Paradiso Perduto

Entah ada angin apa, akhir-akhir ini saya jadi suka banget (lagi) sama Harry Potter. Sure, I always like it, I can even be counted as a Potterhead to some extent ...tapi gelombang aduh-pengen-nonton-filmnya lagi, pengen-baca-bukunya-lagi kali ini benar-benar nggak saya prediksi sebelumnya. Kemarin saya dengan ngasalnya surfing tentang Harry Potter-related craft di Craftster. Buat yang belum tahu, Craftster itu semacam surga dunia buat orang-orang yang pelit dan nggak mau rugi  kreatif dan suka sama proyek do-it-yourself. Tak sengaja bertemu dengan pattern mini Dobby Amigurumi punya Ruby Copperhead. Saat melihat contoh jadinya, saya tahu, saya harus banget banget banget bikin ini! Apa lagi saya masukin "Crochet Something" sebagai tantangan ke-19 dalam proyek 40 things to try in 2014 di Day Zero challenges ( originally thirty but I modify it to accomodate more challenges). This has to be it! Jadi saya ngaduk-ngaduk persediaan crafting saya dan...inilah hasilnya: My

(c) bridal creations by Julie @ flickr There is a garden in her face    Where roses and white lilies blow; A heavenly paradise is that place,    Wherein all pleasant fruits do flow:       There cherries grow which none may buy       Till “ Cherry-ripe ” themselves do cry. Those cherries fairly do enclose    Of orient pearl a double row, Which when her lovely laughter shows,    They look like rose-buds filled with snow;       Yet them no peer nor prince can buy       Till “ Cherry-ripe ” themselves do cry. Her eyes like angels watch them still;    Her brows like bended bows do stand, Threat'ning with piercing frowns to kill    All that attempt with eye or hand       Those sacred cherries to come nigh,       Till “ Cherry-ripe ” themselves do cry (Thomas Campion) P.s. I like this poem :)

Monday again, Masaki again! So exciting! Haha. Film minggu ini dibuat berdasarkan manga yang bahkan lebih tua daripada orang tua saya (Himitsu no Akko-chan, buatan Akatsuka Fuji yang dimuat pada tahun 1962-1965). Still, its movie adaptation has bursting youthful spirit and the sparkle of magical girl genre . Really fun to watch! And Okada Masaki OMG Okada Masaki is sooo soooo dapper here. I just can't stop fangirling LOL Himitsu no Akko-Chan Japanese:  映画 ひみつのアッコちゃん Romaji:  Eiga Himitsu no Akko-chan Director:   Yasuhiro Kawamura Writer:   Fujio Akatsuka  (manga),  Mika Omori , Masatoshi Yamaguchi ,  Masahiro Fukuma Producer:  Tomoko Jo Release Date:   September 1, 2012 Runtime:  120 min. I don't think gooddrama has this movie yet but you can download it here . Kagami Atsuko alias Akko ( Yoshida Riko ), seorang anak SD berusia 10 tahun, tidak begitu suka jadi anak kecil. Dia sering diganggu anak laki-laki konyol dan dia tidak begitu suka sekolah.

It's Monday! For me, it also means OKADA MASAKI with big fat bold alphabets exactly like that, hahaha. Akhir-akhir ini saya sering (tergoda) menyebutnya Maa-kun, tapi kayaknya panggilan ini terlalu imut dan sok dekat, kata sepupu saya yang lebih fasih soal Jepang-Jepangan. Akhirnya saya bertanya pada teman saya yang saya anggap ngerti soal ini. Inilah tanggapan dia... Teman yang namanya disamarkan (TYND) : "...jadi intinya kamu minta dijelasin soal Japanese honorific ini biar bisa milih mana yang paling cocok untuk manggil Okada Masaki." Vera (V) : "Yep." TYND : (mengangkat alis) " Oh. Really. " V : "Iya. Aku mau manggil Maa-kun tapi pas aku nge-LINE kakakku dan nyebut 'Maa-kun', kakakku langsung pasang stiker muntah. Sok imut, katanya. Lagian biasanya -kun itu dipake buat manggil anak cowok yang lebih muda, padahal Masaki kan tiga tahun lebih tua daripada aku." TYND : " Maa-kun. Right. " (diucapkan dengan nada si

Hi, you. How are you? How's your life going? I hope everything is going well for you. It sucks, you know, not being able to see you. Hearing about you from the third party. Fourth party. Fifth. Sixth. You and your tendency to carry everything alone. It makes me worried to no end, you know. How to tell you that you don't have to be alone? That I'd eagerly help if only you asked? The last time I refused, the suffering it brought for me was unbearable. I was haunted with countless what ifs and maybes and nothing was fun about that. So if you think that it would make me feel burdened to help you...please, it's the other way around. I honestly don't know if I could ever say 'no' to you again, Dear. But you will never know because I never tell you, right? Yeah. Right. Pardon me, for this act of cowardice... Liebe Grusse, Vera P.s. I write all the things I can't say (yet) in this huge book properly titled The Book of Unsaid Things. Co

Sebenarnya, saya nggak terlalu bersemangat untuk menonton Okada Masaki dengan gaya rambut "botak samurai" di sini.  I can never ever ever understand fashion. Heian era hairstyle was much better IMO . Kata wikipedia , chonmage (a.k.a gaya rambut botak samurai) itu salah satu kegunaannya adalah menyamarkan usia dan kebotakan. Yeah.  I see what you did there. (Intermezzo : untuk kamu yang tertarik mengetahui fungsi dan filosofi pakaian samurai di masa Edo, bisa akses di sini ) The hair problems aside, this movie is a good one. Let's proceed, shall we? Raiou Movie Poster Raiou (The Lightning Tree) Japanese:  雷桜 Director:   Ryuichi Hiroki Writer:   Mari Ueza  (novel),  Masato Kato , Sachiko Tanaka Producer:  Takashi Hirano Cinematographer:  Atsuhiro Nabeshima World Premiere:  October 2010 (Pusan International Film Festival) Release Date:  October 22, 2010 Runtime:  133min You can watch it online  here .  Rai ( Aoi Yu ) adalah anak perempuan kepal

The Road Not Taken Two roads diverged on a yellow wood And sorry I couldn't travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And look down as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth Then took the other, as just as fair and having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black Oh, I marked the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by And that has made all the difference A poem by Robert Frost Robert Frost (1874-1963)   source Saya pertama kali membaca puisi ini bukan di sebuah buku/situs puisi. Pun bukan saat saya sengaja mencari sesuatu yang "nyastra" untuk diba

Tahun baru, bulan baru, hari baru tak ada arti sama sekali bagi orang yang tak berubah jadi lebih baik (KH Abdullah Gymnastiar, @aagym, 31 Desember 2013) Picture from  here Malam tahun baru lewat sudah. Terompet-terompet plastik macet tersumbat ludah. Malam di Cigadung kembali tenang, setelah kemarin seisi rumah mencak-mencak oleh suara petasan dan kembang api yang bikin berisiknya Cigadung nggak jauh beda sama medan perang. Seriously, if there was really a terrorist attack in my neighborhood yesterday, I wouldn't have known. Setelah semua gebyar-gebyar itu, saya merenung apa yang tersisa. Hari-hari akan berlalu dan pada suatu titik kita mungkin akan mengeluhkan betapa membosankannya, betapa panjangnya. Sama seperti tahun-tahun yang lalu. Mungkin juga sama seperti tahun-tahun yang akan datang. What a waste. What a meaningless feat. Sedikit refleksi mengenai apa yang saya capai di 2013. Nailed some, missed some. Belum juga jadi sarjana tapi berdoa banget dalam waktu dek