queendom

Smoking – How Massive Has It Affected Your (Financial) Life

// December 9th, 2009 // No Comments » // Random Stuff

his and hers

Beberapa waktu lalu, saya dan suami melakukan perhitungan kasar terkait rupiah yang kami habiskan untuk membeli kandungan zat yang meracuni tubuh, which is ROKOK. Kami masing-masing menghabiskan rata-rata 1 bungkus rokok per hari. Per bungkusnya seharga Rp. 10.000, jadi setelah dikalkulasi, kami menghabiskan Rp. 600.000 per bulan, berarti Rp. 7.200.000 dalam setahun. Wow, that’s a big number. Bisa buat beli I-phone tuh .

Selama ini, saya sendiri belum pernah kepikiran untuk berhenti merokok dengan alasan kesehatan, mengingat sejauh ini belum (dan jangan sampe deh) punya keluhan sakit yang diperkirakan akibat merokok. Tapi setelah lihat angka 7 juta, langsung mendadak sakit (hiperbolik!!!).

Membayangkan uang sebanyak itu mengakhiri hidupnya di asbak (dan bersarang di paru-paru) rasanya seperti membiarkan nasi gosong tanpa berusaha segera mengangkat pancinya (hmm, analogi yang aneh).

On the other side, berhenti merokok memang bukan perkara mudah, setidaknya bagi saya. Banyak mantan perokok melontarkan line-motivation andalan mereka, “yang penting itu niat”. Ah, niat sih niat, tapi kalo godaannya kuat, ya kalah juga. Just like Oscar Wilde said, “I can resist everything except temptation”.

Justru menurut saya, yang paling susah itu bukan “berhenti”nya, tapi merubah kebiasaan, itu yang perlu proses. Bangun tidur, langsung nyari minuman manis (bukannya minum air putih kek), terus nyamber rokok. Habis makan, jelas, saat paling nikmat untuk merokok. Mau kerjaan lagi numpuk atau lagi engga ada kerjaan, sama aja, rokok habis sebungkus sehari. Gimana mau nabung beli rumah kalo gini terus.

Meskipun sampai detik ini saya masih berstatus perokok, at least dengan adanya gambaran pengeluaran tahunan sebanyak itu hanya untuk memenuhi keinginan biologis dan psikologis untuk merokok, bisa jadi satu bentuk motivator untuk, well, you know, just quit.

Kelak, kalau sudah punya punya simpanan berlebih kan jadi bisa punya anggaran khusus buat beli rokok, muahaha… Oh no, that’s even worse. Hey, don’t forget, aspek kesehatan juga sudah seharusnya diperhatikan. Bahkan, there’s no compromise when it comes to health.

Terlebih lagi, saya dan suami belum punya asuransi kesehatan, it kinda freak me out kalo membayangkan tiba-tiba terserang penyakit parah meskipun setelah beberapa kali check-up tidak ada hasil yang mencurigakan. You never know, right? Jadi ingat film John Q, starred by Denzel Washington, menceritakan tentang kebobrokan sistem mulai dari perusahaan asuransi, rumah sakit, kepolisian dan institusi negara lainnya, yang mungkin tidak akan dirasakan dampaknya oleh orang-orang berduit, tapi ketika menimpa orang-orang dengan tingkat perekonomian menengah kebawah, akan menjadi perjuangan tanpa akhir bagi mereka untuk bisa bertahan hidup.

Well, anyway…

Mulai saat ini saya (berusaha ;p) janji pada diri sendiri untuk memulai proses merubah kebiasaan buruk dan pola hidup tidak teratur, dengan salah satu goal yaitu berhenti merokok. Hopefully it’s gonna work out dan semoga saya juga bisa memberi pengaruh positif terhadap suami saya, yang notabene punya kebiasaan lebih buruk ketimbang saya . In fact, saya punya banyak cerita tentang itu, i’ll tell you later. Ok then, wish me luck..!!!

Flower Power

// September 29th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Sketch

This is the first time i submit my sketch for Illustration Friday. This week’s topic is Pattern. Actually i highly doubt that anyone would notice that flower pattern on the girl’s shirt, hehehehe…. Gee, i just realize something weird about her eyes. Now, THAT would be noticeable. LOL.

Girls Rocks!!!!

// September 23rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Art, Music, Sketch

I spent this whole day clean up the house, and unintentionally found my old Aussie Rolling Stone magazine (December 2004, issue 633). There’s pages contain article about this Australian indie rock band, Love Outside Andromeda, along with other indie artists, such as Sarah Blasko, New Buffalo, Via Tania, Holly Throsby and many other, under the headline, NEW WOMEN OF ROCK. How awsome is that?

Members of Love Outside Andromeda are:

• Sienna Lee (vocals / guitar)
• Jamie Slocombe (guitar / vocals)
• Jesse Lee (bass)
• Joe Hammond (drums)

As i remember, right after read this review, i browsed all over to find their mp3s or videos download link. Unfortunately, i can barely find any. Perhaps, it’s because they’re an indie band, so, you know, maybe they’re doing local publications only. Well, at least i found their MySpace page, listened to their streaming mp3s. It’s kinda remind me of PJ Harvey’s, which is my favourite singer/songwriter, and apparently is also LoA frontwoman Sienna Lee’s most biggest influence. Ha, no wonder.

As i wrote this, once again i try googling about LoA, and i surprised, it turns out that they’re much bigger than couple of years ago. Lots and lots of reviews about them, you guys really should check them out. But, still i can’t find any download link for their mp3s or videos. So if any of you found them, you really should let me know . I’d appreciate it a lot.

The reason i brought this LoA review is not only because i found the magazine unintentionally, it is because i always been fascinated by the band with women member on it. There’s strength, toughness and femininity as i look into them among the rest of the guys in the band. And that’s inspired me, indeed. The inspirations not only make me force myself to become tough girl, far beyond that, this women encouraged me to know what i REALLY want, to know myself better than anyone else, better than ever, and i’m still working on it.

PS: Here’s another surprising thing i found along with that old magz; my sketch imitate on Sienna Lee’s picture above, yippee!!! I miss sketching though. Spent my spare time too much on those social networking sites. Shoulda put it aside a little bit and sketch more. I will.

My Signature

// September 21st, 2009 // 1 Comment » // How To, Knowledge, Random Stuff

Wow…it’s been a while. Berasa udah lama banget ga ketemu internet, gara² koneksi lagi ngambek beberapa minggu terakhir ini. Akhirnya setelah koneksi mulai me-normal-kan diri, yang pertama kulakukan adalah blogwalking. Mampirlah di salah satu blog favoritku, My Life, Love & Bad Hair Days-nya mbak Enno. Baca sana baca sini, selain tenggelam dalam tulisan² menakjubkannya (as always), eh kayaknya ada yang baru di bagian bawah postingannya. Apakah itu? It’s like a hand written signature. Wow, cute!! (kok cute sih?) I want that on my blog. Definitely!! What is it? It must be some kind of plugin or widget, i thought. Too bad, didn’t find any clue or link there. So, continue reading.

Singgah lagi di my another fave blog, which is mbak Popi’s Brokoli Sehat, eh, ga dinyana, ternyata juga sudah ada signature-nya. Is this signature thing really IN right now, atau aku yang emang udah ketinggalan? Hmm, lucky for me, i found this link, to create my own signature. Thanks to mbak Popi

Apparently, you can make it here. So simple, just a few steps and you’ll get your very own hand written signature. There’s hundreds options of different font style and color. You costumize it by your self. Isn’t it great? (Hmm, i think i’m over excited *giggle*). If you’re a wordpress user, you can also use your own signature design and integrate it with your wordpress theme blog. Find the tutorial here. It’s an easy to follow tutorial, great!!

Now, wanna see mine? See right down there? Aha, that’s it. Pretty cute, huh? I love it. I just love how simple little thing can make me smile.

The Godmother – if only women spent less time cooking

// July 9th, 2009 // 7 Comments » // Art, Knowledge, Random Stuff

Just found this provocative yet propagandistic advertisement. I think it’s for a kitchen herbs or instant food or something. The product image is too tiny, can’t identify it clearly. The message of this ad is  well delivered though.

One person i immediately think of is definitely my mom. Few days ago, suddenly she told me almost everything about her life, which is something she never did. How she spent this past 25 years dedicated her life for family, taking care of my dad, me and my two little sisters, which obviously include cooking, cleaning, washing and all those mother’s “job”, but all turns out to be out of her expectations (well, too high expectations will always turns you down, mom).  She even said that she’s a little bit regreting her decision to quit her job for all reasons above. And now she’s got the opportunity and she decide going to pursue what she left behind. Well i don’t have problem with that. In fact, it’s good for her and i admire her for that. You’re all done with those cooking thing, mom!!

First Award

// July 7th, 2009 // 16 Comments » // Random Stuff

After couple of weeks i got message from Bloguardian Hellsite that she gave me this award, now finally i can fully understand how to accept it. how stupid i am. FYI, i’m a very beginner blogger, and everytime i’m blogwalking, there are many many awards on almost every blog i hopped in. I was wondering, where are those awards came from?. I just knew that those awards are among bloggers to throw at each other’s blog to give an appreciation (i guess , is it true?). And i finally got one. Once again, thanks Lizzy. I’m flattered. So, here are my first awards:

And i’m passing over these awards to another blogs that i thought are awsome and inspiring. Here they are:

1. Okke
2. Farhanah
3. Orenji
4. Jenny
5. Cempaka
6. Aalayaa
7. Ollie
8. Erma
9. Antiek
10. Eka
11. Bancha
12. Blue
13. Popi
14. Dewiq
15. Nona Senja

One question for myself, “is it okay to give an award to the already famous blog?” Hope it is.

The rules for these awards:
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Beauty Retouch – transform ordinary picture into nice good looking one

// July 4th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Art, How To, Tutorial

Mau pasang profile picture di facebook? Pasti hampir semua perempuan cukup selektif dalam memilih foto yang bakal dipajang. Dari puluhan bahkan ratusan foto yang tersimpan baik di hard drive maupun di kamera, pasti disortir sedemikian rupa, dipilih yang paling oke, pose paling menarik dan yang pasti foto dengan angle yang bikin wajah terlihat jauh lebih cantik dari aslinya (ngerti banget kan saya, la wong saya juga begitu ).

Bagi pemilik wajah pas²an dan tidak terlalu fotogenik, jangan kuatir, kita bisa memanipulasi foto dengan pose alakadarnya dan kualitas kamera yang tidak terlalu baik dengan me-retouch foto tersebut. Kali ini saya akan memberikan beberapa langkah sederhana menggunakan Photoshop untuk mentransform foto biasa menjadi sedikit lebih menawan (paling ngga, jadi lebih enak dilihat ).

Langkah 1:

Buka foto yang akan diedit (CTRL O). Dalam tutorial kali ini, saya aja deh yang jadi modelnya, hihihi. Continue Reading

Silly Sketch – One Lonely Night at My Room

// June 25th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Art, Sketch

i don’t remember the exact date and time.

the deeply loneliness, that’s what i clearly remember.

and remain still.

Simone de Beauvoir, and her famous The Second Sex

// June 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Author, Knowledge

Dikenal sebagai tokoh feminisme modern dan ahli filsafat yang terkenal pada awal abad ke-20 dan juga merupakan pengarang novel, esai, dan drama dalam bidang politik dan hal ilmu sosial. Simone de Beauvoir dikenal karena karyanya dalam politik, filsafat, eksistensialisme, dan feminism. Karyanya yang paling dikenal adalah The Second Sex (1949). Buku ini berisi argumen kuat atas penghapusan apa yang disebutnya sebagai mitos dari “eternal feminine”. The Second Sex menjadi literatur feminis klasik sepanjang tahun 1960. (The Second Sex DOWNLOAD here and here).

Tahun 1929, de Beauvoir menyelesaikan ujian agregasinya dalam bidang filosofi di Sorbonne. Disini dia bertemu dengan Jean-Paul Sartre, dan mereka menjalani hubungan pertemanan yang berlangsung hingga kematian Sartre di tahun 1980.
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Janis Joplin – common story of an extraordinary

// May 22nd, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Art, Music

Janis Lyn Joplin lahir dari pasangan Seth dan Dorothy Joplin. Orangtuanya selalu merasa bahwa Janis memerlukan perhatian lebih dibanding saudara-saudaranya. Menurut ibunya, Janis sering merasa tidak bahagia dan tidak pernah puas jika tidak mendapat perhatian lebih.

Dengan pengaruh dari penyanyi-penyanyi blues seperti Odetta dan Big Mama Thornton, Janis mulai menyanyikan lagu-lagu blues dan folk bersama teman-temannya di Jefferson High School. Lulus SMA, Janis kuliah di University of Texas. Koran kampus pernah memuat profilnya pada 1962 dengan headline “She Dares to be Different”.

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