2015

December 30, 2015 by Prisanti Leave a comment

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f 2014 is the year of postcard, 2015 is the year of learning.

When I got into the second year of work life, I thought I had lose hope of learning something new outside my job. I even lost the spirit of getting a Master degree. I’m pretty idealist in this kind of thing. When you choose a Master degree, you need to be really eager and curious about something. The most important thing is, you need to be able to apply it somewhere in the community. Because knowledge is a powerful thing that you need to be responsible with.

Then, I go on with my life. Travel somewhere, make something, buy a lot useless stuffs on the internet stuffs, etc. But this year is a little bit different. I realized that learning is something that every human naturally do. Be it a life lesson or in the classroom. As a human, we adapt, we learn, and we (hopefully) do better. I surprised myself that my curiousness towards things are actually my fuse of learning new things.

This year, I enrolled to some online courses, I took Screenprinting workshop, I bought a lot of craft books, I went to a Social Innovation Conference, I tried Calligraphy, and I enrolled to Coding Class. etc. Sometimes, I might waste time on YouTube too much, but turns out I did quite good with the rest of my time :))

This is also the year I got so broke (haha). I think I don’t have anything left in my saving account every month and I finally understand what it’s like to be in ‘tanggal tua’. I’ve been living paycheck to paycheck for couple of months. Sometimes, I don’t even know what I do with all those, given the fact that I don’t have any rent or mortgage to pay. What a dark time it was, but as Alanis Morrisette says:

I’m broke but I’m happy
I’m poor but I’m kind
I’m short but I’m healthy, yeah
I’m high but I’m grounded
I’m sane but I’m overwhelmed
I’m lost but I’m hopeful baby
What it all comes down to
Is that everything’s gonna be fine fine fine

Seriously, Hands in My Pocket should be a national anthem. I’m broke and happy! That’s more than enough to move forward :))

There are also so many blessings this year. Although, the oil and gas industry is on the edge right now, some friends have been laid off and some haven’t got any job since then, but some other just doing well with their life. Some of my best friends got married, some got engaged, some got a scholarship, some had children, some just find a new venture/business, some are just happy with themselves (which, I think, is the most important). Having people experienced joy is always something amazing for me.

In terms of travelling, I finally stepped on Sumatra for the first time! And Cambodia is just a perfect self awakening for me.

2015 has taught me a lot of things and I’m thankful because of that. There are a lot of things that I didn’t planned out, there are a lot of impulsive decision, sudden trips, but they all turned out to be a blast.

As for myself, I cannot wait for 2016. My older sister will be returning home at January and my little sister will (hopefully) graduate on June. I already plan a trip with my mom on February and another trip with the rest of the family later next year. There are a lot of things to look forward to and I will always believe, it only gets better.

I hope all of you will get a really good year ahead :)

End of Year Marathon

December 28, 2015 by Prisanti 1 Comment

tarantino-pulp-fiction — **Pulp Fiction (1994)**

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he last part of December went by quickly like the flashing green light on the street. End of the year is never been my choice to go on a vacation. It is high season, rainy season, and certainly would be too crowded for me. But like any other impulsive decision I made this year, life always surprises you. I got 3 days business trip to Singapore last week. Staying on star hotel in the heart of the city is never been on my bucket list. At night, I roamed the city alone, as I used to be. Eating in cheap hawker food and buying cheap souvenirs. The city still feels familiar, the warmth of solitary in the middle of hustling crowds. It was raining and as I stand waiting the train that would take me back to the airport, I told myself.

I can get used to these surprises.

tarantino-reservoir-dogs — **Reservoir Dogs (1992)**

I booked a one way train ticket the day after. My first trip at New Year’s Eve. As a member of stay-home-family-at-every-new-year, I used to spend time rolling around the house, burning something, watching superheroes movie for the million times on TV, and fall asleep before the New Year’s countdown. So, I don’t expect anything less than overpriced hotel rent and crowded street. But I could use the comforting strangeness every trip could bring. Few days before the trip and I don’t even plan any place to visit. I visited the city quite often and I think I wanted to be surprised. Maybe it would be rain all day, maybe there’s traffic, maybe it was a bad idea afterall, but then I could care less.

Bring it on.

Like the year before, I spent this Christmas holiday at home. Wrapped up under blanket, with too many mineral water and tortilla chips beside my bed. Writing crap about how another year has went by and I might missed another train. The thoughts about how other people achieve many things this year has passed me again. Weirdly enough, it didn’t stay too long. Maybe, just maybe, I could care less about them again.

tarantino-jackie-brown — **Jackie Brown (1997)**

I spent a lot of amount of time watching Quentin Tarantino’s movies in bed. The Hateful Eight opens on Christmas and I thought it’d be great to re-watch all 7 movies before this (too bad I skipped Django Unchained).

Growing up, all I want to be is being a filmmaker like John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton. After watching The Virgin Suicide, I want to kick ass like Sofia Coppola. Then, after the Kill Bill era, all I want to be is Quentin Tarantino. There’s something about his movies that I find so alluring.

tarantino-kill-bill — **Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)**

No, it’s not the blood and the gore theme. It’s not the setting or the scattered timeline. It’s not about the intense scene, the colors of the movie, the soundtracks, or any magnificent shots.

Tarantino writes and directs everything he loves, he doesn’t care if there’s nobody loves it, or nobody gets it. He will still shot it. But his passion reached me, like a ray of sunshine that peeks between the curtains. In the end, all I want to do is wide open the curtains, asking for more. There’s nothing more I want than being someone like that. Being a pirate king, sailing forward. Believing in something, great enough that everybody started to believe it too.

Tarantino always writes long lines, repeated sentences, and he’s not afraid to insert insulting or forbidden words. He believes that words should be a sharp critics in its true from.

tarantino-hateful-eight — **The Hateful Eight (2015)**

His latest movie, The Hateful Eight, has been shot in a glorious 70mm films, allowing him to shoot a wide panoramic shot. Funny thing is, instead of exploits this advantages, Tarantino shot most of the movie in a single claustrophobic room. Relying on dialogue and mind tricks, like his earlier limited budget flicks. Tarantino does make a point, when making a movie, all you need are a well written script and a good storytelling to move the story forward.

tarantino-django-unchained — **Django Unchained (2012)**

I might forget the dreams of being a filmmaker long way ago. And I don’t know which one is sadder, the fact that I’m afraid that the career won’t make a steady job or the fact that I threw away my-almost-15-years-worth-of-dream without looking back. Then again, despite of what I do for a living now, I still want to be like Quentin Tarantino.

Hell with everybody else.

Three tomatoes are walking down the street – a poppa tomato, a momma tomato, and a little baby tomato.

Baby tomato starts lagging behind.

Poppa tomato gets angry, goes over to the baby tomato, and squishes him… and says,

‘Ketchup.’

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Learning New Things

December 25, 2015 by Prisanti Leave a comment

When I got into college I told myself this:

Before 20, I should be able to master Photoshop or any other Design software.
On my 20s, I should be able to master Screenprinting.
On my 30s, I should be able to know how to Sew properly.
On my 40s, I should be able to learn Pottery.

Saya sering cerita kalau saya itu gampang banget tertarik dengan banyak hal tapi gampang banget bosan. Mungkin semua yang zodiaknya Libra kayak gitu juga? :)) Kayaknya nggak terhitung berapa kali saya kepingin tahu sesuatu, benar-benar research sampai lumayan banyak tahu dan beralih ke hal lain dengan mudah. Jadi sebenarnya saya senang sekali kalau bisa belajar banyak hal baru walaupun super random, tahu berbagai macam pengetahuan, dan menambah skill surviving di berbagi kesempatan, haha.

atelierfleuri

(image from here)

Sekarang ini kalau ditanya saya lagi tertarik apa, saya bakal jawab Floral Arrangements. Haha. Sumpah, kemarin sempat nggak sengaja mampir ke Instagramnya Atelier Fleuri dan jatuh cinta sama bouquetnya yang cantik-cantik banget. Saya memang bukan penggemar bunga, tapi begitu lihat rangkaian bunganya, saya nggak bisa memungkiri bahwa warnanya sungguh segar dilihat mata. Selain memadukan warna, teknik merangkai bunga sepertinya macam-macam. Dari pemilihan bunga maupun layering antar komponen bunga ada teknik-teknik tertentu. Coba deh baca artikel Floral Arrangement dasar ini.

floralarrangement

(image from here)

Kemarin setelah cari-cari kelas tentang Floral Arrangement di Skillshare malah ketemunya kelas Table-Top Styling: Style Memorable Tablescapes for Every Season oleh Justina Blakeney. Kelasnya membahas teknik-teknik dasar table arrangement mulai dari pemilihan warna, komposisi, dll. Ada juga tips penggunaan tanaman sebagai centerpiece dan dekorasi meja ataupun cara mendokumentasikan table arrangements tersebut. Saya nggak tahu sih kapan pengetahuan ini akan kepake di masa depan nantinya, tapi super senang aja cari tahunya :)) Siapa tahu di masa mendatang ada yang mengajak saya jadi party planner ala-ala. Haha.

Nah, kalau di 2015 kemarin saya belajar banyak hal (walaupun masih dasar), tahun depan saya mau belajar lebih banyak lagi termasuk:

Idea is a Bulletproof

December 22, 2015 by Prisanti 2 Comments

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]elama hampir 1 1/2 tahun ke belakang punya bisnis sendiri, sebenarnya saya merasa masih banyak kekurangan dalam segi “bisnis” nya. Kepikiran sih untuk ambil kelas bisnis atau kuliah lagi, tapi seperti biasa saya anaknya takut bosenan (haha) dan belum mampu untuk melepas tanggung jawab keuangan di rumah. Selama ini, saya cukup banyak juga melihat perkembangan brand Indonesia yang kayaknya tiba-tiba sadar bahwa talenta SDM dan stok SDA di Indonesia itu besar sekali. Dari sisi customer sendiri, di masyarakat berbudaya bajakan dan bermodal pelit, kami cukup bahagia jika ada alternatif yang tentunya lebih murah.

Tapi kadang sering sedih sih kalau lihat beberapa brand Indonesia, ada yang harganya super mahaaal. Bagus sih kalau pricingnya mengikuti harga di luaran karena ingin memberikan bayaran yang bisa dibilang fair kepada para pengrajin. Tapi kadang ada yang kualitasnya nggak setara dan saya lebih cenderung memilih produk luar yang sudah terbukti awet/tahan lama kalau range harganya tidak terlalu berbeda. Tapi bagaimanapun itu, saya yakin brand Indonesia pasti akan bisa lebih maju lagi di tahun-tahun ke depan. Merdeka!

Kadang-kadang saya anaknya nggak fokus, karena terlalu banyak minat terhadap banyak hal kayaknya setiap saat selalu punya keinginan untuk bikin ini, bikin itu. Terus nggak jadi :)) Setiap punya ide-ide semacam itu, saya sering catat di Notes. Kalau ada niat, waktu luang, dan modal berlimpah, saya kepingin banget bikin:

DIY Kits

ideas-1

(image from here)

Kayaknya sudah sering sekali saya cerita kalau kepingin banget bikin DIY Kits ini. Sekarang kan sedang marak banget workshop-workshop lucu kerajinan tangan, tapi kadang harganya cukup lumayan sekali (ha-ha). Keluarga saya juga bukan keluarga yang punya tradisi harus keluar waktu weekend, kami lebih sering mengisi weekend dengan leha-leha di rumah ataupun menekuni panggilan jiwanya masing-masing (ini ngomong apa). Ayah saya sering banget berkebun dan benerin alat-alat listrik, saya suka mainan cat-cat, kakak suka bikin kue-kue lucu, ibu saya suka menjahit, dll. Saya merasa kegiatan kreatif di rumah itu bagus banget dan harus lebih banyak diadakan (daripada memenuhi jiwa konsumtif di mall). Pengennya sih DIY Kits ini memenuhi kekosongan tersebut.

Review of 2015’s Goal

December 20, 2015 by Prisanti Leave a comment

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] made this goal early this year, reviewed it on mid-year and let’s see what does it like for another 6 months? 2015-end

I did update my masking tape collection this year. Art See is a heaven for cheap masking tape. In terms of the quality, this masking tapes lack the adhesive it needed. The edge is easily wrinkled and not glued well enough once tear off. I think MT Tape still has the best quality until now, unfortunately the price is also the best :))

I didn’t finish making the workshop since my father is resistant of having the room altered. The house I’m living is actually my grandparents’, so he always hesitant to make some permanent changes. I think I will save the wish until I get my own home (somewhere far from the future, haha).

I think I did write more this year. This series and #28postsfor28 are one of a few things that triggered it the most.

I subscribed to A Beautiful Mess’ Happy Mail in order to write more letter in postcard or mail. It comes really handy when I want to write a card for wedding gift or birthday gift, but I’ve never actually sending one in the mail. So this goal is failed, but I will give this goal another chance next year.

I totally failed on wanting to watch more on Cinema. This is the year I went to Torrent the most and watching some blockbuster movies 2 months later :))

In Tech skill area, I am kind of proud that I gain more knowledge in Coding/Web Making.

So, how many things did you cross on this year’s goal? Do you still maintain ‘lose some weight’ goal?