A friend wrote this about beauty, I think I should agree with it…

"Beautiful is an interesting word. It can be applied to anything and it elevates that thing out of the ordinary and the ordinarily attractive. All kinds of people can be pretty, lovely, handsome, "hot" or any other of a variety of descriptions. But beauty is beyond that and we innately sense that. We have all seen people who were exquisitely lovely to look at but who were anything but beautiful inside and it showed very well on the outside. And how many people as well have we seen who were ordinary looking yet there was an inner grace that radiated out so strongly as to render them irresistible, and hence, beautiful. The things I notice as being a good signs to visual beauty is a look around the eyes and the mouth, a pose, and relaxed confidence that can only come from the soul at ease with itself. That, is beauty."

First I would like to thanks to everyone who has spent their most precious time reading my ranting and random writing and thoughts. Thanks guys and gals.. whoever you are
Waktu nulis2 blog gw mungkin membayangkan sedang duduk berhadap2an dengan teman di sebuah tempat yang asik dan funky, mungkin di taman yang indah, di cafe’.. etc.. bahwa kemudian ada yang rela buat sekadar membacanya.. that’s kinda make it worth it.. no??
Alasan gw nulis2 blog ini awalnya mungkin hanya sekadar iseng, ngikutin trend.. tapi lama kelamaan kayaknya asik juga. dan belakangan gw senang menuliskan apa saja yang gw anggap sebagai sesuatu yang mengusik pikiran gw… daripada disimpan di otak mending dikeluarkan dalam bentuk tulisan… mungkin ibaratnya membersihkan dan mengatur kembali kamar pikiran gw, let out and put on light some of the stuff that has been hiding (blocking) in my mind.. hopefully I could see it more clearly… yeah.. what_ever…

cheers,

Empowering and Disempwering perpectives:

- Authentic life: Live by values and reach fulfillment, or Unhappy and imposed by others

- Responsibility: In charge, or Feels like a victim

- Truth: Honest communication, or Afraid to express due to fear

- Courage: Feel safe to voice out and try new behaviour, or Fear of reprimand

- Interpersonal relationship: Trust and respect for others, or Cynicism and mistrust

- Learning and growth: Challenge to work learn and improve, or No challenge to work learn and improve

..are you Empowered or Disempowered?

written on Alexandria’s prostitute manuals:

The stronger the man, the more he has pushed away all that is soft within him. Men are not all muscle and bone. They are heart as well. And men who cannot touch their own hearts are vulnerable to women who can.

(eww..)

Hari ini kepikiran untuk menulis sedikit tentang salah satu hobi-ku, chess alias catur. Udah lama gak maen catur sebenarnya, terlalu lama sampai gak inget lagi terakhir maennya kapan.
Kenal catur sejak kelas 3 SD, ketika pertama kalinya dibeliin papan catur oleh bokap. Gw masih gak gitu inget kira2 apa yang bikin gw tertarik sama permainan yang menurut sebagian orang adalah membosankan. I think it was like a puzzle..
eniwei, gw belajar catur secara otodidak mengasah skill dan teknik dari teman2 sepermainan maupun dari mengamati orang2 yang lebih experience. It’s just a hobby and kayaknya ada kepuasan tersendiri ketika bisa menemukan langkah2 aneh dan kombinasi2 yang tidak terduga..
Terus bermain dengan mengandalkan natural talent dan otodidak sampai kuliah, just for fun and to kill the time. Sampai suatu masa gw merasa stuck dan bosan dengan catur, nothing so much interesting anymore and seems to lost the magic and passion for the game.. until I was introduced to the Internet-chess world by my beloved younger brother, (BlogDino in friendster).

Ada beberapa variant tipe game yang tersedia dalam internet chess. Lightning, Blitz, Normal dan Standard (kalo gak salah inget). Gw biasa maen yang Lightning dan Blitz, maen Normal dan Standard di Internet sepertinya kurang afdol, kelamaan dan wasting time. Lightning adalah tipe game catur dimana setiap pemain diberi waktu 1 - 3 menit/game (dan beberapa variant waktu yang laen) sedangkan blitz punya pilihan waktu 3 - 5 menit (?).
Paling sering dan suka gw maen lightning dengan pilihan waktu 1 menit, dimana setiap pemain diberi total waktu 1 menit (60:00 detik) untuk menyelesaikan permainan. Pemenang adalah pemain yang dapat menangkap raja musuh sebelum waktu 1 menit habis, atau jika lawan menghabiskan jatah waktu 1 menitnya lebih dahulu.
Untuk sekadar memberi gambaran dan bayangan tentang lightning, untuk dapat menangkap raja musuh melawan pemain yang sudah cukup experience dibutuhkan kira" 30-an langkah, ini berarti pemain memiliki kira" waktu 2 detik untuk memikirkan satu langkah bidak catur yang tepat.  Semakin cepat melangkahkan bidak semakin banyak waktu yang bisa dihemat.

Lightning game is super fast, nerve-breaking, adrenalin-rushing, frantic and kinda brutal. Daydreaming is out of equation, have it for two seconds and you will find yourself in deep-sheit. Dituntut untuk memiliki semacam visual-memory yg kuat dan mind-reflex yang cepat untuk dapat mengkuti dan melangkahkan bidak secara cepat dan tepat. It’s so much mind-consuming, karena seluruh peluang dan ancaman diproses oleh otak dengan kecepatan tinggi.. a good mental flexing exercise.
Lightning game jg bisa menghasilkan hal2 lucu dan aneh yang gak bakal ditemui di game catur yang normal. Karena setiap pemain akan sebisa mungkin mengejar dan menangkap raja musuh secepat-cepatnya.

Kalah menang gak gitu penting, yang penting adalah bagaimana selama permainan gw gak melakukan langkah2 blunder alias fatal and keep myself in check. Banyak atau sedikit catur juga melibatkan self-control, emosi dan phsycology dari pemain sendiri. Gw cukup puas jika selama bermain catur, bisa mengendalikan emosi dalam arti tidak melakukan langkah2 yang didorong oleh emosi semata, dan bahwa gw focus pada setiap langkah-setiap saat. Rasa takut kalah, rasa menang yang premature, emosi karena provokasi yg dilakukan lawan, kehilangan fokus, greedy, terlalu serius, forget to enjoy the game, daydreaming.. etc. adalah beberapa musuh dan lawan yang paling lihai dan susah untuk dikalahkan. Againts them.. it’s the biggest battle, I guess… as always

PS: Wijk aan Zee starts today

There’s an interesting discussion between friends about Love and God and that God is jealous. So, here’s it goes…

one friend said:

"There is also this thing that Allah is jealous. If He sees you loving  something other than Him, He gets jealous and takes it away. This is an exam or test and how you know that Allah loves you."

.. which replied:

"If a 12 year old boy smothered his little sister with a pillow because he was jealous that his parents loved her too, we would lock him up in a mental ward, and rightly so.

If Allah is not capable of knowing that you love him (her/it) then he is not God. If he tortures you so that you can prove that you love him then he is insane.

Much grief has come to the world because of thinking like the ideas you have stated."

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… go figure

Sic transit gloria mundi is a Latin phrase that means "Thus passes the glory of the world," but is more commonly interpreted as "Fame is fleeting."

Kabar terakhir yang terdengar dari Irak, mantan presiden Irak (Saddam Husein) telah dieksekusi mati di tiang gantungan pada tanggal 30 Dec (waktu setempat). Yang buat gw agak gak habis pikir, kenapa eksekusi mesti dilaksanakan pada hari itu, yang bertepatan dengan Idul Adha (atau Idul Qurban). Apakah orang2 Amerika itu berpikir mereka menjadikan Saddam sebagai "their sacrificial lamb" ?? It’s just crazy..
Menurut gw, sepertinya sudah direncanakan, karena kalo mau masih ada 365 tanggal laen yang bisa dipakai…
EniWei… it’s just my thought…

(from Wikipedia)
Traditionally, Papal coronations are thrice interrupted by a monk (some say barefoot) holding a pole to which is affixed a burning piece of flax. After it finishes burning, the monk announces, "Pater sancte, sic transit gloria mundi." This is meant to remind the Pope that, despite the grandeur of the ceremony and the long history of the office, he is a mortal man.

Similarly, the slave holding the crown in a Roman triumph would whisper "Memento mori," meaning "Remember that you must die."

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HAPPY NEW YEAR,
MUCH LOVE IN 2007!!