[.weekend.break.]

Oho! Finally a little time off. Probably these are the nice things about sharing the house with my cousins, and having the terrace turned into a small restaurant. Though I would always have my privacy upstairs, whenever I want I would just go downstairs and join the fun, or creating the fun itself :-)

I have my favorite corner in the restaurant and when lunch time is out and there are not many visitors, I would occupy that favorite corner with my books or papers or crafts and coffee - so would my cousins on the other tables.

Sometimes various traditional food sellers would pass by and my cousins would buy some snacks or refreshments. They had fresh fruit slices with peanut and palm sugar sauce today.

And I managed to change a little bit my inspiration board - added two pictures of baby me with dad and grandpa, and a DVD picture of maestro Claudio Abbado conducting the Berlin Philharmonic performing Beethoven's symphony no. 7 - my favorite. A picture and poem by Mr Hammarskjöld are still intact.

I just felt like it, inline with Father's Day next week. Wish my dad were here again. But I know he's watching over me from above, and smiling :-) I miss you, Dad!!

[.sick.leave.]

Body,
My playmate!
Neither the master
Nor the slave,
A buoyant heart
Shall bear you along,
While you cheer my way
With your lively flame.

But body,
My playmate,
You must not flinch
Nor fail me when
The moment comes
To do the impossible.

Dag Hammarskjold, June 8, 1961

One of the most disturbing things for me is getting sick while in the middle of many, interesting projects. It's been more than 2 weeks but the flu hasn't subsided, which is too much for me. Normally one weekend rest then all is well again. When finally my nose was kind of blocked and the fever came back, giving me a terrible headache I skipped work and just run to the hospital. Not fun. Not fun because now I have to rest, doing nothing, just rest. And much to my chagrin, it gives an opportunity for unnecessary thoughts and past memories to roam uncontrolably in my head. I certainly miss my creative days.

[.Mr.Mozart.has.a.blog.too.]

Oh wow, this is fantastic. Mr Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has a blog. I had fun reading it today. The blog was even already started in 2005. Why on earth never did I think of it?



All those witty answers to tricky questions...this one is my favorite somehow:

"Dear Wolfgang,
If you were alive today, what instrument do you think you would master and create music with?"

-----
That would not change. I will always use my brain!

Wolfgang

:-)

[.on.a.poem.that.i.keep.dear.]

Now I should admit I cannot guarantee the consistency of the content of this blog :-) In any case, I created this blog to be able to jot down whatever thought I have, whenever I want. Though initially the priority was set for my works on graphics - why don't we say that now possibility is unlimited?

I've been very tired lately (oh, not another excuse for delaying new graphics!). Lots of works? Yes. And some unexpected things in my personal life, too. But somehow, in my case, as quoted by a friend "problems always come in batallion" - so do help and encouragement. I noticed that for every thing that made me upset, came several surprises that made me jump for joy. One bad news made me cry the whole night, the next few days I got only great news that left me smiling and laughing - and fascinated. What arrangement by the universe. Perhaps I should thank mom for making me believe that every trouble is only a sign that something wonderful is on its way to us. It will take sometime to heal, but strength is regained.

I looked at the pinboard on my desk. A poem is attached there. One of my favorite passage from "Markings" - the diary of Dag Hammarskjöld. "Markings" - notably "the enduring spiritual classic", is one of my favorite readings, especially when I need a spiritual lift. I have a great admiration to this great man, the UN Secretary General 1953-1961. Even though it started with a curiosity as I found it difficult to pronounce his last name - and it was when in history class we learned about the UN and for a test we had to know the names of the Secretary Generals by heart. But even the smallest curiosity led me to learn more about Dag Hammarskjöld and my admiration grew. And a few years ago I started to read "Markings", and this is a book that I keep dear.


photo: UN/DPI Photo/imagebank.sweden.se


July 6, 1961

Tired
And lonely,
So tired
The heart aches.
Meltwater trickles
Down the rocks,
The fingers are numb,
The knees tremble.
It is now,
Now, that you must not give in.

On the path of the others
Are resting places,
Places in the sun
Where they can meet.
But this
Is your path,
And it is now,
Now, that you must not fail.

Weep
If you can,
Weep,
But do not complain.
The way chose you -
And you must be thankful.


Dag Hammarskjöld, 1905-1961

[.royal.images.]

Mom reminded me - on the phone - "tomorrow is the princess' wedding! I'm following the processions from the local tv station"

Yay! I almost forgot how the Sultan of Yogyakarta is still the number one person in the region, my hometown. And somehow my mom is fanatical. Our house is located not far from the Royal Palace, thus my mom just kept reporting how crowded the streets are.

I'm so proud of my mom, she's an enthusiastic guardian of our javanese tradition - something as a kid and teenager I was struggling to run away from. But now, living 600 km away from my hometown, the life and cultural aspects of javanese town Yogyakarta started to fascinate me. There were times I felt like a tourist when listening to mom talking about the beauty of traditionally handmade batik from Yogyakarta; which pattern to wear in what occasion, that special technique to fold the front side of the sheets when you wear it. And don't ask her about the philosophy behind the batik, because I doubt she would stop...

Anyay, back to the Royal Palace of Yogyakarta, I still have some more pictures from my last visit there last year. As a kid, I used to think that it was 'just a royal palace'. Now, however, as my interest in culture, history and design grow, it is something really unique and special. I begin to think whether you always should go and see something from the distance - to be able to look at that something from a fresh perspective. Then, when you come back, you can appreciate it more than ever before. I wonder...



























Link: The Royal Palace of Yogyakarta (Kraton Yogyakarta):
http://www.yogyes.com/en/yogyakarta-tourism-object/places-of-interest/kraton/

my previous entry on the Royal Palace of Yogyakarta here

[.on.Zinio.and.the.most.beautiful.flower.]

Guess what, I'm featured on Zinio's latest email newsletter :-) As you might know I'm an avid magazine reader and I'm so glad I found Zinio - from whom I can subscribe various magazines in digital format (view my entry about it here). They also have a great collection of literary classics, digitized and you can read them online. For me it's really convenient!

Anyway I've been sick these past few days. I don't know why it's always like that when I finally take a rest after done with a big project at work. The newbies are on the way, I still need to check this and that (for example, I just found out that the font "Tropicana" I used to decorate the book of quotes is not 'acceptable' when I transfered the InDesign file into .pdf). But I thought of giving a small preview on the weekly planner, the cover and the first two pages. If you see only days and weeks, no dates, it is intentional. The other book will have only dates, no days or week. Let me know what you think when they are uploaded this coming week.







And euh, talking about my favorite quote (notice that on the weekly planner preview... and some other pages in this blog :-)) - "The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all" - it is from this inspiring movie "Mulan", the words by the Emperor of China toward the end of the film - and somehow, while leafing one of my favorite magazines, Asian Geographic issue 3/2007, I saw this photography by Masako Imaoka "Portrait of Courage". And I was moved by this particular picture taken in Nahrin, Afghanistan in 2002. Don't you think, this perfectly illustrates the Emperor's words above? I cut and clipped the picture onto my inspiration board on my desk - along with the quote. They give me extra strength and courage :-)

[.a.passage.through.history.]

This weekend I sent myself far off to 1732-33, set myself onboard a Swedish sailing ship, the Fredericus Rex Sueciae, on her voyage to China. My heart pounds so heavily when a midshipman shouts "land ahoy!!" and the western tip of Java is just before our eyes. Meanwhile alot of crew are sick and finally we came to an anchor off Angra in the Straits of Sunda. Here I saw myself amused when I arrived to this passage: "Here the Javans came off in their small boats with fowls Goats, Plantans, Pumplemusses, & Guavas, & other fruits, (with some Curious Birds) &c which were very very acceptable to us, especially the fruit such as the Coco nuts and Pumplemuses which recoverd the people that were sick of the scurvy to admiration in a very little time that not one of them died of it, which very likely they had done had not they met with this Refreshment, the natives would have brought us Cows too if we would have stayd a few hours..."

All right. I have to admit. I lost myself in a book and it was my imagination playing while reading "A Passage to China, Colin Campbell's diary of the first Swedish East India Company's expedition to Canton in 1732-33". Mr Colin Campbell was the Supercargo, the first director of the Swedish East India Company. The transcript of his diary I'm reading now - in search of more information about the Swedish presence in the history of Batavia (now my dear city of Jakarta) - was thought to be lost because Mr Campbell ordered to destroy all the ship's journals when the Dutch attacked the ship in the Straits of Sunda (the strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Netherlands East Indies, now my dear country Indonesia). Somehow this diary is pretty fascinating for a girl with chronic lust for history like me. Mr Campbell reconstructed his journal upon his return to Gothenburg in Sweden, where the company sits, and now, it is a very valuable source of history. I imagine.

(reading the book, I got 'seasick', which means more or less like 'homesick') ;-)

now taking a break, back to 2008 and it's time to work on my graphics! :-)

see you soon later!

[.happy.st.patrick's.]

Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Finally, yesterday, I finished retrieving all my files that were scattered in several back-up CDs into my computer, managed to reinstall most of the programs and fonts…which means starting this week I will be able to work on my graphics again! Yipppiii!

The most ‘challenging’ part was actually the reinstallation of the additional, crafty fonts…I just forgot to back-up the fonts that I had in my computer before the crash, and I simply didn’t remember the names of all those fonts…so here again I had to browse the contents of the fonts-collection CDs and some other scrapbooking and greeting cards programs which contain cute fonts. Yay! I still miss two fonts, couldn’t find them in the CDs, so I think I should improvise and try other fonts for my upcoming graphics.

Anyway, I don’t celebrate St Patrick’s Day here, but two friends of mine have their birthday today, so it is still a celebration for me in any case :-)

Here are two more sample graphics from my St Patrick Bears webtheme

[.Irish.Blessings]

Somewhere in this blog I mentioned that I was an avid subscriber of Heartwarmers, and I still am. Today they sent an Irish Blessing prior to St Patrick’s Day which is on 17 March, and it reminds me how I was tempted to subscribe to Heartwarmers at the first place a few years ago: they had an Irish Blessing in each newsletter, both traditional and ‘modern’ blessings, and there started my Irish Blessings collection. I love Irish Blessings, such inspiring phrases, sweet words that are so light yet uplifting. This is what came with the newsletter today, certainly one of my favorites.

May God give you...
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.

-- Irish Blessing

[.paulo.coelho.]

Ever since i read The Alchemist, I became a big fan of Mr Paulo Coelho. I admire the way he conveys the wisdom through his writings and can you imagine what a talent he must possess to do this? And he proves to be an example of somebody who makes the most out of his privileges on this earth and share it with the world. I’m addicted to his blog, where he shared valuable lessons about life in form of short stories, quotes, or question-and-answer. some of them, often, shot straight to my heart and stuck in my head forever. I’m not exaggerating you know, but it is so true :-) and that explains why I love compiling some entries that are my favorite and stick them to my personal diary. I’m thankful for the presence of Mr Coelho on this earth. And as I reflected again, I realised I’m also thankful for being given the chance to live in the time where it is possible for me to learn from Mr Coelho through his works, even on daily basis through the internet. What a privilege. And I feel good. I feel blessed.