violated. lost. betrayed.

I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
She will be loved

--Maroon 5

Bapak saya genap berusia 52 tahun tanggal 29 Juli ini. Sebelum saya & adik-adik sempat mengucapkan selamat ulang tahun, jam 9 WIB tadi Bapak saya di e-mailnya bilang

Hello,
Hari ini papa genap 52 tahun besok udah masuk jalan 53 ha ha ha ha ha ha

papa

Lalu kita sempat ngobrol-ngobrol di MSN. Waktu saya tanya, "bgmn perasaan jalan 53 pa?" Dia tidak langsung menjawab, malah menanyakan kabar kami bertiga di sini. Dasar ganjen. Tapi akhirnya dia bilang begini

Perasaan biasa saja jalan 53 mungkin kalau jalan 60 baru ada agak lain sekarang masih biasa saja

Jawaban yang tepat. Kalo saya menanyakan hal yang sama ke Ibu, dia pasti bilang, "Ah, X, Mama kok udah kepengen gendong cucu, ya".  *geplak si Mama*

OK, mungkin baiknya cerita lebih dikit tentang latar belakang Bapak saya. Beliau adalah anak pertama dari (kalo nggak salah) 9 bersaudara. Ompung Doli** saya terakhir bertugas sebagai Camat di sebuah daerah yang indah di Sumatra Utara. Bapak saya sendiri lahirnya di Pematang Tanah Jawa dan melewatkan hari-hari kecil & remajanya di sebuah perkebunan. Itulah sebabnya dia fasih berbahasa Jawa (kayaknya bisa kromo juga sedikit) dan bisa sedikit baca Al-Quran.

Setelah menamatkan STM-nya di Porsea dan Balige, Bapak saya memutuskan untuk merantau ke suatu daerah penghasil minyak di Sumatra tengah. Dia mulai benar-benar dari nol. Diantara pekerjaannya waktu itu adalah memompa sebuah septic tank yang tersumbat di kediaman satu keluarga asing (kebanyakan pake kertas, sih) di kompleks perumahan perusahaan minyak itu.  Katanya waktu itu, dia hampir saja memutuskan untuk berhenti dari perusahaan itu, "Bapak awak Camat, masak pula, awak di sini menguras-nguras t**k orang".  Ha ha ha.

Tapi akhirnya berkat kegigihannya, Bapak saya lumayan menanjak karirnya, walopun tidak terlalu tinggi-tinggi amat, setiap posisi yang ditawarkan selalu didampingi dengan sesuatu yang menantang. Dia seorang pekerja keras, selama beberapa tahun, saya selalu mendengar Bapak pulang dari kantor jam 2 pagi dan siap bekerja lagi 5 jam kemudian.

Setelah adik-adiknya (dan adik-adik Ibu saya) berhasil disekolahkannya, Bapak saya juga mulai meneruskan pendidikannya, sampai akhirnya dia mendapatkan gelar MBA dengan predikat Cum Laude.  Saya ingat, dia pernah bilang ke adik saya, dia tidak akan menyalami saya untuk kelulusan sebelum saya mencapai gelar Master. Ada-ada saja.

Bapak saya tidak pernah minta oleh-oleh barang, cuma sekali minta dibawain bisa 5 buku sekaligus. Perpustakaan Bapak saya itu cukup lengkap. Dulu waktu kita berempat liburan sekolah, kita tidak pernah kehabisan bahan bacaan. Sampai adik saya yang paling kecil sempat bercita-cita menjadi penemu, setelah menemukan biografi Copernicus di sana.

Bapak saya boleh dibilang laki-laki Reinasans, dia bisa melakukan apa saja secara sempurna. Mulai dari semua yang berbau kerajinan, pertukangan, permobilan, kesenian, peternakan, dan pengetahuan-pengetahuan ilmiahnya. Dia juga seorang orator ulung, tidak sekali dua kali didaulat berpidato tanpa persiapan dan hasilnya selalu mencengangkan.  Dia bisa bergaul dengan segala lapisan masyarakat dan latar belakang budaya dan bahasa. Karismatik dan humoris.

Saya berharap kesehatan Bapak saya tidak menurun drastis lagi. Beliau sudah dihinggapi diabetes mellitus sejak 12 tahun yang lalu. Tahun 2003, dia terkena gejala stroke ringan akibat kecapaian menyupir pulang kampung tanpa istirahat. 

Saya sampai saat ini belum juga bisa membalas semua kebaikannya.

Selamat Ulang Tahun, Papa.



**kakek

I've been closely following the result of the survey to your right (current standing: Yes 20, No 21, Depends 11). Over these last three weeks, there has been a significant increase in the number of people agree to the possibility of a "love at first read".

Given the negligible traffic --from people other than the frequent visitors-- this blog has, I wonder if the same participant clicked the yes button one too many times. Ha ha ha.

Oh well, Happy Wednesday, or what's left of it.

Given the circumstances, this Wednesday is not as bad as the previous weeks', except that I just found out listening to a particular authoritarian wannabe tone from someone younger is aggravating my dislike to the individual 1000 times.

Forgive me blog for I have neglected you
It has been almost a week since my last composition
I am again feeling bored, a bit blue, and worst,
feel not particularly eloquent to bare it all down here

huaaahhhh!!

Tahun lalu, Bapak yang blognya udah nggak aktip lagi ini, sempet jadi temen ngobrol-ngobrol di internet yang lumayan paling setia. Terus udah beberapa bulan ini, kita nggak pernah kontak-kontak lagi, sama-sama sok sibuk lah ceritanya.

Terus tiba-tiba tadi pagi-pagi buta, dia manggil tuh, tetep dengan status away-nya. Jadi berikut cuplikan percakapan kita, biasalah lagi nggak ada bahan postingan, kali dia bakal mbunuh aku kalo ngeliat ini ditaro di sini...hauhuahau....

bapak itu:
btw... i need a girl's opinion...
what do u think of this...
numinous:
bentar
nggak bisa yg tinggian karatnya?
hihihi
really? it's too cheap? udah mahal gini hahahahaha
overall very nice
katanya biasanya sampe kemakan 2 bulan gaji
2 bulan gaji ya...
hmmm.. OK
cari lagi...
bagus sih, cuman kali kurang bling-bling soalnya 1/3
tapi tergantung cewe-nya sih
iya makanya gue nanya.. kaga ngerti gini karat2an
kalo yang nggak demen norak, segini mah udah cukup
ic ic...
are you?
going to propose sometime?
well.... she already said yes... tapi casually gitu - kalo dihantam
pake diamond kan she knows I'm serious maybe?
AWWWW
selamaatttt
who's the (un)lucky girl?
slamat apa.... I told my parents... and gue gak ngomong sebulan
hahahaha
oalah
but... nekat aja bodo amat...
.
.
holy shit this is expensive
nah itu baru beenneeer
ah tapinya kemahalan
si m****, dulu pernah kehilangan cincin tunangannya
o ya...
iya, tapi akhirnya dibeliin lagi
buset deh kalo yg ini ilang...
yang agak bawahan dikit deh
mending buat biaya anak-anak entar...cieehh... ptuih
yup... so maybe in the 3K range?
about right
2 bulan gaji mah mahal... mendingan gue beliin dia mobil
hahaha
bener-bener
is the diamond more important atau lebih pening platinum?
diamondnya
tapi platinumnya yang buat lebih keren sih
oh ok
kalo gue baca... it makes the diamond shine better.... whatever
iya
you females just like to make us poor
hahahhaha
iya dong
lagian kan sekali seumur hidup bow
(mudah-mudahan)
aminnn
iya I know.... let's hope sekali aja seumur hidup
kemajuaannn...elu bilang aminn
hahahha
desainnya bagus tapi kan?
oh iya bagus
zales gitu
it looks good to me... simple
yep yep

Udah ah segitu aja yang ditampilin. Buat Bapak itu & calon nyonya-nyah, Selamat deh yah. Kalo tidak ada ara melintang, semoga jadi keluarga yang bahagia. *muah-muah*

Sometimes, small things in your work environment bring a suprising change on your routine. Take yesterday morning for example, as I was just arriving at the office, the cleaning lady was finishing her final touch waxing the office floor. It was so clean and  shiny I could be basking at my own reflection. Believe it or not, this increase on surface reflectivity created a work-more-efficient-! aura despite of the fact that weekend was just a couple of hours away. 

From our little chit chat, I found that it took her about three hours to work on the two laboratories and the two rooms this side of the hallway. We also discussed her preference on the type of moving furniture that better accomodate the wax effect. “Yours and this chair are good. Those two are definitely not, it scratches the floor, leaving black marks.”  I praised her hard work and she asked me to tell the guys with the scratchy chairs to please lift them instead of pulling whenever he/she wants to move it. We then bid Good-Byes and Happy Weekends.

Speaking of weekends, now that it finally comes, it doesn't feel as good as I imagined it would be. I am back at the lab, skipping breakfast & lunch, working on my part of the group's overdue project. The one thing I am looking for in today's agenda is the before-dawn-hour-long jogging at the Research Park. 

I find it inconceivable, one day you are racing home for a big dinner to lay down your day's worth anxiety, the next day and the next-next days, for the same purpose and beyond, you are racing home for a jog in a park. I hope this fancy stays put forever, especially for the next sixteen weeks.  *winks* 

Have yourself a good weekend.  

Signing off,
X

These past couple weeks, I seemed to never realize the existence of a Wednesday. It went straight past it from Tuesday to Thursday, and before I knew, weekend started 5 PM the next day. Somehow, this week is different. I am hoping for a weekend already when it's only Wednesday. Ahhh, time goes really slow these days.

This entry is dedicated to Miss Pink, who just yesterday kindly asked me a review of David Sedaris’ book I’m currently reading.

That being declared, let’s move on to the real deal. I am sure that we should not call this a review, since a review covers many aspects, literary or otherwise, and usually is accompanied with vast knowledge of similar works to compare with. While I, on the other hand, at my best, provide purely biased view of my own on the subject. Maybe one day there will be a Sedaris scholar.

My interest on the author actually rooted deeper than the Time magazine review of his works. It started when in my senior year in college, I happened to watch this now-defunct show Stranger with Candy on Comedy Central. The series was about a 40-something year old former problem child (drug addict, runaway, looser), Geraldine “Jerry” Antonia Blank, who decided to start her HS education. To fully experience what she might be missing the whole time, she came back to live with her family --which this time consists of the father, the stepmother and a stepbrother. Needless to say, the show was hilariously strange and, of course, funny, as it pictured Jerry’s often failed careers to mix and mingle with the teenager crowd, and not to mention the teaching units. Who won’t? With the kinds of support of her bizarre family and outcasts friends provide. Anyway, Amy Sedaris, who also co-written some of the episodes, played the Jerry character. I later learned that she is related to our book writer, his little sister to be exact. Get it? It seems that funny genes run in the family. Okay, now it’s enough background to support our following ventures.

The book I own is Me Talk Pretty One Day, MTPOD for short, his first National Best Seller. He also authored several others, Naked, Barrel Fever, Holidays on Ice, and the newest one, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. I was thinking of buying his latest, which naturally, is still bound to be in the hardcover edition. But, hey, let’s face it, the $10 difference really could make a different into one’s contribution at Sundays’ collection. Instead, these past couple visits to Barnes & Nobles always included my reading catch up on the DYFICAD. Yes, yes, I’m that cheap.

MTPOD is divided into 2 parts, the first consists of 13 chapters of essays on daily childhood life, and the deux part consists of 15 essays picturing his life in Paris. Not enough baring all this in just one book, the title-suggested DYFICAD becomes the proof of family as the endless source of his writing themes.

All of these double-covered humor autobiographical essays on MTPOD are positioned in almost no chronological order. In the first part, it starts with a story of him taking speech therapy for his lazy tounge lisp. His rebel against the forced practice, in my opinion, could easily become the foundation of him becoming a writer. Instead of practicing what the therapist suggested, he avoided all the s-infected words with the help of his vast growing number of thesaurus words. Speech therapist becomes articulation coach, New Year’s Eve becomes the night at the end of the year, and so on.

The essays gradually became more satiric and funnier as he bare down his adulthood experiences –nothing “dirty”. There is this chapter that provides insights into the unglamorous side of New York City lives from his odd jobs as mover and private assistant to a poorly rich Latin woman. Those were funny. Another chapter talks about him being in Paris but never bothered to visit the touristy parts of it, instead he spent many daytime hours developing bonds with the locals when he sauntered to the local cinema to watch American movies. There is also his hilarious trouble in learning French and its super-ballistic grammar. And then there is the genuienly funny comparison of his seemingly lackluster childhood and his boyfriend’s African upbringings. (The boyfriend is the child of an American diplomat family stationed in different African countries.)

One thing that kind of annoying, is the follow up of the climax of some of the essays. I was hoping that it will lead to more stories but instead he has a knack to end something just like that.

Some called him the modern day Oscar Wilde. I guess so too, but take this from a girl whose only experience of an Oscar Wilde is coming from its screen work. No, not the MJ playing Cecily character in the The Importance of Being Earnest play Spidey missed the first time, but from the much hilarious movie version starring Rupert Everert and the ever lovely Colin Firth.

Anyway, this is a 40-something years old man, with no real responsibility, getting paid to write funny stories about his life. He becomes sort of my idol, on a second thought, maybe not so much.

These past couple of days, I also find another source of musing here. Reading his blog really brings the smile as wide as the De La Plata the back to my face. (Wikipedia told me that the aforementioned river is the widest on earth. I thought it was the Nile. Oh, well). Dodol Surodol could easily be a better yet positive, version of David Sedaris. (Maap, Dol, kok jadi bicarain elo ya, abis emang bagus dan lucu sih tulisan-tulisan elo…) Come on, Mr. Surodol –-sorry if this bothers you-- find that publisher, write your own book, or column, or please don’t ditch us ever and just keep posting!

Phew, what else? I think that's it. See how things evolve from just a simple wish of reviewing book into forcing your blog-friend to write his own book.

Things in dire need to be acquired, in decending rank:

Mighty insect repellant --> in defense against the mosquitos (& friends) the size of killer bees
Industrial strength hydrocortisone --> same as above
Memory card --> for the office computer
New pair of flip flops --> A must these days
One of David Sedaris' books --> for a little satire
New pair of running shoes --> QFALB sanctioned apparatus
Decent digital camera --> just for a little fun
Round trip ticket home for December --> for 2 weeks full of fun
Eyelets setters --> for the scrapbooking project
40 GB Hard drive --> for the office computer
Honey hazelnut contacts --> for the flirtatious part of moa
Decent laptop --> for joining the laptop owner bandwagon

On a G-mail note, I still have one invitation left. Should you be interested, please provide me with your e-mail address.

Happy Monday.

Not so deep down, there is this frustration laying on my head coming from so many failed attempts to express something verbally. It seems impossible to come up with the right sentence that capture what I really want to say, what I feel. Often time, the essence of the finished paragraphs roll away from what I try to convey. Baffled as ever, I usually leave it like that. Writing is definitely not an easy thing. *Urrgghhh* And I just haven't tried harder.

The gank walking from the hotel's parking garage. 

Ucok's photo(shop)graphy

Evils went to N'awlins 

Dua temen aku baru-baru ini kembali ke tanah air setelah menamatkan kuliah mereka. Yang satu anak Psikologi, yang satunya Master Tehnik Industri. Berikut cuplikan cerita kedua mahluk itu berkelana hidup di negeri tercinta.

Alo teman2 cemuaaaaa ....

Kangen ni .... Kabar dari Indo, aku cerita2 mewakili V**** juga deh ya, V****? (Ga denger protes berarti oke)

Aku n V**** ama2 udah kerja, masing2 sebulan setelah kita nyampe Indo, 3 minggu nyampe deh, udah dapet kerja yang oke. Jadi ya not as bad as I thought lah, lulusan LN ternyata masih laku di Indo, baik posisi maupun gaji, heheh ....

Cuma yang ga seru, V**** Sabtu kerja 1/2 hari tuh, jadi diajak kelayapan Jumat malem susah. Ya gak V****? lagian karena kita udah kelamaan ga balik Indo (apalagi V**** tuh, sini yang cuman 3 tahun aja pulang bengong ngong, langsung pilek, batuk dan urus2), jadi kita keliatan o-on dan gaptek banget deh. Ngetik SMS ga lancar, tempat2 dugem terbaru ga ngerti, liat harga2 pake Rupiah yang banyak nolnya jerit2, nyetir ngeri banget.... terutama nyetir nih, di Indo kayanya cuma ada 1 aturan, lampu merah mesti stop, lainnya atuarn bebas, mo jalan 3 jalur diisi 5 mobil plus motor kalo emang muat oke aja .... Caranya nawar di pasar juga udah lupa kali ya ....

Jadilah kita berdua orang bloon di negeri sendiri ...

Lucu juga. Hi hi hi...
Buat aku nyetir kayaknya nggak masalah lah, bekas supir Medan ini. Haiahihai.

How many special people change?
How many lives are living strange?
Where were you while we were getting high?

Slowly walking down the hall
Faster than a cannonball
Where were you while we were getting high?

Someday you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova in the sky

--Oasis, Champagne Supernova

You know the feeling, you watch (what should always be) hilarious comedies, dramatic dramas, thrilling actions, intense horrors, but you don't fall for any of it, not the way it always has some kind of effect on you.

You don't feel like to involve in any other activity for that matter or whatever it is you hold dear these days. Internet is blunt, socializing is exhausting, eating becomes less lifely, sports dull, books brainless, and music muddy.

You know it, right? You are numb, and it's dreadful.

I pray that those days won't come again, not in a consecutive manner, at least.

I am a little melancholic these days. Funny it is to feel blue and blaming it on your sickness. I feel like throwing up from time to time, and other than the lost appetite, it also brings back my long gone imsonia nights. At least I have the X-Files reruns (and those memorable pictures of you) to spend the night with. And for some other silly reason, I enjoy all these.

Good night.

Houmas House, one of the plantation houses on the Mississippi river bank. 


Yours truly, in the Houmas House's backyard garden. 


Ndoros Ucok & Yadda, trying on hats (and acted accordingly) on a gift shop on Decatur St.  


We ate (overpriced) lunch at the balcony of a restaurant on Bourbon St. 

I had a bowl of cereal and a glass of GJ at 9 this morning. It's 1 PM now and my stomach growls intensely. Very unlike me. This is what you got after 2 days full of NOLA carbs fiesta. Jambalaya, Gumbo, & beignets should be strictly probihited for someone like me, ha ha ha.

I'd better wait for the pictures to get developed before proceeding with the stories. Meanwhile, I have a slight throat discomfort, might be just another allergic reaction.
Btw, the advisor is coming back tomorrow, which --quite possibly-- means the end of my summer fun. :(

Dear Guitar Guy,

Everywhere in Bourbon St. last Saturday night
They played arrangements a tad too hip for us four
It was an act of nonchalant
that we strolled on that tiny Isle of Capri you were jamming on

While we sipped on our Malibu Rum, White Russian, Long Island, and sodas
we enjoyed your magnificent solos
and the (cover) songs you and your band played

It was sad that we ran out of cash that we couldn't buy you drink
If not we might get to know you a little better

...but maybe you prefer not to drink (or chat)
As we saw you outside during break all by yourself
just looking at the crowd all shapes and shades
as we excused ourselves to that famous cafe

So until next time, Guitar Guy,
if we ever come back to visit again
or when serendipity presented herself upon us
we'd love to see you play alive

Maybe you'll have a record deal, a big one someday
Just remember us, the youngest crowd on that bar that night
Watching over you and your guitar playing

After a few weeks of rainy summer, which translated into even damper humidity and mosquitos the size of killer bees, it's finally dry, shiny, and piercing 95 degree outside today.

On a sweller note, we are off to Houston in a couple hours to spend the night before commencing our early morning 5-6 hours road trip to New Orleans. Live jazz performances, tasty beignet & good coffee, Creolean cuisines & seafood, steamboat riding and maybe some 4th of July fireworks fiesta...one word, delightful!

Be back late on Sunday.