How did My Blog Change My Life?

Well Mbak Tina (Zeventina), here is the "homework" you assigned me to do =p At first, I completely forgot about this (gomenasai =p) but then I was reading those comments on my shout box (Nosy Section) when I found yours and realized I haven't done this yet =p Uhmm, let's see, why me, making and writing this blog? How this has changed my life? Uhmm, it all started back in October 2004, shortly after the Indonesian Night 2004 event at the UM - St. Louis. I kinda wanted to follow the steps (what a copycat =p) of my other Indonesian friends that I was (am) bonding with because of that event. Most of them at that time had blogs and all of them used blogger as their "trusted" domains =) I read some of their blogs and was inspired of how carefree and intelligent they are to express their ideas and their feelings. Some of them even write intellectual topics in a highly artistic fashion (the topics, the chosen words or language). They trully inspire me (I don't need to mention names here, you know who you are). Through blogs, we can see the owners' personalities and the way they think, the way they view their surroundings and the world. You'll get to know them, what they have been doing, their pasts, etc. This envied me back then =p Then was born, "My Random Journey and Passions" and this blogging thing soon became a trend among the Indonesian community in St. Louis until now.

For me, my blog is a piece of art, my work of art and I treat it as my electronic diary. Although I selectively write what's in my heart and what's in my mind to avoid controversy (I'm not that brave and no offense to others who are having or have been having controversy just because of expressing their feelings), I always try to be as honest as I can. Of course, I couldn't bare to lie to myself. My blog is a medium to communicate with my family and my closest friends, to let them know how I've been doing lately and what my plans are when phone calls, messenger chats, or e-mails are out of reach. Also to introduce them to the other side of me and to share with them my past, my sorrow, and my joy. My blog is my medium to practice my english writing skill. It surely helps me get 5.5 out of 6 on my recent GMAT Analytical Writing section (5.5 is similar to 87 percentile, which is, of course, considered very high). Well, indeed, I discover that I love writing. Some of my non-Indonesian friends (my wushu friends and my co-workers) were amazed of the length of each of my entries. "Jeez, you write so long. I usually write a short entry, a paragraph or two, or even just one sentence", said them. My blog helps me discover my other talent, which is writing poems. I used to hate poems when I was little. I hated seeing those classmates of mine (during the K-12 era), crying out of fake while reading patriotic poems during the Bahasa Indonesia subject. PHOOEEEWWW!!! You don't need to exaggerate with those fake tears just to get an A! That made me hate patriotic poems. But when I read poems by Wulan and Freddy (and recently Budi discovered his talent in writing poems as well =p), I was moved to write poems myself. I treat poems as the media to express my feelings that I feel will greatly cause controversy. I hide them behind many symbols. So, when you find any entry entitled with "Intermezzo bla..bla..bla...", and the content is a poem, expect me being overly happy or overly upset about something or of someone during the time I post that poem =p

My blog is also a medium to introduce readers to my taste of music. Many, many times I state that I'm a music lover and I love to sing. But of course, I'm very selective to the genre that I prefer to listen to. Expect to hear songs or watch music videos by artists in the likes of soul, smooth jazz, funk, groove, R&B, or pop. Yes, I'm very picky and my taste of music is not universal and I'm not affraid to say that =p Recently, I found that blog is also a medium to meet new friends who happen to share similar hobbies, similar favorites. That's how I found people such as Rico, Zeventina, Elisabet, Rahma, Enda, and Nita, whom I have never, ever met physically =p My blog has helped me discover things that I never knew I could do and helped me meet new friends. Conclusion, my blog is my electronic diary, the electronic journal of my life, and so you wanna know me? just sit back, relax, turn your PC's speakers on (turn them louder), and then read my entries. I think that's the new motto of this blog =p Although I will selectively write whatever I feel or think to avoid some people's dissapointment, I will write whatever I like, whatever I want here so forgive me if some of the entries might (will) upset you someday! This is, the journal of "My Random Journey and Passions".