Sunday, November 21, 2010

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - Movie Review a la Amateur



Hiya! Been a long time since my last post in bahasa Indonesia! Now i'm gonna give you all my movie review. Ahem, this contains SPOILER, so if you don't read the book, you have two options, leave this page or continue reading and curse me later. LOL


Okay, here's the thing. I'm gonna write this so-called movie review in some kinda annoying language. Hehehe, i'm gonna use two languages, bahasa Indonesia, as my mother tongue, cause i find it difficult to mean what i mean (duh!) in English if i can't find the closest meaning to it. And um, since i started this post in English, consider that my psych language. Hehehe...




Here goes,
Cerita bermula dari hari Jumat, 18 Nopember 2010, di mana teman saya Monica menunjukkan saya sebuah kertas berisi jadwal pemutaran film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (selanjutnya saya sebut HP#7). Saat itu Monica sedang mencari Ayoe, partner setianya untuk Twilight Saga (maaf, nyamber dan nggak fokus). Saya tahu Monica dan Ayoe akan mengusahakan sekuat tenaga untuk menonton HP#7. So, me with my brilliantly wicked mind, asked her about their plan to watch it. Hehehe, i did take advantage of their madness. Now, you see how smart and mean i was. Hehehehe.. untungnya mereka orang baik yang mencintai saya (kebohongan besar!!!) sehingga saya dimasukkan ke rencana nonton bareng. 


To be honest, i'm not a fan of the HP movies. I mean, they suck! Yeah, i get it if you hate me for what i said. Well. it's just that the books are too wonderful compared to the movies. Well, that's just an opinion. I think i'm just a bitter hard-to-please kind of audience. A smart-a** director wannabe who can't accept the fact that making films is not as easy as 1-2-3. But this time, what i mean by this time is THIS HP#7, I LOVED IT. I-EFFING-LOVED-IT!!!




Wonder why??? Here's why 
Masih terngiang dalam benak saya mengenai "tragedi" Harry Potter and the Order of Phoniex   yang diakibatkan oleh sutradara David Yates dan kru. Saya rasa saat itu saya ingin menggantung Tuan Yates karena telah "mengebiri" film yang mestinya diisi oleh banyak sekali aksi, terutama aksi saat Fred dan George Weasley keluar dari Hogwarts. That scene should have been phenomenal! Instead, it wasn't even close. Like it wasn't even in the neighborhood! Duh!!! Seolah "kejahatan" Tuan Yates belum cukup buruk, film selanjutnya, Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince yang menurut saya masih tidak memuaskan, lagi-lagi sutradara ini membuat saya kesal dengan adegan yang esensinya tidak penting. Apalagi kalau bukan adegan ciuman antara Harry-Ginny. Kesalnya bukan karena saya penggemar berat Daniel Radcliffe. Adegan itu memang ada di buku, tapi pada saat yang tepat. Nah, "kejahatan" Tuan Yates (yang dulu saya sebut dengan Tuan Yikes, hehehe...) adalah membuat film ini seolah film remaja kacangan yang nggak penting banget dewwhhh!


Okay, back to HP#7, too much chit-chat...
Dengan ekspektasi biasa-biasa saja, saya pergi menonton film ini. Terlebih ketika saya membaca bahwa akan ada adegan mesra antara Harry-Hermione. Nah ini membuat saya kesal. Karena tidak ada kemesraan antara mereka berdua dalam imaji saya mengenai cerita HP. Justru dengan adanya hubungan pertemanan macam Harry-Hermione inilah, saya percaya pria dan wanita bisa berteman murni, tanpa romantika apapun (sumpah, ingin ngakak rasanya membaca kalimat saya tadi!)
Dengan pemikiran penuh curiga, saya menyiapkan diri untuk "mencaci-maki" film yang mungkin jadi film terakhir yang saya tunggu di tahun 2010 ini. But then, i almost couldn't find anything to mock here. Hey, what about the make-out scene i mentioned before?! Well, i thought Yates was trying to make this as a stupid-but-true scene just like what he did before. But he didn't. Thank God, he is not a Yikes to me anymore. Hehehe...


Saya suka dengan cara Tuan Yates menerjemahkan buku ke dalam film. Tentu saja saya yakin bahwa penulis naskahnya yang hebat, membuat film ini menarik tanpa memotong informasi yang perlu diketahui penonton yang bukan pembaca. Beberapa adegan dan dialog lucu terasa pas, tanpa efek lebay dan nggak perlu. Mengenai esensi adegan mesra Harry-Hermione, yang tadinya (karena belum lihat dan hanya membaca di koran internet) membuat saya kesal, justru menjadi kartu truf bagi adegan di mana Ron menghancurkan salah satu horcrux. Saya rasa Yates hanya ingin membangun karakter Ron dan menggunakan momen yang tepat untuk membuat betapa Ron berhasil melakukan sesuatu. 


Mungkin ada sedikit yang kurang dari film ini, yakni ketika adegan penguburan Dobby. Yes, people, to refresh your memory, he was killed by Lestrange. The scene was good, um, no, it was great. I cried, see (which means my 3rd cry this month, such a baby i am...) when Dobby said, "It's a good place... to be with friends..." 
When Dobby died in Harry's arms, then Luna came and said, "We need to close his eyes." She put her right hand on Dobby's face and closed his eyelids. "There, now he's sleeping." Sumpah, layar bioskop jadi buram. Perasaan saya sama seperti saat membaca bukunya. But, i'm so sorry that they left out 'Here Lies Dobby, A Free Elf' part after Harry and friends buried him. But that was nearly a perfect job for Warner Bros. 


The part when Hermione had to erase her parents memories was great. Emma Watson did a great job here. Her expression gave me chills. Also, the expression she put on when Hermione looked at the kiss Ron-Mrs. Cattermole was priceless. Hahah!


I loved the moment when Harry-Ron-Hermione were at Lovegood's. Hermione was reading the Three Brothers story, "...at twilight," and Ron cut, "Midnight. My Mom always says 'Midnight'." Then, she gave him that look and he said, "Twilight is good. (gulp) Twilight is better." Ahahahaha! 


I was a bit bothered by the "Zip-me-up" scene by Ginny. Thanks to the comic relief by George Weasley. That better-be-gone scene was "obliviated" from my memory. Er, no, it still lingers hehehe... the charm didn't work, yeah?


Long story short, i love this HP movie. Hopefully the part 2 later will be as great. And um, i want to see this young Gellert Grindelwald. Potrayed by Jamie C. Bower who is also in the Twilight saga. I don't know which one is which for i don't give a damn about Twilight. I want to see how Yates and crew bring the imagination to life. 


Well, well done Warner Bros. You successfully made me give you credit this time, though, yes, people, i know my credit doesn't count.


Hit me back just to check,
Surely yours,


Lou

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Sebuah Pernyataan Tanpa Pertanyaan

Selama ini saya menulis dalam bahasa Inggris. Kali ini, izinkan saya menulis dalam bahasa Indonesia. Meskipun tidak jelas sebenarnya saya meminta izin pada siapa, tulisan ini saya buat semata-mata karena saya ingin mengungkapkan pendapat pribadi saya. Saya yang bukan siapa-siapa. Saya yang mungkin bodoh di mata beberapa orang. Saya yang sukar dinasehati dan terkadang terlalu idealis. Saya yang memiliki banyak keburukan. Tapi, ini adalah sebuah blog. Setiap orang berhak memberi opini, meski saya yakin opini ini akan bersinggungan dengan prinsip beberapa orang, termasuk Anda yang membaca tulisan sampah saya ini.

Saya, sedikit banyak (tidak konsisten, sedikit atau banyak sebenarnya), telah berubah. Baik dari cara berpikir maupun cara saya bergaul. Kalau Anda adalah penikmat tulisan saya (demi Tuhan, jika Anda memutuskan untuk tidak membaca kelanjutannya, saya sangat maklum), Anda mungkin tahu latar belakang keluarga saya dan gambaran masa kecil saya yang saya jelaskan di post sebelumnya. Jika Anda melewatinya, silahkan klik di sini: http://lou-in-circle.blogspot.com/2010/09/you-wish-you-could-but-you-just-cant.html 

Berangkat dari latar belakang saya, saya akan membeberkan pendapat saya. Ini juga merupakan pernyataan saya terhadap dunia (sadis juga...). Saya merasa saya dibesarkan di keluarga yang biasa-biasa saja. Dalam arti kata, bukan keluarga religius. Mama saya tidak pernah sekali pun tertarik ikut shalat Ied. Bukan berarti Mama saya tidak beribadah, tapi memang beliau tidak pernah beribadah shalat Ied. Mama saya memilih shalat di rumah daripada di masjid, karena menurutnya wanita lebih baik shalat di rumah, mengikuti ajaran Nabi. Jadi, saya menyimpulkan bahwa Mama saya adalah seorang hamba yang beribadah sesuai apa yang diyakininya. Almarhum Papa saya tidak bisa mengaji, tapi Papa saya sangat keras dalam urusan shalat. Berani meninggalkan shalat, berarti saya harus bersiap menerima hukuman darinya. Yang saya maksud di sini adalah, kedua orangtua saya mengajari saya sebaik yang mereka tahu. Itu saja. Soal implementasi dan refleksi diri di masyarakat (keren ya bahasa saya!) itu tergantung pada masing-masing individu, dalam hal ini, saya. Jadi, saya merasa jika ada seorang anak yang seumpamanya, nyeleneh atau memberontak dari semua ajaran orangtuanya (yang baik tentunya), tidaklah bijak jika kita "menilai" atau lebih buruk lagi menghakimi dengan: Kenapa sih anak itu, kan orangtuanya udah haji. Itu anak kok nggak ada baik-baiknya kayak bapaknya yang ustad itu. Ibunya sih anggun banget, anaknya kok kayak laki-laki gitu. 
Maksud saya begini, rasanya sudah saatnya kita mengubah paradigma kita. Meski contoh yang saya sebutkan di atas masih terjadi di masyarakat, bukan berarti kita harus mengikuti mainstream (ini lebih keren disebut dalam bahasa Inggris, maaf ya bukan mau sok) yang ada. Perlu kekuatan dan keberanian untuk melawan arus dan membuat perbedaan. Nah, kalau dengar kalimat sebelumnya, Anda akan tahu betapa idealisnya saya. 

Yang saya tulis di atas sebenarnya hanya pembukaan. Ya Tuhan, kapan tulisan ini selesai????? Tenang, kalau Anda bosan, Anda bisa menyeduh kopi atau teh dulu... Atau kalau Anda sudah kehilangan minat, silahkan tinggalkan blog ini. Tapi, sebenarnya saya berharap Anda menyelesaikan bacaan Anda.

Yang ingin saya sampaikan sebenarnya adalah betapa saya sangat membenci orang-orang yang merasa berhak menghakimi. Sebenarnya, dalam jiwa setiap orang, secara tidak sadar, karena hal ini sangat alamiah, kita memiliki kecenderungan "menilai" sesuatu. Itulah yang disebut sebagai pendapat, opini, tanggapan, you name it. Akan tetapi, beberapa orang dapat menahan diri untuk mengeluarkan pendapatnya setelah mereka "menganalisa" atau mencari tahu "mengapa apa/siapa kenapa". Misalnya "Mengapa Keenan memukul Sinta?" Bukannya Keenan tidak bersikap seperti pria sejati, karena dia memukul Sinta. Maaf, contoh saya sedikit ekstrim. 

Dulu, ketika saya lebih muda, saya sangat berapi-api (sekarang juga, sih.. hehehehe). Tapi, dulu, berapi-apinya saya lebih karena ketidakmatangan jiwa saya (sok tau ni ye...). Saat kejadian 9/11 di Amerika Serikat, saya menjabat sebagai seksi jurnalistik OSIS sekolah (oh, betapa "tua"nya saya sekarang *terisak-isak*). Waktu itu, saya dan teman saya, Icha, sama-sama terobsesi dengan fakta-fakta di balik penyerangan tersebut, termasuk beberapa teori konspirasi. Maklum, pada saat itu saya masih 16 tahun dan 9 bulan. Apa yang kau ketahui, wahai anak 16 tahun?! Saya sempat membenci "agama" tertentu. Padahal menurut saya yang sekarang, "agama" tertentu itu bukanlah yang harus kita benci. Individulah yang berperan dalam sebuah pencitraan atau image. Saya baru bisa menerima bahwa kejadian 9/11 adalah sebuah tragedi kemanusiaan setelah ada kejadian bom Bali di tahun 2002. Pada saat itu, saya sadar bahwa kita tidak perlu membuat "penilaian" terhadap sesuatu. Karena sebenarnya, "penilaian" itu tidak penting. Tindakanlah yang lebih penting.

Dulu, sewaktu saya lebih muda dan tidak dewasa, saya lebih "kejam" dalam pergaulan. Kalau saya merasa "tidak cocok", saya akan menjauh begitu saja. Sekarang saya juga seperti itu, tapi, saya akan mencoba "menyesuaikan" frekuensi dulu sebelum menjauh. Pendek kata, sekarang saya lebih humanis, selain fakta bahwa saya memang manis... (Saya beri Anda kesempatan untuk muntah)
Dalam bergaul, jika istilah ini diizinkan, saya termasuk "autis". (Saya tidak menggunakan istilah ini untuk mengejek siapa pun. Karena saya berhadapan dengan beberapa anak berkebutuhan khusus ini). Saya memiliki dunia sendiri, yang terkadang dari luar, saya terlihat sangat cuek, tidak besahabat, tidak memiliki toleransi dan tidak terbuka. Sebenarnya itu adalah cara saya untuk melindungi diri. Saya selalu berkata, "You don't know  the half of me." Saya tidak memiliki koleksi sahabat. Bagi saya berteman bukan harus memiliki. Kalau sahabat Anda menyakiti Anda, ada dua pulihan. Sakiti dia, atau maafkan dia. Soal apakah Anda akan melupakan perbuatannya, itu urusan Anda dan memori otak Anda. Dulu, saya dan dua orang teman saya mempunyai masalah dengan seorang teman, sebut saja namanya Putri. Masalah memuncak ketika saya dan dua teman saya "memutuskan" hubungan. Waktu itu belum ada facebook, jadi kami memutuskan untuk menghapus nomor hpnya saja. Dan seiring waktu berlalu, terima kasih pada memori otak yang menghapus kejadian itu dari benak kami bertiga, kami pun lupa bahwa kami pernah bertengkar dengan Putri. Jadi kalau sekarang kami teringat kejadian Putri-gate, kami justru malah tertawa mengingat betapa tidak dewasanya kami. Intinya, saya merasa sahabat atau teman tidak akan selalu ada untuk kita. Saya tahu saya sering sekali berpikir sarkastik. Tapi ini bukan salah satu dari pemikiran sarkastik saya. Ini adalah yang saya sebut dengan logika. Setiap orang akan disibukkan dengan ide dan mimpinya masing-masing, ini akan mengarah ke ego dan kepentingan pribadi. Saya rasa, kebanyakan orang akan mementingkan prioritasnya terlebih dahulu. Itu saja.  
Selanjutnya saya akan membahas pemikiran saya yang mungkin lebih ekstrim... hehehehe

Berangkat dari kutipan saya, "You don't know the half of me", saya ingin menegaskan bahwa saya bukan orang yang religius. Saya mungkin lebih berdosa dari seorang pembunuh berantai (maaf, lagi-lagi contoh saya ekstrim). Tapi biarlah itu menjadi urusan saya dengan Tuhan. Hubungan yang lebih intim dan rahasia daripada hubungan antarmanusia. Ini merupakan hubungan yang tidak boleh diganggu gugat oleh siapapun. Dan sujujurnya, saya sangat terganggu dengan "kejadian" di salah satu jejaring sosial. Natal tahun lalu (termasuk Valentine's Day), beberapa orang teman memasang note atau status tentang "haram"nya mengucapkan atau merayakan sesuatu yang tidak ada dalam ajaran islam. Maksud teman-teman tentunya adalah sebagai syiar dan dakwah. Saya tidak bermasalah dengan dakwah. Bahkan saya sangat senang jika ada yang berbagi soal agama. Yang saya sesali adalah caranya. Memang, dalam berdakwah, kita tidak perlu "takut" atau "bersembunyi", tapi bukankah kita juga tidak boleh "menyakiti"? Beberapa teman kristiani saya menulis, "Nggak usah maksa ngucapin kalo takut dosa. Repot amat." Meski beberapa teman muslim masih mengucapkan selamat hari raya bagi mereka, saya rasa saya tidak perlu memborbardir wall dengan "fatwa". Saya rasa tiap orang dewasa bisa bertanggung jawab dengan pilihannya. Sekali lagi, hubungan Tuhan-manusia tidak boleh diganggu gugat.

Masih soal "agama" dan orang yang merasa berhak menghakimi. Saya punya pertanyaan besar, "Kenapa masyarakat kita senang 'menghakimi' wanita berkerudung?" Kalau terus seperti ini, bisa-bisa nanti banyak wanita tidak berkerudung. Lho? Kok begitu? Kenapa? Sekarang begini, kalau ada seorang wanita berkerudung "berpacaran" (peluk-peluk, nyender-nyender, pegangan tangan, sampai yang ke arah mesum), berapa banyak dari Anda yang berkata, "Ih! Nggak malu ya ama kerudung?!" Malu, kok, sama kerudung? Kalau begitu sekalian saja malu sama sepeda, laptop, atau kucing. Atau kalau ada seorang "jilbaber" (yang kerudungannya panjang itu, lho) bercerai dari suaminya, lantas beberapa dari masyarakat berkata, "Nggak nyangka ya, dia melakukan perbuatan yang dibenci Allah." Hei, siapa juga yang mau bercerai. Please, jangan membentuk sebuah ekspektasi bahwa seorang wanita berkerudung itu mesti melakukan hal yang lebih baik daripada wanita tidak berkerudung. Nah, apakah Anda termasuk hakim-wanita-berkerudung?


Saya sendiri memakai kerudung. Tapi maaf, kerudung ini saya pakai untuk saya sendiri. Bukan untuk memenuhi ekspektasi orangtua, tuntutan pekerjaan, atau bahkan untuk Tuhan. Tidak, Tuhan tidak perlu saya memakai kerudung. Dia tidak perlu siapapun. Justru, kita yang oerlu Dia. Saya dijuluki anti-mainstream-liberalist oleh salah seorang teman saya. Alasannya karena saya tidak seperti para wanita berkerudung lainnya. Saya gay-friendly, saya lebih suka musik yang terkadang aneh, saya menghabiskan waktu untuk kesenangan dunia (siapa yang tidak?!), saya menyumpah (meskipun saya menggunakan kata-kata lain, tetap saja maksud saya menyumpah), saya... saya... Saya melakukan hal-hal mendefinisikan "Inilah Saya". Jika itu membuat saya terlalu liberal, maaf. Tapi itulah saya. Saya masih suka berkeliaran tanpa kerudung (sejak memutuskan untuk memakai kerudung), jika saya sedang ingin melakukannya. Saya "nakal", apapun cap orang tentang saya, saya terima saja. Satu hal yang ingin saya sampaikan: Saya sangat benci orang yang berkata, "Sekalian aja lepas. Nggak usah setengah-setengah." Saya benci ucapan itu, terutama kalau berasal dari mulut seorang pria. Hei, pria, kau tidak akan pernah tahu rasanya memakai dan melepas kerudung. Tahukah Anda efek dari ucapan ini? Akan banyak wanita yang mengurungkan niatnya untuk belajar "memakai" kerudung. Dan untuk wanita tidak berkerudung yang berkata, "Gue sih belom make karena belom dapet hidayah", saya ingin menyampaikan, "Woy, yang boneng aje, lu kira hidayah dijatohin, pluk, gitu aje?". Intinya, tidak perlu membela diri, karena wanita berkerudung (yang se-visi dengan saya), tidak menghakimi kalian. Karena saya juga dalam proses belajar, Anda juga bisa belajar "memakai" kerudung. 


Saya minta maaf jika tulisan saya menyinggung. Saya hanyalah seorang manusia biasa yang berusaha menempatkan diri dengan nyaman di dunia ini. Karena menurut saya, kenyamanan terhadap diri sendiri sangat penting untuk menikmati hidup. Dengan demikian kita bisa memberi yang terbaik dari kita untuk masyarakat. Bukankah sebaik-baiknya manusia adalah yang berguna bagi orang di sekitarnya?


Salam damai, 


Lou



   

Sunday, September 12, 2010

You Wish You Could, But You Just Can't

Hiya!!!
I'm here again bloggers...
You wish you could, but you just can't... Is that killing you? Well it IS killing me!!!
What the hell am i talking about???

Okay, have you got any dreams, goals, or obsessions that you really wish you could do, have, or whatever? Well, i have.
Other than the ability to sing well (i can sing alright in karaoke hahahaha, but not well), i really wish i could dance. 
Now what you're gonna do is saying, "You can learn to do it. Practice...and practice..." I'm so sorry, but that's not gonna happen because i can't.
The next best piece of advice is, "Well, it's all in your mind. Change the way you think about it. Be positive, have another point of view, blah blah balah..." Sorry, again... that won't work for me. Why am i so cynical? No, i'm not being cynical. I'm just being realistic... Okay, sarcastically realistic... Here's why:

It all goes back to my childhood. I didn't spend my childhood as a girl who spent time taking piano lesson or dancing. But, i didn't spend my time climbing trees or playing with the boys. No. I wasn't the girly type nor was i a tomboy girl. I loved the Me-Time compared to other kids. I didn't mind being alone. In fact, i hated it when people asked me. I guess i didn't like people treating me like a kid (hey, you were a KID for God's sake!) or people nosing on my "business". What an OLD kid i was, eh?
Sometimes, well, often times, my parents pinched me or stepped on my foot to give me signal that i HAD TO answer the questions. Yea, and the stubborn-born-to-be-rebelious girl ignored the signs every now and then. Oh, i was hard to handle... Dear God, should i have a kid of my own, please don't give me the Karma *finger crossed*. Coming from that kind of background, i never put any interests in dancing.

Not until the mid to late 90s, my Middle School time. It was the era of boybands. Yes, people... I listen to boybands, too! My favorite was 911. A British boyband consists of 3 cute (and smallish) lads. 

 I like them because their dancing is more unique than other boybands. They did break dance, too! And also, i would like to thank them. If it weren't for them, i would never be able to speak English. Oh, it was my nemesis, see. Couldn't stand a period of English at school back in the Middle School. 

Then, the era of boybands swifted into the era of...whatever... In the beginning of 2000s, there was this show on MTV: The Wade Robson Project. Wade Robson? Who the hell is that guy??? He is the little kid dancing next to Macaulay Culkin in Michael Jackson's Black or White video. That rings a bell? WADE ROBSON!!!! AAAHHH!!!! MARRY ME!!!!!

Okay, this sexy looking guy is a really great dancer. He's so effing hot!!! Well, i wished i could participate in this show.  He is influenced by His Majesty King of Pop Michael Jackson of course, and so are all dancers in the world, i assumed. Watching the show can do nothing about my dancing ability.  









Then, in 2003, during my college time and my working time at ELP, a small English institution (thanks to 911, again!), i met Mondang. A coworker-turned-out-a-senior-in-High-School. She loves dancing a great deal. She created a "routine" and i tell you what, it was awesome, and you can only envy us. Now, i sound like a bitchy fricking cheerleader, don't i? There were four of us, Mondang, Poppy, Nur and me, who practiced the routine after class. We used a song from a British (again?!) rising star at that time, Daniel Bedingfield called Gotta Get Thru' This.




Mondang, by my help, created the movements in about two weeks, with changes here and there and of course, to "train" us everytime she got new movements. Hey, how come i "helped" her?! Hahahaha, i lent her some video clips with dancing in them. Some movements were taken from 911's Nothing Stops the Rain video and Steps' After The Love Has Gone video. And yes, Steps is a pop group from Britain...
Long story short, i really loved that time, when i "worked" my a** off to get myself in line with other girlfriends of mine who have dance as their breakfast.


And, as i just finished watching a (WHAT?!) British series, Skins. I met this guy:
He is Mitch Hewer who potrays Maxxie, a gay teenage dancer. The picture above is taken from one of the episodes of Season 2. His first on screen dance was in the first episode of Season 1 when he was tap dancing as Tony, one of his fellas, called him. He talked on the phone while dancing. At that time, i didn't care for him. Because he looked like one of the High School Musical cast whose name escapes from my memory. Yup, guys... I watched HSM. And, nope, i didn't watch the HSM 2 and 3 in case you're wondering...
In episode 1 of Season 2, he was the "opening". He danced with other fellow dancers and WTF!!! Whoa! That's Fabulous!!! I f***ing love him!!! Besides having nice smile and puppy eyes (though i think he's too cute, too boyish, and too young *sob...sob i feel old...*), he's very athletic. Some guys would kill to have that kind of build, i think... And so... that "i-wish-i-could-dance" comes across my mind like an inspiration.


So now, you gotta think that i should just dance, just like Lady Gaga said. Well, what i mean by dance is like the dance to the music, not the monkey-meet-giraffe movements (don't ask!!!) i make everytime i listen to upbeat songs. 


And then, what is my problem anyway?
Well, i have a problem with balance. Huh? Come again?! I have bad balance. And that problem can be recognized from my eyes... Now, you wonder... What do you have in mind? 


I am near-sighted. And as one, it is imperative that i wear glasses or softlens for that matter. And yes, i do. I wear them. But, the minus of my right eye is higher by five points than that of my left eye. I was LMAO when the optician "diagnosed" me having what he called by "lazy-eye-syndrome". Whoa, that explains why i often tripped (and fell).
During my college years, i had this thing, i tripped so often that my friend Erlina tried to grab my arm everytime i had those "episodes". She would say, "Oh, my dear poor little baby, come walk with Mama..." Nice friend indeed, she is...


Once, there was this little girl. She walked to school with her Mom. Wearing the white and white uniform, she was ALL ready for assembly on Monday morning. Then, as "fate" was written for her (can you sense the cynical here?), she tripped on a rock and fell both knees first on the ground, then both elbows, and as if those weren't enough, she landed on her chin causing not only body injuries, but a big question mark. Yeah, her Mom a.k.a my Mom was wondering what was exactly wrong. Then she came to a conclusion and told me the story of lil' me...


My mom, a weirdly amusing woman, suggests that i didn't learn how to walk or run normally. Unlike regular kids, instead of walking or running, she claimed that "flying" was the closest-to-meaning word to describe what i did. She said i didn't stepped on the ground, but tiptoed and fled which usually resulted in gravity rules (read: i fell). Probably there is something wrong with my brain, hahahaha... Well, that's why i find it difficult to coordinate my body, let alone dance. Pathetic, huh?!


Well, one can only hope...


Thanks for reading this crap...
Hit me back, just to check
Surely yours, 
Lou

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Isn't that called "Self-loathing"????

Well, isn't the title interesting??? Hahahahaha...
Okay, focus...focus...

Okay, now that i'm focused, i can start writing this so-called analysis. Hahaha, who am i to say that i "know" anything about human behaviour? But, here goes, i'm gonna "say" what i think i know. If you disagree or think that i'm wrong, go ahead, i'm here just to speak my mind.

The story goes back to 2005. Whoa, a long time, eh? Yup, i'm gonna tell you how i met a friend of mine. Let's call him Yoga. I was a branch academic coordinator in E** when he came to join us as teaching staff. He just graduated from high school, about 18 years and some months. I also just graduated from my academy. Apparently, he sorta found some common things in us. I was 18 years and 3 months when i first joined E**, so he (maybe) thought that he could learn how to "survive" just like i did. Some friends of mine said that he kinda looked up to me. Hey, i was going on my 21st that year when i was appointed a branch academic coordinator. Ooopsie, yeah yeah, it was a small institution, so stop being big-headed!!!.. Uhm, i'm talking to myself here, it ain't important, so please continue reading...

And so, some (sweet) days went by. He was kind and full of dreams. And oh, he was religious, too. At least that what i think. I remember him saying "For real??" when i was about to pray. Dang! Nice one, bro! Cause i'm sassy too...
Sometimes, i cruelly "crushed" his dreams too. Because sometimes he spoke about some things that were too, umm, impossible. Ok, i'll rephrase it, some things infeasible. Well, i didn't mean to be so mean to him. Just thought that it would be much nicer to take a look around first then decide where you wanna be... or in short, think before you leap. That's all. 

No, no, this doesn't end here...so please keep reading.
Okay, then i got a job in ILP and decided to quit from E**. So i left the place and you can say that i started my new life in 2006. So i only knew Yoga for 6 months. What i mean by "knew" here is we met 6 days a week for those damned months. After my life in ILP, we still met sometimes. Ok, translation = during Lebaran. Hehehehe... Yoga, with my friend Lya (who he kinda "looked up to" too) came by to visit me. Well, that's because i, uh, don't really care about visiting. So, if you want to visit me, go ahead. But i rarely visit my friends... hehehehehe...
Then, when he stopped visiting me, because Lya keeps visiting me, i started to wonder... I asked Lya whether he had changed his number, had finished his studies or whether he was so busy. Lya only explained that he didn't want to come or simply because he had "stuff" to do. Okay, part of my questions was only lip service, and the other part was a real question. Yea, i missed teasing him, too. Hahahaha... Before the "visits", Yoga often asked about how i was doing, my opinions, and so on. Well, guess that because of the "look-up-to-me" thingy. So the story stopped when he stopped visiting me.

Na-ah, the story continues, guys...How come?

Well, another friend of mine, Ara, visited me to ahem, introduce a slimming product which i-would-never-buy-unless-i'm-a-fricking-millionaire-cause-it's-so-damn-expensive. She said that it really works as she is the living proof. Still, i wasn't convinced. She mentioned Yoga. Yoga wasn't that fat, but he was kinda big. I remember him as a "bapak-bapak" despite his age (18, remember). She said that Yoga had a new look. Well, ok, that triggered me to ask about that naive guy again. Ara's reaction was like, you know, stop-asking-about-him-cause-he-didn't even-ask-about-you. Actually, i made that up. Hahahaha... Ara only mentioned him to assure me, that's all. So the story paused there...

It didn't continue. Not until last month, and this month too.. Well, last month Dilla, a friend of mine too, went to Palembang. She wrote that in her facebook status. That reminded me of rusip, a kind of weird food my daddy used to eat. The rusip thing brought me back to the memory of my daddy. So i asked Dilla to bring me some. When she got back to town, she said that i could have it for free. Long story short, i fleed to her house. We talked about the good old days. Because Dilla and i were some of the few first people back then in E**. And so our talk got into Yoga thing again. She said that he had changed a lot.
Me: Is it because he's getting thinner? Becase Ara came to offer that product. Hahahaha
Dilla: No, not only that one, he now has straight hair. (Yoga's hair is kinda wavy and bushy)
Me: Really? Well, that's kinda hard to imagine.
Dilla: He often talks on the phone "abnormally".
Me: Huh??? What do you mean?
Dilla: Well, if you talk on the phone, you talk on the phone. He doesn't really "talk on the phone", you know, like exagerrating (read: lebay!)
Me: Ah, does he talk in Mandarin? (I took Mandarin course back then and Yoga seemed so excited about that, last time i heard, he managed to pick up some Mandarin)
Dilla: Yes, he does. But i think he kids of shows off... (Dilla is a very honest and nice lady. I know her as a very straightforward person who never tells a lie)
From our conversation i concluded that Yoga indeed has changed. Yeah, people change, so get a life... That's none of my business, no?

Last week, Lya called me to arrange bukpusber this week. Well, today is the day. She wished people from the old times could get together. That includes Yoga, eh? But Lya said that she doubted that he would want to join us.
Me: Why?
Lya: You know, he has changed a lot. 
Me: Yea, i got that from Mbak Dilla. She told me about the hair. Hahahaha
Lya: Well, you know. He had some injection.
Me: To be thin? I thought he had some products from Ara
Lya: No, to be white
Me: Get out of here!
Lya: He thinks he's Chinese.
Me: What do you mean?
Lya: You know, he thinks he's Chinese, not Indonesian. He even ordered glasses that wouldn't make his eyes bigger.


Uh-oh... now, i'm confused.


Lya: You remember how religious he was. Well, he isn't anymore.


Okay, now i'm confused.....


I told Thesi, my friend in XXX school about Yoga and his mindset of "being" a Chinese. Thesi said that he probably believes in reincarnation. He might believe that he was Chinese in the past. Well, i kinda believe in reincarnation too. I believe that i was a gay male. That's  why i can understand some of my gay male friends well. If it's about belief, that is out of the question. Nobody understands unless they believe in the same thing too. I believe that dragons exist. So i think i'm gonna waste my time debating with those who don't believe.


One thing about reincarnation, if that really happens, i just think we have to redo what we did in the past. If you were Chinese in your past life and now you're born Indonesian, does it mean that you have to have self alteration so that you are who you were. Emm, imagine if i have to have a genital surgery, do hormon therapy to change myself into a male. And not only that, i need to find my "love" out there in this unfair world. See, that's the world. It's cruel and never fair. So what i have in mind is, "You live in a world where God has given you permission to." So, since you got the permission to live, just live. By thanking Him for whatever you have now.

I think what happens to Yoga is "self-loathing". He seems like he's unhappy with himself being Yoga. Maybe he is not happy with his hair, his skin, well his Yoga. I feel so sorry for him. I think happiness is very crucial. I wish he can find his happiness. But i pity him for doing so many things that made him not Yoga anymore. 


Lya mentioned in her phone call that he might avoid me because he was afraid that i would judge him especially with his new look. Well, i won't judge without listening and analyzing. No, that won't happen. I regret not trying to keep in touch with him. Well, today, we're going to meet. I hope Yoga comes too.




Oooohhh God, this is long, eh? Thanks for reading
HIt me back, just to check
Surely yours
Lou
 

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Next Generation Kinda Gets Me Questioning

Yesterday, Monday the 16th of August, students of XXX Primary School Bekasi had an Independence Day ceremony. You know the kind, the one that we, uhm, probably we, had during school days.
Ah, for you who's wondering what the heck i'm talking about, you must have no idea that i'm a teacher. Yup, i started as an English instructor in a small course, then i moved to a bigger course, and yeah i sorta got into a school, as a teacher. I started last year and taught Grade 5. The system is quite simple. There are 2 teachers in a class. So my partner and i shared the lessons. I had English, Science, Art, Computer and i assisted PE. This year i'm handling 2 classes Grade 5 and Grade 6. I work with 2 other partners. My partner last year, Thesi and a new partner, Hera. Now i'm handling Bahasa Indonesia (go ahead laugh, if you know how "nice" my Bahasa Indonesia is), Science and Computer for both classes. 
Ok, that's what you missed on the last episode, LOL...
Back to the story>>>>>
Back in our school days (if you don't mind me saying "our"), we had so many ceremonies that we lost counts. I remember playing the recorder for Mengheningkan Cipta in from Grade 4 to Grade 6. I remember clearly joining Lomba Upacara Bendera when i was in Grade 9. And in Grade 10 or 11, my friends and i were appointed to sing in a choir for Upacara Peringatan Hari Kesaktian Pancasila in kantor Walikota Bekasi. Blah-bla-blah, yeah those were important, sarcastic minds think like that. What i'm about to "blabber" here is not about the "glorious" time. Cause it ain't glorious, na-ah... Something got me thinking. It's our next generation. 
Well, in the school i work for, the students are not used to having regular ceremony. So we can say that they are "lack" of nationalism or patriotism. We can see that from the Bahasa Indonesia they use. It sucks, man. Even though that doesn't mean that their English is very good. They're like mmm, i don't know... no words can describe them vividly clear to anybody's imagination.
Back to the Independence Day ceremony... All personnel in charge were from Grade 4. What made my jaw drop was a behaviour of a personnel, Victor (not his real name). He was one of the Pasukan Pengibar Bendera. After he and his friends "succesfully" did their job, he squated, took of his cap and used it as a fan in the middle of the unfinished ceremony... Not to mention, during the Hari Merdeka song, he acted like a guitarist. It'd look funny and amusing if it weren't a "ceremony". And, if you think that Victor is a special need, which probably helps us sigh relieved, nope! He's not. He's not one of those children. Oh dear God, whatever happens to our future Indonesia?????
Victor is just an example of what some of my friends and i are worried about. Some of my students are also "weak". The last ceremony we had, some of them were "too tired" to stand straight, complained how hot it was, asked to go home afterwards because of feeling dizzy from standing under the sun for for-God's-sake-only-thirty-minutes!!!
See, that got me questioning the school. Is this the way we "educate" the future leaders? Should we go back to our convetional way, the way we had our education long ago? No. That's not the key either. Why? To be honest, those lack-of-nationalism kids are brilliant! They're very critical. They have been trained to use logic that makes them very open-minded.
Well, there's hope, always... The one that keeps us alive.
I'm Indonesian and proud of being one. Happy anniversary, my beloved Indonesia. May God be with you always. Happy Independence my fellow Indonesians... Keep the hope alive!!! MERDEKA!!!!!!!!
Hit me back, just to check 
Surely yours
Lou

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Hi There

Hi bloggers!!!

I'm a newbie here... Oh, yeah, i know... It's kinda late to start a blog while millions of civilized people out there have started to get bored with this thing, or not...
Well, lemme tell you something about me... I used to love writing. When i was younger, see, younger, that doesn't make me sound old, does it? I loved writing. In fact, i wrote almost anything. Poems, journals, short stories, longer stories, even novels, seriously! I also made my-own-indonesian-translated songs, you know, the kind of songs you really love and wish there were some available in your mother tongue...
Okay, it's getting out of the topic. What i'm about to write in this blog is pretty much about me. Hahaha, b-o-r-i-n-g... Well, just decide when you read my next posts. 
There are many things about me that i would like to share. Yet, i would like to "invite" anyone who likes foreign languages. I'm fond of learning languages, but i don't think i can handle new languages. Right now, I'm trying to learn more about Bahasa Indonesia, my very own native language. Duh!!! You're probably thinking, "What the hell are you doing writing this in English?!" Well, that's just because i prefer writing in English, at least i wouldn't have to consult Pusat Bahasa about my spellings or choices of words. 
Okay, i guess that just made an opening. 
Hit me back, just to check
Surely yours
Lou