paduan suara warouw

kok hari ini kyknya gw lg pengen banyak nulis di blog ya. well, dari dulu emang sering pengen banyak nulis, tapi pas udah buka blogger.com, lgs blank. not this time!

gw mo ngomong soal paduan suara warouw. gw baru dua kali ikutan psw. tapi kesan gw sejauh ini, it's fun. dgn org2 yg sama sekali beda dgn psgp. sama sekali. dan yg bikin gw ge-er adalah, i feel needed. gak bagus sih benernya. tp kyknya mrk nganggep gw udah pinter nyanyi gitu. ckckckck... kyk misalnya wkt gw 1/2 teriak wkt gw salah nyanyiin nada. mrk khan kaget, trus nanya knp gw teriak. gw bilang: "iya nih nadanya salah, jadi sebel sendiri." reaksi mrk adalah: "wah, beda ya klo yg udah bisa nyanyi. bisa tau nadanya salah ato bener."

omigod. hahahahaha... it was nothing!! mksd gw, come on. notes? nada? klo dari do ke re rasanya gak enak, mustinya kita tau klo nadanya salah. logis aja gitu loh. i'm not that good. if i was good, i wouldn't sing the note wrong in the first place.

buuuut, tetap aja gw so far ngerasa nyaman di psw. mgkn krn gw bukan lagi salah satu yg tertua. meskipun diri gw tetap nanggung di situ. yg kira2 seumur gw itu benernya 1 tingkat di bawah gw, ie. mrk musti manggil gw "Oom". sementara yg setingkat dgn gw (yg gw panggil "kak"), udah pada tua2. repotttttt... hahaha...

let's see where this choir will go. i think i do need the new perspective outside psgp.

nikahan tony & lynda

gw kurang tidur banget weekend kmrn. penyebabnya adalah: nikahan tony & lynda. kyknya gw gak pernah seinvolve kmrn itu utk nikahan, apalagi utk beres2 awal & akhir ya. bahkan wkt nikahan kakak gw aja praktis gw cuma sibuk motret2. tp kmrn itu, wihhhh...

gw ke eff jam 8. mampir dulu di gm utk ngobrol2 sama debby, ulie, debbie, sama nanda. abis itu ke grj. pasang2 bunga. eh sebelomnya dikenalin dulu ke nova, tantenya lynda. nova ini kerja di oracle, dan masih sodara sama tetty & venda. dunia emang sempit banget ya! anyway, di grj, kita pasang bunga & pita. gak terlalu ruwet.

yg seru wkt di ged pertemuan. cuma utk decide gimana mo dekor palang gordyn aja sampe abis 1/2 jam sendiri. terus pasang kain di panggung (backdrop lah, gitu). abis itu pasang screen. hasilnya, gw kluar dari grj jam 1/2 5 pagi! gileeee...

siangnya, kumpul di grj lagi jam 3, utk pemanasan psgp. tapi lagi2 perhatian gw kealih utk ngurusin proyektor, yg gak mo nyalah. gw & nova udah mulai panik. apalagi dia, soalnya itu proyektor kantor. udah gitu kita gak bisa terlalu berkutat, soalnya gw musti nyanyi, dan nova musti jadi saksi. ribet lah. semua udah dicoba, sampe pinjem stabilizer dari grj. wkt kita udah mo nyerah, dicoba utk dicolok ke outlet lain.

dicolok deh. sebelom gw teken tombol powernya, gw teriak dulu: "HALELUYA!!" nova teriakannya beda: "DALAM NAMA YESUS!" hahaha... tunggu punya tunggu, akhirnya keluar deh tuh gambar. kita berdua otomatis langsung teriak: "YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!" hahaha... bayangin, wkt itu kebaktian udah kelar. jadi sebagian tamu, ibu2 gitu, udah pada duduk di ged pertemuan. mrk lgs nengok, geleng2 liat kita berdua. hehehe... one problem solved. at least proyektornya gak rusak.

proyektor beres, gantian reinnesse yg pusing. makanan blm dateng, sound system blm nyala. eventually everything worked, but not without worries. hehehehe...

gw udah begitu capenya, abis makan gw nongkrong di meja penerima tamu. wkt dipanggil utk foto bareng & tangkep bunga, gw passed. i was way too tired to participate. lagian stlh acara kelar, kita masih musti beres2, soalnya minggu pagi ged pertemuan dipake utk kebaktian JCC.

jadi begitulah ceritanya. it was fun, it was touching, and it sure was tiring! hehehehe...

gigi gw patah!

apes, gara2 keasikan makan kacang, donat, sama chips, gigi geraham gw jadi tajem gini. ujungnya ada yg patah. nyebelin banget. *ngomel2*

hadiah ultah gw!!

gw dapet kado! utk ultah gw! dari debby!! waaaaa!!! and it's what i wanted... wireless mouse!! sayangnya, terlalu kecil utk tangan gw. liat aja di foto di atas. di sebelah kiri itu mouse creative gw. gak wireless, tapi ukurannya pas. mouse yg dikasih debby di sebelah kanan. ukurannya 1/2 dari mouse creative. jadi tangan gw rada2 ngegantung gitu. hehehe...

but the most important thing is, seinget gw ini kado pertama yg gw dapet dari temen2 gw, di abad 21 ini. terakhir gw dapet kado ultah, dari temen2 ya, dari patty & ime. wkt gw msh di bond. mrk kasih 2 kemeja. i've been so blessed with having many good friends.

(almost) a week after

after my birthday, that is. much to my surprise, ultah gw taon ini cukup berkesan. no, make that "sangat berkesan". org2 yg seharusnya tau ultah gw, inget. org2 yg gak tau ultah gw, ya pabolebuat. but i did tell them at the end sih, sesudah ultah gw.

yg cukup bikin sebel, effatha gak tau ultah gw. psgp! huh. ya pabolebuat ya.

oya, malem ini gw akhirnya resmi gabung dgn paduan suara warouw. ato psw. suasana baru, gaya latiannya beda sama psgp. no piano. cukup dgn garpu tala. dan lagu2nya cukup ajaib. my hat's off deh pokoknya.

lastly, it's valentine's day today. gw benernya pengen spend malem ini sama 1 particular friend, tp sayangnya kita sama2 sibuk, so no date. hehehe...

today

today, gw bangun2 dgn kepala kleyengan. i guess it's my low blood pressure in action. udah bbrp kali sih gw nyaris jatoh lagi klo mendadak berdiri. or perhaps it's just a way my body telling me to stop & rest.

today, gw akhirnya ngerasa hepi. banyak sms masuk, semua dari org2 yg gw harapkan utk sms.

today, debby curhat ke gw. katanya udah cukup lama dia pengen ngobrol2 lagi sama gw, tp gak pernah ktemu wkt yg pas. baru tadi aja akhirnya kita bisa ngorol2 lagi.

today, gw skip latian psgp krn ngobrol sama debby. and guess what? mgkn gw gak nyanyi hari sabtu & minggu ini, krn gw gak tau lagu2nya. hmph.

today, it's my birthday! yes! 8 februari adalah hari ulang tahun gw. so, for those who don't know (or most probably, forget) my bday, catet ye catetttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!! hehehe..

here i am

wow! udah lama banget rasanya ya gw gak nge-blog. well, so many things have happened between now and the last time i blogged.

intel media camp
salah satu alasan gw gak nge-blog adalah ngurusin acara ini. di bali. ribet! repot! so many things to be done. but it's done now. but i'm not too satisfied with th way it was managed. or rather, with the way i managed it. but it's ok lah. the journalists liked it, so itu yg plg penting. gw begitu sibuknya, gak sempet ngapa2in di sana. ktemu sepupu2 gw, yg udah overdue banget, jg gak sempet. apalagi belanja2. ckckckck...

work
things are more hectic now, with the arrival of the new pr manager. i guess she's entitled to her opinion, really. and practically, she's my boss now. tp kok gw ngerasa gak klik ya. mgkn blm aja. tp knp dia kyknya mo rewrite everything according to her own agenda ya? hmmm... let's see lah.

my birthday
no, ini blm lewat. masih upcoming. and no, i won't reveal the date. nope. nada. kyknya taon lalu gw pernah jelasin knp gw rasa sebel sama ultah gw sendiri.

the girl
gw ktemu 1 ce bln lalu. yg bikin gw takjub adalah, gw spt terpaku sama 1 ce ini. aneh banget. never happened. oh well. i guess i'm still a normal guy. hahaha...

Letter to Flowchart

Dear Flowchart,

How are you? It's been quite a while since the last time I wrote. Anyway, I have some stories, but i'd rather keep them for myself for now. Don't worry, they're good stories. I just don't know whether the endings will be good or not. I really hope they'll be good!

But I can tell you that I'm generally happy nowadays. Sure, not-so-good things have happened already this year, but hey, life goes on.

That's it then. I'll write more next time.

Take care now. Ta-tah!

Love,
Stephen

selamat datang, 2006!

so, this is 2006. and here i am, at home. reflecting. tahun 2005, apa aja yg terjadi? banyak! bad and good things happened. tapi gw pengen nginget2 10 kejadian yang baik2 aja hari ini.

1. we've got intel. ini hubungannya sama kantor. cisco & hp lepas. tapi terus kita dapet intel. wow! and i was made the account manager. what an honor!
2. i was made a permanent employee. ini jg hubnya sama kantor. stlh lwt masa probation, gw diangkat jadi pegawai tetap.
3. gw ktemu kak brenda di acara tante hetty. klo cuma ktemu, mgkn gak significant ya. tp gw & kak brenda ngobrol panjang lebar di acara itu. perkataan2nya "nyentil" gw banget. i'm forever grateful for having that conversation.
4. gw gabung lagi ke psgp. ini hasil dari "sentilan" kak brenda. dan the timing couldn't be more perfect. i needed psgp as much as psgp needed me. psgp was, is, and has been my home. i just can't get away from it.
5. gw diajak utk ikut jadi tim kerja youth weekend fellowship. hal positif yg bisa gw ambil dari keterlibatan gw di acara ini adalah gw jadi kenal temen2 baru, dan makin kenal temen2 lama.
6. gw ditarik utk jadi panitia natal jemaat effatha. mirip dgn ywf, tapi klo yg ini on a much bigger scale.
7. i fell in love. the result may made me sleepless and stressed for about a week, but the fact that i could like a girl again amazed even myself. dan kemudian stlh gw patah hati, gw dpt feeling happy (yg gak jelas, klo mnrt tirza) utk jangka wkt yg lama.
8. gw bisa kenal dgn debby, yg kemudian jadi sahabat gw. dgn perkenalan yg gak lazim.
9. gw makin akrab dgn tirza. temen curhat gw (and vice versa).
10. gw makin akrab dgn ajeng. temen ym gw yg setia.

ah. 2005 was really good for me. the good far outweighed the bad. klo bisa gw persempit lagi, yg plg signifikan adalah psgp dan those 3 amazing girls i have as very good friends. God, thank You so much!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2006!

persistent headache

mgkn gw yg lagi capek, headache (persistent one, been having it since 98) gw kok rasanya makin parah aja ya. supposedly my head is ok, after the bangs it took in my accident. dulu udah discan, darah yg tadinya ngumpul, udah drained semua. lagian gw jg every week day minum teh ijo, so cancer can be ruled out. can't it?

hahaha... sesuai dgn tema gw yg lagi "positif", ini artinya gw musti konsentrasi aja utk setiap hal yg gw lakuin. gak boleh idle. soalnya klo idle, pasti sakit kepalanya lgs kerasa. jadi, gw gak boleh males2an nih.

reliving my past (blogs)

gw lagi ngerip cd2 gospel dari debby/dips. rada banyak & rada lama. gw musti konek ke internet, utk download judul2 tracknya.

mumpung konek, gw sekalian aja ngebaca blog gw ini dari sejak pertama kali gw bikin. dan wow! dalam 1 thn lebih, udah banyak ya cerita2 gw. sebagian malah ada yg udah gw lupain. ckckck... it's like having a flashback. it's good to have memories, bad and good. some bring smiles, some bring tears, and some bring grins. yg bikin gw bersyukur adalah ternyata kehidupan gw gak lurus2 aja. there's been ups and downs. dan itu yg ngebikin hidup lebih exciting, isn't it?

tadi sore gw maen bowling di pasaraya sama tirza & sepupunya. spt dulu, lagi2 gw kalah. kyknya i've lost my touch ya. hehehe... tirza blg ke gw, walaupun blog2 gw akhir2 ini isinya mellow, tapi buat dia asik2 aja, soalnya mostly are positive. well, thanks, cha! gw emang skrg2 selalu mencoba utk positif kok.

omong2 soal positif, saat ini gw udah ngambil keputusan utk stick dgn psgp. biarpun ada tawaran2 utk gabung ps effatha, dan ada godaan2 lain, gw pikir gw harus ngebelain psgp, soalnya skrg2 ini sptnya psgp needs support. lotsa supports! dan sapa lagi yg bisa ngebela psgp, klo bukan org2 spt gw. dgn sejarah gw yg cukup panjang dgn psgp (this is my 3rd stint), gw pny hubungan yg khusus dgn paduan suara ini, sebuah hubungan yg gak tergantung dgn individu2.

a touching story

Deaf girl hears Jingle Bells for the first time
By Paul Stokes
(Filed: 23/12/2005)

Josie Caven, who was born deaf, will be able to hear Christmas carols for the first time after having cochlear implants in both ears.

Josie, 12, was previously able to distinguish only a few sounds through hearing aids which she has worn from the age of two.

She beamed with delight as she listened to Jingle Bells on the radio for the first time.

"It is so nice to hear music, especially Christmas carols," she said.

"I have asked mum and dad for an iPod so I can listen to the Black Eyed Peas."

Josie, who lives with her father Richard, 43, mother Teresa, 37, sister Olivia, 10, and brother Anthony, four, suffers wide vestibular aqueduct syndrome.

The condition, which Olivia also has, causes deafness through allowing an exchange of fluids that damages the inner ear. Mrs Caven, who runs the Old Station Inn, at Birstwith, near Harrogate, North Yorks, with her husband, said: "I have never seen Josie so happy.

"She heard Jingle Bells on the radio and when she looked up her face was a picture as she realised what she was listening to.

"She wants an iPod for Christmas. There is a wire which can go directly to the implants, so it will be like having her favourite music inside her head."

Four years ago Josie was provided with a digital hearing aid, allowing her to start mainstream lessons at St Aidan's Church of England School, Harrogate.

However, specialists found that her hearing was worsening in the summer and she was referred for the implants at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Mrs Caven said: "She is having to learn what each new sound is and what it means. She will ask: 'Was that a door closing?'

"Being able to see her face light up as she takes in everything around her is all I could have asked for this Christmas."

cerita yang menarik dari news.telegraph. dan buat gw cukup mengharukan. especially the last para. what did i ask for Christmas this year? kyknya gak ada sih. gw gak ngarep apa2. but things i did these last few days can be considered as precious gifts. nyanyi di malam natal. ngobrol2 sama ajeng, tirza, debby, dan temen2 lain. jadi pengarah acara di natal effatha (so i could contribute something to the church, and ultimately, to God). sure, some were tiring (the pengarah acara thingy was very tiring, both mentally and physically). but the feelings, good feelings, were enough for me. new things were found, and old ones rediscovered. mirip spt cerita joice caven di atas. meskipun ada hal2 jelek yg jg gw alami, it'd be ungrateful not to be grateful. as i said before, i'm blessed. dan gw bakal makin seneng klo gw bisa bagi2 blessings yg gw dapet ke org2 lain. by whatever means.

on a side note, kmrn tirza bilang ke gw klo isi blog gw akhir2 ini mellow. dan gw kmrn masih blm sadar. tapi stlh gw baca2 lagi, ternyata emang iya ya. kyknya mental gw lg gak stabil nih. hehehe...

thanks, ajeng!

hari ini, setelah sekian lama gak ktemu, gw ktemu sama ajeng di ps. janjian utk makan siang. dan pergilah kita ke pizza hut. pizza hut di plaza senayan itu letaknya di dalem supermarket sogo. weird. pegawai2nya juga kyknya masih rada dodol gitu.

but eniwei, it wasn't important. gw & ajeng masih bisa ngobrol2 dgn santai, biarpun kadang2 terganggu suara mixer. ya gak jeng? *wink2*

ternyata banyak yg bisa diomongin, biarpun udah sering chat lewat ym ya. mulai dari gosip2 di ktr, gosip2 pribadi, gosip2 org laen *heh?!*, dan masalah keluarga, sampe ke masalah2 yg gak penting. saking banyaknya, waktu kita keluar dari pizza hut, udah jam 4 sore! so we were there for about 4 hours. hahaha...

the talk gave me a bit of different perspektif. biasanya gw klo ngobrol2 sampe sedeket itu cuma sama debby ato tirza. mereka berdua, more or less, shaped in a similar mould. pendapat2 yg gw dapet dr mrk jg more or less mirip. i'm not saying talking to them is bad, no i'm not. tapi it's kinda refreshing to get a different bird eye view on things. *jangan marah2 dulu, oma =P*

so where next, jeng? and when? tinggal bilang aja. khan katanya berikutnya gantian loe yg traktir. hehehe...

it's good to have very good friends. i'm blessed. very much blessed. thanks to you all, my dear friends! it'll be sad to leave you. and here's hoping i'll never have to leave.

so this is christmas...

honestly, natalan taon ini was a mixture of good and bad experience buat gw. let's start with the good ones first:

• nyanyi di malam natal. rasanya udah lama banget gw gak nyanyi di malem natal, sama psgp. at least not in the last 2 years. it felt good, but somehow different. nanti ini bakal masuk ke bad jg.
• more smses! kyknya taon ini gw dapet sms jauh lebih banyak dibanding taon lalu. dan tentunya gw jg kirim lebih banyak sih. hehehe

and here are the bad ones:

• my parents. penting banget gak sih, brantem di hari natal over ridiculous things, heh?
• debby. kasian nih si debby, gak bisa ngapa2in di hari natal. dan gw jadi kehilangan dia wkt malam natal kmrn.
• nyanyi di malam natal. mgkn gw terlalu nostalgic ya, tapi psgp skrg kok kyknya beda sama dulu. it was fun, it was crazy. mgkn krn skrg udah beda generasi?
• i was (and still am) lonely. yg ini aneh banget. biasanya gw gak ngerasa kesepian (gak di hari natal, gak di hari2 laen). tp knp taon ini beda ya?!?!

so, this is christmas. kok banyakan badnya dari goodnya ya? oh well, things can only get better from here. here's hoping next year will be better from me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
SELAMAT HARI NATAL!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RIANTI!!

Happy birthday buat salah 1 temen khusus gw: RIANTI SETIADARMA! Many happy returns (of investment, spt yg loe blg di sms, ri). hehehehe...

I just saw my possible future...

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce my uncle, Oom Adri, to you. This picture was taken today, at the service. His photo was a bit blurry, but it was still much better than what was inside the casket. You see, when my uncle was found at his home, it was estimated he'd been dead for at least 24 hours. So his body was already swollen here and there. I took another picture of him, on the slab, and I didn't recognize him at all. It was that bad.

I'm so much alike him, you know. We both like computers. We both like to sing, although we take a different route in singing. And we both have "Warouw" as our last names.

But what scares me the most is, he died alone. He was 79, but he wasn't married. Fortunately there were a lot of us, his family, so he was taken care of. Me, I don't want to get married. When I told Debby about Oom Adri, her reply was: "Tuh kan... Udah ada contohnya kan? Niat lo jd utk ga nikah?" Debby and I had a deep discussion about this before we went to Malaysia, and her words was realized in front of me when I saw Oom Adri's body. There, I saw myself, several years in the future, lying on the slab, swollen, alone. I had goosebumps, and I still do.

Some of my relatives pointed that very fact to me as well. Kak Nina. Kak Pinky. "Kamu mau meninggal sendirian kayak Oom Adri?" was all I got from them. I still don't know the answer.

But, at least, Oom Adri died while doing one of his favorite things. He was found sitted in front of his computer.

If I have to die, I'd like to die while doing one of my favorite things as well. For now, it'd be either while I was singing, or in front of my computer. That'd be the perfect death.

Oom Adri, rest in peace.

YET another death in the family!

ASTAGA!!ASTAGA!!ASTAGA!!ASTAGA!!ASTAGA!!ASTAGA!! tadi pagi ortu gw dapet telp. klo telp pagi2 gitu biasanya berita penting khan. and it was. Oom Adri meninggal! yet another member of my family. this one surprised me, since it was only 2 weeks ago that he went to lunch with us. gw harus gak ngantor hari ini, soalnya dia termasuk org yg penting buat gw.

Oom Adri is the ultimate geek. dia Warouw tertua dari sepupu2 terdekat bokap gw, dan lmyn gila komputer. we could discuss computer things for hours. dan dia demen banget nyanyi, apalagi rock & roll. and guess what: he wasn't married.

hmmm.. Warouw. geek. gila komputer. demen nyanyi. not married. sounds familiar... it's kinda like me, isn't it?!? ya ampun... mgkn gw udah sub-consciously model myself after him ya. but he wasn't a bad example. even in his 70something age, he could have fun, and enjoyed life.

*sigh* there goes my uncle yg suka nyanyi di acara keluarga, pake joget2 rock & roll. there goes my uncle yg suka nraktir2. there goes my uncle yg demen maen sindir2an sama ortu gw. there goes my uncle yg suka diskusi sama nyokap ttg obat2an.

Godspeed, Oom Adri. and God bless. God bless us all. RIP.

another death in the family

gw barusan dapet sms dari nyokap: Tante Rikje meninggal. OH NO!!! satu lagi keluarga gw yg orangnya lucu dan demen becanda... geez... what's going on here ya... kmrn Oma Els, skrg Tante Rikje... to be fair, Oma Els emang udah tua, dan Tante Rikje emang udah sakit dari bbrp wkt lalu. tapi tetap aja, i feel lost.

Strangely appropriate enough, gw lg pasang ipod, dan lagu yg sedang muter wkt gw nulis blog ini adalah "PEACE". ya, gw yakin Tante Rikje skrg udah merasa damai. not that she wasn't feeling peace when she was alive, tapi skrg dia gak usah mikirin penyakitnya lagi. anak2nya udah dewasa semua juga. cuma kasian si oom nih.

UPDATE: ibadah pelepasan besok, jam 2 siang. gw gak tau bisa dateng apa gak nih. ada upacara adat juga, soalnya si oom cukup kuat berpegang pada adat Bataknya.

Oma Els *RIP*

Oma Els. Ya, sebenernya bukan oma dalam arti yg sebenarnya, soalnya dia bukan mama dari bokap ato nyokap. Oma Els ini tante dari bokap. Secara bokap panggil dia tante, ya gw manggil dia oma gitu loh.

Oma Els ini orangnya lucu banget. Tiap ketemu dia (sayangnya, jarang), kita pasti bcanda2. Biarpun masih di dalem gedung gereja, kita bisa sampe lupa diri.

Gw inget ada kisah lucu. Waktu itu 1 tante gw meninggal, dan mo dibikinin acara pengucapan syukur. Nyokap telp si Oma Els ini utk kasih tau. Begitu dia sampe di tempat acara, pas liat nyokap, dia lgs nangis heboh. Kita heran, soalnya setau kita, dia gak deket2 banget sama tante yg meninggal itu. Ya udah, kita pikir, mgkn dia ternyata deket ya. Waktu makan malam, gw duduk di deket dia. Dia kaget. Terus dia tanya: "Ngana anak siapa??" Lho, gw gantian kaget, khan mustinya dia tau gw. Untung wkt itu ada bokap (ato nyokap, gw gak inget). Dan dijawab klo gw anak mrk. Nah, rupanya, dia salah ngerti wkt dapet kabar dari nyokap lwt telpon. Dia pikir gw yg meninggal! Makanya wkt msk tadi dia nangis di pelukan nyokap, soalnya dia pikir gw yg meninggal. Hehehe... Sejak itu, setiap kali kita ktemu, dia pasti nanya begini ke gw: "Nah, ngana masih hidup!" Dan kita pasti bakal ktawa heboh.

Gw bakal kehilangan kalimat tersebut, dan kehilangan tawa2 & canda2 Oma Els. Selamat jalan, oma. Rest in peace. You're with God already.