Yes, that's a TV!

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

Yesterday was kinda an adventurous day. Well, not that adventurous, really, I just said it to make it more dramatic.

What reeally happened was that my colleague, Rani, and I visited a friend, Duto, whose wife was giving birth to a lovely baby boy named Akhtar Ahmad Ramadhan. Akhtar means the chosen one--as told by the happy Daddy.

So, what's the adventurous side of visiting a newborn?

It was simply because we didn't know the location of the hospital that we were supposed to go to. I knew that it was somewhere in Cililitan but I didn't know where it was exactly. But then, it didn't stop us from going anyway.

So we headed to Cililitan. On the way we decided to get something for the lovely Akhtar. We chose PGC, a big mall in the area. And it was indeed adventurous 'coz we had no bloody idea where to find the thing. I mean, PGC is soooooooooooooo big!

But, these 2 moms finally got something very nice for Akhtar. A stroller, an orange cute stroller to take him to any places he wants to.

It was a cesar. It seemed like the mom was kinda disappointed. But, I believe it was for the best. Akhtar was born anyway, and he was sooo healthy. And, soooooooooooo cute! He was still inside the incubator located in a baby room with a dark glasses window. I took his pic anyway. Not a good one, but it was ok.

So, that was it.

Not so adventurous, is it?

You know me, Mrs. Exaggerating...

;D

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

1. From jstar: Holiday in Europe or Asia?

Both...I'm from Asia, yet I haven't visited any other country at all. And, I just love Europe with its beautiful places.

2. From sherle: How do you try to change a behavior pattern you don't like about yourself... whether it's chewing fingernails, overeating, smoking, or picking your nose?

Biting my lips...odd behavior, isn't it? I haven't found any way to change it yet. Any idea?

3. From tricia: Have you ever successfully completed a Sudoku puzzle?

Not yet try Sudoku...am I so left behind or what?

4. From caylynn: What website do you visit the most often?

Google to do the searchings and Yahoo to check out my e-mails

5. From michael morgan: What was your favorite thing about high school or college?

Hanging out with my friends in the canteen or cafetaria :D

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

I first had it on March 18, 2005. I wrote a short story titled Tears of a Pretty Girl.

Next I wrote some stories in Indonesian. Then I wrote Gone on April 12, 2005.

The next English story is No More Anger, written on June 23, 2005.

Then I didn't write for such a long time until right at almost the end of the year, I wrote Year End and New Year.

My first post in 2006 would be Lindsey and Ray : wishes flying away..., followed by Please End My Sad Misserable Gloomy Cheerless Life... in February.

And, in April I wrote I'm sorry, Sandy....

Only in July I started writing in English again, I love you too, James…

And today, I've just written another story, The Key to The House with The Windows Closed.

Most, or should I say, all are sad stories. Still wondering why...

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

Appetizer
Measured in minutes or hours, how much exercise have you had in the last week?

OMG...this question is killing me...I have to answer BIG ZERO while blushing out of embarastment

Soup
If you had to change your blog title to something else, what would it be?

I don't want to change it :D

Salad
Name one television show you watched when you were 9-12 years old.

Family Ties

Main Course
If someone gave you $50 to spend with the one condition that it had to be educational, what would you purchase?

Books!!! Can I have another $50, please? :D

Dessert
Do you tend to prefer dark colors, neutral shades, or lighter/pastel hues?

Lighter/pastel hues, of course...I'm a cuteyyyyy...

Check out other FFs...

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

1. Mama, my mom. She is a very good friend of mine. I wasn't so close to her when I was little since I lived with my grandparents since I was born. But then, later, when I was a teenage, I found out that she could make a great buddy!
2. Najib, my little brother. 99% of my deepest secrets are in his hands. Sometimes, he jokes about it but he never tells them to other people. I still trust him up 'til now.
   
3. Abi Dee, my hubby. I can't spend a day without chatting with him about what have happened to me during the day. Mostly, the chat ends up to a romantic one. ;o)
4. BabyHana, my lovely daughter. We are friends now. We will be friends tomorrow. We will be friends, forever!
   
5. Andini Astried. I knew her since I was at the elementary school. But we became good friends since we were in junior high. We fought once and didn't talk to each other for some time. But I couldn't stand it. I came to her in the library and asked her to be friends again. Up 'til now we are good friends altho she lives in another city.
6. Risma Yuliani. She's also a friend I knew in elementary school. We became closer when we did a magazine project together. We found so many similarities such as our big love in reading and books, our deep love in middle night phone calls, and many more. Now she lives in New Zealand but thanks to YM, we still keep in touch.
7. Iza Asnawi. She is a very creative person I knew at campus. She has plenty of wonderful ideas. We call her ideable. We shared middle night phone calls, too.
8. Ari, Nia, Devy, Widya, Rina, Maya, Chris, Sola (husband of Nia), Andri (husband of Ari), Uda Irwan (future husband of Widya). All are my friends from campus, too. With them, everything is always fun and great to laugh at. Whenever I need to laugh, I simply contact them for a hang out. And, I'll definitely laugh. You can find their smiley faces on this TT logo :D
   
9. My friends from Multiply.com. The internet is a lot more fun with them. I've known some of them less than 2 years, but they're like family already. I can't live a day without checking their posts up. And, some of them are helping me with my novel. ;D I'll tell you about it later.
   
10. My blogging friends. Yes, YOU! Blogging is more fun with your lovely posts. You inspire me, you make me laugh, you make me smile, you make me cry, you make me think, you might also make me add wrinkles because of the laughs and cries... :D I love you!
    
11. Dina, Alu, Venus, Ery, Aulia, Darmawan, Rino, Ade, Widi, and all my elementary school pals. We've known each other for years but the link to our hearts remain the same.
12. Rani and Mbak Estu. Both I've known less than a year but thanks to them, I love working for the company I'm working at, now.
13. And all the people whose name are not mentioned here yet you've been cheering up my days. Thanks for being my lovely friends!

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

It's been 6 days since I woke up and felt something weird inside my mouth. It got hurt even more when I opened my mouth to get the food into it during breakfast.

And then I found out that it was the damn mouth ulcer right in the left corner of my mouth, in between my upper and lower teeth.

And that hurts soooooooooooooooo much! I don't know how I got it. I don't think I bit it. Maybe simply lack of vitamin C.

Mom and the whole family told me to try some medicines. But I knew that none of those medicines would offer no pain. You know, it's something that you put right on the ulcer and then it's going to explode there and the next there you'll feel better.

But...I can't stand the explosion--I might be exaggerating here. So, foolishly choose to keep the ulcer inside my mouth and consume vitamin C.

Today, it's getting a little bit better. Yet, I still have to be careful while entering food into my mouth.

Yeah, I know, it's killing me but...I have a secret to tell...

The other stupid reason to keep this ulcer is because I thought it could help me avoid food and help me losing a little weight.

Could it?

Unfortunately...NO! Big NO!

Well, you see that French mule on top? It has no ulcer. I guess not. Hm...I hope not.

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

How do you eat an oreo cookie?

Lick half of the filling then eat the whole part

How long does it take you to eat lunch?

20-30 minutes

Caffeine or decaf?

Any will do...

Chicken or beef?

Chicken! I don't really like beef...

Pen or pencil?

Pen

Autumn or spring?

None of them. Here in Indonesia we only have 2 seasons, rainy and dry

Baseball or basketball?

None... :D

'Survivor' or 'The Amazing Race?'

None ;0)

Come up with one question I can ask our Monday Madness participants in the weeks to come.

When do you normally blog? Day or night?

Well, am I doing great on my 1st attempt of Monday Madness? ;o)

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

This is my first Friday's Feast.

I've been interested for so long but I've just understood how to do it today...

Hahaha...am I that dumb or what?


Appetizer
What was the very last song you listened to?

My Heart - a song using mixed language, Indonesian and English

Soup
What is one company/store/corporation you would recommend that people stay away from?

Can't tell here, I think...isn't it a bit rude?

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy having your picture made?

10 - Hahaha...I just love it! But, I don't always like result! ;-)

Main Course
Besides a bookmark, what is something you've used to keep your place in a book?

My baby's picture, my picture, phone-card voucher, bills, anything I can find...

Dessert
Name a food that you like that most people don't.

Well...well...well...it's hard to tell...may I pass this one please? ;-)

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

1. Being Judgmental - I don't like it if someone is being too judgmental about others. Claiming that another person's acts or thoughts are wrong.
2. Being Temperamental - Seeing someone easily getting mad over some silly things makes me wanna p*k*.
3. Being Too Ignorant - This kind of persons are unaware of their surrounding. Once in a while it's tolerable but if he does it most of the time, I feel like punching the person on his face!
   
4. Being Selfish - No matter how things will make others suffer, as long as he's happy, he wouldn't mind doing it. I can't live with such people.
   
5. Impoliteness - I really can't tolerate this...mostly I blame the parents for not teaching the kid to be polite.
6. Being Messy - It might hurt my eyes to see mess!
7. Being Thoughtless - This kind of people are almost the same with those who are selfish...If she wouldn't care if she might have hurt someone.
8. Unable to Ask for Forgiveness - I've known a person who finds difficulty in saying sorry even if she has made a mistake.
9. Giving Advice without Being Asked to - Not that I don't like getting advices from others but those who like giving one must be able to find out if the advicee is in the mood for one or not.
10. Underestimating - Oh I hate this one sooooooooooo much!
11. Being Smart-Pants - Like he's the only one who knows everything and others are too fool to know such things.
12. Being Pushy - I hate being pushed. I want to do things because I feel like doing it not because someone pushes me.
13. Being Snob - What the hell they've got to make them have the right to be snob?

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

My Grandma—whom I call Jidah—is a very important person in my life. I lived with her and Grandpa right after I was born. You must be wondering why I didn’t live with my parents instead.

No, there was no divorce or any separation. They were (and are) still happily married.

There were reasons, decent ones, yet I’m not sure I can share them here. Double sorry.

But that’s not what I want to talk about now. Today’s post is about my Grandma, my truly beloved Grandma.

She got diabetes. She got her left leg amputated 5 years ago. After that, she’s been experiencing ups and downs in her health.

Yet, she’s a strong woman. Always. She managed to see me got married (things that made me argue with her before) and to see me give birth to my BabyHana. And those moments are unquestionably beautiful.

4 generations, my Grandma, my Mama, me, and my daughter.

But, these days, she’s not too well. She got a part of her foot wounded and now it’s gangrenous. I’ve been worried so much.

Last Saturday, I spent the weekend at my MIL. We left the house without telling her about it. She would be very sad if she knew because Hana makes a very good friend of hers. And, not having her around will make her feel lonely.

BTW, in case you don’t know. Now, I live with her after, before, I lived in a small rent house.

It’s killing me to see her in pain like that. But, her being here with all of us is also wonderful.

Now, there’s nothing we can do here but trying to give the best treatment by visiting a good and famous doctor who can handle such a gangrenous disease and pray the best for her.
Sometimes, if I’m being egoist, I hope she’ll always be here for us. But, I love her so much that now I only want best for her. If God thinks for the time being she’s happier here with us, I’d be delighted. But even if not, I believe, God loves her more than we do here.

Jidah, I love you. I’m sorry for our debates on whom I had to get married with. Silly debates…but that’s what I miss from you…

(I wrote this last night, she got her blood sugar level dropped to 43. Thank God now it's better.)

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

My first experience on translating a novel. I enjoyed it eventho it wasn't an easy job to do since the genre is absurd. The writer, Baricco, uses symbols and amazing words that couldn't be understood if you read it only once.

Ocean Sea, it was as huge as the ocean. Complicated, indeed. Not to mention, deep and thoughtful.

I did all my best. Yet, there are plenty of editings. I hope that enrich the Indonesian version and even correct my mistakes in translating this best-seller novel.

Can't wait to see the other 2 novels I translated.

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

I’ve got this big obsession to get my novel(s) published. I’ve been having it for years now. Up ‘til now I’ve got my 4 short stories publishes in 2 magazines**. Each magazine 2 stories.

Now, I’m doing all I can to write and write and write to have at least one novel publishes.

But, it’s not been that easy. No, no, no…

I’ve been writing this novel that I adore so much both for its simplicity and complexity at a time. I gave it to a publisher and guess what, 7 months already and they neither say yes nor no. So, I took it back. Now, this novel is in the hands of my fellow pals. They’re reading it and promised to give me a feedback, a critic.

In the mean time, I’ve also got another novel, an unfinished one. I enjoyed writing it but I stopped writing since I had no bloody idea how to end it. Not a cheerful ending for sure, yet not a tearful one either. Yet, still undefined.

Because of that, I wrote another one, up ‘til now, I’ve gone not too far with it, only 9 pages. Yet, I enjoy writing it as well.

So, what’s the problem?

The problem is that I’m not sure either one of those novels will get published by a publisher. I don’t think they’re all market-minded ones. I wrote them all only for my own satisfaction.

I tried to write things for other people’s satisfaction which means market-minded. But I hated doing that. It wasn’t fun anymore. I write because I find joy in it. What’s the point of writing if I don’t like it then?

Then I tried to look back. And, guess what…I loved the process of writing my 4 published short stories. I didn’t try to make it as marketable as possible. I just wrote, sent it then they got published. Yes, that simple.

So, now, I think that’s what I’m going to do. Go to hell with other’s people satisfaction and the chance to get published. Now I’ll just write and write and send it to the publisher. Or, if I’ve got some money of my own, I think I’ll publish my novels by my self. J

*Just to let you know, I made this wonderful decision after I read some chapters in a book titled ‘Why I Write’ edited by Will Blythe and those lovely writers are so inspirational. Thanks, y’all!

**All my writings are in Indonesian. I think I’ll write one someday in English. Yet, I’ve written some extremely short stories in English, even French in my other blog, http://myfictionstories.blogspot.com. Yes, that’s also mine! Happy reading, y’all!

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.

I've just found out about it today. Inong passed away out of asthma attack that caused lack of oxygen supply to her brain. She got coma first. But now, she's gone.

Not only have I just found out about her death today. I also have just found out about her blog today.

But eventho I don't know her very well, I feel teribly sad. I don't dare imagining how the kids feel towards the fact that they have to lose their mother. Seeing their happy faces on the pics posted by Inong on her blog even makes me more hurt.

I know it's God's will and God's will is always the best. Yet, it's just hard for me to accept that she was just fine before. She still posted her last blog last Tuesday.

Well, there's nothing we can do now but pray for her and pray that the kids will be just fine and will also pray for Inong.

Good bye, Teh Inong. Eventho you're not here anymore, your existence won't vanish. It's still there in your lovely blog.

PS: Each link is a different blog.

Now, I'm blogging at http://NadiahAlwi.com/english, please visit me there. Thanks.