are you happy?

on one of our regular night, dalam hal ini maksudnya lagi ngemil, nonton tipi and baca majalah, yuni tiba-tiba menyadari sesuatu,,,, "waah bentar lagi kamu ultah mbak, 30 tahun!! bagaimana perasaanmu? are you happy?"

hmm,,, truth to be told, it took me seconds to finally answer, "yes, i'm happy. why wouldn't i?"

i was kinda annoyed with this thing. not because i'm almost 30. or because yuni asked me that question. but because it took me seconds to decide that i'm happy. geez,,,is my life that pathetic?

well,,, i blame my job for this one. my job sucks. whose doesn't anyway? hehehe,,, but mine, it is irritating, unhealthy, got me grumpy all day, even at night,,, i'm sick with all those paperworks on my desk, uncooperated people at the office, and all that crappy thing i have to deal with. oh i just wanna get my a*s out of here,,, yes, maybe i am not happy.

but what is happiness anyway? i always thought that happiness is only a state of mind. it is us who decided at the end of the day whether this was a good day or a bad day. and it's not easy to stay positive and choose the good day everyday.

maafkan akan keluh kesah saya kali ini. hanya sedang merasa kesaaaaaal dan sebaaaaaaal. my dear God, if it is possible, i wanna take another turn in my life. right here, right now, right away. please.

hot weather on 10.10.10

after rainy days last week, the weather today is extremely hot,,hot,,hot,,, the sun shines so bright and strong. some people on my timeline said it's because today is special. the date is 10.10.10. a lot of people are getting married so they hired a weatherman to hold the rain. well, whatever,,, i said, blame it on global warming, people,,,,

anyhow, in a middle of the day, in a middle of hot weather, i had to iron my laundry. fiuuuhhh,,,,,*ngelap keringet* it made me thinking, how come hell can be hotter than this??? :p

Julie & Julia

It's a great movie by great women,,, Directed by Nora Ephron (the woman who wrote Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, etc), and the main actresses are Merryl Streep (Julia Child) and Amy Adams (Julie Powell).

Julia Child was living in 40s, a childless housewife, and she's following her husband to Paris. She joined a cooking class and ended up writing her recipes on cooking book. On 20th century, year 2002 to be exact, Julie Powell, a government employee, somehow owned that book. She said she stole it from her mother. She's married to Eric, an editor, and they're living in a 900 ft2 apartment in Queens. She's almost 30, thinking her job is sucks and envy her successfull girlfriends. She felt that she should do something, that she could claim as her accomplishment.

Considering her passion is cooking, cause she found it so refreshing after a bad day at work, she decided to have "The Julie/Julia Project". She will cook 524 recipes from Julia Child's book in 365 day, and write it in a blog. During the project, there were ups and downs, and some flashback to Julia Child's life. The 2 stories intertwines. Very interesting,,, and very Nora Ephron, I might say. Because both Julie & Julia are persistent women, sometimes clumsy and sensitive, but they'd never given up on anything, including their husbands.

I just love this movie. It's inspiring. It made me want to learn to cook more and to write in my blog more. Cooking can be done by everyone, a housewive or a working woman. It is about passion and willingness.

finally, julie has accomplished her "Julie / Julia Project"

This is my favourite line, said by Julia Child's husband to her, on Valentine's Day and it was quoted by Julie Powell to her husband, Eric Powell,,, "You are the butter of my bread. The breath of my life. I love you." Sweet,,, :)

,,,a friend indeed,,,

Gw baru patah hati. Kalo jatuh cinta berjuta rasanya, kalo patah hati bisa minus tuh,,,, heuuuuu,,,, Untuk menghilangkan kesedihan, dan tentu saja mencari penghiburan, gw ceritakan hal ini ke beberapa teman dekat. Well,,, tentu saja responnya beragam,,, tapi intinya mereka menghibur dengan mengatakan,,, "sutralaaaah,,, ikhlaskan saja, masih banyak ikan di laut,,,"

Dari semua respon,,, gw merasa paling bahagia dengan respon Sari & Mba Vina. Curhatan gw disampaikan secara live, saat gw dinas ke Jakarta dan kami ber-3 sedang di taksi, otw mo lunch di Sencit. Gw cerita kalo lelaki yang akhir-akhir ini menjadi 'the object of my affection' dan nampak single, ternyata sudah punya pacar. Ooohhh sedihnyaaaa,,,,

Sari : emang siapa nama pacarnya?
Gw. : entahlaaaah,,,, tapi namanya Nia (bukan nama sebenarnya yak, -red-)
Sari : ah nama macam apa pula itu? Bagusan juga namamu! *nada naik 1 oktaf lebih tinggi*
Mba Vina : iyaaa,,, dia pasti ga jago bikin puding kaya kamu *ikutan nimbrung dengan penuh semangat*

Gw sempet bengong sesaat. Tapi langsung ketawa, meluk mereka dan berterima kasih. Apa yang mereka sampaikan tadi tuh maksaaa banget. Tapi poinnya adalah,,, mereka ngebelain gw. Menurut mereka gw lebih baik dari wanita itu. Dari sisi manapun, dari segi apapun. Walau pembelaan yang mereka ajukan lemah, tak berdasar, dan tentu saja maksa abeeess!! They stood by me, even if I did something stupid. That's all I need at this moment. Nothing else matters.

Sari and Mba Vina,,, glad to have you gals in my life. You're not only a friend in need, but a friend indeed. It's proven,,,, ☺

Someone to share

@BestFilmQuotes : "Sometimes I think it would be nice to have someone, with whom to share this life." -Paris, je t'aime (2006)

mudik lebaran kali ini,,,

berasa sepi,,,

yaaa...itu kesan pertama buat gw ama rhino.
oh the luckmans (keluarga gw) mah formasi lengkap pas mudik ke tulung agung...
menempuh perjalanan 14 jam dari jember ke tulung agung (karena macet dan banjir)
tapi sodara-sodara yang lain tidak ada

mostly karena mayoritas sudah menikah
sehingga ada yang tidak pulang karena istri hamil atau anak masih terlalu kecil
ada pula yang berlebaran di rumah istri/ suaminya
ada pula yang tidak sempat bertemu karena jadwal mudik yang berbeda

well, i actually miss the good old days
the times when we could hang out with the cousins, listening to their story, knowing what had happened to their lives, what they expected or hoped for,
we live in different cities, provinces, and even countries,
lebaran is the only time we could meet

yang lebih sedih adalah saat bertemu mbah putri,
mbah putri tersayang, yang baiiiik dan sabaaar banget,
sayang ama anak, cucu dan cicit,
beliau sudah makin sepuh, makin kurus, dan mulai pikun
adalah hal yang menyedihkan saat beliau menatap gw dengan pandangan kosong dan dahi berkerut
seolah-olah bilang, "siapa sih cewe ini? dari tadi ngoceh aja ama gw..."
yup,,,beliau suka lupa ama kita-kita
alhamdulillah kemarin beliau sedang dalam kondisi "ingat" dan "kenal" ama the luckmans

dan saat harus berpisah,
selain sungkem, minta restu, gw akan peluk tubuh kurusnya erat-erat
karena gw selalu berpikir, mana tau ini terakhir kalinya bertemu beliau
sediiih,,,,

yah,,, mudik lebaran kali ini memang berbeda,,,,  :((

Be grateful

Another advice on being grateful, by Sandiaga Uno via Twitter,,, :)

@sandiuno : Lesson4 : bpk sy ajarkan "celebrate every single blessing,no matter how small it is".that's how u motivate urself.intinya,sll bersyukur