will feed on it in my memory, just as I was feeding right now from the premonition of what I will possess…what do I need it for at all?

This was a most unpleasant thought fro Grenouille. It frightened him beyong measure to thin that once he possess the scent that he did not yet possess, he must inevitably lose it…….

From the Perfume, by Patrick Suskind.

My Mummy is The Strongest Person on Earth

For few days I have been doing nothing but eating (disgusting porridge) and sleeping. I didn’t go to office and ask my staff with my most favourite questions, “When will it be?” or “What’re the objectives?” Lying down like this reminds me of my mum. Lord, how much I miss my mummy. My mummy always holds me tight every time I get ill. She looks after me well.

Ah my chatty mummy.

There are over a dozen of stitches on my mum’s head because of her surgery 3 decades ago. There is still a platinum pen inside her skull, which affects her vision nerves. On her chin, there are 3 stitches because of her naughtiness when she was little. On mummy’s tummy there are stitches too, she got them when she miscarried my unborn little brother. In addition, mummy’s blood contains blood from at least a dozen people whom she didn’t know. Those respectable people refused to reveal their identities. Even papa just knew that they were his staff without knowing who they were. Unfortunately blood transfusion during those days wasn’t like we have now. Paramedic only checked the blood type. It seems one of them got malaria, so my mummy often gets fever.

My mummy is not old yet but she has fought against the death several times. She has negotiated with angel of the death to postpone her death. My mummy is a strong woman. For almost of my 30 year life, only once I could recall my mum got ill. It was when I was at kindergarten, when mum had my unborn little brother. I recall during those days papa took my sister and I went to hospital visiting mummy every afternoon. There were fruits and cookies at mum’s room, cookies and fruits that no one wanted to touch at home.

For all my life, my mum never gets ill but “common cold”. No matter what happens, no matter how worse her fever is, no matter how dizzy she is, no matter how ill she is, mummy always stands up and prepares our needs. My mummy prepares my breakfast. Mummy prepares my lunch box. Mummy brushes my hair. Mummy does everything. When she really gets ill, all she needs is only a bit back massage. Meanwhile, when I am close to her, mummy always gives me light foot massage since my feet were petite until not so petite anymore now.

My mummy is the strongest person on Earth. Mummy doesn’t complain, she is just well…mmm a bit like other mummies, tells her kid to do this and that. She said, “It’s because I care about you.” Eeewww what a reason. My mummy is the strongest person on Earth. No matter what happens she will stand up to protect me.

The Best Coffeemaker that Ends Up in A Tea-lover’s Kitchen

This morning on Disney Channel I watched a Pluto’s film. Pluto was playing with Mickey when Donald, Daisy and Minnie came. They asked Mickey to go with, Mickey joined them and left Pluto behind. Pluto was upset, he cried. In a sudden there was a cute bitch (literally meaning) came and flirted with him. Pluto got crazy with that girl. He followed her all way long to see her. No matter how difficult it was, Pluto even had to deal with a scary bulldog to see his love.

Eventually Pluto could be with that girl, he was happy. She kissed him and made Pluto got crazy even more. Pluto was daydreaming about living with her, tying the knot, having some cute puppies and getting old together. In a sudden he remembered Mickey. He imagined old Mickey asked him to play, but he never come. Pluto realized that he wanted to be with Mickey, not his girl. Pluto wanted to go home, but that girl got crazy with Pluto. She didn’t let him go and did every thing to keep him with her. Pluto was terrified with her. He kept running, and she kept catching after him. Fortunately that scary bulldog caught her and incidentally kissed her. That girl turned to love the scary bulldog and left Pluto away. She didn’t bother with Pluto anymore, and Pluto returned home happily. The End.

I couldn’t stop smiling when I watched that, even now I am still smiling remembering how terrified Pluto was with that cute female dog (well…it’s a bitch, just a bit weird when I say cute bitch). Sometimes cartoons portray real lives and help us understand others better.

In real life, the best coffeemaker ends up in a kitchen of a tea lover. It doesn’t mean that the tea lover doesn’t value that best coffeemaker, s/he’s just not into coffee, more into tea. It doesn’t mean that the best coffeemaker is worthless either, it just should go to a coffee lover’s kitchen. It’s much better than the tea lover pretends to love coffee more than tea, and is not happy with his life. It’s also better for the best coffeemaker to be in a kitchen of a coffee lover, instead of being useless in a kitchen of a tea lover and makes it unhappy.

For someone who would never read.

I Love Lucy

Fear

No laughing little rascal at the moment
No annoying endless questions
He's hospitalized

Setahun Lumpur Sidoarjo

Kemarinnya ibuku komentar, “Gempa kok diulangtahuni. Ngabisin duit aja, mending duitnya untuk ngasih makan rakyat yang lapar.”

Aku setuju 1000% dengan ibuku. Gempa kok diulangtahuni.

Hari ini ulang tahun yang lain, setahun umur lumpur panas Sidoarjo. Ibuku pernah komentar, “Gimana sih pemerintah. Masa relokasi rakyat aja nggak bisa. Apa nggak kasihan sama rakyatnya yang kehilangan rumah. Kalau memang nggak bisa nanganin ya kasih uang ganti ruginya, lunas, kasih tanah baru. Transmigrasi lagi. Daripada uangnya dibuang untuk bola beton. Piye tho orang pada pinter2 tapi nggak bisa cak cek. Kalau tekanan lumpurnya lebih kuat dari pada di beton ya betonnya kelempar, kalau jatuhin orang kanya jadi peyek.” (ssshhh jangan komentar tentang dampak transmigrasi dulu kalau emakku lagi hot kaya gini, percuma)

Gempa Jogja	Lumpur Sidoarjo
Salahkan Tuhan (kasihan Tuhan euy)	Salahkan Lapindo Brantas dan yang punya which is MENTERI SOCIAL WELFARE kalo nggak salah aka BAKRI yang kaya raya itu
Dunia menangis walau nggak semenangis tsunami Aceh atau gempa Pakistan	Sidoarjo itu dimana yah? Masa sih lumpur bisa separah itu?
Bencana nasional	Bencana kemanusiaan
Pemerintah lumayan cepet lah	Helloooo….anybody home Mr. President?
Pengungsinya seksi, korban gempa, kasihan, rentan sama berbagai masalah	Pengungsinya buset dah…kok mereka jadi tukang demo sih? Mana ada rakyat baik yang jadi tukang demo kecuali demo masak
Ada banyak kegiatan kemanusiaan, banyak pekerja kemanusiaan yang gajinya bujubuneng gede banget deh. Tanya orang2 UN deh kalo nggak percaya	UNICEF cuma bisa masukin vaksin doang, kan kata pemerintahbukan bencana nasional. Kerja di sana sih equal sama relawan bener deh. Nggak ada seksi2nya
Waktu denger pertama kali aku kebanjiran pertanyaan...Evie, how’s your friends and relatives?	Waktu denger pertama kali justru dari Joe “Giant” Smith dan kayanya dia aja tuh yang tau. Aku malah balik tanya…Emang ada apaan? Ah paling bentar lagi beres
JK janji akan ada ganti rugi buat rumah yang rusak, padahal waktu itu keuangan negara nggak bakal cukup	SBY janji akan nangangin supaya korbannya dapat ganti rugi.
Persamaan: Sama-sama nggak ada ganti rugi, cuma si Lumpur lebih parah. Btw si Bakrie cakil tetep jadi MENTERI….hidup Indonesia Raya Merdeka Merdeka

Minggu malam aku jalan ke JCC sama Kakak lihat pameran kerajinan, cari ide untuk souvenir kawinan. Perempuan ini mau kawin bo…itu juga insya allah. Sempet lihat ada pameran real estate. Uih…ada yang namanya Rasuna Epicentrum, apartment yang cantik di depan Pasar Festival. Lay out-nya keren. Mahalnya juga nggak ketulungan. Begitu aku tunjukin brosurnya sama mama, she burst her anger, “JANGAN!!!! Puh, ini punya Bakrie. Bisa-bisanya dia bangun apartment mewah, tinggal di rumah keren, ketawa-ketiwi sementara ribuan orang terlunta-lunta dan dia nggak ngapa-ngapain. Coba dia bayar semua, pasti sudah miskin dia.”

Kesimpulan: Say No to Bakrie