Game Ideas : Game Review: September 2010

October 2nd = INDONESIAN BATIK DAY

Don't forget to wear batik tomorrow, peeps!! :)

Anyway...the batik I'm wearing above is a handmade Indigo Batik from Galeri Batik Jawa available at Plasa.com...the blue dye of the batik is made from indigofera leaves, specialty of the Imogiri village in Central Java...I love it! :)

Spots and Mottle

A new dress I bought from Forever 21...yippie! :)

Cotton Ink shawl, ubranded socks, Go Girl! sunglasses, Sembonia wedges

Forever 21 shirt, Topshop tights, Tripp boots

Just Like That

An unexpected dinner with S, Arin, Panji, Mayo and a new friend, Adi...happy!! :)

Forever 21 dress, Dorothy Perkins tights, Wondershoe shoes

Quote of The Day

"You don't need to know everything, nor do you need to be everything. Just be the best of yourself, and do your best for others."

- Diana Rikasari -

Dear Webcam...

It's official! @ShunjiMatsuo at Dharmawangsa Square is my favorite salon...:)

Went for my very first "scalp treatment" and it felt so gooooood hihih...there were several stages of treatment they did to my scalp which I can't really remember, but all of them involved menthol-like lotions that felt very fresh to my scalp hehehe...me likey! :D

And the thing I like the most about this salon is the way they blow dry your hair...they don't make your hair "big" like most salons do...they make it fall nicely and look just natural...:)

Let's Fly To Trench

I love anything outerwear. Jackets, blazers, coats. And I'm so happy to have this new maroon coat...yay!! :)

Bloop coat, Zara t-shirt, custom made shorts, thrifted belt, mom's handkerchief, Forever 21 leggings, Tender Blush shoes

Bloop coat & dress, dad's tie, Mango belt, Dorothy Perkins tights, Chanel boots

Late Night

I've been trying so hard to sleep, but I just can't. I hate insomnia, and I don't like Craig David either...;p

Anyway, I miss my friends a lot. They're all still there, living their usual routines, but everything feels different compared to when we were...well...younger. I've been expressing this feeling to some people, and I'd always receive a similar response..."you know, you grow up, and you dedicate your time to your loved one", and by loved one, they mean boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, or either their new little family.

I disagree. I just think there's always a way to balance things out, and we just simply should. I cannot imagine that I used to spend time with my best friends, and suddenly stopped doing so just because I have a boyfriend. I enjoy having my friends and boyfriend together, and I am very much relieved that S thinks the same way. We never mind having our Saturday nights shared with our friends, because we like the idea that friends are family, and families grow bigger, not smaller and get replaced.

I am in love with S, but he is not my whole world. He is metaphorically, but in real life, I need my friends just as much as I need S, my family, my work and self-being.

I miss you, dear friends.

:)

On The Phone

Him: "Okay babe....gotta go....iron my clothes"
Me: "Yeah right...go finish your game!!"

143

Only I skirt, Forever 21 shirt, Bonnie - Wondershoe shoes

Mango Ice Cream

Yay! A review about the previous Mango Fashion Fusion Styling Competition in Marie Claire magazine...:)

aaaaaand...in ELLE Magazine!

Thank you so much!! :)

I'm Happy & Nobody Can Change That

Attended NAIF's merchandise release at Urbie store...:)

Bloop blazer, unbranded dress, Topshop tights, Mango bag, Nanoge shoes

Hearts & Kisses

Another illustration of me by the adorable Jessica Xu....million thanks, girl! :)

Guinness Book Of World Eating Records

At Papa Ron's Pizza...;p

Featured: Kenali Anak Negeri

Featured on Trans TV's "Kenali Anak Negeri" show back in July, but just had the opportunity to upload it now hehehe....enjoy!! :)

Florida Court Confirms: Gay Adoption Ban Unconstitutional

Florida remains the only US state with a constitutional ban on gay adoption - a ban which is starting to meet substantial political resistance. The political support for the ban is becoming irrelevant, as a series of court decisions have confirmed: anti-gay discrimination is unconstitutional. Two California judges in recent months have found that bans on gay marriage and gay military service are discriminatory and so unconstitutional. This ruling from Florida confirms the pattern: discrimination is not acceptable.

Frank Martin Gill & Partner: Approved Gay Parents

The context for this decision is that four separate lower courts have already approved adoption by suitable gay parents in specific cases, and ruled in each case that the ban is unconstitutional. The present case is the first of the four to have reached the appeals process, in the Miami-Dade Appeals District. If the state appeals the present ruling, the case will reach the state Supreme Court - which is likely to find, as an ever-increasing sequence of courts have done, that discrimination is simply contrary to the American constitution.

This is from Just News:

An appeals court in Miami-Dade County has ruled that Florida's ban on gay adoption unconstitutional.

The Third District Court of Appeal in west Miami-Dade issued the unanimous 3-0 opinion Wednesday morning.

The ruling stems from a case involving a North Miami gay man, Frank Martin Gill, and his partner, who sued to adopt two boys whom they took in as foster children in 2004.

Last year, a trial court judge sided with Gill and his partner, saying the law was unconstitutional. The state challenged the ruling, but now the appeals court has sided with the lower court's decision, saying the law was unconstitutional.

If the state challenges the ruling, the case could end up before the state Supreme Court.

Boo Boo Boo

Watched Resident Evil: Afterlife today...

Bloop shirt, Dhievine by Dhika skirt & scarf, mom's belt, unbranded headpiece, Syu Shu shoes

Here's what I think about the movie:

But I liked her outfit! :)

Girls Day Out

Zara faux fur jacket, Bloop shirt, gifted skirt, Uniqlo tights, Mango bag, Wondershoe shoe

Second Poll Confirms: US Majority Support Gay Marriage.

When a CNN poll last month showed for the first time that a majority of Americans supported gay marriage, I was a little cautious. A single poll can always be an aberration, the wording was unusual, and the small tiny (in a split sample, just 250 - half of a sample of 500). However, a new poll with more conventional wording and a more robust sample has produced an almost identical result: 52% support full marriage equality (and 46%
against, with only 2% "don't know").

This is an outright majority, but a narrow one and within the statistical margin of error. However, there are a few features of this poll that are even more encouraging than the bare numbers.

There is a clear and continuous upward trend in support. The 52% in favour, and favourable margin of 6%, contrasts markedly with just 46% in favour and a deficit of 7% in the comparable survey just a year ago.

Unusually, the question was applicable to legal recognition by the federal government, not just at state level. I would see this as more important and powerful, politically.

Support for equal treatment under the law for same sex couples, without necessarily invoking that word marriage, is substantial: 58% for, to 38% against. That is clear majority support, without any qualification whatever.
Elsewhere in the survey. was a question on judicial decisions, which has relevance here. Asked if judges should restrict their verdicts to narrow legal interpretations, or should consider the broader interests of society, a clear majority agreed with the latter view. This does not augur well for those who are trying to unseat the "activist judges" of Iowa.

(Read the full poll report from AP/GfK)

From Politico:

The first national poll suggesting the majority of Americans back same-sex marriage looked like a fluke.
Today, a second poll finds that a 52% majority back federal legal recognition for same-sex marriage.
In both cases, the questions weren't totally straightforward.
This one asked: "Should the Federal Government give legal recognition to marriages between couples of the same sex, or not?"
In response, 52% said yes.
The earlier CNN poll had gotten almost identical numbers from this question:
"Do you think gays and lesbians should have a constitutional right to get married and have their marriage recognized by law as valid?"
That isn't the same as saying your state should marry same-sex couples. But it's a pretty clear explanation of why this isn't an effective political issue any more. And it suggests that appeals to the Supreme Court may not be as out of step with public opinion as many on both sides of this fight had assumed.

Marriage equality gaining support (washingtonmonthly.com)
The Second Poll Shows A Majority For Marriage Equality (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)

On To The Line, The On Of The Line.

An overview of Indonesia's current online playing field by Andi S. Boediman...thank you so much for the feature! :)

What Constitutes a “Family”? Empirical Study Finds A Wider View

Religious conservatives are regularly referring to the “traditional family” as a foundation for their beliefs, but there is no such thing. The conservative interpretation of the so-called traditional family is a relatively modern invention, created to fit the conditions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Western Europe and North America. In earlier times, and other parts of the world. family structures varied enormously from this particular model.

Family history, like all other history, is constantly changing to fit new circumstances, so it should be no surprise that conceptions of family in the twenty first century are continuing to evolve, to fit a world that is no longer what it was in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Some of these changes are obvious, but like so much that is familiar, can easily be “hidden in plain sight.” A new study by sociologist Brian Powell brings this into plain view. (His study is specifically of American views, but with the emergence of a shared world culture, many of his findings will also have relevance across a much wider geographic region.)

The central finding is that people no longer define “family” as mom pop and kids, but also include same-sex couples with children (Children seem to be central: childless couples, gay or straight, are not seen as “families”, but just as couples). However, there is an increasing movement towards acceptance. An important finding, familiar from previous studies on the subject, is that people who know gay people (more accurately, who recognize that people they know are gay), are more supportive than those who are not aware that family members or acquaintances are gay. This simply reinforces the necessity for the wider political struggle, that wherever possible, gay men and lesbians should come out openly, in as many contexts as possible. Coming out personally will improve acceptance in our circles of friends and family. Politicians and other public figures who come out do so indirectly for the wider community.

I particularly liked an argument on gay adoption that I have been using regularly: framing arguments in terms of the “the best interests of the child” can work to our advantage, not those opposed to gay adoption. (In adoption considerations, the best interests of the child require placement with the best parents available. Sometimes, they will be gay). Indeed, the claim made (but not elaborated on in the reports I have seen), is that the interests of children may well be a more effective argument than others in making the case for more general equality of same-sex couples.

From the New York Times

A majority of Americans now say their definition of family includes same-sex couples with children, as well as married gay and lesbian couples.

At the same time, most Americans do not consider unmarried cohabiting couples, either heterosexual or same-sex, to be a family — unless they have children.

The findings — part of a survey conducted this year as well as in 2003 and 2006 by Brian Powell, a sociology professor at Indiana University, Bloomington — are reported in a new book, “Counted Out: Same-Sex Relations and Americans’ Definitions of Family,” to be published on Wednesday by the Russell Sage Foundation. Since the surveys began, the proportion of people who reported having a gay friend or relative rose 10 percentage points, said Professor Powell, the book’s lead author.

“This is not because more people are gay now than in 2003,” he said. “This indicates a more open social environment in which individuals now feel more comfortable discussing and acknowledging sexuality. Ironically with all the antigay initiatives, all of a sudden people were saying the word ‘gay’ out loud. Just the discussion about it made people more comfortable.”

The book concludes that framing the equality of same-sex couples in terms of “the best interests of the child” might prove to be a more successful political argument than others.

Now I Know Who All These People Running Around My House Are (bilerico.com)
Who's a family? New study tracks shifting US views (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

The Real Mama Grizzlies: Lesbian Moms?

Sarah Palin, With Bear

Sarah Palin's understanding of wildlife appears to be no better than her tenuous grasp of social history. Mrs Palin has been very much in the news over her enthusiastic promotion of a band of crazies thoughtful, conservative candidates who agree with her own views on education and "traditional family values". The women in this band she likes to describe as "mamma grizzlies", most recntly Christina O'Donnell in Delaware.

The problem with the conservative view of the "traditional" family and its values is that has little relation to history, and is in fact a relatively modern invention. The problem with her adoption of mamma grizzlies as her model is that they too scarcely embody the "family values" she claims to support. Real life mamma grizzlies do not live or mate in the nuclear families she so admires. Rather, they mate in promiscuous, polygamous groups, then raise their young as single mothers - or in collaboration with other females, as family units headed by two women. The closest human counterparts to real-life "mamma grizzlies" are lesbian couples, with kids - not exactly Christian O'Donnell.

Consequently, many grizzly mammas raise their young as single parents - unless (as many do) they team up with another female for co-operative parenting.

The two mothers become inseparable companions, travelling and feeding together throughout the summer and fall seasons as they share in the parenting of their cubs.. ....... A bonded pair jointly defends their food, and the two females also protect one another and their offspring (including protecting them from attack by grizzly males). The cubs regard both females as their parents, following and responding to either mother equally; bonded females occasionally also nurse each other's cubs. If one female dies, her companion usually adopts her cubs and rears them as her own.

Sexual activity is not always exclusively for procreation and not always between opposite-sex partners; the partners in procreation are usually opposite-sex (not always - some lizards reproduce from female pairs), but the parties in biological parenting and child-rearing are not always the same; and there are instances where same-sex parents have clear advantages over the alternatives, especially where the alternative is not "one mom and one pop", but a single mother, as in the case of the Grizzlies.

There are thousands of animal species that are known to have homosexual relationships, some even more frequently than heterosexual relationships (for example bighorn rams, female bonobo chimps and male giraffe). Many other animal species, especially birds, form same-sex parenting couples, by adoption or surrogacy. In human societies, there are likewise numerous examples where standard practices include same-sex relationships in addition to opposite sex-marriage - and the evidence from research is that just as in the animal kingdom, same-sex couples are at least as capable of good parenting, and sometimes even better, than opposite - sex couples.

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Sarah Palin's Top 10 Tea Party Mamma Grizzlies (middletownmike.blogspot.com)
New Sarah Palin Ad Welcomes Grizzlies Of All Genders (As Long As They're Not "Politicos!") (mediaite.com)

The Gay Side of Nature (time.com)
Why It's OK for Birds to Be Gay (livescience.com)
Sexual Fluidity Is Natural in Animals (gayrights.change.org)
Parental care linked to homosexuality (nature.com)
Same-Sex Parents, Furred and Feathered. (It's a Queer World)
Natural Law, Natural Sex, Natural Families (It's a Queer World)
Africa's Male Wives (It's a Queer World)

Books:

Bagemihl, Bruce: Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity (Stonewall Inn Editions)

Crompton, Louis: Homosexuality and Civilization

Naphy, William G: Born to be Gay: A History of Homosexuality (Revealing History)

Roughgarden, Joan: Evolution’s Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People

Lace Up

Illustrated by Len Riyanto...thank you so much, girl! :)

The Bigger The Better

Rain Clouds

I'm soooooo happy that Roxy is launching a new collection called "Roxy Batik"....it makes me proud to be an Indonesian! And I really appreciate that they provide brief descriptions on the tags about each of the batik patterns they apply on their products, including the batik pattern type, history & meaning...this is a good move! :)

Below I'm wearing pieces from their new collection with Mega Mendung (rain clouds) pattern...yay!! :)

Roxy tank top & skirt, Hunting Fields jacket, Dorothy Perkins tights, Kloom sandals

Out Of This World!

I'm not really a fan of Kipling, but I loooooove their latest collaboration with Peter Pilotto...I'm all about cosmic prints! :)

Giovanni Bosco

Giovanni was born to an impoverished rural family in Castelnuovo, Piedmont. Patronage from clerics allowed him to be ordained priest in 1841. He devoted himself to improve the life and education of the many homeless peasant teenage boys in and around Turin, hundred of whom were attracted to the city by the Industrial Revolution.

In 1864 he founded the Salesian Fathers religious order. At Bosco's death the Salesian "oratoires" numbered about 250. He was beatified in 1924, and declared a Saint of the Catholic church in 1934.
Bosco is one of the many homosexuals who found in the Catholic church a family and a "mission". Quite surely he was a paedophile who, possibly, succeeded in sublimating his attraction to young boys into a socially useful undertaking.
(From Aldrich & Wetherspoon, "Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History from Antiquity to WWII"

Yet Another Court Victory for Gay Marriage, Family Equality:

In barely a week, there have been four important court judgements in three American countries that represent important victories for gay marriage and family equality. Immediately after the celebrated judgement in California striking down Proposition 8, the Mexican court ruled that the legal provision for gay marriage in Mexico City was fully constitutional. Yesterday, that same court ruled that marriages in Mexico City must be recognized, and the associated benefits granted, right across all Mexican states. Also yesterday, the court in Costa Rica ruled that a proposed national referendum on civil unions, may not go ahead. There may well be another important advance coming within days: the Mexican court is due to pass judgement on a matter concerning gay adoptions, possibly as soon as tomorrow.

Superficially, the Costa Rican decision may appear the least significant of all three decisions, but I disagree. Although it concerns only civil unions, not full marriage, and the population numbers affected are relatively low, this decision was explicitly based on a fundamentally important matter of principle: the rights of a minority cannot be decided by a majority vote.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="269" caption="A Rainbow Future for Costa Rica"]

[/caption]

The Constitutional Court's 5-2 decision released Tuesday says such a referendum would put a minority at a disadvantage in a largely Roman Catholic country. It also says gay civil unions is a legislative issue and not an electoral one. The court says it considers homosexuals a group that is at a disadvantage and the target for discrimination, requiring government authorities to protect their rights.

It is still too early to say what is the future for gay marriage in Costa Rica. There may be no progress in the short term, or the legislature may feel emboldened by the progress in Argentina, coupled with this decision, to move ahead.

Whatever the Costa Rican politicians decide for now, one thing is clear: across Latin America, the momentum is now on the side of family equality. Sooner rather than later, same sex marriage and gay adoption will spread right across the continent - and the Catholic church will be no more able to prevent it than they were in Argentina. Then, faced with a fait accompli, the bishops in the region with more Catholics than any other, will have to work with the reality all around them.

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