note: this article has never been published before, due to the harsh and explicit words of the website i was referring to. But now it is published! On my web-blog! I hope you like it. Cheers, Xx (:

 

By Deisha Tamar Manuhutu

Remember what your mom always told you? Never eat with a raging emotion or a sadden heart. Well, at least that is what my mom told me.

            The list could go on and on of what you should not do while eating, swearing for instance, because it might jumble your digestion – or you might lose appetite, for when you are eating and crying at the same time, all you can taste is the salty water of your tears.

            Now if you are confused or bored with what you are eating daily, or perhaps you are just bored with everything around you, try opening this website www.whatthefuckshouldimakefordinner.com, who knows it will gain your appetite, give you an idea of what to eat or just give a smirk on your face.

            Just by using white background with large black Heveltica font, and very minimalist layout, you are greeted with “I’d say eat shit, but that wouldn’t be helpful, how about some fucking…” Yes, do excuse the harsh words, but it doesn’t mean to insult the reader – just a sarcastic way of providing food recipe for those hungry tummies.

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Deisha Tamar Manuhutu

The Jakarta Post

December 1, 2010

(as published here)

 

 

Classic house: Two men stand in front of the Commandant’s House in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. There are still remnants of French culture throughout the city. Deisha Tamar Manuhutu Strolling around Ste. Genevieve reminded me of Bandung — but without traffic jams during the weekends and a huge population — and the architecture of the small town evoked the old buildings left by the Dutch.

Thousands of miles away from the Paris of Java, Ste. Genevieve claims to be the only original French colonial village left in the United States. It is located in the state of Missouri an hour away from the city of St. Louis.

Ste. Genevieve was founded by French-Canadian colonists in 1753. Sitting along the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, the town was the perfect location for early settlers from Illinois country.

The name Ste. Genevieve was taken from the patron saint of Paris. Genevieve was born in 422 in a village called Nanterre, near Paris. She decided to dedicate her life to her religious faith. Her first call to duty was to lead an expedition to find food and supplies for the starving population of the city, which turned out to be a success.

In 451, when Attila the Hun threatened to march into Paris, Genevieve gathered a group of women to fast and pray. When the warlord changed his strategy and left Paris behind, she became well-known as someone who could forestall disaster.

Inspired by her story, the settlers gave their town the name Genevieve to protect them in the new land they colonized.

Even today you can find French influence in the city itself — signs and boards are written in two languages: English and French. Architectural designs have French influence, such as “vertical wooden post” constructions where the walls of buildings were built of wood or upon a raised foundation of brick.

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Deisha Tamar Manuhutu

The Jakarta Post

October 24, 2010

(as published here)

Imagine this: Flying for almost 14 hours with five strangers you just met at the airport and spending fi ve weeks in an unknown land with 19 strangers.

If that was the tagline for the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) put on their ad for the SUSI (Study of United States Institutes) 2010 program, I would most likely have never given a thought to signing up.  

But, thankfully, that wasn’t their ad. 

The SUSI Global Student Leaders program, just like it says, is a five-week program for young undergraduate foreign student leaders to study in an academic institution in the US to enhance their knowledge of American culture and society. 

It was held by the ECA, which partnered with the non-profi t Academy for Educational Development (AED), from July 26 to Aug. 3. 

This year, the program had several themes: global environmental issues, new media, social entrepreneurship, religious pluralism in the US and women’s leadership. 

The program I attended was new media. I also got to meet other participants in the global environmental and social entrepreneurship areas in the last week of our program in Washington, D.C., for a final conference and cultural exhibit. 

The 20 participants in the New Media program came from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. We were all university students in our third or final years. 

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Deisha Tamar Manuhutu

The Jakarta Post

October 16, 2010

(as published here)

 

Who ever thought a famous cartoon character of more than 70 years came from a small rural town of America.

The city’s pride: Welcome to Chester, Illinois, home of Popeye. Courtesy of Deisha Tamar Manuhutu
This particular town also kept some of America’s best kept secrets.

People can replay the same old tune of Popeye the Sailor Man cartoon over in their heads, even years after having last watched it. They loved watching Popeye fight over Bluto just to save the tall and slender Olive Oyl, and of course, he always won thanks to the strength-building vegetable, spinach. For those avid fans of the hero, you can venture to where the town Popeye was created.

Welcome to Chester, Illinois, Home of Popeye. This small town at Randolph County, with a population of around 5,000 people, was once an important place that shaped America’s early history.

Located next to the well-known Mississippi River, Chester was once a strategic place to stop by for those who traveled on steamboat along the Mississippi River. To name a few of those who loved to stop by Chester were Mark Twain and Charles Dickens.

Nowadays, this town is offering various tourist sites and attractions. One of the main attractions is of course none other than Popeye the Sailor Man.

The Spinach Can Collectibles Popeye Museum is a petite-sized museum dedicated to Popeye and his gang, located at the corner of 1001 State Street.

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Deisha Tamar Manuhutu

The Jakarta Post

October 3, 2010

(as published here)

Museum plaque

You have probably already heard of Abraham Lincoln. As the 16th president of the United States, he stood up against the slavery of African-Americans and was assassinated while he was still in office, partly because of his stance on slavery. However, what some of us may not realize is that there is a museum and library dedicated to him.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum were built in Springfield, the capital of Illinoisand were first opened in 1889. As the Illinois State Historical Library, the building was first used to preserve and collect old books, manuscripts, documents and archives. Now the museum is known as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, a public facility that is also part of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

The library holds a wealth of material pertaining to the history of Illinois, including Lincoln-related documents, which are available for research — although we may need a permit to access some of them.

Statues of Abraham Lincoln and his family members

During my visit I had an opportunity to catch a glimpse of a replica of the Declaration of Independence, and the Gettysburg Address, which is a famous speech that was delivered by president Abraham Lincoln in 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to honor soldiers who died in the US Civil War.

The museum building itself stands just across the street from 112 North 6th Street, connected to the library by a bridge. Before the inauguration of this museum in 2005, Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC, where Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865, was considered to be the Lincoln Museum.

This museum has 12 different sections, nine dedicated for main galleries, while the rest is used for catering the logistical needs of visitors; a museum store, a tourist center called The Gateway and a sandwich restaurant for visitors who are hungry after strolling through the museum.

A tour of the museum starts at The Plaza, an entrance through which visitors can go. Entering the hall, visitors will be greeted by statues of Lincoln’s family, Mary Todd Lincoln, his wife, along with his three sons, Robert Todd, Edward Baker and William Wallace — you can take pictures with them, in addition to having The White House as a background of your photo. The Plaza, however, is the only place where visitors were allowed to take pictures.

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Deisha Tamar Manuhutu

The Jakarta Post

November 7, 2010

(as published here)

 

Filmmakers, videographers and video enthusiasts need not rely solely on YouTube any more, because now there is Vimeo.

Vimeo.com is a new website for uploading and sharing video files. 

A wide variety of videos are posted on this site. It is a good place for up-and-coming video creators, or even professionals who want to show off what they have created. 

Using the site is easy. First you have to sign up by clicking the button at the top right of the screen. This will direct you to two account options, one is “basic” and the other is “plus”. 

The basic account gives you fewer benefits than the latter, offering only one kind of high-quality video format, while the plus option offers higher-quality video formats. With the basic option you can upload 500 MB per week, while the plus allows up to 5 GB per week. 

Normally, you can only upload one high-definition (HD) video per week, but the plus option allows you unlimited HD uploading, along with some other perks. 

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Deisha Tamar Manuhutu

The Jakarta Post

September 26, 2010

(as published here)

Denny Santos II, a Singaporean graphic designer, is a self-proclaimed “weekend” photographer. He took photos of people on the city state’s landmark Orchard Road and posted them on his blog www.dannyst.com for people to enjoy. 

Inspired by this creativity, an Indonesian designer Albertus Prawata or Berto proposes a similar project involving photographing and interviewing 365 people. He plans to finish in 365 days. Besides being a Jakarta-based designer, Berto is also a lecturer in the Architecture Department with Bina Nusantara University. 

At 28 years old, he had finished his masters in architectural design from the University of New South Wales, Australia. He is the man behind the blog, Tiga Enam Lima (www.3enam5.blogspot.com). 

He got the idea from the Internet. While browsing the web some time ago, Berto accidentally stumbled upon Santos’ blog and he was amazed by the photos posted there. 

“His works are very attractive and I am provoked to do the same thing. He gave me such an inspiration. However, I didn’t just want to ‘copy’ his works, I wanted to do something different, something that represents my personality.” 

Then, Tiga Enam Lima (Three Six Five) was born. It brought forth a unique slogan: Portrait + Profession + Life + Passions + Quotes = Inspirations. Similar to Santos’ blog, it does offer visitors with portraits. But, the rest is different. 

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Deisha Tamar Manuhutu

The Jakarta Post

May 15, 2010

(as published here)

 

Ask questions, give answers and learn more about your friends.

What am I talking about? I am talking about Formspring.me. The front page of this website may not be enticing with its understated design. But don’t judge a book by its cover.
Formspring is a new website known to be as fun as Facebook or Twitter, although its function is different. It allows users to ask other users random questions. The users who are asked can answer if they choose.

Is that it? This website is just about asking questions and receiving answers? Hold on, don’t say “boring” just yet, I haven’t explained Formspring’s tools.

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Deisha Tamar Manuhutu

The Jakarta Post

 April 18, 2010

(as published here)

“A small brand with a huge dream” is the motto of a local fashion brand COTTON INK. Over the past few years several local brands have emerged to catch the attention of Indonesian fashionistas, and COTTON INK is definitely one such brand that should be taken seriously.

Started with a simple blog (cottonink-shop.com), COTTON INK has become a familiar name in the local fashion industry. The brand was established in November 2008 by duo Carline Darjanto and Ria Sarwono who were friends from junior high school.

A graduate of LaSalle College of Fashion, Carline managed customer relations and development while Ria, who graduated from Paramadina University, was in charge of delivery and marketing for the offline market. 
It was Carline who had the fashion background, but both her and Ria are involved in design concepts and production.

Founders of COTTON INK brand Ria Sarwono (left) and Carline Darjanto.

Ria and Carline say their designs are not inspired by a specific designer or label, but from street style mixed with high fashion.

“When we first started, we wanted to make T-shirts from cotton as a base and use ink as the element. That is why we named the brand COTTON INK. We have continued to use cotton as our primary fabric and ink to represent our love of color. As you can see in many of our products, we love having lots of color,” Carline said.
“We offer casual clothing with a twist … Customers can wear these clothes every day, and comfortably, with a reasonable price. Our designs are simple, so they usually appeal to customers.”

According to Carline, she and Ria neither tried to produce a specific designs that would make customers really stand out from the crowd, nor adorn the designs with too many details. Carline says she makes everyday clothing for her customers, a necessity, but gave it a twist.

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Deisha Tamar Manuhutu

The Jakarta Post

April 11, 2010

(as published here)

Are you familiar with these abbreviations: "lolz", "rofl", "lmao"? Well if you aren't, then maybe you should check out www.urbandictionary.com and see for yourself what they mean.

But first of all let me relieve your curiosity (please pardon me for the expletives that follow). "lolz" stands for "laughing out loud, zebra", "rofl" stands for "rolling on floor laughing" and "lmao" stands for "laughing my arse off". These abbreviations are used to express amusement and are commonly used in chat rooms and generally in cyberspace.

If you want to find out more about Internet lingo, I suggest you check out Urban Dictionary, a website that provides a free dictionary service with a twist: Anyone can add a new word. The website's motto reads, "Urban Dictionary is the dictionary you wrote. Define your world". As of April 3, when I wrote this article, the online dictionary had 4,855,580 entries, an astronomical number considering the site was only launched in December 1999. The number is expected to increase as users continue to submit new entries on a daily basis.

If you are a trend-spotting person, this website will come in handy. You can browse words, phrases, acronyms or abbreviations from A-Z. And you can follow the dictionary on twitter at @urbandaily or twitter.com/urbandaily to get daily new-word updates on your twitter account. You can also subscribe to this service via email.

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