catch twenty-something

I turned twenty-something today and that is all. I hardly feel old because feeling old at this age would be ridiculous.  But I am tired of a few things, a very few few-things, simply because they have nagged at my sensitive mental spots for far too long and I have done nothing about it.

It is good that at least I am still irritated because that means I haven't become apathetic. Apathy is the death of being useful, and being useless is the death of being young.

Thus I start and end my birth day, listing those things I must do something about. 

My wedding souvenir :)

Motivated by not knowing what to do with the numerous wedding souvenirs that ended up collecting dust in random corners of the house, I went slightly out of my way to find these.

These fragrant jasmine soap wedding souvenirs were purchased from Sekolah Kami, a non-profit school for under-privileged children and scavengers.  Aside from normal curriculum, the school also teaches vocational skills, such as making these pretty little soaps.  Sekolah Kami can be contacted via their patron, Ibu Irina Amongpradja (Ina), at +62816831507. Please have a look at their inspiring website at www.sekolahkami.web.id.  

The batik wrappings were self-wrapped by yours truly (helped by Mom), inspired by the Japanese paperless tradition of wrapping presents the furoshiki way.  In my opinion, batik wraps are a natural way for Indonesians to wrap presents!  The wraps can be reused as handkerchiefs.

Sudirman Business District Love Story

Despite being together forever, they couldn't help but feel maddeningly empty.

Pillars and statues

{Behold, the citizens of Roman Jakarta shall be safe under my ever-vigilant wings}

This residential house in Kemang is a source of endless entertainment whenever I drive by.  Is that an eagle or a garuda or a vulture? Is it about to lift-off or land? Are the six pillars a coy symbol of the Islamic rukun iman or an echo of the glorious roman ionian legacy on the other side of the world?  What distressed damsel lives in that lonesome turret right underneath the claws of the gigantic bird? 

I need answers, goddammit, answers!
I saved this suffocating lemper from four layers of redundant wrapping.

Spatial

And we

are still

quite stuck

figuring out

which forests

go on

which map.

When Trees Have Standing

My favorite jurisprudence is Sierra Club vs. Morton, US Supreme Court in 1972.

Justice Douglas had a dissenting opinion that environmental issues should be able to be litigated before courts in the name of the inanimate object about to be spoilt by roads or bulldozers and such, which causes public outrage. He is basically saying that humans don't need to have suffered any damage to sue. He is basically saying that trees have rights too.

But my favorite part about this case is where one of the attorney's for the plaintiff (who won), made a whimsical reply to Justice Douglas:

"If Justice Douglas has his way
O come not that dreadful day

We'll be sued by lakes and hills,
Seeking a redress of ills.

Great mountain peaks of name prestigious,
Suddenly become litigious.

Our brooks will babble in the courts,
Seeking damages for torts.

How can I rest beneath a tree,
If it may soon be suing me?

Or enjoy the playful porpoise,
While it's seeking habeas corpus?

Every beast within his paws
Will clutch an order to show cause.

The courts, besieged on every hand,
Will crowd with suits by chunks of land.

Ah! But vengeance will be sweet,
Since this must be a two-way street.

I'll promptly sue my neighbor's tree,
For shedding all its leaves on me."


:)