Page 285: Simple DIY project this weekend: Recycled Bottle Spoon/Fork Holder

Moving to a smaller place is not as easy as moving to a bigger one. No, seriously, I’ve experienced it a few months ago. I had to remove some things or brought them to my parents’ home, like a few mugs and utensils, so my room, the bathroom and that tiny-supposed-to-be-multifunction room won’t look like a Shelob’s nest (if you’ve seen/read Lord of the Ring, you know what I mean).

I put my small dish rack and a few plates in the shared kitchen (on the 1st floor of the building I live in), but keep my cutlery in my room, because it’s easier if I want to eat in my room (which, FYI, is on the 4th floor).

I used to keep my spoon and fork in a box where I also keep my CDs and DVDs. Yep, I didn’t have a spoon/fork holder and kept forgetting to buy it. But one day, I bought a bottle of juice and decided to keep the bottle. I soaked it in a hot water for 10 minutes to remove the label and glue, washed it, and put a silver string around its neck. Voila! I have a spoon/fork holder now.

You can also use it as a vase or..go to pinterest for some enlightenment. Haha.


Cheers!

Page 284: Crime (,Insanity) and Punishment

Sometimes insanity and reality are inseparable.

From Jakarta Globe:

Antara reported that the couple, whom police have identified as identified as M.D. and D., told the police that they killed for sexual gratification.
Bengkalis Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Andry Wibowo was quoted by Indonesian news portal Detik.com that the couple would search for a victim before they had sex. They would lure the victim with a promise of money, he said.
“The suspects admitted that they killed by strangling the victim until the victim died. Afterward they cut off the victim’s genitals,” Andry said. “After killing and mutilating the victim, they had sexual intercourse.”

I watched news today about this mutilation case, and somehow I agree with forensic psychologist Reza Indragiri that:

1. We should see and treat these perpetrators as people with no mental disorders first.
Because if law enforcement presumes that these people are crazy – although, yes, no “normal” people are capable of doing that kind of horrible thing – they can use it to justify their act and we will be like, “well, what can we do? They’re crazy”. The point is that these people raped, killed, and mutilated their victims. We have to punish them. I’m not saying that all people with mental illness will definitely hurt others. That’s a fallacy, obviously. But when they have committed crimes, when we’ve finally proved that they’re the culprits, they have to pay for it. Some people don't deserve a second chance.

2. Sexual assaults laws in Indonesia are weak and we need to change that. For example, the standard sentence for violation of Indonesia's child protection act (UU No 23 tahun 2002 Perlindungan anak) is 3 to 15 years. And for rape, maximum of seven years' criminal imprisonment for perpetrators (can we please just castrate these bad people?).

O boy, no wonder The Sydney Morning Herald once published an article calling Indonesia “A Paradise for Pedophiles”. Somehow it’s eerily true.

Page 283: Current Addiction (Part 16)

"Blue heart and hands and aptitude"

Page 282: Lovely Nest, Lovely People

Her positive attitude soothes me, most of the time. She’s a dreamer, but also a doer – I love the way she uses “dream out loud” as her “tagline”. She’s a good listener – that kind of person who can make you feel comfortable to tell your problems without a fear of being judged and when she gives you an advice, it really makes sense and gives you the energy to overcome the difficult situations.

Her name is Nike. I met this lovely woman through a friend a few years ago, well, got her phone number to be exact, because I had to interview her to write an article. We met, and then started to read one another’s blog..found out that we have things in common, share the same interests, from books to music. Long story short, we became friends.

Last week, I came to her home in Bintaro, spent my Saturday with her and her adorable daughter, Kira. It was a blissful weekend for me, although we didn't have a picnic in the park like our first plan because it was raining.

(that's her and her daughter Kira, the right one was taken in Singapore, not Bintaro, haha) 

I liked the way she and her husband arranged things in their nest. Movie posters, books, artworks, furniture, etc. I wish I had better phone with better camera to show you what I meant, haha. But you can check her instagram and livingloving if you’re that curious. I think she posted pictures of her home and its decor on her instagram and that lovely website.

Sometimes, it doesn't take much to make me happy.

So how was your weekend?

photo courtesy of me except the first three, courtesy of Nike Prima Dewi

Page 281: Shibu[m]i

Shibui*/ shibumi: a concept of inner meaning rather than superficial adornment, of simplicity, tranquility, subtle and unobtrusive beauty.

In art, shibui objects appear to be simple overall but they include subtle details, such as textures, that balance simplicity with complexity. This balance of simplicity and complexity ensures that one does not tire of a shibui object but constantly finds new meanings and enriched beauty that cause its aesthetic value to grow over the years.

Shibui objects are not necessarily imperfect or asymmetrical, though they can include these qualities. Shibui colors range from pastels to dark. Occasionally, a patch of brighter color is added as a highlight.

The seven elements of Shibui are simplicity, implicity, modesty, silence, naturalness, everydayness, and imperfection.The aristocratic simplicity of shibui is the refined expression of the essence of elements in an aesthetic experience producing quietude. Spare elegance is evident in darkling serenity with a hint of sparkle. Implicity allows depth of feeling to be visible through a spare surface design thereby manifesting the invisible core that offers new meanings with each encounter. The person of shibui modesty exalts excellence via a thoroughness of taking time to learn, watch, read, understand, develop, think, and merges into understatement and silence concerning oneself. Shibui's sanctuary of silence, non-dualism--the resolution of opposites, is intuition coupled with beauty and faith as foundations for phases of truth revealing the worship and reverence for life. Naturalness conveys spontaneity in growth, unforced. The healthy roughness of texture and irregular asymmetrical form maintain shibui freedom wherein the center lies beyond all particular things in infinity. Everydayness raises ordinary things to a place of honor refined of all artificial and unnecessary properties thus imparting spiritual joy for today is more auspicious than tomorrow. Shibui everydayness provides a framework, a tradition for an artist's oeuvre to be a unit not a process. Hiroshi Mizuo argues that the best examples of shibui are found in the crafts, which are ordinary objects made to be used; also, since they are mass produced, they tend to be more spontaneous and healthy than many of the fine arts. Imperfection in shibusa Soetsu Yanagi in The Unknown Craftsman refers to as "beauty with inner implications". It is not a beauty displayed before the viewer by its creator; creation here means making a piece that will lead the viewer to draw beauty out of it for oneself. Shibui beauty, as in the beauty of Tea Ceremony, is beauty that makes an artist of the viewer."

The author Trevanian (the nom de plume of Dr. Rodney William Whitaker) wrote in his 1979 best-selling novel Shibumi, “Shibumi has to do with great refinement underlying commonplace appearances.” In the business fable The Shibumi Strategy, the author, Matthew May, wrote that shibumi "has come to denote those things that exhibit in paradox and all at once the very best of everything and nothing: Elegant simplicity. Effortless effectiveness. Understated excellence. Beautiful imperfection."

image courtesy: shibui arts

And I love this philosophy.
*yes, got this from wikipedia