I've been away from internet for quite some time. And it's been quite uncomfortable here since we're lack of water and electricity. But hey, who am I to complain?? ^^
Me and my family, we're still consider ourselves as the luckiest person on earth no matter what. We have a place to stay, jobs to be done, food on the table, back and front yard to burry our kitchen scrap, books to read, people to love and plenty of sunshine and breezy wind.

Little small things that make our world goes round.

A little upset for the update of Ezra Nawi in Tikun Olam...Bless you, Ezra...
But this one is a good news, from mondoweiss.

When humanity goes beyond religions and politics.

We Want Peace

Kravitz recorded the anti-war song "We Want Peace" as the US began invading Iraq. The song was performed with musicians from Iraq (Kadim Al Sahir), Palestine (Simon Shaheen), and Lebanon (Jamey Hadded).

Here is once again in our face
Why haven't we learn from our past
We're at the crossroads of our human race
Why are we kicking our own ass

A Not So Desperate Mommie

Ada perang besar akhir-akhir ini.
Antara Dimas dan the rest of pasukan D (plus mbak yuk).

Dimas Arga Nurtsany, jagoan kecil berambut ikal tipis itu sedang memasuki tahap pemberontakan. Ngga diajak jalan, nangis. Diajak jalan, nangis.
Dimasakin ikan, nangis. Dimasakin ayam, juga nangis.
Disuruh jangan nangis, tetep nangis. Disuruh nangis terus, tambah nangis.

I was wondering whether to collect his tears since the lack of water here.

Pagi ini, aku nyepeda ke warung untuk beli beras. Langit Balikpapan tidak seperti hari-hari sebelumnya, biru tanpa awan. A good day to eat ice cream with the space cadets. Jadi akhirnya pindahlah satu es krim coklat dan satu es krim strawberi ke tas belanjaan. Sampai di rumah es krim coklat langsung lenyap dimakan dimas yang memang sudah sebulan dilarang makan es krim karena batuk. Dan mulailah perang baru, on how to invade and occupy his brother ice cream.
Ketidakadilan itu kulawan dengan niat, kata-kata dan tindakan. Tindakan maksudnya time out di teras belakang.
Dan berakhir dengan tangisan disana-sini.
But, as usual, this time justice prevails.
Es krim Damar terselamatkan.

Key word is konsisten.
Dan non-violence. Ku-bold karena aku masih sering sekali harus berjuang sekuat tenaga menahan godaan untuk mencubit atau membentak. Saat-saat ketika anak 2 dan 5 tahun membuatmu merasa seperti anak 5 taun juga. Sama-sama ingin ngeyel, sama-sama ingin marah, sama-sama ingin mewek.

"Dimas, mamah ngga mau dipukul!"
"Imas mau mukul!"
"Mamah ngga mau!"
"Imas mau!"
"Ngga!"
"Mau!"

and so on...

Remember Gandhi said?
"I first learned the concepts of non-violence in my marriage."

A reminder for myself :
Bagaimana kita mengajarkan konsep non-violence ke anak-anak jika sebagai orangtua kita ngga bisa mencontohkan hal itu?
Satu cara jitu untuk menekan amarah adalah memposisikan diri kita di mata anak-anak. Apa yang dia liat di diri kita ketika pukulan, cubitan atau bentakan siap berterbangan?
Gabungan antara medusa, sadako dan dewi persik?

So, please, please...Gusti paringana sabar, paringana eling, sluman,slumun slamet donya akherat.

Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said. -Anonymous



It's just another Friday.
I hope it'll be a good friday for everyone, including everyone in government (semoga tikus-tikus berkurang, I get sick reading the same news and watching the same face everyday), Padang, Kenya (I saw the malnutrition problem there in aljazeera yesterday), Jerusalem, Gaza, and in every corner of the world.

We'll be doing gardening and learning to do backyard composting tomorrow.

Al-Aqsa Sanctuary: The Palestinian Spirit

Al-Aqsa Sanctuary: The Palestinian Spirit
by Simone Daud

The future

Though I am entirely secular and ethnically Galilean Christian from the villages surrounding Nazareth, I hope that the day will come when the wall and tanks fencing us into our camps fall. I hope that our tragedy ends. I hope for the day when the indigenous people of Palestine, weak and landless herded into crowded camps, will be able to freely pray in al-Aqsa temple. Free from brutality, and free to quench their spiritual thirst in the Muslim compound. Free to pray in what we call Beit al-Maqdas, the Muslim Holy of Holies.

We are not beasts to be herded through checkpoints, we are not vermin to access our temple through Clinton's tunnels, the walls surrounding our prison's will fall.

Let my people pray, bring down the wall in Palestine.

al-athan call for prayer



For many centuries the call for prayer has emanated from al-Aqsa menanrates. For centuries the call has dominated the winds of Jerusalem. The Palestinians being weak without facilities to effectively resist see in the morning athan call for prayer a defiance. We shall one day be treated with dignity. We are human.

A third intifada?
Perhaps that's exactly what the occupier wants.