The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

image from here

So, I've finished reading another book. It's a classic from Lyman Frank Baum, whose story about Dorothy and the magic land of Oz has been familiar to us, well at least to me, since we are still kids.

I read this book because I feel curious (and forgetful) about its details. The curiosity started last year when I watch Oz: The Great and Powerful -which is the prequel of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz- in cinema (James Franco looked really fine in the movie, by the way *wink*) and I tried to remember, how did the story of Dorothy go? What was the original story of Dorothy's adventure in the land of Oz?

Then, I managed to download the *free* e-book from feedbooks and read it during my spare time - while waiting in the line on my dentist, sitting in a bus, and spending my lazy days on weekend.

The story is cute, in a way that you can somehow see from the perspective of an innocent child about the extremely unrealistic -or, should I say fantastic? considering that it is the adjective of fantasy?- tale. The story is also very simple and easy to enjoy. Though, it has several depressing scenes, like the one that Mr. Tin Woodman, one of its character, had in his past times when he was still human and slowly changed into tin.

And, actually I wonder why Oz, the Great Wizard, gave Mr. Straw Scarecrow a brain made of pins and needles? I mean, why should it be made of pins and needles? They were so messy and it fell off easily. Why not making it from materials that can stick and stay together, like cotton and cloth mixed with glue?

Anyway, love this book. Gonna read the sequel soon. :)

Found These Old Notes

The time when I started to wear hijab was one of the most tough time in my life so far. It took courage and determination to continue wearing it, inspite of some negative comments which came from my family.

However, I guess, that's the best time of my life too. I'm happy I have to fight for what I really want. Because, the doubts took me to question myself, and made my determination stronger as my answer got firmer.

Faith. That's one of the thing I never expected that I'd enjoy it as much as now. Alhamdulillah.

 Hehe. Do I sound too cocky?

 

Little supporting notes from my friends back then

33 Pesan Nabi (Vol.3)

I've successfully read this book in tears...

image from here

The stories are just so touchy. Highly recommended. :')

Taking a break between the deadlines

And now... I'm dealing with new challenges, from my work place. This job starts killing me slowly. Heheheh. I mean, well, yes it's true that the tasks are getting more challenging with narrow deadlines and the massive amount of work that should be done. Yes it's true that there are still many things that should be improved from my office management, especially in the job distribution.

But well. For now, I just have to take all the pills. On the other side, I know I can do it. This is an opportunity for me to learn and to leap. Bismillah. :)

The Arabian Nights

Image from here

I just finished reading one of the popular classics: The Arabian Nights. Or, some of us might know it as One Thousand and One Nights (Kisah Seribu Satu Malam). It is a book telling 1001 stories in West and South Asia.

Overall, I think this book is quite interesting because it has a unique prologue. So, the story started with a sultan whose heart was so broken that every evening he married a girl and killed them the next day. One day, a girl named Scheherazade volunteered to marry him, and believed that she knew how to end this evil act. The next morning after their wedding, Scheherazade begged the sultan to let her tell a story, to muse her little sister before she died. Aaaand, it continued. A story after another. She told a story every morning, and let the story unfinished so she could tell the rest of the story tomorrow, and so the sultan spared her life one more day. It continued after 1001 stories (Hm,actually I didn't really count it heheh. Is it really 1001?).

The stories themselves are, in my opinion, exotic, in a way that they explored the culture of India, Persia, Arab, etc, and magical, since they often included some magic in the story, like the talking bird or witches or monsters. I think this is amusing. ;)