How I cheated to achieve the posting above. I, as usual, changed the brightness and contrast a little, Then I moved the gull, removed some clutter from beside the cygnet and cropped to get the composition I wanted.

© Strictly All Rights Reserved. If you like my Photographs please respect me and remember that they are mine.

You can see a Slide show of all of my Northwood Photographs here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebfotos/sets/72157618909099414/show/

You can see all of my pictures on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebfotos

November 13^th – November 22^nd

The 13^th, the day after the competition, Brie and I caught a morning bus to Achuapa where we rolled in around 11. This marked the use of the more luxurious items that I tend not to use because I’m a cheapskate – like my fan and toaster over (big energy users). It’s nice to actually enjoy my own things, but I can’t ever convince myself to do so unless I have guests. Go figure.

After a couple lunches in the comedor, a bunch of ice creams, a batch of brownies (these were incredible), some chocolate cookies I made (this has become my safe bet now – enough so that people have started asking about the “amazing chocolate cookies” that I make), and a missed bus, Brie took off on the morning of the 17^th.

I had several errands to run that day, including turning in final grades, so I tallied the grades and turned them in to my counterparts. I only had 7 people fail out of 50ish, which I’m pretty pleased with. Yet in spite of this, when I told my students their grades I got a lot of “oooooh profe, that’s so little” responses. They seemed to think that I magically came up with the grades instead of them being the people who actually determined their grades. My class definitely hurt a lot of GPA’s, but hey – you don’t work, your grade suffers. This seems to be a concept that is very hard to grasp as grade inflation is definitely prevalent in some classes. Once my kids realised I wasn’t going to up their grade simply because they asked me to or if they paid me (as one offered), they decided to just let it be (but it took a while).

The 18^th, I worked a bit on my AVC (all volunteer conference) presentation. My boss and project specialist asked me to do the presentation since there was interest expressed from volunteers in other sectors. My initial reaction to the request was “Not a chance.” In spite of my adverse response, I decided to do it – how else am I going to grow? Generally, I only have reactions like that to things I don’t consider myself strong at. So, it’s a something difficult – the topic (business advising, which I don’t do a whole lot of) and speaking in front of my peers – so I took the opportunity to improve my ability in these areas.

That night, as I worked on the presentation some more, I received an unexpected visitor, which promptly crashed into my half open door. I had no idea what had happened – did somebody throw something at my door? It was then that I saw what it was that had happened – a bird crashed into my door. Since I have a fenced off porch it’d have to fly through first, this bird was either on a mission, or was SUPER confused. That being said, it was a whole lot more disoriented and confused after going headfirst into my door. Once up, it continued it’s reckless flying by flying at me (I ducked), and it smashed into my cabinets. It was at this point that I realised I was screaming and immediately stopped (I think…I might have continued). The bird continued it’s assault on its head by flying into my ceiling a handful of times before smashing into my wall, falling, and getting stuck next to my gas tank. I seized this opportunity to grab my camera and a sheet to try to get the bird out of my house.

My first attempt to get the bird with the sheet saw it wiggle out and fly underneath my table. After flying up and smashing his head on the table a couple more times (the room I’m in is getting smaller!), he (or she, who knows?) just sat on the floor a second to try to figure out what to do next – so I took a picture.

Gaining its bearings after getting out from next to the gas tank. Anybody have any idea what kind of bird this is?

Here, I tried to get him into the sheet, but he flew up onto the beam going across my ceiling. He was close enough to the door, so I grabbed the broom and tried to push him in the direction of the door – and it worked. He flew out the door but smashed into my bathroom doorknob:

Down and out after smashing into the bathroom door

I gave him a nudge and he flew right back into my house before I got him back onto the porch. He then made another break for the house, but I blocked the way – so he persistently flew into me until giving up and flying up on the beam supporting the roof above my porch. I shut the door and headed over with the broom to get him to go in the right direction (out the door). He took a slight detour and flew straight into the bars blocking my window, crashed to the ground then flew out of the porch – thus ending my unexpected cardiovascular activity for the night.

The 19^th, I had my last guest speaker in my class, Johani’s sister Tanita. She showed up and gave a SUPER brief presentation in the class before leaving. With that, my class in the public school officially ended. In between my classes, I went home and finished up my AVC presentation. When 11 finally rolled around, I went over to my private school to find out all my students had ditched class (for the second time in 2 months). They like to pull fast ones like that on me, so I told Tanita she wouldn’t have to give a presentation in my other class, and headed home where I took points off everybody’s grade. I was giving points to all the kids for participating (asking a question) in each presentation. However, since close to none of my kids had participated in any of the 3 previous presentations, their ditching the last class ended up lowering almost all their grades by 2% – and they wonder why their grades are what they are. Later I sent my AVC presentation in to Peace Corps where it got the green light, thus ending my activities until I actually went to AVC the following week.

While in the cyber that day, in addition to sending my presentation, I just did my normal browsing routine to see what’s going on in the world. Twin girls who live in the house of the people that call me terrorist on a daily basis were in the cyber as well. They’re about 7 and also enjoy calling me a bunch of things that are too graphic to write in a blog – in other words, they’re the most vulgar kids I’ve ever met in my entire life. They took advantage of my proximity by saying their rude comments, putting their hands in front of my screen, and other things while I was there at the cyber (this continued for around 45 minutes). Then one of the twins came up and started touching my arm…and I reacted. It was probably stupid, and I shouldn’t have, but I’d had enough. I gave her a shove back off of me and she immediately went over and started talking with her sister. They didn’t bother me for the last 15 minutes I was there, and left without bugging me anymore. I was worried because I know how things go with gossip in my town, so I was a bit worried about the consequences of shoving the twin. People in my town are brutal with gossip and it invariably turns into badmouthing individuals.

The rest of the day, I stayed in my house to avoid any immediate repercussions. This continued the 20^th and 21^st as well. Unfortunately, I had no good books to occupy this time with…at least I have a dog now (one that has eaten a chunk of hair off the middle of his tail).

The 22^nd, I gave Yuki a call for his birthday. However, since the cell phone company has restructured its service in such a way so they can screw over all their clients (Why wouldn’t they? They have no competition.), I had very little time (a minute) to wish him a Happy Birthday and see what was going on in his life. Luckily I’ll find out more when I go back to the States for a couple of weeks in December. Following his phone call, I got my house cleaned up, packed up, and headed to Malpaisillo.

This is another goauche resist. I have decided that I like this way of working and will be creating one every so often. The print of ink was so strong in this one that building up of color ended up looking  very simplistic and I didn’t appreciate it, at first. I looked at it for some time before completing it.  I went back into the background around his head and across the top and rubbed into it with a bristle brush and water. This gave the surface more of a textured and worn look to go along with the roughness of the ink design. I then added more water to the bird’s shadow to disturb the pigment there. It was too neat, at first.  This process of putting a painting up somewhere and looking at it for a few days has been something I have had to learn to do over time. When I first started painting, I just wanted to rush it done.

Directions for this technique can be found on Wet Canvas here.

I think I’d be okay if I never ate again.  I need to be checked into detox and I feel like I just had my last bird binge before I am forced to go into withdrawal.  Disgusting.  I really just want to go to the gym and return to my routine of normalcy, but I’m afraid my ass cheeks will hang out of my running shorts and there will be more jiggle than cranberry Jell-O.  Sick.  I’m contemplating just continuing this lifestyle of eating and watching movies and football and think I can buy a couch that will last me for at least a few years, giving me some time to grow.  When the couch is smaller than my ass, then I will know it is time to order a new one.  “Stop judging me,” I’d say, my mouth full of potato chips, “I ran a marathon.”

Ivy Jacobsen

My friend sent me a Youtube link yesterday that I couldn’t watch due to college application work. However, I finally decided to take a look at the video once she told me that it had something to do with a nearly extinct bird species called the kakapo (watch it!). In this video, some New Zealanders film the last remaining male kakapo parrot. When this bird dies, the entire species goes extinct. Suddenly, the photographer is “attacked” by the parrot. But actually, he isn’t “attacked.” Instead, he’s being shagged (yes I know) by the rare parrot. For those of you who do not know what being shagged is, perhaps you should watch the video. I find it really interesting how the parrot is so aggressive in attempted mating because he is the last of his kind on the entire planet. The question I cannot help but ask is whether the parrot has become desperate in reproduction due to a need to keep his species alive or due to the lack of female birds. If it is the former, how does the bird know his species is dwindling? If it is the latter, does the bird actually enjoy it? The commentary to this video makes the bird seem human in a way: For example, the parrot is called “old fashioned” with “sideburns” and a “Victorian Jenkins face”. But most importantly, the parrot’s mating behavior quite resembles that of some human beings.

Birdhouses are so cute, aren’t they? Little homes for little critters. Someone’s mamma thought so, too, so he asked me to make one in cake-complete with critter. Armed with wild ideas and a Wilton house pan, I set forth to create mamma’s passion in cake-despite the horrible heat and humidity and a great lack of central air. The last part’s gonna be important. Remember it and be kind, k?

You can find the pan here:

http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E3191DF-475A-BAC0-53BA3BD42B6F8C98&killnav=1

I made 4 houses and skewered them mightily to a double layered covered foam core board base. Yes, 4 houses. I wanted it to be square shaped and that takes 4 houses. Now you know why they were skewered mightily. So great did I skewer that the delivery sheet included a diagram for removal.

Everywhere there’s an arrow, there’s a skewer and they were all inserted at an angle and had to be pounded into the board below, with the exception of the one in the birdhouse door. Don’t put the birdhouse door skewer in just yet, though. We’ll do that later. Each house was torted and filled with cream cheese icing, and then the houses were glued together with more cream cheese icing. The whole shebang was then iced in cream cheese icing. Do you get the feeling cream cheese icing is important to the tale? That’s ‘cause it is.  Back to the cake:  I think that’s all you need to know before we get started on the décor. If not, holla’.

Once the cake is upright and sturdy, find a round object the size that you want the “hole” to be and press it into the cake to mark the area. Dig it out as much as needed.

From here, we start with the fondant. You will need white, teal, yellow, orange, and lilac fondant.  I made a mistake which I often make when adding gum-tex to fondant. I added it when the fondant was in the liquid stage instead of kneading it in once all the powdered sugar is added. This creates clumps. I dunno why, but is shore do. However, no problemo for this cake. It just adds to the authenticity of the wood look I’m creating. If you don’t like that look, add the gum-tex at the proper time.

Roll out the white fondant. Cut a circle the approximate size of the hole you created and stick it in there. It will get messed up, but do it anyway. I hate to muck up something alone. When that’s ready, compare your pan to the actual cake to check for size and then cut out 2 pieces of white fondant for the front and back using the pan as a guide. Mark the top and bottom edge of your pieces for even lines. Using a straight edged something that’s food safe, press board lines into the fondant. Now it’s ready to be applied to the cake. Expect the fondant to stretch. Just get it onto the cake the best you can and trim as needed. Press the fondant into the bird hole and smooth ‘til pretty.

Measure the sides of the cake from the bottom edge of the roof line down, cut 2 pieces of fondant, make the board lines again, and stick those onto the sides. Once those are on snugly, go ahead and put in the birdhouse door skewer.

I know you’re asking, “Why is the frosting so lumpy?” No air conditioning and cream cheese icing, that’s why.  Try not to obsess about it. Not a thing I can do about it but hope it doesn’t show thru the fondant so let’s move on to the fencing, huh? Cut out 4 more rectangles- each the width of the side where you will be placing the fence. The height is up to you. Cut these rectangles into boards- each the same width. Now you have sticks and they need turned into fence boards. To do this, cut the tops of each one at an angle like so:

The boards need joined, so cut rectangular strips to go across them once they are on the cake, measuring the circumference of the cake so you know how much you will need. You will need this amount twice. Apply the boards and then the joins to the cake like so:

As you can see, my fencing stops at the door. It was a height thing. Your results may vary.

Front, back, sides, fencing: it must be time for the roof. Wad up the rest of the white fondant, and seal it in a baggie to keep it fresh and soft. Roll out the teal fondant and cut circles- approximately a crap ton.

These will be applied similar to real shingles. Start at the bottom and work your way up.

Part way through, I realized it would work better if I also put shingles along the side before working upwards. This helped me plan the spacing. As you can see, you are going to work your way across the roof, placing the next row of shingles between the shingles of the previous row. Otherwise, it will look weird. Go ahead, go outside and check your own roof. The seams are staggered. They should be the same on a cake house, too.

Again, like a real roof, you have to cap it with a row of shingles:

While you have the teal out, go ahead and cut out the flower box. Roll out bits of white, yellow, and purple, and using a flower plunger cutter thingy, cut out flowers. Arrange all to your liking on the front of the house. Repeat for back, if desired.

So far, it’s been fairly simple: cut and apply, cut and apply. Now we’ll get down to the harder part: the bird. My bird is wacky, but that’s what the client asked for so that’s what he’ll get.  First the picture, then the explanation; at least as much as I remember. I used a picture to guide me and I found it on cakecentral in the galleries. Here he is in progress:

Roll one square teal oval for the body and head. Use the non-pointed end of a skewer to make his belly button.

Roll 2 white fondant balls for the eyes and cover those partially with teal for the eyelids.

For the feet, I used orange fondant and a flower cutter and removed the extra petals.

The wings were created from a rectangle. I rounded one end then used a pointed fondant tools to push in 2 areas on the other end to make it look similar to a wing.

The tuft of hair was created with a clay gun. I made a thin round strand, cut it in pieces, and then joined them together by squooshing.

The beak is 2 triangles of fondant. Before placing one triangle on top of the other, roll teeny balls for the teeth. Place the teeth on top of the bottom triangle, then place the top triangle and lightly press the whole shebang together. Press the non-pointed end of a skewer lightly into the beak to create the nostrils. After that, let it dry with 1/3 of it hanging over a low edge so it dries with a slight curve.

When all that is complete, mark the pupils with a black food marker and join all the pieces with piping gel. Keep the extra hair tufts in case of breakage. Let the food marker dry before you put it all together or you may be giving your bird the bird if it smears.

All that’s left now is put your wording on the board and place the bird. Ta-da! Not exactly a Rockin’ Robin in his ‘hood, but it’ll do.

To answer your remaining questions, the weather played a huge part in the pain-in-the-behind-ness of the creation of this cake. The frosting made everything slide. The fondant stretched out of shape and didn’t want to stay put. It was cream cheese frosting so I had to be very aware of how long it was out of the fridge, too. I kept putting the cake in the ‘fridge to harden, take it out and work on it for 5 minutes, repeat ad infinitum. It took a lot long longer than it should have, it became and stayed shiny, and I never did get it to look as professional as it should have looked. The weather is totally beyond my control. I have no idea what the weather is going to be when I agree to make a cake, so it’s a crap shoot. Nice clients understand this. Not-so-nice ones get their cakes from someone else. :) My client, and his mother, was very happy with the cake, and in the end, that’s all that counts. That doesn’t mean I won’t harp on getting central air, but it does show you that sometimes all you can do is all you can do, and no amount of complaining is going to make it perfect or make it take less time.

Happy Dry Cool Weather Caking!

or at least my computer is back and up and running – and OH! the joy! I will be blogging again and i will be stumbling and I will enjoy wathing Glee online again

anyways – Whilst having nothing to do since my life apparently is lived through my computer, and otherwise only consist of working for the man and sleeping, I re-found my creative side (or what ever you call it without being all girly about it)

Yes – it’s paper, and I’m cutting it… into shapes and stuff with stuff… First one was made because I was attending a party with a bird theme (no story, sorry – to weird and to drunk) and the other because I needed something for the bare wall in my “living room/office”.

and what did I listen to while i was cutting you say? – well… right now it’s Modern Drift by Efterklang… it’s the soundtrack of my state of mind these days and really makes me mellow and comfy

check it out here

all for now and untill next time

By Annie

I’ve recently finished a whole lot of hats, so you can expect a lot of new-hat-posts in the coming days. I really like this one, because my favorite animal is the penguin.

You can find this hat on my Etsy shop – just $10 for one lucky penguin lover!

I just completed my first Research Paper that is now available on my Research Paper section of my blog.

The paper is titled “Why The Behemoth is Unlikely to be a Dinosaur”

In this paper I use the sexual reproduction system of dinosaur to demonstrate how the behemoth is unlikely to be a dinosaur as many Young Earth Creationist claim.

Do enjoy.

Moorhen

 

Moorhens normally appear to have a completely black plumage with streaks of white on the wings and tail.

The low angle and brightness of the sunshine when this picture was taken have shown up the blue tint in the bird’s dark feathers.

FYI, Ketua LEAF dan Ketua BIRD waktu kelas 1 dulu adalah partner ujian. Saya dan Ketua LEAF duduk depan belakang karena nomer NIS kami berurutan. PARTNER UJIAN. Yang berarti di nilai rapor kelas 1 saya ada campur tangan dia, dan begitupun sebaliknya. Tapi sekarang malah begini.

Wakil ketua LEAF dan Ketua BIRD adalah teman sebangku sejak kelas 1 semester genap sampai sekarang. Kami berfikir bersama, dan saling membantu. Ketua BIRD memumpuni di pelajaran Fisika dan English. Wakil Ketua LEAF peserta OSN Biologi, dan cerdas cermat Jepang. Kami saling membantu. Setidaknya ada keringat dia di nilai Biologi dan Jepang saya, begitu pun sebaliknya. Tapi sekarang jadi begini…

Sedangkan apa yang Donny, Iffan, dan Kukuh lakukan untuk BIRD pun tidak salah. Mereka benar – benar melindungi keberadaan saya.

Mereka selalu mendukung saya, “Jangan takut bu ketua, ada kami disini”.

Namun saya tidak bisa tegas, karena saya selalu terbayang akan Ketua dan Wakil Ketua LEAF.

“Udah lo lebih baik diem aja Jas, kami tau posisi lo, biar kami aja”.

Saya sadar saya gak boleh diem aja. Saya gak boleh biarkan mereka sendirian.

Raja bergerak belakangan.

Tapi kalo gini saya seperti seorang putri dilindungi.

FU*K, saya kesal dengan diri sendiri.

Sejalan dengan ini, pergolakan di dalam tubuh LEAF masih terus berlanjut. Mereka saling membuka aib di Facebook diikuti pertanyaan yang berdatangan dari kakak kelas dan adik kelas.

BIRD vs LEAF

BIRD vs LEAF

BIRD vs LEAF

29 November 2009. Saat saya check inbox facebook saya, ada message dari Teman sebangku saya, dia mengirim message ke saya, kukuh, iffan, dan donny.

Intinya dia bilang : “Kok gara-gara ada masalah ini kita jadi renggang ya?”

OMG OMG OMG,  enggak sadar juga dia, siapa juga yang bikin renggang. Grrwwrrr.

Pengen teriak rasanya.

Sampai sekarang diantara kukuh, Iffan, dan saya, tidak ada satupun yang membalas. Takut salah perkataan. Kita lagi nunggu Donny pulang gereja.

Hari selasa besok Rapat lagi. Tunggu saja apa yang akan terjadi nanti

25 November 2009. Hari itu hari Rabu. Setelah perayaan hari guru akan ada rapat pensi di lantai 3, ruang seni  budaya.

Pengurus LEAF, kami pengurus BIRD, dan pihak indepen berkumpul.  Ya, akan ada voting ulang tema. 2 Tema. Yaitu Tema dari LEAF, dan Tema dari PI.

Tapi ada yang aneh, sangat aneh. LEAF membawa seluruh pengurus kelas 10 untuk mengikuti voting. Padahal saat rapat I dan rapat II kelas 10 tidak kelihatan batang hidungnya sama sekali, tiba – tiba mereka ikut voting kali ini !

Apa bloggers bisa baca pikiran saya waktu itu?

Ya, LEAF membawa pasukan supaya tema mereka menang !

Liciknya…

Disitulah penyebab keributan. Kami BIRD, dan PI tidak setuju dengan kehadiran kelas 10 disitu. Adu mulut pun terjadi. Jelas BIRD dan PI mencekal tindakan LEAF tersebut.

Sumpah deh, kepala saya mau pecah saat itu. Saya tutup telinga, mereka saling teriak, saling bentak, saling sindir, panas panas panas.

Tiba – tiba sampai suatu ketika saya disuruh maju sama xxxxxdari LEAF. Dia membentak saya, menyuruh saya membeberkan semua yang yang terjadi saat 2 hari lalu. Saat saya di ruang LEAF sendirian, saat saya ditekan kala itu, saya disalahakan sendirian. 1 vs 7.

Saya takut, saya pusing, saya blank. Apa yang harus saya katakana. Saya lihat gustian as ketua pensi benar – benar tidak dihargai kala itu.Kalo begini terus gak akan selesai rapat ini.

Akhirnya dengan terbata – bata saya katakana 20% apa yang terjadi saat peristiwa 1 vs 7. Mengapa 20%? Karena saya sadar, jika saya beberkan semuanya, rapat ini tidak akan selesai, yang ada malah perang  perang dan perang.

Teman – teman BIRD saya sempat kecewa, mereka bilang “kenapa lo ga bilang semuanya aja sih mumpung di depan kelas 10, biar mereka tau jahatnya LEAF”.

Tapi akhirnya mereka mau mengerti setelah mendengar penjelasan saya. Adu mulut pun dilanjutkan.

Perlawanan dari BIRD diwakilkan oleh Donny dan Kukuh. Dari PI ada Yao dan Nana.

FYI Donny itu keren sekali kalo bicara, orang ngomong 3 kata, dia balas 10 kata sedangkan Kukuh jago ngeles. Lalu Iffan memanfaatkan keributan dengan mendatangi kelas 10 dan berkampanye kemudian anggota BIRD yang lain saya suruh mencatat setiap detil rapat yang terjadi dan juga pilih tema yang benar-benar bagus, paling tidak kalo LEAF bisa bawa anak kelas 10 belom tentu tema mereka menang.

Finally, Gustian as ketia pensi turun tangan. Diputuskan kelas 10 tetap ikut rapat, namun hanya perwakilannya saja, 5 orang. Oke kami setuju. Lalu PI diwakili Yao mulai mempresentasikan Tema mereka, dilanjutkan tema dari LEAF. Selanjutnya pemungutan suara.

Hasilnya, Tema dari PI menang telak 29 – 11 dari pada tema LEAF. Rapat diakhiri, saat itu air muka LEAF sangat tidak enak untuk dilihat.

Setelah kejadian tersebut, terjadi berbagai perpecahan di dalam tubuh LEAF, sebagian ada yang memihak keluar, sebagian ada yang tetap dengan prinsip superior mereka. Padahal yang namanya panitia pensi, mau dari Rohis, Rokris, LEAF, BIRD, atau dari luar semuanya setara, karena pada dasarnya Pensi itu adalah acara sekolah bukan acara LEAF. Tapi beberapa dari mereka masih mikir pensi itu LEAF yang ngatur.

Waktu itu, tiap saya buka homepage fb yang ada malah status – status para LEAF yang malah terkesan buka aib di fb.

Udah gitu, mau saya masalah ini diselesaikan secara internal aja gitu kek. Tapi ini malah engga, merek malah berkoar – koar sengaja mempublikasikan ke khalayak ramai.

Baru saja saya turun ke lantai satu, tiba – tiba ada orang nanya, “Jas, tadi rapat BIRD ama LEAF berantem ya?”

Oh Gosh, jelas saja gossip beredar begitu cepat. Jika adik kelas atau kakak kelas bertanya ke saya tentang BIRD vs LEAF , saya Cuma bisa jawab “Engga berantem kok, BIRD sama LEAF kerja sama, Cuma beda pendapat aja”. Tapi mereka, para LEAF malah bikin status terus terusan di fb.

2 hari setelah itu. Teman sebangku saya balik dari tugasnya, teman sebangku saya yang jadi wakil ketua LEAF. Teman sebangku saya mendengarkan semua perkataan teman – teman LEAF-nya, Teman sebangku saya termakan omongan teman-teman LEAF-nya, Teman sebangku saya tidak lagi ingat dengan saya, Teman sebangku saya tidak lagi menghomati perasaan saya. Padahal saya selalu menghormati perasaan dia. Dia sebagai sahabat saya, dia sebagai teman sebangku saya, bukan dia sebagai LEAF. Tapi inilah yang saya dapatkan, perakuan seperti ini yang saya dapatkan.

Sakit hati saya.

24 November 2009. Mau tidak mau saya ceritakan hal yang terjadi kemarin ke kukuh dan iffan. Benar firasat saya, mereka marah. Saya minta tolong untuk menyelesaikan masalah internal mereka dengan LEAF, karena ada salah satu LEAF yang gak suka dengan Iffan & Kukuh. Saya beri hak otonomi kepada mereka untuk mengurusnya, karena kalau masalah internal bergabung dengan masalah kelompok tentu akan menjadi rumit bukan? Juga saya mohon pada mereka untuk sabar.

Saya : “Udah biar gue aja yang nyelesain masalahnya sama mereka, gue ketua, ini tugas gue. Kalian ga usah ikut-ikutan, selesain masalah lo sama si xxxxx (anak LEAF yang punya masalah sama iffan dan kukuh.

Kukuh : “Tapi ga bisa gitu dong jas, Lo itu kemaren sendirian, wajar aja lo ga bisa perfikir. Lo wakilin nama BIRD kan? Tapi tanpa pesetujuan anggota, berarti itu pelanggaran.

Saya : “Pokoknya kita jangan bergerak dulu, diem aja dulu lah. Ikutin apa mau LEAF aja. Nanti gue yang urus”

Saya berbicara seperti itu padahal saya sendiri gak tau mau berbuat apa. Sampai suatu ketika saya memberi tahu hal tersebut ke Donny. FYI Donny juga BIRD, dan ternyata dia marah besar. Saat itu juga dia langsung ke ruang LEAF meminta penjelasan dan membuat perhitungan.

ASTAGA, KENAPA JADI GINI !!!

Kepala saya mau pecah, apa yang akan Donny lakukan disana. Saya takut oh tuhan, saya ga mau ada perselisiha. Kukuh dan Iffan mencegah Donny, tapi dia tetep maju.

Saya dilantai 2 saat itu. Saya juga mau ke ruang LEAF tapi dilarang sama Donny.

Karena Raja itu jalan belakangan.

Tuhan mendengarkan doaku kala itu, ternyata LEAF sedang sibuk dengan rapat Hari guru, sehingga upaya Donny pun gagal. Dan saya coba marahi Donny waktu itu.

Saya     : “Maksud lo apa sih, mikir ga sih apa yang lo lakuin tadi efeknya fatal. Pikir dulu sebelum bertindak!”

Donny : “Gue ga terima lo digituin Jas, mereka bertindak terlalu jauh”

Saya     : “Untuk masalah dengan LEAF biar gue yang selesaikan nanti. Lo ga usah bikin masalah tambah parah:

Donny : “Gue tau lu ketua, tapi BIRD bukan cuma lo doang! Kita lo anggap apa woy”

Dan jujur, apa yang dikatakan Donny emang benar, selama ini saya melakukan apa-apa sendirian, sehingga saya fikir kesalahan yang LEAF katakan waktu di ruang mereka adalah salah gue. Padahal gue punya temen-temen, I have birds beside me .( Birds adalah sebutan untuk pengurus BIRD).

Donny : “Jujur gue gak terima ketua gue diperlakukan seperti itu. Lo mewakili kita, tapi saat itu bahkan gue ga tau kalo gue diwakilin, bukan gitu caranya Jasmine. Bukan 1 lawan 7 orang”

Saya     : “Tapi gue Cuma ga mau ada kekisruhan…”

Donny : “Dimana –mana RAJA BERGERAK BELAKANGAN Jas, pasti anak buah yang mati duluan. Kalo gini caranya, mereka langsung nyerang elo. Kalo Raja mati duluan udah pasti kalah. Cara mereka salah”

Saya : “Tapi jangan langsung datengin ke Ruang LEAF gitu aja dong, fikir dulu matang-matang”

Donny : “Gue tau jas, masalah ini harus cepat diselesain, kalo kelamaan malah makin gak bener. Gue tau lo Ketua, tapi LO TETEP PEREMPUAN. Mana bisa 1 lawan 7 di kandang mereka pula. UDAH LO TENANG AJA BIAR GUE YANG URUS !”

Donny langsung pergi, waktu itu air mata saya langsung meluncur. Dikoridor lantai 2. Saya nangis. Perang dimulai kawan. Saya nangis ga berenti. Kukuh dan Iffan nemenin saya disitu.

Kukuh : “Jas, ga usah nangis. Biar kita selesain masalahnya.”

Saya     : “Tapi gak gini caranya, kalo begini jadinya pasti bakal perang, gue ga mau berantem sama LEAF”

Iffan     : “Iya tapi jangan nangis disini, mereka senang liat lu nangis ntar”

As you know Pria itu dasarnya cuek, tapi kalo mereka udah liat air mata cewe, jadi lain cerita. Saya ngerti banget posisi Donny saat itu, saya ngerti perasaan Iffan dan Kukuh waktu itu ketika melihat saya nangis. Mereka makin makin makin makin kesal.

Saya merasa bersalah nangis waktu itu, bukannya bikin masalah adem, malah bikin anak buah saya makin panas. Tapi coba bloggers di posisi saya, di otak saya sudah terbayang perselisihan macam – macam. Jadi gini, wakil ketua LEAF itu temen sebangku saya, saat itu dia gak ada ditempat karena ada urusan diluar sekolah. Dan jujur saya sangat sangat menghormati prasaan teman saya ini. Saya tidak mau buat teman sebangku saya kecewa. Tapi kalo saya lihat anak buah saya, masa saya mau melepas mereka semua? Mana tanggung jawab ketua kalo begitu?

Pikiran saya bergejolak, saya benar – benar bimbang. Saya sih tidak peduli mau diapain sama LEAF, mau 1 vs 7 kayak kemaren, mau dikeroyok kek, mau disuruh-suruh pun saya terima – terima aja. Tapi anggota BIRD yang lain tidak terima saya diperlakukan seperti itu. Ketua yang mereka sayangi diperlakukan dengan tidak dihargai.

Hati saya galau saat itu. Saya mau berdiri dipihak mana?

-          Saya terus melakukan sikap menghormati teman sebangku saya as wakil ketua LEAF, atau

-          Saya menghadapi ini semua bersama BIRD

Ternyata setelah saya pulang sekolah hari itu, Donny masuk ke ruang LEAF sendirian. Semacam membuat perhitungan dengan mereka.

Disitu saya merasa, saya bukan Raja yang mengatur strategi, tapi saya seperti seorang putri yang dilindungi.

Esok harinya ada rapat pensi, dan itulah klimaksnya. Kami bertengkar, adu mulut dihadapan anak kelas 1. Saling menekan dan menjatuhkan. Dan sekali lagi saya merasa, saya bukan Raja yang mengatur strategi, tapi saya seperti seorang putri yang dilindungi.

CHAPTER 1 : Kacang Garuda

12 November 2009. Awal cerita, BIRD sedang mencari logo yang bagus untuk pembuatan Lencana. Dari 3 pra-logo, ada salah satu logo yang bergambar burung garuda.

Donny  : “Gimana kalo di kaki garuda ditaro gambar kacang?”

Saya : “Lu pikir ini Kacang garuda”

Iffan :  (ngakak)

Donny : “Gimana kalo di kaki garuda di kasih tulisan LEAF?”

Saya : “eh parah, lo kira LEAF itu kacang”

Iffan  : “Kacang ko lawan Garuda” (peseta Cicak ko lawan Buaya)

Sontak semua yang disitu (Donny, Iffan, dan saya) ngakak. WAKAKAKA.

Ada – ada aja lagian. Nah teman sebangku saya itu wakil ketua LEAF. Awalnya dia gak ngerti, tapi tiba – tiba dia ngambil tasnya, dan merapihkan benda – bendanya, lalu pergi meninggalkan saya.

Jelas kami bercanda saat itu. Tapi teman sebangku saya menganggapnya lain.

Dan bukannya kesalahpahaman ini diselesaikan, dia malah pergi. Berkali – kali Donny dan Iffan minta maaf, tapi dia cuekin. Yang ada malah dia mengancam, “Lo mau gue laporin LEAF?, makanya diem aja deh!”.

Hari itu hari ulang tahun saya, saya kira “ngambeknya Temen Saya” itu bohongan biar bikin saya panik. Tapi ternyata teman saya marah beneran.

Tapi keesokan harinya dia malah sok  – sok nyapa, dan sok enjoy. Saya bingung, saya merasa dipermainkan. Kemarin dia nyuekin saya, kenapa sekarang gini?

Padahal masalah Kacang garuda kemaren belom clear.

Saya, Iffan, dan Donny pun jadi bingung, kalo bahas masalah kemaren takutnya Teman sebangku saya ini melakukan ancamannya, yaitu bilang ke LEAF. Tapi kalo gak dibahas ya jadi gini, gak jelas.

Sejak saat itu kami jadi lebih sadar diri, kalo lagi ngomongin BIRD lebih baik jangan di depan LEAF.

Sejak saat itu pula, saya jadi agak ngeri sama teman sebangku saya. Dari pada saya salah ngomong lebih baik saya diam bukan?

Namun ternyata, teman sebangku saya ini bilang soal logo garuda itu ke teman – teman LEAFnya. Alhasil perang dingin pun terjadi.

Saya jadi jarang ngobrol dengan teman sebangku saya, saya malas, nanti yang ada malah dia jadi ngambek.

Dan menurut saya inilah cikal bakal perselisihan BIRD vs LEAF.

Friday October 2nd, 2009

Dunno what these gardens are called but they’re near the ‘G. 8:02pm.

Saturday October 10th, 2009

A bird on my clothesline. 5:15pm.

Friday October 16th, 2009

Moths. 6:40pm.

Tuesday October 20th, 2009

A bee who was waiting for a train at Prahran. 5:04pm.

Friday October 30th, 2009

Big storm. Sometime around 11:30pm.

Stephane from Scrap Coloring is using the bird for an online colourbook app for children. Check it out. And if your child loves drawing, then remember to bookmark the site. It’s a great resource for children learning art.

Here are my latest addition images for microstock : Animals

BABY AKA BIRDMAN FILLS ROLLING OUT TV IN ON HOW THINGS WILL BE ONCE LIL’ WAYNE GOES TO JAIL & THE LONG AWAITED HOT BOYS REUNION! Footage by; JUSTIN DENNIS