Catch Of The Day #14

Photograph by Dena

Die Hard Brooks

Brooks was my first love. When I wore out my shoes I thought I should be daring and trying different things. I checked other brands but they neither fit right nor looked right. So I sticked with Brooks. I checked different models but again none fit right, looked right or felt right. I ended up with the same model. I never felt so attached to a shoe before! I'm going to be in trouble if they discontinue Ravenna. I secretly crowned myself as Brooks #1 fan until I read about this runner couple who named their second born after the Seattle-based shoe company. Hello baby Brooks. You are literally born to run!

Wonder Woman

I was sitting in a doctor's waiting room when I noticed this couple, probably in their late 50s, sitting right across of me. For a good 40 minutes or so they sat motionless in silence. Yay! A rare opportunity to sketch live! The man was lost in his reading while the lady was busy texting with her mobile. I couldn't help but wonder how long they have been together to be so comfortable with each other to speak only in the language of unspoken love without any tangible tension between them.

Colorful Birthday

What is it about drawing on a forbidden surface that makes it so exciting? Is it the fact that we normally don't draw on it or is it the fact that we are allowed to break the rule that makes it so delightful? For its 41st birthday KDM, a non profit organization for street kids in Jakarta, let guests and children painted walls of their houses. It just brought out the kid in everyone! Especially the adults. It was written all over their faces. On some face it was literally painted. I repeatedly asked the person in charge before I painted because I just couldn't believe it. Really? I'm allowed to draw on those walls? Are you sure? She just grinned and gave me a brush. I felt giddy like a kid in a candy store.

Productive Procrastination

When I have blogger's block episode I often wander to world wide web wonderland to refresh my mind. Last night I stumbled upon Pinterest, totally mesmerized by it, intentionally deprived myself from 8hr sleep to collect all things about running from the web; art work, quotes, drawing, my own stuff, graphic poster, and more! It's like a wordless blog, a visual board for my obsessions. Everything I need to get inspired on one page. Love this! Word of caution, it's extremely addicting!

Heartbreaker

Dear Ravenna, in ten months we were together we've been through so much joy and pain. I had so much fun and I can't thank you enough for always supporting me through ups and downs. Did you know that our adventure cover almost 500km? I still remember the quiet white sandy beach and the warm sea breeze when we were in Gili Trawangan island. We had so many memorable trip didn't we? Things were awesome between us. Then you started giving me blisters on my left pinky continuously. And split nail on my right toe! I'm sorry but I can't live like this. It's time to move on. I love you so much and you will always be part of my life. I hope you understand and we can still be friends. Love | Outodbox

Monkey See Monkey Do

Unreasonable. Fun. Love to talk. Sociable. Deceptive. Fast learner. Problem solver. Playful. Witty. Love challenges. Wear one's heart on one's sleeve. Indifferent. Thrill seeker. Does these traits of monkey's birth year fit you Ferra? Or have you evolved to something else over the years? I think there is a tiny bit of monkey in me :-)
 

Hold Your Horses!

According to Chinese horoscope as a person who was born in the year of horse, I'm a type of person who is sociable & loves being in a crowd (so not true), extrovert (doubt it), loud (seriously?!), adventurous (kind of), impatient (so true), hardheaded (why is this a negative trait?), love the outdoors (very true), cunning (really?). I don't believe there are thousands or even million people who were born in the years of horse who have the same characters like described above. I think every individual is unique just like there is no finger print alike. In my opinion a person's traits are determined by two things. DNA to a small extent and life experience to a great extent. I may be born in the year of horse and has some of the characters imprinted on me for life but it's possible that over the years I evolve to the year of rabbit, or dragon, or dog, or all of the years combined. Change is good. Change is mandatory to grow your soul. 
  

Bib #4

Three days before my first trail running race I made a fuss about this and that. Delayed race pack, so not cool. No name or chips on the bib? No medal? No t-shirt? Bla bla bla. Then I ran the race. Tall pine trees. Pinkish upside down flower. Solitude run through quiet forest. Clean crispy air. Steep hills. Pain. Kisses from the wind. Sounds of gushing water. Mountain vistas. Chill temperature. High fives & laughter from tiny villagers. Sounds of birds. Soul cleansing muddy cold puddle. Rocky slippery downhills. Stairs! More pain. Blue sky. Dancing clouds. Facade of historic cave. No quitting thoughts even though I could barely run towards the end. Sure a medal is a nice reward but the journey itself and the feeling at a finish line are worth more than any medal. Will I spend money on a race without bib, medal, shirt or whatever stuff one usually get in a race? Absolutely!

Rain, Rain, Rain

It's raining cats and dogs ~English phrase
Sedia payung sebelum hujan ~ Peribahasa Indonesia
Dari pada hujan emas di negri orang, 
...lebih baik hujan batu di negri sendiri ~ Peribahasa Indonesia
I'ts Raining Men. Hallelujah! ~ The Weather Girls
I'm Singing In The Rain ~ Gene Kelly
January 2013 Rain ~ Jakarta  
 

I'm Hot!

I usually run with hat to avoid the sun's blazing heat. But often time, especially when I do long distance run, the heat is kind of trapped under my hat. And when my head gets really hot my brain starts playing tricks on me. Come on let's quit already! What's the point of doing this? This is insane. You will never make it! Now I run hat-less and armed with good sun lotions, a headband or bandanna to keep my hair tidy (Yup!  It's important to look neat even when I'm sweaty), and a 600ml bottled water to cool my head & my thirst. 

Prompt Me

The other day I was packing all my stuff I found this handmade book I made for Dena when she was in high school. I didn't know she used it for some sort of time table. 
I remember I often bugged her about the importance of using agenda to be organized. 
I depend on my agenda to be organized with time & work. I need to see the dates to set goals & plans. Dena has her own system which I don't quite understand. She can do without dates. But somehow it worked for her. I'm keeping this. A little reminder that my way or my standard of doing things is not the only way. It may work for me but not for other people. I should never enforce my standard on other people. 

One Tough Cookie

When Dena was in primary school she expressed her emotions through letters. Mostly she wrote when she went away somewhere without me or when she was mad at me. Now that she is in college she occasionally be drama queen and writes on my Facebook wall. Sometimes a week goes by and I didn't have any worries or thoughts about her at all. Not because I keep myself busy, but I know by heart she is fine and able to handle challenges. Or maybe I'm enjoying this empty nest thing a bit too much. :-)

Recyclepedia

When I was small encyclopedia was the google of the old days. My first encyclopedia set was Childcraft from World Book, 1973 edition. My favorite was #11: Make and Do. Then I graduated to Grolier's The American Peoples Encyclopedia. I wonder who still read encyclopedia these days? I still have them even though I never read them anymore. I keep Childcraft because I adore its illustrations and drawings. I use The American Peoples Encyclopedia to keep all my glued prints, paper or banner for my journal covers so they will be flat and straight when the glue dries. They make great paper weight. :-)

Childcraft Volume 11: Make And Do

Childcraft Volume 11: Make And Do

Book #1: IES Divers

I'm glad I am a visual learner so I don't have to read the instruction on page 92 of Making Handmade Book. I can just look at the picture and figure things out. A Sidebound binding or also known as Japanese Side stitch is easy. It takes less time to make than a Coptic binding. I love it! If you are not a visual learner and learn better by reading text click here.

Diagram from Making Handmade Book by Alisa Golden

Catch Of The Day #13

Doodles by Dena

Title

I rarely buy a book because of its title. Yes, a title will definitely will intrigue my curiosity but it never moves me to purchase a book until I saw this book on a shelf in an art store. I didn't even bother to scan the pages like I usually do. I just had to have it, grabbed the book, put it in my basket and proceed to the check out counter. My reading guts was right. I love it! I'm going to pick just twelve new ways to bind a book, one book for each month of 2013. Yay!

Red

I love gift in pretty packaging. The thought that someone takes his or her time to choose the right color, pattern and paper to present a gift always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Like drinking a hot genmai-cha tea in a rainy day. I keep everything that comes with a gift. My head spins with recycling ideas. Thank you Neny, you are as sweet as a candy apple.

First Sunday

5.00 am: Woke up. It was raining. Got up and changed into running short and sleeveless shirt, actually excited to go running in the rain. 6.30 am: Started running in Senayan. It was drizzling, chose to run in the rain instead under the cover of GBK. 7.02 am: Hit Sudirman, still drizzling, quite an empty street on a Car Free Day, ran in the middle of the road smiling, feeling a lot like a road runner. Beep! Beep! Point of return was the statue of Sudirman, was not in the mood to run uphill. On the way back got a high five from an old man on a bicycle. Didn't I see him running with no shoes last week? 8.09 am: Finished 12K, still drizzling, still smiling. I'm officially obsessed with running. Life is awesome!