Grab the chance while you’re at it, cause it just might be the start of something wonderful

Signs

Winner of  2009 Cannes Lions

Ordered the book last week, and arrived just yesterday. Excited to finally have the chance to read it, been told that it’s a good book. Will tell you what i think after I’m done reading it (which I am not exactly sure when ).

Read an article in an online newspaper today. The house of representative in a province in Indonesia is proposing a law that allows stoning to punish those who are convicted of adultery.

I mean, what?? Stoning?? Isn’t that so last centuries?

I’d definitely beg to oppose.

What is Earth Hour by the way? Earth Hour is an event initiated by WWF in 2007, in the spirit of raising the awareness towards the need to take action on climate change.

How does it work? It is encouraged for all households and businesses to turn off non-essential lights and also electrical appliances for an hour, from 8.30 to 9.30 PM, on Saturday, March 28.

What significance will the event make? Energy saving for one thing. It was reported that during the Earth Hour last year, Bangkok decreased electricity usage by 73.34 megawatts, which, over one hour, is equivalent to 41.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide (Wikipedia, Earth Hour).

How is it related to the climate change? The carbon emissions will certainly decrease during that 1 hour. The general consensus is, carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which contributes to the climate change.

So, if I go dark for an hour will I save the earth? You will save money, that’s for sure. As to really saving the earth; it is just a small contribution to energy saving, which theoretically will reduce the amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, compare to the same duration of time, during the same time of day, on any other day. Will it actually delay or (even better) stop the climate change from occurring? I personally think it won’t do as far. What you will make out of the Earth Hour is you will be joining millions other people from around the globe to support energy conservation which will hopefully radiate a habit of energy saving.

It is obvious that the way we exploit the current energy source is way excessive and simultaneously polluting the earth. There’s just have to be a change in our habit in treating the energy and a change in the technology producing the energy. Earth Hour for me is also sending a message that fossils based energy should be ended soon because it’s just out of date. Green energy using solar, wind, hydro-power, bio-fuel and geothermal are the way to go. Let the fossils based energy be the thing from the past, just like fossil should. Oil and Gas companies should and must create R&D centers for the development of green energy because that is the future of energy. Prepare to become out of business if you don’t start now. I bet you that.

Earth Hour is indeed a symbolic event and over rated if it’s to stop the climate change. It may not solve the problem or may not even buying time. But it will sure convey a message. That something can be done in an hour. That nothing we do even just for 1 hour is insignificant. It’s the spirit that counts. So, come on people, join the Earth Hour and spread the message. But obviously don’t stop at that. You guys are too smart to think that 1 hour can save the earth. Find your own way to proliferate the climate change and sustainable energy issues and just keep doing that.

I just signed up for the Earth Hour at www.earthhour.org and feel good about it. Let the dark be our friend for once

Menyambung dari posting sebelumnya tentang ‘keeping the faith’. Sepertinya susah juga ya untuk menjaga hal yang satu ini. Kadang sewaktu kita masih kecil dan masih dipengaruhi sama dongeng-dongeng pengantar tidur yang membuai dan menenteramkan (hamper sama efeknya seperti sinetron-sinetron masa kini yang menjual mimpi-mimpi nomor wahid), kita punya mimpi dan keyakinan bahwa kita akan mencapai semua keinginan itu saat dewasa nanti. It’s just a matter of time, kata banyak orang. Tapi setelah kita beranjak dewasa, saat dimana pikiran, jiwa raga, sudah dikotori oleh kepahitan hidup, kenyataan yang menonjok dan sedikit banyak rasa pesimis, keyakinan untuk menetaskan mimpi dan cita-cita yang sudah kita yakini dan kita jadikan panutan hidup sejak kecil lambat laun menipis jejaknya. Sampai mungkin pada suatu titik dimana keyakinan akan mimpi dan cita-cita itu sudah berganti dengan kepasrahan. Kepasrahan akan situasi dan kondisi nyata yang ada sekarang. Kepasrahan bahwa yang ada sekarang juga sudah bagus, sudah membahagiakan, sudah cukup. Mimpi dan cita-cita masa lalu cuma kenangan manis, yang sudah pantas untuk dilupakan. Is that so?

Jadi ingat, tadi malam baru nonton siaran ulang American Idol musim terbaru. Lil Rounds, salah satu finalisnya, bilang begini: “The day you let go of your dreams is the day you let go of your life”. Lil Rounds sudah berkeluarga, punya 3 anak yang masih kecil, tapi dia masih ingin mewujudkan mimpinya untuk menjadi penyanyi terkenal. I always respect those who are determined, and not letting go of their dreams, even when they are already settling down with a nice family. It shows that nothing can separate you from the dreams you have. Mungkin dengan sedikit perubahan dan penyesuaian disana-sini, tapi intinya mimpi dan cita-cita itu masih bisa diwujudkan. Sudah terlalu banyak cerita dari orang-orang yang akhirnya berhasil mencapai apa yang mereka inginkan sejak lama, walaupun butuh waktu yang sangat lama. It’s just a matter of time.

If any of you watched the latest episode of American idol last night (yes, I’m a fan of the show), I was disagree with Cowell’s comment that he hated the song Scott MacIntyre sang, because, I quote, “nobody knows it”. What are you talking about, Cowell? Keep the Faith is one of Michael Jackson’s songs that is quite known-able. And has great lyrics. It’s one of my favorite songs from the King of Pop. Anyway, to remind you guys of the song, I’m putting the video and part of the lyrics here. Enjoy.

Don’t Let Nobody Take You Down
Just Keep Your Eyes On The Prize
And Get Your Feet Back On The Ground
Keep The Faith, Baby, Yea
Because It’s Lust A Matter Of Time
Before Your Confidence Will Win Out

But Till That Day
I Said You’ve Got To Keep The Faith!

From Time.com

As big sister, I accompany two of my five younger siblings to the roof of our 14-story building. We head up there whenever we can, even if people say it makes us easy targets. We climb 13 floors of stairs just to stand and look out on Gaza and breathe in 15 minutes of air before we duck inside again. “Burning City,” the children call it. Columns of smoke rise from various locations in the distance changing the color of the sky and the sun. The entire landscape is transformed. We can make out the locations of several of the many public, residential and landmark buildings that have been turned to piles of rubble. Israeli tanks now block the roads where we used to drive along the coast. Dark, ominous warships look out of place so close to our beautiful Gaza shore, which had been one of the only escapes and source of relaxation for the besieged people of the Gaza strip. Earthen barriers have risen in the Zatoun area, cutting off the densely populated, heavily bombarded neighborhood from the rest of the city.

Our entire lives is now one long chaotic stream of existence: waiting in line each morning to fill up containers with water from the only working tap on the ground floor of our building, baking homemade bread from the depleting supply of flour we managed to obtain a few days into the offensive, turning on the power generator for 30 to 50 minutes in the evening to charge phones and watch the news. Meanwhile, the constant in our lives has become the voice of the reporter on the small transistor radio giving reports every few seconds of the location and resulting losses from the explosion we just heard, or other attacks farther off on the strip. This is not to mention the relentless sound of one or more of the Israeli Apache helicopters, F-16’s or drones flying overhead.

On Friday, while we gathered around for dinner, we heard an explosion that shook our building more violently than any we have experienced so far. The panic and frenzy caused tempers to flare within seconds as each of my siblings argued about what we should do. Leaving the building might be dangerous, but remaining inside could be equally hazardous if the building was being hit by missiles.

People on the outside shouting and banging on our door (we are on the first floor) confirmed that the building had indeed been hit. Within moments we had thrown on jackets and shoes, grabbed a previously prepared file containing our official documents and left our home. We ran across the street, gathering with the other residents in front of the gate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency headquarters. Young wide-eyed children, wailing infants, men and women stood begging the guard to open the gate and allow them to take cover inside. The guard refused. “Go to the UNRWA shelters”, he shouted, “there’s one 10 minutes away.” We all knew that those shelters weren’t safe, that 48 people have already been killed in them.

We found out what happened as an ambulance pulled up to the curb. “It was just a small rocket,” someone said. “There was just one injury, a small boy on the 12th floor, a block from the wall fell on his back, the rocket came through the window. Small rocket. Everyone can go back to their apartments.”

It was a paradoxical sense of relief that came upon us yet everyone, including the injured boy’s family, was thankful that the off-target rocket was not a forewarning of another larger strike. Thousands of other families in Gaza have already been subjected to the horrors of destruction and displacement. We have seen the results of the vicious slaughter of scores of children after the Israelis hit the United Nations school where they had sought refuge. A few broken bones are far better than having skulls smashed or chests torn open. That’s how we see it. That’s our logic.

We are now unable to distinguish joy from fear. My 11-year old sister laughs as she imagines how people all over the world watch the horrific events taking place in the Gaza Strip. “Its like we are a scary movie. I’m sure people eat popcorn as they watch,” she says. My 12- and 14-year old brothers act out scenes from our reality while quoting Metal Gear Solid 4 and Guns of Patriots, their favorite video game, and we laugh hysterically at their performance. Moments later we tense up at the sound of a violent, close by earthquake-like explosion, and resume our laughter when the building stops shaking.

Before returning to our building, I couldn’t help but stare at it for a moment and think that our homes might not always be safe places. But, still, they give us a sense of warmth, security and protection that are worth fighting for til the very end. I also couldn’t help staring at the sky. The stars were beautiful and seemed to shine brighter than ever. I could make out several constellations and I counted five Israeli warplanes.

Safa Joudeh is a Palestinian journalist. She lives with her family in Gaza.

No, it’s not an adventure, it’s a mistake.

Ok, yes, it’s a mistake. I know it’s a mistake. But there are certain things in life when you know it’s a mistake, but you don’t know it’s a mistake because to really know it’s a mistake is to make the mistake and look back and say, yup, that was a mistake. So, really, the bigger mistake would be not to make the mistake, because you’d go your whole life not really knowing if something was a mistake or not… Does any of these makes sense to you?

I don’t know, you say mistake a lot.

Here’s the thing about mistake. Sometimes, even if you know something was a mistake, you gotta make it anyway.

(From the episode Milk – How I Met Your Mother)

Yeah, time goes by. Fast sometimes. Without we even realize it. Just like now. I’ve been in Korea for a year yet it feels like only months have passed. Next week is Christmas already. Then New Year, then the Lunar New Year. The clock is continuously ticking, which also means the thesis experiments are due to start soon

Time passed by; hopes, dreams and expectations are still out there to reach. The driving force that makes life interesting I’m ready for another 365 days. Bring it on!