The Perfect Day

Last week, Friday the 22nd, is one of the best day I ever had.

1. my train arrived on time in Klaten. and I just realized that one of the best moment everytime I am going home is the journey from train station to home. Paddy fields, dawn just breaking, clouds in the sky, fresh air from last night rain, unmistakable aroma of grass, morning chill with a warm sweater. Seriously, what else can you wish for a new day?

2. Ga jadi berurusan sama calo.
My passport is about to expire, and reading isman's guide for making passport, I wish my experience won't be that bad. 5 years ago, I had to resort to calo so that the passport will be ready in a day. but when I confirmed my query to the officer at immigration office Surakarta, he said I can make a new one in Bandung. So, the matter now not really pressing, I can relax.

3. Arrived home back at 1 pm, I miraculously escape a tedious meeting that is supposed to be laded with pleasantries. Man, I guess my uncle should stop impose his love relationship ideals to his nephews and nieces. But the meeting did not take place. so HUAHAHAHAHAHA there.

4. Took nap until 3, then getting ready to go to jogja. first stop: stasiun Klaten. found out there that Lodaya ticket for sunday night is sold out. no biggie, I can make a query at stasiun tugu. and it was not rain on the way, just a drop here and there, and I was dry again in 2 minutes.

5. Took a queue number: 796. number just called: 756. But when I was filling the form, somebody gave me his queue number, don't know why. his was 766. Marvellous, I'm on a roll here!

5. Lodaya is sold out, but there's mutiara selatan, departing only 10 minutes after lodaya. I'll take that.
But upon further inspection, the clerk gave me a seat numbered with 3A. no-no-no-no-no-no! but when I asked her if I can change seat, she did it and change my seat to 8B. Rarely i am so happy purchasing a ticket.

6. upon my exit from the ticket reservation center, I decided to walk to malioboro, it's close anyway. when I reached malioboro mall I decided I should get some water, so I went to Hero. And there I was offered a free beng-beng! Aduh mbak-mbaknya baik. But I guess she's being paid for it. but still, a free item that I actually enjoy.

7. And there's periplus just outside Hero. Have been awhile. did not actually have any plan to buy any books, but I found some are put on special price. ended up spending 65K for two books (Stephen White - Kill Me, and Diane - A Breath of Snow and Ashes). Thick books! somebody please slap me if you happen to accompany me at a bookstore. I still have daendels-pram, sang aktris, and sum of all fears laying around forgotten in my room, and I buy two more books? I just can't resist.

8. I almost got lost in jogja, my disorientation not helping to find my way to XXI from malioboro, but I made it in time! and finally, Watchmen. shame on you, theatres in bandung! 160 minutes later, we got out of the theatres hungry (all 4 of us) and happily happy from watching the movie (I guess it's just me of all 4). It definitely meets my expectation of the complex plot and the depth reviewed in many blog I read. and the BLOOD! the special effect! I got hooked the minute the opening credit started.

9. we ate at this seafood place that seems to be located close to sanatadharma. I might be wrong, but the cumi hot plate is good. yummy! mouth-watering yummy. delicious! Scrumptious! Mmmmm.

10. and best of all, I got home just a few minutes after 10 pm, and still dry! all is well for a day. And I have written all that, should be something to remember when I feels down.

Eh, kelupaan satu: pas keluar dari bioskop, dibilang ganteng! AHAHAHAHA. sama danti sih, tapinya trus cindy juga bilang "agak bersihan kamu mas," The number speaks. how can it not be objective. and there's no single reference to my sandal swallow. this was as good as it gets.

Books, Fair Books

I shared pretty much the same sentiment with Ella on Kompas Gramedia Fair, which was concluded last Sunday. Unlike Ella though, my excitement was created by two stand south of BIP and the pile of financial liberation and entrepreneurship: penerbit buku Kompas.

Though i only visited the fair at friday, it was IDR33K well spent: I bought four books. three of them are short stories antology (Iblis Ngambek, Kembali Ke Pangkal Jalan, and Sang Aktris), and one Pramoedya's book on Daendels. I meant to buy benny&mice's 100 tokoh and/or Pramoedya's Gadis Pantai, but as I don't bring enough money, the cheaper one will have to do.

The best thing was that the short stories antologies was extremely cheap. Tagged at IDR 5000, the price is still subject to 20% discount. I wouldn't dare to imagine the feeling of the writers, though. Hard work, sweat and blood, all equal to mere 50 sheets of empty papers. But I enjoy reading those (although I have yet to start reading Sang Aktris).

I also see N Riantiarno's book tagged at IDR8000, while only two weeks before that I bought the same book for IDR 18000 at Gramedia Ambarrukmo Plaza. Oh well. It was discounted 50 % already.

On a completely unrelated note, I thought I saw Liza tending the stand with the snake-and-ladder for kids when I visited the fair. but with my myopic sight, I didn't know for sure (was it really you?). And I feel a pang of guilt, as I have ignored SMSes from Persma for quite awhile now. But I sincerely wish them well.

Everything we are, is everything we fear

"Everything we are, is everything we fear"
--Earlimart, The Little Things

The title above is a quote from The Little Things' lyrics. I guess it's also the little things that made me put their song on heavy rotation in my phone.

The first time I listen to Earlimart was when I listen to Nevermind The Phone Calls, on Kyle XY The Soundtrack. Then I downloaded the Hymn and Her album. Then some tracks from Mentor Tormentor. Then the whole album. Then weeds out google search result for other tracks.

From the reviews of H&H, it was mentioned that they plan to release an album every year, unless they don't want to. I certainly wished for a new album coming soon, but there hasn't been any announcement, not even on their website.

Now if only their previous (and future) materials are accessible from here..

HBSITB

I basically talked BS on the ITB honor student selection. Talking about hoax. God knows why I don't just review Knowing as my submission.

Not really sure if I will be able to break my Final jinx, though.

Not exactly my finest hour,

but in two days I got to add two more lines in my CV: one first best speaker in ALSA UI EComp, and one Honor Student for FMIPA ITB. Impressive, huh? I just wished I can say the same with my final project.

It come a bit late, for now I am already weary, this earthly things is of little matter. But let's not be ungrateful. More task, more arduous road ahead!

Books and Books

I do not have a book shelf. This is why since the last time I cleaned up my room, I just put my books in piles, here and there. There are two different set of piles, though: books I generally enjoy to see laying in my room, and those that I don’t. On the left is the towering pile of the first category, and basically the attention grabber on my desk.

It turns out that putting your book in a pile has its own disadvantages: just two days ago, the whole pile crumbled down. No casualties, though. And afterwards, I put it back again in a towering pile, now seen on the left pic. Only this time I made sure that heaviest books is in the bottom of the tier: hence the Almanac etc.

But every book--or item--has a story. Bottom up: The Time Almanac, plaque from adjudicating ITB expo, Pandu's DVD: Cosmos by Carl Sagan, Arthur Phillips-Egyptologist, The Dilbert Principle, Tom Clancy-Sum of all Fears, Michael Frayn-Spies, Shakespeare-Much Ado About Nothing, Lindqvist-Let the Right One In, Richard Morgan-Altered Carbon, Pramoedya-Rumah Kaca, Budiman Hakim-Ngobrolin Iklan Yuk, Stephen Fry-Revenge, Kumpulan Cerpen Kompas 2007, Arswendo-Dewi Kawi, YB Mangunwijaya-Pohon Sesawi, Norman's Stiglitz-Globalization and Its Discontent, ARRR Robert-The Va Dinci Cod,Trust By Danone Notebook, Dino Patti Djalal-Harus Bisa, Michael Crichton-State of Fear, Swofford-Jarhead. The movie ticket was tickets for Valkyrie, when SEF ITB contingent watch it during NEO.

The almanac was bought in reading light, heavily discounted: only IDR 50.000, as I bought it in 2007, while it was actually a 2005 almanac. But it has proven time and again useful, particularly in Worlds (see the token on the right side?) and NEO.

Egyptologist, Jarhead, Let the Right One in, were bought in Reading Light, though I feel the most impressive ones is Egyptologist: It's tedious, but when you persevere, you will be rewarded at the end of the plot. Kinda like Musashi, but with less pages. I finished it just days before Ateneo Australs, and during my stay in Manila, I indulge myself in book shopping spree: Frayn, Fry, Morgan, and 4 more.

Personally, I like Revenge the most out of all books that I bought. The story was so powerful that it left me pondering for days after. I also find myself replaying scenes after scenes from the book in my head in the next couples of days. Which is surprising, because I have read the Count of Monte Cristo before, and Revenge is basically an adaptation of it. I most definitely recommend it, that's five stars out of five possible for you.

Of all the books, I haven't finished the Clancy book and Lidqvist one. But if any of you want to borrow any of the book, be my guest. On second thought, not the Stiglitz one, that one is not mine and I should've returned it a long time ago. Sorry, Norm. Hopefully more book review coming along soon.

Weekends away from Bandung

Apology for the lack of update [1]. But only now I have proof that there's only so many travelling human body--my body--can take. During the last month or so, I have spent a significant time on the road, with only last weekend I actually spend my weekends in Bandung.

The weekend before that, I was a substitute debater, joining a team with Dito, but not this Dito[2], to go to Binus for National-wide English Olympics (NEO). The fact that Binus has more than one campus successfully confused us in the first day. But the long daily commute for 4 days was definitely paid off: 2nd runner up, all only with minimum practice (twice). I get to be in a grand final again, although the other team from ITB proved their superiority [3]. At least I am enjoying my own speech in the final. Too bad there wasn’t any grand final best speaker award to feed my ego. I think I should write more about this in an official avenue.

The week before NEO, i barely spend some time in Bandung, as by Wednesday I already packed my bag to Jakarta, and in Friday I flew to Jogja for Trust by Danone Country final. This was a bit surprising; as I actually enjoy working together with my teammates without having to exert any authority at all. We ended up being the 1st runner up, and went home with mixed feelings, as if only we got through during the judges deliberation, the prize of being country champion is to go to international final at Paris. But considering even without Paris my thesis is abandoned, I don't think that Paris is such a good idea after all.

What's fun after Trust (aside from the complimentary massage in Melia Purosani) is that I get to go home before I go to Bandung, not really expecting anything and get a little get together with Danti-Cindy-Arry in--where else?--Amplaz Jogja. Got a bright orange polo shirt, too. Heheh. And burnt my tongue trying to swallow a takoyaki wholly.

The week before Trust country final, I was away from Bandung since Wednesday also, to adjudicate at 2nd Festival Ekonomi Syariah at JCC. Who knew that Jakarta can be so cold? The blasting air conditioner in the halls, lounges, chambers, and corridors were simply devilish. ITB team only got 3rd runner up, which was rather disappointing. But on Saturday evening after the event were concluded I was able to run--not literally--to Hotel Borobudur. I did miss the session with Dian Sastro for Workshop II Youth Leadership Indonesia [4]. But from the biased review of some that I heard, all of them--girls, perhaps out of feeling of inadequacy, heheh--feels that the session with the guy from BRR--what's his name--was far more inspiring. I can't agree more (that the session with the guy from BRR is truly inspiring, not necessarily the Dian Sastro part, mind you).

The weekend before FES-McKinsey's workshop, I also spent my weekend in Jakarta, for Trust Day. A week after Trust Day, every time somebody asked/reminded/cheered me for the result, I always get a painful and throbbing headache. So I guess that was the price of a novel experience, participating in a business game. But as you've read two paragraphs above, my team was in the top 6 and we get to the country final.

The weekend before trust day, I spent my time exhausted at Klaten after a week long IVED. I actually had been in Klaten and been going back and forth Klaten-UMY since January 17th, so that gives you another 2 weekends away from Bandung. Actually, make it 3 weekends, as the week before I believe I had meetings in Citos with other members of IVED A-core. IVED itself was bittersweet, as Tirza puts it appropriately. It was off with an ill start--my ranting on the issues, is of course mostly happened in private with SEF ITB gossipmongers--went better a couple of days after: ITB team broke quite high, and ITB was granted the right to host next year's IVED--and reach the anticlimax; ITB was defeated at octo, Semifinal was awful, and Grand final was dim and sloppy--in more than one sense. But it was my first time going inside Vredeburg, so it was still something.

So there you have it, 7 back to back to back to back weekends away from Bandung. The result was that during my time at NEO, I feel constant nausea, and had to run to the bathroom for feeling really sick in more than one occasion. So I guess the moral of the story is aside that most of the travels are fun, hanging out with different crowds week after week, I don’t really know what the moral is.

Oh wait: there is one; I think I need to break my grand final jinx: four grand finals and no win? Something is just not right. And I should be writing my thesis now.

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[1] Now that I have four readers[*] I surely am able to justify my illusion of having audience for this mundane blog. Ha!
[2] They has a same template, though. Same high school alma mater, even. And a number of facial similarities. Unlike yours truly.
[3] I'll admit, mixed feeling here. Not to mention feeling really-really old.
[4] Yes, I know, judging from the name it's not exactly the event you thought I'd attend, no? But how can I resist free buffet meals? And the breakfast was simply put, satisfactory. Mmmm, blueberry yogurts..
[*] Please do not mind the gender confusion.

3 Doa 3 Cinta

Ujian TRK? Gagal total. Jadilah habis itu saya maraton nonton 3 Doa 3 Cinta dan Bedtime Stories di Ciwalk 21 dan XXI. Saya review 3 Doa 3 Cinta aja deh, yang pertamanya tertarik karena rekomendasi Farah. Film ini paling lama juga seminggu lagi hilang dari bioskop, wong kemarin saya nonton jam 5 aja satu studio cuma ada sekitar 15 orang..

3 Doa 3 Cinta (3/5)
Salah satu film Indonesia yang layak tonton. Meski tidak benar-benar memukau, paling tidak setelah menontonnya anda tidak ingin membunuh Titie Said yang meloloskan film-film kacrut indonesia seperti Oh Baby. Sayangnya, meski dengan suasana segar, karena nampaknya belum ada film Indonesia lainnya yang berlatarkan pesantren sejauh yang saya tahu, kekurangan film ini lumayan banyak juga.
Utamanya adalah alurnya terlalu dangkal, mungkin karena terlalu banyak yang ingin disampaikan: mulai dari persahabatan, suasana pesantren yang ketat, Huda yang nyari ibunya (dan ternyata ibunya adalah penjaja seks), Rian yang ibunya mau kawin lagi, Sahid yang bapaknya sakit-sakitan dan sempat terpengaruh aliran garis keras yang merekrut orang-orang untuk aksi terorisme. Harusnya mungkin fokus salah satu saja sih, tapi ya bagaimana lagi. Bahkan dengan sedabreg hal yang mau disampaikan, 114 menit tetap terasa lama.

Yang paling kocak dari film ini jelas scene Huda merekam Dona buat video casting. Kapan lagi kita liat Dian Sastro pose cicak? Selain itu, ada juga Nicolas Saputra yang istigfar habis dicium. Sambil tutup mata pula istigfarnya.

Harusnya film ini saya rating 2.5/5, tapi karena ada Dona Satelit Mbak Dian joget kayang, boleh lah naik jadi 3/5.

rambling#4: Skeptisisme, Sinisme dan Gigit-menggigit

Saya barusan berpikir, bagaimana kita bisa mencegah skeptisisme menjadi sinisme?

--
Kemarin, saya baru membaca satu tulisan bagus yang menghubungkan Scooby Doo, Skeptisisme, dan Vampir. Di salah satu bagiannya disebutkan tentang Fred dan Velma bagaimana rasa skeptis bisa membuka tabir apa yang sepintas lalu bisa langsung disebut ulah makhluk gaib.

Beberapa jam sebelumnya, saya meramban jejaring jagad maya, dan melihat-lihat situs milik BCG. Di situ, di salah satu halamannya menyebutkan rasa ingintahu, ambisi, dan kreativitas sebagai sesuatu yang penting dimiliki.

Dan entah bagaimana, waktu malamnya saya nongkrong sambil jongkok*, tiba-tiba kedua yang nampaknya tidak berhubungan itu jadi klik dan nyambung (sembari menimbulkan pertanyaan-pertanyaan baru*). Salah satunya, saya jadi merasa kalau rasa ingin tahu itu adalah suatu yang berhubungan erat sekali dengan skeptisisme yang sempat saya singgung di atas. Sempat terpikir, rasa ingin tahu yang menyebabkan sikap skeptis itu. Kira-kira seperti "Apa ada vampir yang menggigit untuk menjual jasa tindik (dan tattoo)?"**

Karena dari rasa ingin tahu, kita lalu mencari tahu lebih banyak informasi yang berkaitan dengan subyek itu. lebih banyak informasi berarti kita bisa memutuskan sendiri mana yang benar dan mana yang salah. Tentu saja prinsip cukuran Occam lalu menjadi sangat berguna. Idealnya, hal ini akan menghasilkan keputusan yang baik, berdasar pada fakta dan bermanfaat.

Tapi kembali ke pertanyaan pertama saya, yang membuat saya bingung adalah saya sendiri sering bersikap skeptis, dan sinis***, tapi sudah sangat lama saya tidak merasakan gemuruh rasa ingin tahu. Opsi kesimpulan yang bisa ditarik dari sini diantaranya adalah:
1. ada yang salah dengan klausa bahwa rasa ingin tahu adalah basis sikap skeptis.
2. saya salah, dan sudah gila karena ga ada kerjaan mikirin hal begituan sementara besok UAS relativitas khusus.
3. (1) & (2) benar.
4. pertanyaan tidak berhubungan dengan kesimpulan.

Kesimpulan yang manapun yang benar, saya rasa saya tidak tahu jawaban pertanyaan yang saya ajukan ke diri saya sendiri. Dan khusus untuk saya sendiri, pertanyaannya bisa ditambahi menjadi bagaimana membalikkan arus sinisme kembali ke arah skeptisme yang sehat, penuh rasa ingin tahu****.

For my own's sake.

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*tapi bukan pertanyaan yang berkaitan dengan apa yang barusan saya makan. atau bagaimana tekstur, volume dan warnanya.
**dengan tagline iklan: "Gigitan Terpercaya Sejak 1576" atau "Gratis Gigitan Pertama (Dan Tiap Kunjungan Kelima)," atau "Melayani Pola Etnik dan Tribal."
***menurut saya, skeptis: tidak percaya begitu saja dan menelan mentah mentah, tapi terbuka pada tawaran solusi, namun tidak percaya begitu saja menelan mentah-mentah solusi yang ditawarkan (yes, my explanation is circular).
sinis: skeptis negatif, tidak percaya bahwa semua solusi yang ada bisa bekerja
****Menerima segala macam sugesti yang bisa anda tawarkan.

+saya baru sadar bahwa dengan intonasi berbeda, kalimat tanya "Apa ada vampir yang menggigit untuk menjual jasa tindik (dan tattoo)?" ini bisa dipakai oleh dua orang yang berbeda sama sekali: anak-anak polos (untuk menunjukkan antusiasme, intonasi naik dari awal ke akhir)++ dan tukang tatoo yang barusan sadar kalo dia punya saingan (intonasi turun, dari awal ke akhir, atau ganti pakai tanda seru, bisa sambil mengayun-ngayunkan belati).
++saya terbayang Milhouse van Houten, atau cewe-cewe yang terkena wabah Edward Cullen-mania.

Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan

Sometimes after getting to the final one-sixth part of the book, suddenly I feel to myself that had I been seeing its movie adaptation first, chances are I would just dismiss it as another Creepies: Attack on Tresure Islands.

Why? Because, out of the blue, there was a fight simply for the sake of fight. And some of the narration would be hard to be reproduced on screen. Surely the actors won't live up to my imagination. Take the following excerpt for example:

I turned to look her in the eye.
"Yes. I know."
Her mouth clamped down on a tremor.
"Good. Then let's do it."
[page 350, Kovacs talking to Eliott]

For all I know, I might misread the expression as a constipated look. But maybe that's because my overexposure with sinetron while I'm home for Christmas holiday. Hours of watching incompetent so-proclaimed actresses may tend to give you just that.

But overall, I think that Altered Carbon is a good read. the imagination of the future being so realistic, you can't help but ponders if our civilization will take the same path. There's also bits of wits that is simply amusing. Now all I have to do is find someone to make me a tee with the saying of You have the right to remain silent. Why don't you try it jst for a while?

Oh, mind you, there's also plenty of sex scenes and nudity. Well, it's part of the plot anyway, to bring a Meth in charge of a whorehouse down. With a bang. Without proper directing and substandard acting of its casts, all the more it will seems seedy to me. By the way, the film right for this book has been bought by Joel Silver.

So here's hoping for a good movie adaptation, for a book I rate (3/5).
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Click here to see wikipedia page for altered carbon