A Student's Life: Hectic!

Taken in 2.10 am, in the middle of idea digging process

Many things didn't work as it has been planned. I abandoned a lot of books on my reading list to work on the college projects. So far this is the most hectic start-of-a-new-semester week. Lots of papers, presentations, research, academic books to be read and quizzes. 

This semester, most of my lecturers seemingly developing a new habit of giving quiz in the beginning of the class. That way I have to prepare myself the night before so I can do the test well. How I miss my holiday :p

But this semester can be quite exciting. We'll have Psychological Test role-play and a visit to a mental hospital. Also, I'm waiting for some big scholarship announcement. Hopefully, this will make my hectic fifth semester more fun.

 

And I'm wishing anyone to have an exciting days too!

Until next time!

about handmade and not: Tutorial - Gift origami box

about handmade and not: Tutorial - Gift origami box: On pictures below you can see how to make cute origami gift box. To make it you will need 2 square pieces of paper 12 x 12 cm (near 4'), sci...

Looking Through My Eyes: Attitude 101

This is my first attempt to review a book. I hope you will enjoy it :)

Dampak dari Sikap Anda (Attitude 101 Indonesian Edition)

John C. Maxwell

I'm not a regular self-development book reader, so I don't really know what is the proper content for this kind of book :p

To me, Relationship 101 is a very practical book about how to properly act in our daily life. In this book, Maxwell briefly telling us about attitude; what shapes our attitude, changing or strengthening attitude and making a  life break-through by the proper attitude.

Some of the best part of this book is when Maxwell make us see that many events in our life can affect our attitude. By this, Maxwell asks us to see things, even the worst moment in our live as challenges which will shape our attitude. 

The other interesting part is how to lead ourself to have an appropriate attitude. The right attitude is important if you want to reach the higher level of life. Here, he give a detailed steps to be success by explaining the attitudes that barrier us from success; how to cope from failing and how to 'think success' so we can really reach the top.

Other than that, I don't find anything new from this book. But the vignette stories Maxwell put as illustration is a good way to inspire the reader. Reading this book to me is like reading a lighter version of Personality Psychology combined with some part from The Secret and Law of Attraction here and there. I think book from this kind has the same key point: keep a positive mind if you want to change your life. 

It's not a heavy book at all. Maxwell keep it simple and shipshape in explaining each steps. For those who wanted to change their life into a new level, this book is a good try.

Story of the "Agapé"s

So, I have decided to totally change my habit this semester and read more academic books. This is the third day of the new semester. Some classes have begun and the lecturer has explained about what I'm going to learn this semester. Seemingly, my fifth semester would be tough. There a lot of paperworks, quizzes, observations and field tasks to be done.  I really have to do something huge to increase my cumulative GPA, to survive this semester.

As you can read in my previous post about BACAKILAT, I have made a reading list; 15 or more books to read in 30 days. Well, I've got to change the whole list, adjusting it according to my academic reading need. In my old list, I put some 'light' books like novels, popular motivational books and some religious books. Now, a huge pile of scholarly books are stuffed in the waiting list. 

The thing is, I don't have the books I needed. The only place where I can get them is in my lovely college library.

Some days ago I joked with the girls about the bunch of freshmen who loves to hang out in the library. We called them "Agapé" or "Anak Gaul Perpus" (freely translated as The Library Groovers). I can't believe that all of a sudden I became an Agapé too. Haha. And the library is extremely crowded. Usually it only takes 2 or 3 queue to register the borrowed books. But today, there are about 20 people queued to borrow their books. Whoa. The freshmen are being way too studious this semester I suppose :p

Okay then, welcome to my life, fifth semester. I'm going to beat you XD 

Digitalisasi Cerita Anak Melalui Partisipasi Komunitas Orang Tua dan Guru untuk Mendidik Anak Indonesia yang Berkarakter

Digitalisasi Cerita Anak Melalui Partisipasi Komunitas Orang Tua dan Guru untuk Mendidik Anak Indonesia yang Berkarakter

BACAKILAT: A Reading List

Here are the list of 60 books I will read for the next 90 day. The number of the books increase every 30 days.  The reading will start on Monday, September 12th 2011 and will end on Sunday, December 11th 2011 according to date days calculator. Books that has been fully read according to the BACAKILAT system will be crossed and some will be linked to its review. Some books with other colour are additional books I read along the Easy Habit process. 

For my start, I will read 15 books for my first 30 days, 20 for the next 30 days and 25 books for the last 30 days. 

The first 30 days programme is called Easy Habit programme. It works like this:

In one week, only one book will be read on Monday-Thursday for 30 minutes each day. So, on the 30th day I'd be finished reading 15 books.

The first 15 books for Easy Habit Programme, sorted by date, are:

1. Dampak dari Sikap Anda by John C. Maxwell
2. Management the Basics by Morgen Witzel
3. Yesus Sang Anak Manusia by Kahlil Gibran
4. Diktat Psikodiagnostik IV
5. Ensklopedia Orang Kudus
6. Diktat Psikodiagnostik V
7. Human Resource Management Practice by Michael Armstrong
8. The Art and History of Prague
9. Psychological Testing by Theresia J.B. Kline
10. Diktat Psikodiagnostik VI
11. Psychological Testing and Assessment an Introduction to Test & Measurement by Ronald Jay Cohen
12. How to Manage People by Michael Armstrong
13. Perilaku Organisasi by Udai Pareek
14. Fioretti
15. Book of Psalm
16. Humanistic Psychology a Synthesis by C.W. Tageson
17. Organizational Psychology an Experiential Approach by A. Kol, M. Rubin & M. McIntyre
18. Performance-Based Evaluation by Judith Hale

The list will be updated once I find some books to be added to the reading list :)

Looking Through My Eyes: BACAKILAT

The last two days I had been joining a speed reading workshop called "BACAKILAT". BACAKILAT (freely translated as "Flash reading") is a revolutionary way to read. In conventional reading, people usually spend 3-7 days or more to finish reading a book yet sometimes hardly understand anything they have read. In BACAKILAT, a book can be finished within an hour. Yeah, that's sounds dreamy, but I have done the whole process myself and, well, it's do-able. 

If you wonder if BACAKILAT is some hypnotherapy, cult or magic trick, no it's not. BACAKILAT has a strong scientific background. The system will maximizing the power of human brain so it easily absorb every information the book given to the reader. 

There's a book I had read quite long ago without really know what was the book about. At the workshop, I read the book with BACAKILAT. After doing the whole process, I finally fully understand the book. I even feel like I have read the book many times before. The best thing is I can explain the whole book fluently with my own words. How amazing is that, huh?

At the end of the workshop, the participant were asked to write a "Letter of Commitment" to make sure that everyone would read numerous books in the next 90 days. I myself  set my goal to read 60 books in 90 days. With BACAKILAT, sure thing I'd be able to do it. The only problem is how to get 60 books to be read? The librarian in my campus might think I am nuts if I borrow a huge pile of books. Couldn't help myself laughing when I think about it :p

So, I'm going to make a list of books I wanted to read and I will put it here so I can see my reading progress. Moreover, I will review some books when I find it shareable. My blog would be richer in content as the reading progressing. I'm so excited about it!

Hopefully, my new reading skill will help me to get better scores and GPA. I will change my reading habit. I've set my goal, and I will get what I want. If I could, so could you :)

Affirmation: 5th Semester Report Card

I really hope this semester's report card can be looked like this. 

I'm telling you guys: I'LL BE WORKING REALLY HARD FOR THIS. 

And I'm getting straight As NOT BECAUSE I AM TOLD TO, but because I WANT TO. I hope someone would understand and give up on telling me how am I supposed to be. I know what to do :)

Send me your support so I can achieve this, will ya guys?

Looking Through My Eyes: A Dangerous Method

This movie hasn't been released yet but its preview on Venice Film Festival promising something big. This is the movie I won't be missed. I'd be watching this in the cinema if Indonesian cinemas played it, of course*. 

Since I'm a type of person who prefer to download the movie online, watching movie in the cinema is a big thing. Do you think I'm supporting piracy by downloading movie instead of going to cinema or buying original DVDs? You tell me. But I'm a cheap person, so yeah :/

There are some notable reason why I must watch this movie immediately in the cinema as soon as they release it:

1. Because I'm a psychology student and this movie contains the history of Psychoanalysis. The director stated here about how this movie will reveal the background of Psychoanalysis by 'resurrecting' the subjects (in this case; Freud and Jung). For so long, I only 'knew' Freud and Jung throughout their theories. It would be interesting to know the other side of this two important person. 
2. The casts are bright; Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley and Viggo Mortensen. Hell yeah, Viggo Mortensen (who looks like Val Kilmer in the poster) is Sigmund Freud and Michael Fassbender is his protege, Carl Jung.
3. Because I fancy Michael Fassbender.
4. The rating is totally awesome. IMDB give A Dangerous Method 9 over 10, while Rotten Tomatoes (which--I find--usually give harsh comments about films) giving it 71% positive review and 98% of their audiences agree that this movie is watchable. 

So yeah, I'm sure I'll be watching A Dangerous Method cause it fits my requirement (British actors, 20th century setting, Michael Fassbender), though the subject might be a little bit 'heavy'. Anyone interested?

*) Indonesia currently having affair with movies importer that makes some movies late to be played in the the theatres or worse couldn't be released in cinemas.

Looking Through My Eyes: Jane Eyre

(source)

I'm not going to do a movie review here since I'm not a good at it. You can check the imdb review for this rated-7-out-of-10 movie :)

Jane Eyre is a novel written by English writer Charlotte Brontë. The novel has been adapted into movies many times. I recently watched the 2011 version which starred Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender. How I stumble to this movie, I think, because I fancy Michael Fassbender. I was searching about his latest movie "Shame" when I found Jane Eyre trailer.

I always love movie sets in Medieval Era or at least the pre-modern age. So I give this movie a try. There are some points I noted after watching the film.

·         The Casts are Perfect
Mia Wasikowska portrayed Jane Eyre beautifully. She knows how to look strong, determinant, smart and sad at the same time. Fassbender also made a perfect Edward Fairfax Rochester. He plays the Byronic Hero impeccably. He really showed Edward’s twisted side. At some point, Rochester can be so miserable. Fassbender’s flawless act made me feel like hugging him so tight to make him happier xD
·         The Cinematography is Beautiful
They filmed the movie in a castle on a hill with pretty surroundings. The coloring and the lighting even made the picture whole more beautiful. Since it was medieval, candles are use for lighting at night. And it doesn’t look like they faking the light. Some movies with candle lighting still use the help from the lamp light, but Jane Eyre doesn’t.
·         It's So Romantic
Jane Eyre captures love in a different way. I mean, I’ve seen a lot of movie depicts love with physical attraction; kissing, holding hands, hugging. Many movies have to use sex scene to portray love. In Jane Eyre, the only 'sex scene' is when Jane and Rochester kissing after Rochester proposed him to be his wife.
Some lines make the romantic moment feels so sweet.
Rochester       : I offer you my hand, my heart. Jane, I ask you to pass through life at my side. You are my equal and my likeness. Will you marry me?
Jane                : Are you mocking me?
Rochester       : Do you doubt me?
Jane                : Entirely!
…
Rochester       : It's you. You rare, unearthly thing. Poor and obscure as you are, please accept me as your husband. I must have you for my own.
Jane                : You wish me to be your wife?
Rochester       : I swear it.
Jane                : You love me?
Rochester       : I do.
Jane                : Then, sir, I will marry you.
·         The Music Completes Everything
I really love the scores for the background music. I just can’t describe it, Dario Marianelli's score just make every second more momentous.

Maybe I’m being too subjective on appreciating this movie, but I really like it. The lack from this movie is that they don’t explore the minor characters deeper. I’ve never read the book but I read the review on wiki. There are many characters that don’t appear in the movie. I also saw some deleted scene in youtube. Unfortunately, the deleted scene is quite important and would be better if it wasn’t cut out from the movie.

Overall, I give 9 out of 10 for Jane Eyre.

For me Jane Eyre is a great Feminist movie. She taught me about the honour of being a woman. She taught me to be honest. Jane is only 19 but she is a lot  more mature and independent than I am now. She's a woman who stick on her principles. 

What about you, do you want to watch this movie too? Let me know if you do :)

September