New Year's Resolution!

Aku tahu apa yang kau pikirkan ketika melihat judul di atas. Aku tahu kamu akan berpikir bahwa aku akan menulis tentang Resolusi Tahun Baru -- hal yang paling sering dibicarakan orang ketika tahun baru akan datang. Sayangnya, kau salah.


Awalnya, aku memang berniat untuk membuat resolusi. Tapi memulai sesuatu yang belum pernah dilakukan sebelumnya rasanya agak susah, ya? Jadi, setelah berpikir beberapa (lima?) kali, aku memutuskan untuk tidak membuat resolusi, seperti biasanya.


Aku tahu keputusanku terdengar cuek dan tidak bisa menjadi contoh yang baik. Tapi, hey, aku tidak bisa memaksakan diri sendiri untuk membuat resolusi. Lagipula, aku memang bukan tipe orang yang bisa dijadikan contoh teladan.


Wow. Kesannya egois sekali, ya? Tapi aku bisa apa? Aku tak akan membuat Resolusi Tahun Baru, tak peduli bagaimana orang lain berusaha untuk menjadi "lebih baik" tahun depan. Yah, itu kan orang lain. Bukan aku. Daripada aku membuat Resolusi Tahun Baru tanpa rasa tulus, yang malah membuatku terlihat munafik.


Of course, saying all these words doesn't make me a perfect person. Aku tahu aku masih memiliki banyak kekurangan, dan tampaknya akan selalu begitu. Bukannya aku tak mau berubah, tapi aku rasa perubahan bisa dilakukan tanpa harus mendaftar rencananya atau menulis goal-nya. Percaya deh, jika aku berniat menuliskan resolusiku disini, setengah jam lagi aku akan lupa semuanya. Itu karena aku tak tulus.


Jadi, yah... Tahun baru 2012 akan berlalu seperti biasanya. Malam ini, aku akan menghadiri pesta Tahun Baru di rumah saudaraku, yang katanya sudah menyiapkan kembang api dan pemanggang untuk membuat barbecue. Entah barbecue macam apa. Aku bukan tipe orang yang suka merayakan tahun baru dengan meriah, sih. 


Pokoknya, tahun ini tak ada resolusi. Aku juga takkan meniup terompet nanti malam. Aku masih belum bisa membayangkan bagaimana suasana pestanya, jadi aku sudah berencana untuk membawa buku The Society of S (yang merupakan buku favoritku sepanjang masa) dan, kalau aku bisa menemukannya, headset. Hanya untuk jaga-jaga.


I think that's all for now. Bye, aku harus siap-siap untuk pesta. 

FIGHT4GREYSON

finally, finally, finally. i was thinking what can i write on my blog, but then this idea comes to my head :P

okay, let's get started. today, my BEST FRIEND, Vika, came to my house. we've planned to visit each other's house on holiday, and well, this is the time.

her visit was kinda usual. i mean, the most usual thing for a best friend, if you know what i mean ;p we mocked each other, and laughed at each others' nails. it was great, but nothing special happened.

until one time... i begged (LOL!) her to play The Sims 3. you know it's my fave game, don't you? i said to her, "let's make a fam. let's include Michael (Jackson), Greyson (Chance), me and you." "SURE!" she said.

then it happened. the madness begun. ok, i admit, we focused on Greyson too much. started with picking his clothes, it's indeed we're obsessed by him xD when we finally decorated our house (it was super tiring, believe me), we got stuck by Greyson's cuteness :D

the rest of the game became a major fight. my Sim wants to be Greyson's GF, unfortunately, Vika's Sim does too. the point of our fight was to have Grey as our BF. luckily, my Sim became Best Friend with Grey first ;D you can imagine how mad Vika was.

to get her revenge, Vika made her Sim and Grey chatted and FLIRTED. i was shocked. i grabbed the mouse quickly and made my Sim flirted with Grey. that was the biggest fight ever. we scratched each others' hands, pulled each others' hairs, and bite each others' fingers.

the result? Vika's hand was bleeding, and mine became black and blue. insane, huh? I KNOW. but i think, that's what real friends do. i can surely say that she's not a backstabber. she's my best friend forever. although we go to different school and we don't always get along, we're still and will always be best friends. no one can replace her<3

P.S.: i have 2 best friends, actually! the other one is Assyifaa. she's also amazing, but she didn't come today :( it was disappointing; me and Vika missed her so much, but well... it doesn't mean that our precious friendship is over :)

DARK!! DARK!! DARK!!

i'm really trying to make my blog looks cool. well, as you can see, i've added some *gadgets* on the right corner. see that huge iPod touch? yea, that's the last thing i created for this blog.

i always get envy  whenever i see my friends' blog. i mean, theirs are always cool, always colorful, and awesome. now i'm wondering about mine. anything that i made, whether it's a blog, or tumblr, or twitter, or website, is always dark themed. and no, i do NOT do it on purpose. it just... happens.

let's take it this way. choosing a theme for my blog is always be the most important thing. i always go to the "colorful section" first, and well, i find those cute, animated theme.

but then... when i go to the "dark section", i always end up choosing one and finally USE it. although it's not as cute as the colorful one.

weird, huh? i know. but i guess that's who i am. a girl who never likes cheerful colors. and the least fave color of mine, is pink. it's just too bright. (sorry pink lovers!)

maybe i'm just limited edition, am i?

what am i gonna do?

that's right. what am i gonna do? it's holiday, and sadly, i have no idea what to do AT ALL.


this is horrible. i mean, i've waited for this holiday season for like 6 months and now, after i finally got it, I'M BORED. this is the worse that could happen on a holiday. i smh a million times when i write this.


i've tried to read books (like what i usually do when i get bored), well it works a little bit, but i don't feel happy after all. then i try to sit on the computer for as long as i want; it only makes everything become worst. i think i enjoy playing The Sims 3 and Cooking Academy 2, but good things won't last forever right?


also, i'm in a desperate mood of losing my diary. i mean, it's there, but the book is too full to be written. i was about to buy a new one, but i don't know where to buy it. maybe i'll buy it with my friend later.


see? i know that when you read this, you know i don't feel like writing. i just feel like i have a responsibility to write something for my blog. and when i got nothing to write, this crap came along.


sorry for letting you read my complains. i don't mean to make your day become bad. maybe i should just go back and take care of my Sims or do my nails.


K, bye. Thank you so much for wasting your time reading (stalking?) my blog. Whoever you are, I Love You. So much. <333

Greyson Chance, Eminem, Michael Jackson AND SpongeBob xD (what? he's LEGEND)
My idols!

MUSIC (part 3)

My third favorite singer of all time is.... well..... someone who may surprises you.... GREYSON CHANCE!!!!!

Yup, that Greyson Chance who came to Indonesia a few weeks ago. Kinda weird, huh? I mean, I like MJ and Eminem at the same time, now I mix them up with Greyson Chance? Like, what's going on? LOL but I do have an explanation.

I started to like Greyson Chance when I was on the 6th grade. Even before Greyson made Hold On 'Til The Night album! So when he came to my country, Indonesia, I freaked out. 


Well, I couldn't believe that I actually like Greyson. Because, you know, I don't like those type of young singers who sing with autotunes and adding rap to their fail songs (no offense, really). I don't think autotunes and soft hair are good enough for the real music industry. The worse is, that they claim their songs to be pop and even R&B! I know many good singers (some of them come from the 80s and 90s) which are way better and multi-talented. I will not mention these young singers; it'll cause a huge drama. 


But, hey, people, Greyson is so much different. He doesn't use autotunes, and if he does, it doesn't affect too much on his real voice. He has great voice. You can watch his awesomeness (wow, that word really exists?) here. Also, he's not only "cute". He has so much more than just look. He's talented. Why is it so hard to explain? He's funny, too, and he smiles every time. That's the most important thing, right?


I think that's everything I can tell you about Greyson Michael Chance. I also like singers/bands like Beyonce, Chris Brown, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, One Republic, Katy Perry, Coldplay, Simple Plan, Queen (LEGEND!), Maroon 5, Adele, Jessie J, etc etc. 


You know what? This is the final chapter of my music articles. So, if someday I post bunch of stuffs about those singers above, don't be surprised!<3

MUSIC (part 2)

Yo! Wassup? Now, after a week of waiting, it's time for me to talk about my favorite music, part 2 :) Shamone.


Since I stopped myself from being obsessed to MJ, I started to like some more singers. One of my favorites is Eminem. Yea, The King of Rap.


The fact that I like Eminem AND MJ at the same time is a little bit.... strange. Do you know the song Just Lose It by Em? Although I'm his fan, but I agree that it's so very, very disrespecting MJ (you can see it here, but parental guidance is really suggested). If I was still obsessed, I would've kill Eminem.


But not long after the video was released, MJ was very offended that he complained to Eminem! So, Eminem said sorry and he regretted his offensive video. For me, that, is the end of the problem.


Why do I like Eminem? Well, first of all, I LOVE hip-hop. That's my favorite genre ever, besides pop. I listen to hip-hop since I was only a kid. I don't even know why I like it!


Second, Eminem's songs are not like the others. You know, rap songs usually contain stuffs which are... err, rude, offensive, etc etc. I don't say that rap songs are bad, no of course not, because I like rap, but too much songs about money, girls and party are... boring.


Many people ask me why I love rap so much (I like a lot of rappers beside Em). I said I don't know, because that's the truth. It just happened. I like it more now, because I can rap some songs :D Well, the point is, I will always like Eminem and also hip-hop. That's my music, and no one can judge me for it.


P.S.: I can rap! Haha, not great, but I can do it a little bit xD :P

That's Marshall Mathers over there :)

Michael J. Jackson

One of my fave singers of all time. He's unique isn't he? Yea I know(; I'll tell you later about the other singers!
P.S.: this one's pretty rare. i forgot where i got it, but it's def not a pic that the media will show you on tv!

MUSIC (part 1)

Hello again guys!! Okay, I'm REALLY, REALLY sorry I didn't post anything for the last two weeks, I was super busy preparing for school and its stuffs. But believe me, I couldn't stop thinking about this blog! Now that I'm free, I got something to talk about, and it's something that I'm addicted to: MUSIC.


First of all, I'm pretty sure that almost every teen in this world got their own favorite singer or music genre. Some of them like pop, the others addicted to R&B, and there are teens who love hip-hop so much, but still can get along with jazz. Well, I think every genre is unique. It has its own style, so there's no need for judgement. I respect any kind of music. But now, I'm going to talk about MY favorite music :) Leggo.




The first kind of music I like is also one of my characteristic. Like, when people are talking about me, they're also talking about this thing. It's something that I love and something that will last forever in my friends' memories about me: MICHAEL JACKSON'S MUSIC.


Okay, I have no idea how to get started. For me, Michael Jackson's songs have their own genre. They're not pop, R&B, jazz, or anything. They're MJ's. I love all of his songs that I can't even decide which one is my favorite. His songs are... different. The meaning of them are none like the others. They're not always about relationship or despair, they're also talking about our Planet Earth, suffering children, wars, the future, dreams, faith, hope, lost, sometimes regrets, and most of all, Love. Not only love between a man and a woman, but also love for all the human being. I think it's beautiful how you can love everyone and not being so selfish. And, yes, it's really hard to find such a song like that nowadays.


Michael Jackson's not only the King of Pop, he's not only a good singer. He's also a very generous person. He really cares about the world, and the environment, and all he ever wanted to do is to make the world a better place. That's one of the reasons why I became his fan. He also understands children, and hey I'm a child, so it's like he understands me, and my sister, and my friends, and every other child in the world! It's really amazing and I think it'd be wonderful if I could be his friend<3


I used to be obsessed to MJ. When I was in the 6th grade, I was really into him that I forgot my real life, my real world. I was loving him like crazy. Now I realized that it was really wrong, and it was my fault, not MJ's (what does MJ have to do with it? He doesn't even know that I'm exist). I can't stop being his fan, but now I'm not obsessed anymore. That's why I started to like a few more singers beside him. I'll tell you about them on Part 2. Just wait.

since i have nothing to write, this is the pic of my favorite food EVER: LASAGNA!!!!!!!

Books.

Dulu, ketika aku masih duduk di bangku SD, pekerjaanku sehari-hari adalah membaca. Yup, membaca. Reading. La lecture. Lezing. Leitura. Atau apapun itu.


Sekarang, setelah duduk di SMP kelas 8, aku merasa kegiatan membacaku telah berkurang sedikit demi sedikit. Mungkin karena aku sibuk? Bisa saja. Atau mungkin juga karena aku tak punya bahan bacaan lain -- seluruh buku bacaan di rumah sudah habis aku lahap.


Nah, mungkin karena pada dasarnya I'm a bookworm, menjalani hidup lama-lama tanpa buku rasanya membosankan juga. Hidupku jadi hambar, kurang garam, atau mungkin kurang cuka. Ditambah lagi dengan rasa bosan yang selalu aku temui di sekolah, dan ketidakpuasan pada jutaan aplikasi yang sudah susah payah aku download di handphone-ku, pembawaanku jadi mudah marah dan depresi. Setelah aku selidiki penyebabnya, ternyata aku kekurangan makan buku.


Jadi, sudah dua minggu ini aku membongkar lagi lemari-lemariku yang berisi buku-buku lama. Banyak juga ternyata buku favoritku, dan aku mulai membaca mereka lagi, satu persatu, tentu saja. Rasanya menyenangkan sekali bisa kembali ke hobiku yang lama dan melupakan sedikit PR-ku yang menumpuk. Membaca buku merupakan kompensasi atas semua pelajaran membosankan di sekolah dan juga menjadi semacam pelarian dari dunia nyata ke dunia fantasi, melewati perjalanan yang menyenangkan melintasi lembaran-lembaran kertas yang harumnya tiada dua.


Untungnya, bibi dari ibuku (atau nenekku) datang dan menginap di rumahku. Berhubung nenekku senang membaca, tadi siang aku, nenekku, dan ibuku pergi berbelanja ke toko buku. Aku mendapatkan dua buku baru, dan yang sedang aku baca saat ini berjudul Eight Cousins, karangan Louisa May Alcott, yang juga merupakan pengarang buku laris Little Women. Bukunya seru sekali. Aku jadi tak sabar untuk melanjutkan "petualanganku".


I think that's all for now. I'm a little bit tired, my eyes hurt, and I got homeworks to do, jadi aku rasa aku harus pergi sekarang. Bye :)

B U L L I E S

Hello. Apa kabar? Aku harap kau baik-baik saja. Sekarang, untuk pertama kalinya, aku akan membahas... err... masalah yang selalu menjadi trending topic di sekolahku: BULLIES.


Kau tahu, sekolahku terdiri dari banyak kelas. Ada 8 kelas untuk kelas 7, 8 kelas untuk kelas 8, dan 8 kelas untuk kelas 9. Totalnya, ada 24 kelas dalam tiga angkatan. Menurut pengamatan teman-temanku yang iseng mengalikan, menambahkan, dan membagi jumlah murid, mereka pernah berkata bahwa kira-kira jumlah murid SMPN 3 Bandung adalah 1000 orang lebih. Dengan satu koperasi dan satu kantin di basement (yea, right), terbayang sudah bagaimana sumpeknya sekolahku.


Tapi bukan itu yang akan aku bahas. Dengan banyaknya murid kelas 7, 8, dan 9 yang berusaha dijejalkan dalam sekolah berlantai tiga, persaingannya pun akan semakin ketat.


Begini. Beberapa minggu yang lalu, ketika aku sedang mengobrol dengan seorang temanku, ia berkata, "Kamu tahu tidak? Ada teman kita yang bilang kalau adik kelas itu sombong, lho,"


"Oya?" tanyaku.


"Ya. Dia bilang dia juga ingin mem-bully adik kelas itu."


Ya ampun!! Aku benar-benar tidak percaya. Aku kira angkatanku adalah angkatan yang damai, aman, tenteram, sentosa, dan sejahtera. Ternyata masih banyak orang-orang yang gila hormat dan suka menyiksa orang lain! Diam-diam, aku mengutuk temanku itu.


Dulu, saat aku masih kelas 7, aku juga tahu rasanya dimarahi dan dibenci kakak kelas. Bukannya aku pernah terlibat konflik dengan mereka, tapi dengan pengalaman forum jurnalistikku saja, rasanya aku sudah akan menyerah kalau aku sampai di-bully. Ditambah lagi dengan masa TK-ku yang memang bermasalah dengan sosialisasi dan sebagainya. Jadi, sekarang aku berpikir, kenapa repot-repot membenci adik kelas kalau dulu kau juga tak suka dibenci? Sungguh mengherankan.


Ada lagi cerita yang tak kalah menyakitkan. Jadi begini. Aku memiliki seorang teman. Temanku itu, dibanding teman-temanku yang lain, kondisi ekonominya bisa dikatakan kurang mampu. Uang jajannya hanya Rp 500,- perhari, dan itu membuatnya diejek teman-temannya. Pernah suatu hari, dia bercerita padaku tentang perlakuan orang-orang kepadanya. Dia sering diejek, dihina, dan ditertawakan. Bahkan ketika aku membantu mengerjakan tugasnya, temanku yang lain menatapku, bergidik, dan menunjukkan ekspresi jijik. Aku tidak percaya, di dunia yang katanya begitu modern ini, masih ada diskriminasi gara-gara status sosial seperti itu.


Sepertinya, itulah alasan utamaku kenapa aku tak mau mem-bully adik kelas. Simple: aku tak mau membuat adik-adik kelas membenciku karena mereka menganggap aku galak. Lagipula, masa-masa kelas 7 adalah masa-masa terindah (karena aku tak punya musuh, tak bermasalah, dan kelasku sangat, sangat kompak), dan aku rasa, pertemananku dengan anak kelas 7 bisa membawaku kembali ke masa-masa indah itu.


Jadi, sekali lagi, apa sih gunanya mem-bully adik kelas? Banyak teman-temanku yang dibilang "belagak" oleh kakak kelas, terkadang hanya karena masalah sepele. Juga, ada seorang temanku yang selalu mengomentari perilaku adik kelas yang lewat di depan dia. Pernah suatu saat, ketika aku sedang berjalan, seorang kakak kelas tiba-tiba menunjukku dari belakang sambil berbisik kepada temannya (entah kenapa, aku merasa santai saja). Di hari yang lain, seorang jurnalis junior yang sedang bekerja denganku untuk membuat mading, tiba-tiba pulang tanpa mengucapkan salam dan memalingkan wajah setiap ditanya.Ya ampun, perlukah semua perlakuan seperti itu? Kapan kegila-gilaan akan hormat bisa berakhir di setiap sekolah, kantor, lembaga, perusahaan, atau bahkan di lingkungan keluarga? Kapan asumsi prematur dari adik kelas tentang perlakuan kakak kelas bisa dihentikan?


Akhirnya, setelah menggerutu dan merenung, aku menemukan sebuah teori: Perlakuan kasar di sekolah, atau bullying, terjadi karena kesalahpahaman. Kakak kelas yang sombong akan merasa bahwa adik kelas selalu bersikap tidak sopan (dengan kalimat "Adik kelas zaman sekarang....."), sementara adik kelas yang pesimis akan menganggap bahwa kakak kelas selalu jahat, sehingga kedua pihak itu takkan bisa rukun. Adik kelas selalu memasang muka masam tiap kali melewati kakak kelas, dan kakak kelas selalu menyindir adik kelas dengan berbagai kata-kata yang bisa membuat orang berat hati.


Aku harap, suatu saat, masalah ini bisa berhenti. Aku harap di masa depan, ketika anakku akhirnya masuk SMP, perlakuan bully seperti ini akan berakhir. Aku berdoa bahwa tidak akan ada lagi diskriminasi antara si kaya dan si miskin, si pintar dan si bodoh, si populer dan si kutu buku. Aku ingin gaya rambut bukanlah hal pertama yang dilihat orang ketika mereka berkenalan denganmu. Satu hal lagi, aku harap semua orang di dunia belajar mengerti satu sama lain.


Amin.

TUNZA International Children and Youth Conference 2011...

Hello again, guys ^^ well, I only can play with my PC on the weekend, so I'm sorry for the delay... Now, I'm going to tell you about one of the greatest experiences I've ever had :)

On September 27, me and four of my friends went to (look at the title!) Tunza Conference at Sabuga, Bandung. I was there as a student from Bandung who welcomed the guests from around over than 150 countries! (Like, wow!)

So... I arrived at school at 6 AM, because my English teacher has planned to go to Sabuga at 6. Well, I knew it from the start that we will not go at 6; I've experienced too many delays in my life. When we finally went at 7 (yea, right) I was very nervous that we were going to be late.

Our "journey" from school to Sabuga was quite tiring. Right after we passed Dago area, my teacher suddenly forgot the way! We asked some men, and then we continued our journey.

At the conference, I saw soooo many kids, and teens, and adults from around the world! I got acquainted with kids from Brazil and Korea. They were nice, and friendly. I liked them. Especially the Brazilian girl because she was totally delightful and she couldn't stop smiling.

When we got inside the building, we rushed to Balariung Utama room because the opening ceremony was about to begin. We also met Vietnamese participants, and one of them said that I have a very beautiful name. Aww!

It was a little bit hard for us to find seats; most of them were full. Finally, we found a place on the left corner. I was sitting in the front seat all alone, enjoying the moment of being near to the stage. Yea, that was pretty cool.

After we waited for around 15 minutes (SEE? Another delay!!), the opening ceremony began. Oh My God!!!! It was AWESOME!! There were traditional dance performances from Saung Angklung Udjo (those dances really made me proud of being a Sundanese...:D), and a great performance from an acapella group called Jamaica Cafe. I was laughing so hard when they sang Keong Racun!! All the Indonesians were dancing and laughing.. Indeed.

Finally.... After we watched the performances for like 45 minutes... The Vice President of Indonesia, Mr. Boediono, arrived along with The Governor of West Java Region, Mr. Achmad Heryawan, the Minister of Environment, Mr. Gusti Muhammad Hatta and the President (wait, President, right?) of UNEP! We applaud really hard.

When we were allowed to take an hour break, me and my friend, Dena, decided that it was the right time for us to make new friends! Well, we met a 23-years-old participant and after we chatted for awhile, we took pictures with her. She's... gorgeous. She was also very nice and she asked about our school, our ages and stuffs. But, hey, people weren't always that good. I met a boy who was very ignorant to everyone. I wanted to be his friend because he's cute and all (hehe), but it was all gone when I tried to be friendly by asking his age and name but he ignored me. He didn't even smile. Well. Maybe that's better.

Me and Dena walked around Sabuga to greet people (haha! it was tiring!). We also took photos with Africans, Koreans, Russians, Singaporeans, Americans, Brazilians, and so on. The amazing thing is not about their nationalities and race (because I've known so many people from different nationalities from Facebook and Twitter and instant messengers), but more about their friendly attitude; they were very, very nice. Many of them asked us about our school, ages, country, everything. Some people dressed in their countries' traditional clothes, and it makes them looked very stunning and fabulous!

After walking around, I interviewed a few participants so that I can publish the interview as a school journalist :D my favorite interview was with a 14-years-old Korean girl. She was genius. She knew what she was doing and she was very sure about it. That, is what I love.

Last but not least, I met a Russian boy named George. He's 12 years old. BELIEVE ME, HE'S SOO CUTE!! LIKE, CUTE!!! He's gorgeous, his smile made everyone melted, and he's cute. He couldn't speak English very well (neither do I), so his mother helped him when I talked to him. Of course me and Dena took pictures with him! ;)

Finally, at 12 PM, we all went home. It was one of the most unforgettable moments of my life<33

HELLO!

HI! HELLO! CIAO! KONICHIWA! I'm Sarah, I'm 13, I'm in the 8th grade, I'm from Indonesia, and this is my new blog :)
Since this is my first post and the About Me box doesn't wanna work, I have to tell you a little bit about myself.


Actually, years before I made this blog, I once had the coolest blog ever named Cerita Sarah. It was my first blog, and I'm still thinking that no blog in this universe can beat it.
I made Cerita Sarah when I was in the 4th grade (yup, 4 years ago). At that time, Blogspot didn't look like this at all. I felt like I was the coolest kid in school because nobody had a blog but me! I promoted my blog to everyone -- my teachers, friends, family, EVERYONE -- until one day...
I forgot how to sign in. Wow, isn't that stupid? Yeah, I know. But I was just 9 years old, and it was easy for me to forget anything. I was so sad, so disappointed, and silly me, I didn't ask my mother how to sign in again. Since then, I never want to open that blog again, until now. I'm too sad.


Finally, an hour ago, I decided to start a new blog and forget about the old one. This blog, I'm pretty sure, will be the second best blog in the entire universe, and I will post anything like crazy.


Bye for now :)


P.S.: I sometimes write in English, and on the other times, I write in Bahasa Indonesia, because there are things that become really hard when I try to explain them in English. So please, try to understand this. :)