Sunset on the Roof

Hello!
This is the beauty of living in a city: enjoying the sun sets on the roof!
Oh my! =)
I love the pink ray of lights, and that bold brave electric wire pole.

So, enjoy the sunset!

more sky watch pics around the globe here,
and

HAVE A LOVELY FRIDAY!

Leaving March....

The month of March is a special month for me.

March has brought me the two beloved Man in my life, my Father and Gabriel.
Last year's March, I fulfilled my lifetime promises to these two Man of my Life.
This year's March, I witnessed my Father's death that made me blissfully amazed that death, indeed, can be so peaceful, beautiful, and compassionate.
And this year's March also brought me a little yet promising hope from the one I haven't heard for a while.

I hate to leave the month of March. But... Gabriel is right, it would be unfair for April. I know deep down inside my heart, April brings its own lights. The call of my Life is approaching.

Here is a beautiful song, which is the soundtrack of my Today.

The Call

It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder
Til it was a battle cry

I'll come back
When you call me
No need to say goodbye

Just because everything's changing
Doesn't mean it's never
Been this way before

All you can do is try to know
Who your friends are
As you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon
And follow the light

You'll come back
When it's over
No need to say good bye

You'll come back
When it's over
No need to say good bye

Now we're back to the beginning
It's just a feeling and no one knows yet
But just because they can't feel it too
Doesn't mean that you have to forget

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger
Til they're before your eyes

You'll come back
When they call you
No need to say good bye

You'll come back
When they call you
No need to say good bye

(by Regina Spektor, the original soundtrack of Narnia Prince of Caspian)

Thank You

Dear all, my loveliest shining fellows..
I thank you so much for your beautiful thoughts and encouraging comments.
Each of you are the light that warm up my heart.

Pic: Taken by Isna, I edited with Photoshop CS3

My Tears

I cry not of sadness.
My tears are tears of happiness, peace, and thankful.
I witnessed such a perfectly designed life given to my Father.
And I witnessed that, indeed, prayers are answered.

It has been two weeks since my Father passed away.
He passed away beautifully and peacefully.
He departed to the next life with happiness in his heart.

I trust my father to the Soul of the Universe, who created my Father, who created me.
He is now in the Best Hand.

~~~~~~~~~

Some fairies worked hard last night embroidering these little leaves and petals.

My tears are tears of happiness, peace, and thankfulness.

Patience is required in order to put the crystal and diamond one by one on this leave and petals....

And I am standing here bravely and confidently,
ready to continue my wonderful shining life blissfully.

~~~~~~~~~

Some more pictures here:

I Heart You too!!!

Ow.. I am soooooo flattered... I receive this award of I ♥ This Blog from Pacey of Today's Blah. I thank you soooooo much Pacey, especially for having been such a lovely friend giving me support and motivation in this wonderful blogland.

And I would also love to thank other shining friends who have been visiting me all this time with such a wonderful touch, encouraging comments, supporting me with such a warm hugs, lovely 'hello', ..... that truly shines a wonderful light in my heart, really!

So, I also want to give this I ♥ This Blog award to these following
as I do do do ♥ your blog!!!

1. Pacey of Soul Pacifier
2. Nihal of Crossroads
3. Arija of Garden Delights
4. Kazu of Japanese Lifestyle Photo Blog
5. Susie of Susie Big Adventure
6. Maithri of Soaring Impulse
7. Reader Will of Reader Will
8. Nazee of Sight of Maldives
9. Denise of An English Rambles
10. Barbara of Whispering Photos
11. Kenna of Kenna Blog.. I was lost in her cute blog =)
12. 2sweetnsaxy of Eyes Mind Heart
13. Vincibene of Vincibene

I make it 13 as it is my lucky number, really, I am not joking.... =)
and.. so enjoy your award!
and please forward this award to at least 8 other blogs that you ♥
and don't forget to link this award to the sender of this award.

*******

Now all of you, I want to dedicate this red rose for you. You may download it if you like, perhaps for an inspiration. Remember... all of us indeed soar up to the light!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Etiquette and Thank You Note

Dear all my lovelies...

Just four days ago (last friday) I read an article written by Tara Bradford of Paris Parfait on Violation of Copyrights. I think we bloggers here are mature and civilized enough to understand and apply the blogging etiquette and to avoid violating the copyrights of somebody's works.

Anyway,
Few minutes after reading I got back to my blog and found a new fellow on the list of my shinning friends in blogosphere. I hop to his blog and found many great photos...but... I smelled something I didn't like (and blocked him right away). I continued hop hop to his blog list, and to my surprise, I found out that the photos he posts on his blog are actually the photos 'owned' by others! Hmmmmm.....

I then tried to do something to prevent it to happen to me. Thank you to Tara who suggested me to license my blog through Creative Common (you can click the logo on my side bar to get to the site)... and thanks to Pacey for useful inputs and a big motivation.

But.. I see that this could not do anything to the guy I found on my bloglist. He STOLE my pictures of white roses and cat's mustache and post them on his blog! without permission, nor credit, nor any link to my blog!! oh la la... and worse, I could not flag his blog nor gave comment as he already modified his blog. Bad!
Here is the link for you to see his blog and find my photos there.

Oh well.. my photos are not that great.. I cannot even call myself as an amateur photographer. But you know, this blog and surely the photos I take mean so much to me as this is all about my self-rediscovering on my new musings, new hobby, that bringing back the light to my soul let me keep believing in myself, keep on shining and blooming.. that what this whole thing means to me!

Funny, for few hours I closed my blog, let me cooling down a little bit. Reflecting on this. I am sorry for those of you who tried to visit me but could not get in to my blog.

I know you all my lovelies who visit me yesterday, today, and tomorrow understand me so much. I thank you all who have left me with such a wonderful comments and encouragement on this blog.

And so..
let me dedicate this picture to you all who have been so appreciating to my blog, and most importantly, to your own loving works.

You see the LOVE shape of the flower?? yes dear.. that is for you my shining friends! :)

Keep doing your best, believing in yourself, and let us keep the shining and supportive friendship in our blogosphere!

Kisses

Mariamellie

Loving Me Part 3 - Knowing Him

Admiring myself means admiring He who creates me.

"Surely We created man of the best stature"

At Tin (95) - 4

"The Beneficent"
"He hath created man. He hath taught him utterance"
"Lord of the two Easts, and Lord of the two Wests"
"Which is it, of the favours of your Lord, that ye deny?"

The Beneficent (55) 1, 3-4, 17-18

Note:
Pics are The Minaret of Islamice Center in Samarinda, East Borneo. It is a new Islamic center in my city which is said to be the biggest one in South East Asia. The Minaret here is the tallest and biggest one duplicated the one in Mecca. This project is sponsored by the provincial government of East Borneo in cooperation with sponsors from Saudi.

One afternoon, few days after I got back home, I rode a bike around the city, and I stopped by here to take some quick snapshots. I edited the pics with Adobe photoshop CS3 as now I am learning how to use 'curve' tools. :-)

Loving Me Part 2 -- Loving Me TODAY

Loving your own self, your own inner you,
is there anything wrong with that?

Love yourself, give your self your very best smile,
Love yourself, give your self the best of you.

Put on your best dress!
Do your most desired thing on earth and do it with all your best!
Give your self the best thing you can ever give,
Right now!

Go love yourself,
and let the flame burns, give Light to others,
and then You love others
as much as You Love yourself.

Loving Me Part 1 -- You Gotta Be

You Gotta Be

By Desree


Listen as your day unfolds
challenge what your future holds

Try to keep your head up to the sky
Lovers they may cause you tears
Go ahead release your fears
Stand up and be counted, don't be ashamed to cry
You gotta be

You gotta be bad
You gotta be bold
You gotta be wiser
You gotta be hard
You gotta be tough
You gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool
You gotta be calm
You gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day

Herald what your mother said
Read the books your father read
Try to solve the puzzle in your own sweet time
Some may have more cash than you
Others take a different view
My oh My, You gotta be

Time asks no question
It goes on without you
Leaving you behind if you can't stand the pace
The world keeps on spinning, can't stop it if you tried to
The best part is danger staring you in the face

Listen as your day unfolds
challenge what your future holds

Try to keep your head up to the sky
Lovers they may cause you tears
Go ahead release your fears
Stand up and be counted, don't be ashamed to cry
You gotta be

Got to be bad
Got to be bold
Got to be wise
Don't ever be cold
Got to be hard
Not too, too hard
All I know is love will save the day

DREAM HOUSE

"There's no place like Home"

Yesterday, my best friend Isnani showed me her dream house. She said, "ellie, I want to show you my dream house". So there we were, riding a motorcycle (with her two little children!), we scrolled through a neighborhood in sub-urban Samarinda my home city.

Having found the house, I felt like having found a treasure that long time had been forgotten and now was the time to be discovered.

Suddenly, I was brought back to my root; my culture and my natural land, a home sweet home ala traditional people of Borneo.

The house is truly special. It stands with its identity of environmentally friendly, culturally so Borneo, and its humbleness. The house is made with love for family, and especially carefully thought and planned with architectural touch and consideration.

It just stands there irresistibly confident among the modern but boring houses in its surrounding.

I must say that nowadays many houses are built with modern touch (read: adapting western houses) but loosing the ability to be friendly with the actual natural environment and culture.

Look at the three boys playing under the coconut and banana trees....

Anyway, sorry that the photos are not so good here. I did a hurry snapshots as I actually stole the pictures of this house.

But Isna and I have promised to ourselves that soon we will knock the door to meet the owner of the house and get their permission to take more photos of the house and perhaps make a feature of the house as well.

After all, we were so happy to see the house. And having the dream house in our hearts and minds, we felt so light for the future to come. It is a big motivation!

MY LIFE IS A HARMONY

How do you know when the calling of your life is there?

The whole life you have been going through so far seems like a universe which all the little things that were so not logic, strange, coincidences, all the steps you made and all the moves that forced you going on, all the bad and good things happened to you all are united.

The living and the dying and the living and the dying and the up and down and up and down finally brings you to live. Live for you, for your beloved ones, for the people, for your ancestors and also for your descendents, and all those lives are all connected.

Everything of your life is now connected with this red string and things become logic with full of energy and feeling and all reasons that only when your heart and mind are together you then can see it.

I am nothing but only a tiny part of this universe, no bigger than a dust flying in the air. But my own life is a big universe with so many lives plays the roles.

I’m afraid to soon to say that my eyes are opening wide and see the whole idea of my life which is created by a great Creator, for a special purpose.

I’m afraid to say that now I’m ready to take up that special purpose. But I see this in my head and my heart, it is in balance.

If this is true, I’m already so happy. If it is not true, let it be a vision that strengthens my heart today. It is okay.

My life is in harmony, now I see.

How about yours?

MEETING PEOPLE in DREAM and REALITY

I ever dreamt of meeting George W. Bush, very close and somehow talking with him. Hmm... Thanks to me I didn’t throw any shoes at him.

Once, I dreamt I was on the top of the highest mountain and I could see the view of sky. It was a bright early morning day, misty, and cold. The peak was flat and I saw the east was so covered by white mist and so bright. From the peak I could see the sky and there were many planes flying by, the surveillance plane looked so big and many lights on the under part of the plane, I also saw UFO plane and there was a couple coming out from it. I also thought or told to see a high mountain, but I did not, it was already the highest peak, only some high grounds, blue and misty, but the peak I was standing was flat.

I have a collection of dream meeting with Presidents, I’ve met Soharto several times, I helped him walking, I had handshakes, I talked, he gave me smiles, Habibie – I don’t remember, Gus Dur – I got handshakes, Megawati – I don’t remember, SBY – this was when I was in Germany, SBY was the driver of my car, and now George W. Bush. I’ve met one Prince in my dream; that is William, for several times he was appeared as someone who was close and loved me, I got a kiss on the cheek from him.

I also have a collection of dream about mountain too; I’ve been several times on the top of the mountain, ever been flying above a mountain with a magic carpet, ever several times could not reached up the mountain, ever successful reached the peak, ever several times falling from the mountain, ever so many times seeing high mountain, ever once saw volcanic mountains erupting and was running away to safe my life from it, and ever once climbed up the mountain riding a black horse guided by the ambassador and when I finally reached the peak I found ravine. Now I think I also ever dreamt of hugging a mountain.

In real life, I’ve met quite numbers of important people of this country. I’ve met many ministers of Habibie’s government; I remember meeting the controversial Andi Ghalib, Theo L Sambuaga, and some other ministers I don’t remember anymore, I’ve met Tuty Alawiyah as Minister of Women Affairs, and I’ve met Habibie himself. I’ve met several foreign ambassadors; I was congratulated by the Papua New Guinea Ambassador on my first and successful bilingual ceremony; I made the Australian Ambassador got lost in one of his business visit in East Kalimantan; and I met South Korea and Japan Ambassadors, Malaysia’s Diplomats, and I accompanied the Austrian Ambassador and got quite close with him for a year. I met the Kapolri of Megawati’s government – Bimantoro, and talked with him as the interpreter for the Austrian Ambassador. Here I also met IT expert Roy Suryo. I also met kind of celebrity as well…I got a handshake from Titik Puspa and my most unforgettable handshake was with Andi Malaranggeng – his hand was as soft as a young-girl-never-work hand.

But what made me tremendously happy is, of course, meeting my beautiful friends.

So, how about you? Have you met somebody?

THE ART OF LOSING

“It is just like when you lost your beloved cell phone,

You will get the brand new one anyway”

I remember when we got this flood because of the heavy rain season and broken reservoir. The flood lasted for three days. When the water went down again, it swept away trashes. And as the flood left us its mud, we had to work hard to clean every corner of the house. We found our ‘treasures’ - all things that in fact we did not use anymore and had been short of a collection of waste. Perhaps, it can be seen as a ‘natural disaster’ as the flood cost people dirt, death and lost. But it can also be seen as ‘natural cleansing’ as the flood cost us hard work to clean the house and so ourselves. To ourselves in a way that we ‘cleaned’ our mind from carelessness and force us to think how to prevent the disaster to be happen in the future, how to keep our environment clean and safe as well as to maintain it. Moreover, it is on how to keep our heart clean from disappointment or anger of the lost.

The earthquake also does short of the same thing. Thousands lost their homes and families. At the very first moment, one can only see chaos and ruins. But moments after, new houses are built again much stronger, people become more aware and sensible, and as the new life begins, the new spirit and hopes are just like the morning sunlight the brings confidence and energy. The disaster ties our sensibility, sharing, supports, cooperation, love; all combine and form this new brotherhood and humanity. Knowledge goes hand in hand with belief.

For me personally, the lost is the beginning of something new and better. But this certainly requires our patience and our faith. Prejudice will only prevent us to see beyond and stop us to go on.