Apa bahasa Inggrisnya 'kerupuk'?

A bottle. Yes, I'm gonna go with that.

2011-10-30T17:17:00.003+07:00

Let me be honest to you guys.

I'm feeling kinda lost.

This is a problem.

'Lost', here, means not knowing how to reach your destination.

I, meanwhile, have deliberately tried NOT to have a destination.

So, the 'fact' that I feel lost means that I feel there's a destination or goal I have to strive for.

I must have done something terribly wrong.

Or, perhaps, that I have successfully turned into, say, a bottle.

(By the way, 'problem' is usually defined as a condition having deviation(s) from the ideal, and 'this' is usually not defined at all. The subject of the second clause of the previous sentence is, to me, an example of the subject of the first clause of the previous sentence. The previous sentence, meanwhile, is essentially the same as the third sentence of this article/post/rant, with 'to me' added.)

Ta.

An intense blast of chocolate powder.

2011-05-17T19:31:00.004+07:00

Now that you all know this place,

I've got nowhere else to run.

Nowhere else to turn.

Nowhere to hide.

Nowhere to cry.

Nowhere to scream in silence.

Well, probably a good thing. Perhaps I'll just go inside myself.

Or, alternatively, stop doing the aforementioned things.

Which?

Let's save that question for later, shall we?

This.

2011-05-15T20:09:00.002+07:00

Skipped church again. Naturally.

Yes, mates, instead of going to church I was re-stringing my guitar. I think I'll call her Cortana.

But instead of chattering about reasons why I did not attend the Sunday service yet again, I think I'd be better off writing about pockets and how they came to be.

Pockets are (usually) small, empty spaces incorporated into a piece of clothing, and is used for keeping things we are too lazy to carry with our hands. A pocket might have one or more buttons or a line of zipper or perhaps strings to alter the size of its opening. Other methods have been used, but the ones mentioned above are among the most popular kinds.

There are several theories as to how these additions to garments evolved (it is highly unlikely that the first clothes-makers already have that pressing need to carry trinkets without their hands which is very much present in today's life).

First, it was theorized that an early garment-wearer discovered a tear in his/her clothing, then, through an unfortunately misguided attempt of mending said tear, accidentally made a rudimentary pocket. As with most new innovations, this generated a lot of ridicule and mockery among the mender's peers, which only stopped after the mender demonstrated a significant increase in foraging returns.

Another theory was that pouches or bags are originally the conventional tool used for keeping things in. Then one day, a clever (or bored) innovator had the brilliant notion along the lines of 'I'll just stitch this pouch on to my loincloth, let's see where that leads', which leads to roughly the same amount of jeering received by the mender in the previous theory.

A third theory stated that a person saw the need of carrying things without using hands, thought about it for a while, and came up with pockets as the solution.

The third is the theory upon which the least number of hit movies was based, meaning that it's probably the most accurate.

I haven't used a rotary phone in quite a long time, if that helps.

'This is the Life' by Amy Macdonald

2011-04-14T21:19:00.005+07:00

Hi there! Forgive me, it seems that nearly all my posts start with some arbitrary greeting, such as this one. I mean, my friends' blog posts seldom feature any, especially the emotional ones or those (attempting to be) inspirational. It's not like it's a necessity, right? Hypothetically, you could just jump right in and start the day's rambling nonsense. But somehow I always happen to find it necessary to open said rambling nonsense with another, smaller nonsensical item of writing. Which does not make a lot of sense, but there you go. Having said that, here I go.

A (sort of) funny thing I noticed.... um, no, on second thought, never mind that, I jumped to a conclusion.

....Which reminds me of The Phantom Tollbooth, which is one of my favorite books. I have mentioned this before, haven't I? But since I'm not here to write a review, let's continue.

Where is here, anyway? I'm currently sitting in a fast-food outlet located at a certain crossroad not too far from where I am currently residing. I was here originally to do a certain assignment, but since we - that is to say, my friend and I - lack the information necessary, that highly commendable goal remains just a goal, and as I happen to have some other assignments that I really have to do, it naturally means that I simply must find a distraction to keep me from doing those, so here I am now. In short, I might very well be the world's worst - or best? - procrastinator.

I'm pretty sure there's a Family Guy episode which mocks writers writing in public places, but what the hey. If I went home right now, I would've played Dragon Age: Origins instead of doing those assignments anyway, so no (additional) harm done.

But I am out of ideas, so apparently I'm going home after all.

Hello, Thedas.

Part 1 of an unspecified number.

2011-04-03T17:06:00.003+07:00

Greetings.

For those of you interested in reading about what I am up to recently and/or currently, read on. Otherwise, just skip to the end, where this thing will... end.

"Doing the same things year after year and expecting different results has been used as one definition of insanity."

The statement above, for those who are interested, I took the liberty of quoting (quite) directly from the first or an early chapter of the 2006 edition of a book titled Make Winning a Habit, which was authored by Rick Page. Quite interesting, I thought, when I read the thing. (Incidentally, the exact reason as to why I was reading such a book at that time is best left unexplored, at least for the time being.)

However, the reason why I thought it was interesting can indeed be safely published, and the reason is this:

The statement would reflect my life quite accurately if every instance of the word year were replaced with the word day.

I mean, the statement implies that one set of conditions can only lead to one consequence, which is basically what makes the scientific method works. Pretty much set in stone, inarguable.

Or is it?

Personally, I believe in the concept of function in the mathematical sense, which is explained above. I believe that we can recreate any situation, provided we know its cause. I have no objection to the concept.

Which leads us to the inevitable question, as posed in the statement by Mr. Page, on the matter of my sanity.

Am I indeed insane?

Of course, all problems of the above statement(s) can be reconciled if we accept the fact that we do not know all the variables in the function, thus preserving the possibility that one set of initial conditions (as we perceive) might lead to different consequences, but that is a bit too mature and perhaps too sane for my tastes.

And that does not answer the question of my sanity.

This is nearly the end of this post. For those of you who tried to skip to the end as I suggested, thank you for taking the suggestion, but this is not quite the end yet. For those of you who read the whole thing, I have nothing further to add. For now.

End.

Somehow, the word 'Anunnaki' is not gibberish to me.

2010-12-20T11:33:00.004+07:00

Hello.

As I've said in the previous post, I'm still here.

(just crossed my mind - "previous" and "post" are somewhat opposites, right?)

Been busy thinking, thank you very much for asking.

Christmas is approaching. That song again. Cripes. Check my post from around 2 years ago if you want to know more about this... syndrome.

The Lost Symbol - not what I expected. Maybe because I don't know that much about America, though.

What else?

Sheesh, I'm reduced to writing an end-of-year review now. Great.

Not that I don't have any ideas, I do. I've written some of them down, in fact.

But I'm having difficulties in getting the ball to start rolling. Which, if you believe this Newton guy, should be the only difficulty present in the moving of a ball (or any object at all).

How do you use cologne? I got a bottle of it (Master Splash Cologne - Spirit) recently, and didn't know (and still don't really know) what to do with it. The instructions in the back only said "splash on to your body" though, so I guess I can't mess it up too badly, can I?

Whoa, I just realized something.

But I'm not sure what that thing is, so, false alarm, I guess.

Well, I think that's all for today, thank you, I should be off now. What for? If you must know, I'm looking for some face/body paint for... fun. Yeah, that's it.

Teeheehee. Bye!

'Still Alive' by GLaDOS

2010-09-16T19:56:00.006+07:00

I'm here! Man it's been a long time. I thought no one reads blogs anymore. What do I know, huh?

Since I've been gone, I have done.... Oh, quite a few things. Discovered Cracked and Omegle, fell in love with calculus (seriously guys), and received a copy of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY!!!!

Really, I can hardly be happier right now. "It's hard to overstate my satisfaction," as the song said. What song? Read the title, mate. Seriously. It's been a few years, and I still get goosebumps from that song. Oh, and yes, I know, it's technically Ellen McLain, but I could argue that she's just the actress, not the character, and it's the character who said all that, but it would be very long, and frankly I'm not in the mood to argue such things, and you can ask me another time, thank you very much.

I actually had been wanting to write on some topics which I came across a while back. But then I realized that thinking about them is way more fun. Besides, I can't type as fast as I can think, so yeah. Look here fellas. See this. I'm finally starting to live.

And about the HHGG book, I'm sure that further introduction/explanation/commentary is utterly unnecessary. At least I think mine would be. What a wonderful book. A wholly remarkable book. Enough said.

Maybe I'll reach enlightenment soon. Who knows? What a great prospect, don't you think?

So! Ta-ta for now, dear friends. And enemies. Fear not, I'm still here, I'll keep writing. Although maybe it'll mostly be unintelligible gibberish, or random unrelated biased opinions, or baseless conjecture, or even questions.

Glad to be here.

My head hurts.

2010-05-28T23:04:00.002+07:00

Hello again, fellow humans. And non-humans, too, if you are indeed reading this.

Recently I came across an old Calvin and Hobbes strip (For those of you who don't know, Calvin and Hobbes is one of my favorite comics, by Bill Watterson.). It was from March 6th, 1991. Here's what the dialogue is about (no pictures, though).

(Calvin is doing his math homework, and....)

Calvin: "You know, I don't think math is a science. I think it's a religion."
Hobbes: "A religion?"

Calvin: "Yeah. All these equations are like miracles. You take two numbers and when you add them, they magically become one NEW number! No one can say how it happens. You either believe it or you don't. This whole book is full of things that have to be accepted on faith! It's a religion!"

Hobbes: "And in the public schools, no less. Call a lawyer."
Calvin: "As a math atheist, I should be excused from this."

I laughed when I first read this. It was hilarious. Well, maybe you need to know what are Calvin and Hobbes like to fully appreciate it, so I strongly recommend you to look it up.

But let's take a closer look.

I mean, I suppose now we do take 1+1=2 for granted. Thus, perhaps it is a religion, according to Calvin's definition. Our teachers at elementary school told us so, and we believe them until now.

But how did the first mathematicians manage?

Imagine. Imagine that you don't know about mathematics. Suddenly you found a pebble. You pick it up. You walk some distance. Then you find another pebble. You pick it up again. Now, you may not know that you picked up one pebble, then one other pebble, and now you have two pebbles, but I think you'd know that if you picked up the second pebble, you'd have more than before. So, is it a matter of nomenclature? Did we just give it a name? Did the concept of addition exist before we found out about it? If so, doesn't it fall under the category of science? We simply 'discovered' that 1+1=2, in the same way that Newton discovered that things maintain their speeds without outside forces. Or maybe we just named it as '1' and '2', just like we call this animal a 'dog' and that other animal a 'horse'. So I guess, for the first mathematicians, math was a science, an empirical art.

But then it evolved. People remember that 1+1=2, and they come up with concepts such as subtraction, multiplication and division, which are simply the modified and repeated forms of addition. It is taught in schools, children are told to memorize tables, and they became a form of tenets and commandments. For instance, if I were to say 1+2=4, I would be violating some kind of 'law', wouldn't I? Mathematics now has rules. It is a system. The tenets are accepted without need for proof. It became, more or less, a religion.

So, which is right? Is mathematics a thing of nature, a science which is subject to change, depending on experimental and empirical findings? Or is it a creation of man, a religion which is set in stone?

Or maybe we simply know too little.

Iron Oxide

2010-04-20T01:00:00.003+07:00

Oy vey.

Apparently, nobody reads my blog anymore.
At least, no one have posted any comment for a few months.
(Yeah, as if I have such a significant audience. You wish.)

Also, nearly all the blogs I follow seem to have gone on unannounced hiatus.
Perhaps it is simply because we are all starting to get busier at the same time?
(I suppose that would make sense, since most of the blogs I follow are those of my friends'.
Even my posting frequency has been reduced to once a month. In fact, this is my first second-post-of-the-month in months.)

Or is it simply that blogging have gone out of trend?
Maybe so, like the practice of writing in diaries before it.

I kinda hate it when the world moves too fast.
Oh wait. It doesn't.

It's you people who move too fast.

I'd really like to try to keep still. Just for a few months, maybe.

And if staying in the same place means moving against the current, so be it, I guess.

It's quite tiring, staying in place, you know.

I probably have no right nor am I qualified to be writing this

2010-04-11T23:09:00.003+07:00

Recently (a week ago) I read a magazine, which I suppose was intended for college students and related instances. The focus of the magazine, mostly, was about democracy. Of course, we all know about democracy. About how it is a good system, where everyone was equal, blah blah blah. That is the usual stuff.

The interesting part is, in the magazine, democracy was scrutinized and, to my surprise, most of the articles speak of democracy negatively.

This is intriguing! Most of my life, the word democracy had always had a positive connotation to it. My father, not wanting to be a dictator over his children, claims that he always tries to be a democratic leader. In a teen magazine I read, 'democratic parents' are praised and encouraged. Even Obi-Wan Kenobi once said to Anakin Skywalker (in Star Wars ep. III: The Revenge of The Sith): "My allegiance is to the republic; to DEMOCRACY!"

So you see, reading that article, I felt as if someone was claiming that my faith all these years were misplaced, misguided and possibly downright wrong.

But let us view what was meant by democracy nowadays.

Democracy, as I understand it, means 'power to the people.' This statement has been repeated countless times in my lifetime, always with positive undertones. But just what is meant by 'the people' here? How is 'power' distributed?

The most obvious example is of course at the elections. The whole nation gathered together, at least in spirit, to appoint the person/people deemed most worthy and able to lead them.

Really?

As a matter of fact, the elections were decided on a majority vote. The idea with the most adherents wins. The master with the most servants rules. Is that kind of reasoning logical?

Of course not. Having a million people thinking 'killing is good' doesn't make it true or acceptable, does it? But unfortunately, that is what most of the world believes now, although people don't admit it. If the majority of people think a course of action is right, then it will be viewed as right.

.....

Of course all would be well if most people use their minds and choose the best decisions. Too bad it is not always the case. Suppose that most of the population pick the wrong choice. The righteous few will have a hard time, as the system itself will have become wrong.

Thus, democracy can be very dangerous, people.

Which brings me to another question: what, then, if not democracy, is the best form of government?

I personally would say anarchy.

Not the looting, rioting kind of anarchy, though. My idea of anarchy simply means a society without organized government. A society which is based on the idea "Mind your own blessed business and be good to people." Atopia perhaps would be a more refined term.

But that also will require everyone to be able to choose the best choice for them, which is not yet likely to happen.

Cripes. What a dilemma.

Death? Not a bad idea.

2010-03-07T22:13:00.003+07:00

Yeaaaahahahahahaha!!!

As usual, another reasonless laugh. (Is that right? 'Reasonless'? I'm not fully confident that that's the word, but still, better than 'unreasonable'.)

My mind is very chaotic nowadays, guys. Even more so than it used to be.
It seems that I don't know where to go.
I mean, if you can only see me in class, I think you'd understand.
What do I do in class? Sleep. Honestly. Or, draw things. Or perhaps read a book not related to the class. Very rarely do I actually pay attention to what the lecturer is saying.

Is that a waste of time?
Some, perhaps most of you would definitely say so.
Of course it is a waste of time. It's so obvious.
Is it really?
Somehow, this twisted mind of mine does NOT see it as time-wasting.
I suppose I have started to ask myself "What, really, is your goal in this life? What is your bloody target?"
What was my answer?
"I don't know. What I know is, now I HATE studying."

Some of you who have known me previously might be surprised. I know, I used to like studying.
At least that's the way it seemed.
Actually, I don't like studying. I like to learn. But I don't like to study.
Once, in my younger years, those two words were (nearly) synonymous.
In elementary school. I love learning about new things. School was FUN.
Junior high, things got a bit rougher, but I could manage. At least school was interesting.
Senior high, I began to lose interest. I began to feel that science (which is what I study, mostly) is no longer expanding my horizon, so to say.
At college, well, you know.

Most people, including some of my best friends and especially my parents, will probably say that I am wrong about this. That I should like studying these things, and if not, to study them anyway.

I disagree.
Why, pray tell, should I stick to do things that I don't like?
Or, perhaps an easier question to answer, what benefits, if any, will they bring?
"If you study well, you would graduate with top grades, and that means a better job with a better salary. Then, after you get all that, you can do what you want, since you will have all you need."
HA!
This sort of argument has been around since long ago.
The idea is that after you get more money (or respect or other things which are generally considered worthy and valuable) than you need, then you can start enjoying your life.
That when you have reached a certain point, you shouldn't feel satisfied, and you should try to expand or improve.

Right? Dissatisfaction is what makes the present world go around, right? What induces progress?
This, I think, is a really stupid idea.
"You should not be happy with 'just this'. You should want more."
Then when will we be happy?
Tomorrow? Next month? After I graduate? When I have more money than I would ever need?

Why not now?

The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything (I'm sorry guys, this is extremely cliché, but I can't help myself)

2010-02-06T17:25:00.005+07:00

Here I am.

For some reason, I simply can't start writing about the topics I have thought about, so instead I am just going to write about some current things.

First off, JAKARTA 6TH TOYS AND COMICS FAIR IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER, FELLAS. If the info I got from The Almighty Google is not faulty, that is. I read it in the Japan Freakz blog (sorry if the spelling is incorrect). THIS IS GREAT NEWS. At least for me. I remember last year when I went to the 5th Fair. I saw some P.O.P (Portrait of Pirates) statues which are really cool. Too bad I didn't have enough money. I really want the whole young Straw Hat crew set.
Ah, but there is no kid Brooks yet in the comics. Damn. Now the most they could do is make the 35-years-old living Brooks, and he would be just the same size with the skeleton Brooks, which would not have significant difference in price. Damn.
And Chopper, that's another problem. As I recall, in the comics there is practically no difference between young Chopper and the present Chopper.
Ah well, but still, I'd really like the whole set. Imagine, young Luffy, young Zoro, young Nami, young Usopp, young Sanji, young Vivi (although she is not in the crew), young Robin and young Franky. AWESOME. Oh, if I remember correctly the set also contains Nojiko, but I don't think she is such an important character.
I wonder if they have made a new set? Young Ace, perhaps?
I sure hope I will be able to go to the fair. Gotta save some money first, though.

Ah, what else is news?

Oh yes! For this one friend of mine who just broke up. It seems that you still can't let this problem pass, eh? Still shutting yourself up from the world? Don't.
I WANT TO KNOW ALL ABOUT IT! TELL ME!
Nah, just kidding. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.
But I've got something to say to you.
I suppose you have every right to be sad or miserable or to want to be alone for some time.
Just don't overdo it.
And I personally think that you'd be better off chatting and laughing with your friends than try to escape the reality. Face the problem, or forget about it, but don't flee from it.
But hey, what do I know, huh? You're waaaay more mature than I am. Ha ha!
Just remember, you have friends. And I hope that you consider me as one.

Man. When did I get all sentimental like this? Best end this before it gets worse.

A random quote:

"Whether or not you find your own way, you're bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, please return it, as it was lost years ago. I imagine by now it's quite rusty."
-The Whether Man-

Gw nemu komik Asterix Gladiator yg lama! WOOOHOOO!!!

2010-01-18T22:20:00.003+07:00

YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Udah lama ga buka dengan tawa tanpa sebab yang sangat saya senangi. Selamat malam. Apa yang mau saya bahas sekarang?

Sebenernya, saya tidak ada topik yang sudah direncanakan. Seperti biasa, kali ini pun judul tidak mencerminkan isi. Liburan sialan. Haha. Otak gw udah lengket kali ya gara-gara lama kaga dipake. Kenapa lengket? Ga tau juga ya hahahaha.

Udah lah, recap liburan aja kali ya?

GW TAMAT MAIN BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM. Akhirnya.
BTW, buat anda-anda yang belom main, saya rekomendasikan main. Seru lho. Gara-gara game ini, Spider-Man tergeser dari posisi nomer 1 superhero favorit saya.

Trus apa lagi ya yang menarik?

Aduh gini nih. Padahal kemaren kepikiran topik yang menarik. Ah sudahlah. Simpan buat berikutnya aja.

Ngantuk ah. Dadah.

(Dan berakhirlah satu lagi postingan engga penting dari kerupukdicabein si bodoh.)

Glasgow Smile

2009-12-11T23:59:00.003+07:00

Ah. Finally I am writing on this space again. Been, what, a month?
Wait, let me check.... Yeah, a month, give or take.
Huh. And now I am simply writing what comes to mind.
Yeah so what? This is MY blog, it's up to me what I write here!
Geez, relax. Anything interesting lately?
Ummm.... Right now I am watching Hellboy on TV. I LOVE this movie.
On TV? I don't have a TV in my room!
Yes but I am currently at my grandparents', so....
Oh, lucky me, huh.
Okay, right now I'm confused.
Of course, I'm conversing with myself about things which just pop up into mind.
Which reminds me, about that chemistr
STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT BLOODY CHEMISTRY EXAM!
Okay, okay, sheeesh. Ah, now I remember on Monday I'm going to....
STOP THINKING ABOUT ANY KIND OF EXAMS!
....have a calculus exam. What can I do? I can't help thinking about it.
Bah.
Man, I'd really love to read The Phantom Tollbooth again.
Oh yeah, that book was brilliant. Too bad it's so hard to find.
Ah! I can't keep up with my thoughts. I'm not a speed typist.
I'm just doing this because I can't come up with a decent topic for this post.
Nah, I'm doing this to vent my confusion after the damn exam.
Suddenly Phoenix Wright pops up in my mind. Phoenix Wright. Don't even know how.
Now Peter Griffin comes along.
Wow, when I try to follow what I'm thinking, I get confused myself.
I mean, I am thinking about the fact that I am thinking, and that thought is also in my head, so it's kind of some multilevel thinking or something.
Blows my mind.
Ha ha.
Darth Vader. Wow, that was random.
From a guy who gets confused thinking about his thoughts, what else do you expect?
Comics! Understanding Comics! Scott McCloud!
Damn.
Huh. Ever think how Italians pronounce 'zz' like they have a 't' or 'd' before the z's?
Yeah, like in 'pizza'.
....Actually that's the only Italian word I know which has double z's like that.
Wait, what about.... 'palazzo'?
Is that right? I don't know, I never studied Italian.
Eeeewww. Suddenly my mind jumps to FROG EGGS.
I hate frogs. Not hate, really, just get very, very disgusted if I saw one up close.
Insanity! Insanity!
That reminds me of Soul to Squeeze, that....
....song by Red Hot Chili Peppers, yes. I know.
........
What? You ran out of thoughts?
No, not that, but I simply can't keep track of my own thoughts!
Bah. So? We end it here?

Yeah.

Ciao.

"What's the situation, Captain?"

2009-11-16T20:05:00.002+07:00

I don't know what I'm feeling right now, friends.

Is this grief?
Fear?
Pain?
Or simple, plain, pure stupidity?

I don't know what to do.
What I have done, what I am doing, what I will do.

Is this life?
Why is it so?

Hast Thou forsaken me, Lord?
Why am I becoming this way?

Every night, I lay down to sleep in the hope that I will not wake.
Every day, I wake wishing that today will be my last day.

It is not the night I fear.
I can get through the night fine.
It is the morning I dread.

The things I have to do....
The things I have done....
The things I should have done....

Really.
I really wish I could die real soon, Lord.

'Lemon Tree' by Fool's Garden

2009-10-02T21:42:00.003+07:00

Ah. I am so happy right now.

Why? What happened?
Truth be told, next to nothing happened.

What I did was simply to go to my grandparents' house, stopping at a bookstore along the way.

See?
This is quite a mundane routine, some might say.

But somehow, I feel happy after I got back from my grandparents'.

Why?

I think it's because of the small, simple pleasures I happen to experience along the way.

For instance, at the bookstore.
The bookstore offered a 15% discount for ALL ITEMS.
And, for purchases above 20,000 IDR, they offer to coat your book with plastic cover. For free.
And the guy at the bag deposit place was real friendly.

Then, at my grandparents'.
Just the usual.
I had a wash. Had dinner. Talked about my studies a bit.

I mean, these things might not seem important enough or significant enough for me to write about, or even remember.
You might not even see what is so nice about them.
But I do remember them.
And simple things like these are what keeps me going through this life.
What makes the tasks ahead seem less impossible.
What makes tomorrow full of happy possibilities.
What keeps worries out of my head.
I just realized it now.

My friends....
I think I am beginning to love this life.

A pity it took me eighteen years to do so.

Piece of cake? No. Easy as pi.

2009-09-21T23:04:00.003+07:00

Oh iya, selamat hari raya Idul Fitri buat yang merayakan lho. Gw bukan Muslim, tapi gw ikutan seneng kok libur hahaha.

Kemaren gw ke gereja. Dan, seperti biasa, pikiran menerawang ke mana-mana. Gw kemaren mikirin soal bilangan irasional selama khotbah. Buset gak tuh. Tapi biarlah.

Nah. Bilangan irasional. Apa itu? Dari kata dasar rasio=perbandingan. Jadi bilangan rasional itu adalah bilangan yang bisa dinyatakan sebagai perbandingan 2 bilangan bulat. Misalnya, 0.5 itu kan sama dengan 1/2 (perbandingan 1 dan 2, yang dua-duanya adalah bilangan bulat.) Kalo bilangan irasional? Ya bilangan yang enggak bisa dinyatakan sebagai perbandingan 2 bilangan bulat. Kalo kemaren di kelas kalkulus contoh yang dikasih sih:
Akar 2.
Akar 3.
Pi.

Nah yang terakhir ini kemaren gw pikirin lagi. Pi? Pertama-tama, apa itu pi? Yang gw tau sih pi itu dipake pas nentuin luas dan keliling lingkaran. Pi itu konstanta, nilainya tetap. Kalo buat nyari keliling lingkaran, rumusnya itu
[Pi x diameter lingkaran = keliling lingkaran.]

Tapi dari mana orang dapet angka pi, yang sekarang banyak dipake 3.142 sekian sekian? Menurut gw, orang dapet pi engga lain dan engga bukan adalah ya menghitung perbandingan keliling lingkaran sama diameternya. Kan rumus yang di atas kalo dibalik kan jadi
[Keliling lingkaran/diameter lingkaran = pi.]

Liat ga? Jadi menurut definisi, pi itu perbandingan keliling lingkaran sama diameternya. Jadi? Masak irasional?

Tapi harus diliat, nilai pi ga selalu 3.142 sekian sekian itu lho. Gw ambil satu contoh. Alkitab. Jadi, ini nilai pi-nya orang Ibrani waktu jamannya Raja Salomo.
1 Raja-raja 7:23 (LAI):
'Kemudian dibuatnyalah "laut" tuangan yang sepuluh hasta dari tepi ke tepi, bundar keliling, lima hasta tingginya, dan yang dapat dililit berkeliling oleh tali yang tiga puluh hasta panjangnya.'

Untuk penjelasan, ini waktu Salomo lagi ngebangun Bait Suci, nah ini ada semacam bak gitu buat nampung air, dengan spesifikasi seperti di atas. Kalo diliat, diameternya 10 hasta dan kelilingnya 30 hasta. Jadi menurut Alkitab, nilai pi itu
30/10 = 3.
Bukan 3.142 sekian sekian itu kan?

Tapi mungkin gini. Mungkin ini cuma masalah pengukuran. Mungkin presisi sama akurasi pengukuran mereka belom terlalu bagus. Kemungkinan besar sih begitu. Mungkin sebenernya kelilingnya engga tepat 30 hasta. Mungkin diameternya bukan 10 hasta. Mungkin sebenernya itu bejana engga bunder bener-bener. Ya kan?

Tapiiii, kalo ternyata iya cuma masalah akurasi sama presisi pengukuran, berarti ini masalah ga akan bisa terpecahkan. Kenapa? Karena kita tinggal dalam ruang 3 dimensi. Kalo mau tepat banget, tingkat presisi maksimum, titik pengukurnya harus bener-bener 0 panjang, lebar, sama tingginya. Padahal semua benda yang ada dalam ruang, punya volume dong. Bayangin deh. Kertas setipis apapun pasti masih punya ketebalan kan?

Kalo bukan masalah pengukuran, masalah apa dong? Kita langsung terima jadi aja, "Oh, pi itu 3.142."? Bahkan kalo di SD boleh pake pi = 22/7. Gitu? Mana mau.

Haaah. Matematika itu emang bukan sains sih. Jadi gini deh. Soal apakah pi itu rasional ato irasional? Karena matematika itu bukan sains, biarin aja dewan tinggi matematika memutuskan.

'Amazing' by Aerosmith

2009-09-12T08:02:00.004+07:00

Wonderful.

That's all I can say, girl.

Thy depth, thy maturity.

Wonderful.

I really am nothing compared to you.

'Crazy' by Aerosmith

2009-09-11T15:25:00.004+07:00

Ah.

Damn.

Such a blow, such a sudden blow.
I did not expect that at all.
Yes, you said it casually.
But still, the implications....

Is there any hope for me still?
Were you really saying it without really meaning anything?
Am I simply overreacting?
I sure hope so.

This is going to be one of the very few things that I can't forget.
I mean, the timing was damned perfect!
I was planning to say it! Honestly!
But at that precise moment.... You struck.

What shall I do? What CAN I do?

Take my heart back to my cave and crush it with a rock?
I wish I could.
But I can't.

Damned optimism.
This is what confuses me.

Gw bingung lagi mau ngasi judul apa. Udah, baca aja.

2009-08-18T18:21:00.005+07:00

Oke. Ini gw baru balik dari kampus. Dan gw merasa gw sangat pengen nulis ini, sampe-sampe gw nulis 2 post dalam sehari.

GW, SAKING SERIUSNYA MEMPERHATIKAN DOSEN KALKULUS, DEMAM DI KELAS.

Serius. Tapi maksud gw bukan artinya jelek! Maksud gw, gw saking tertariknya, saking berdebar-debarnya, saking serunya, sampe-sampe kayaknya darah gw itu bergerak dengan sangat cepat, trus jadi panas kan, sehingga gw demam.

Kok bisa gini ya? Gw ga inget pernah ngerasa gini sebelomnya. Padahal cuma ngebahas bermacam-macam bilangan, sama logika.

Di kelas fisika sebelomnya juga. Padahal cuma ngerjain satu soal, ngubah grafik v vs t jadi x vs t. Tapi gw ngerasa tertarik banget. Beda banget sama SMA. Gw kayak jadi anak TK lagi, ngerasa pengen sekolah demi pelajaran itu sendiri.

Trus, yg bikin gw lebih semangat lagi, dosen kalkulusnya bilang gini.
"Kalian selama ini di SMA diajarin matematika dengan pendekatan yang salah. Di sini akan diajarin yang bener."
Gw berharap dengan sepenuh hati dia bener.
Kenapa? Karena gw PAYAH di matematika SMA. Tepatnya, gw payah di SEMUA pelajaran SMA.
Dan sekarang ada harapan bagi gw. Harapan bahwa mungkin gw bisa ngikutin pelajaran di universitas.

The world is such a wonderful place, isn't it?

Lumayan juga ya?

2009-08-18T11:57:00.004+07:00

HAHAHAAA!!! Hari ini gw mulai kuliah!

Tadi baru masuk kelas Kimia Dasar sama Academic Writing sih. Tapi lumayan asik ternyata.

Di Kimia.... gw baru inget bahwa selama SMA gw itu HAMPIR SAMA SEKALI GA BELAJAR TENTANG KIMIA. Jadi tadi baru ngulang bilangan oksidasi sama menyetarakan redoks. Dan gw NGE-BLANK. TOTAL. Jadi sementara si dosennya nanya 'jadi yang ini koefisiennya berapa?' yang lain itu pada jawab 'duaaa' terus 'delapaaan', sementara gw cuma nonton dan nyatet sambil mangap dan terbelalak. Betul-betul menyedihkan.

Habis itu ke Academic Writing. Mana pake nyasar dulu lagi, haha. Tapi penjelasannya lumayan asik, biarpun dosennya kayaknya tegas. Dia di hari pertama udah ngasi 2 tugas. Buat dikumpulin minggu depan.

Jadi, kita sampai pada satu pertanyaan. Kenapa gw, yang kimia sama sekali ga ngerti dan perlu ngerjain tugas writing, masih duduk di depan laptop sambil main Restaurant City? Yah santai aja dulu lah. Kan masih minggu depan kan deadline-nya hahaha.

Tapi serius, gw betul-betul ngerasa harus ngerombak pola kegiatan besar-besaran. Dulu gw di SMA pe-er ga pernah dikerjain, di kelas ngobrol, becanda, tidur, dan gw ngerasa kalo gw terusin gw ga bakal selamat. Jadi, gw sekarang minta tolong haha. Kalo lo ada yg tau gw, ingetin yak biar ga males ngerjain tugas. Serius ini perlu dukungan moral dan spiritual yang banyak. Kalo ada yang mau dukung secara finansial, lebih bagus lagi haha.

Oke lah, segitu aja. Gw mau mandi (haha iya gw siang baru mandi, pagi males), ntar jam 2 ada kuliah lagi soalnya sampe jam 6. Kalo misalnya kaga ada kuliah? Kemungkinan besar gw ga mandi hahahah.

MERDEKA! (Sori, telat sehari)

Melempem? Masuk angin? Cih. Kerupuk, Kerupuk.

2009-08-03T17:05:00.004+07:00

Uahhh. Hari ini baru daftar ulang buat kuliah lagi.
Dan gw udah mulai tinggal di bandung.

Kok gw ngerasa cemas ya?
Kenapa gw agak-agak takut ya?

Ugh. Payah.

Bahkan gw sampe ga bisa nulis di sini.
Bingung, cemas, takut.
Apa-apaan ini?!

Padahal baru semalem. Kok gw kesepian ya?
Padahal biasanya gw cenderung soliter.
Kalo di kartu tarot, gw itu The Hermit. Kayaknya.
Kok bisa gini??

Ha. Sebal.

Pffft. Udah lah.
Liat aja entar.

Bingung? Selalu.

2009-07-26T10:35:00.003+07:00

Hahahahahaha! Yess gw ketawa lagi! Mari kita manfaatkan kesempatan ini!

Kemaren gw ama temen nonton Public Enemies di Citos. Trus selama nunggu, main di Timezone. Gw trus beli susu. Buat apa? Buat diminum lah! Haha.

Tapi trus temen gw ada yang nyeletuk.
"Eh gw kayaknya pernah baca di mana gitu katanya susu itu ga bagus."
"Ga bagus maksudnya?"
"Yaa ga bagus buat kesehatan."

Habis itu gw ama dia agak berbincang-bincang dikit soal itu. Tapi yang ada di pikiran gw adalah....

Kenapa kita minum susu sapi???

Serius. Sapi ga minum susu kuda toh? Trus kenapa manusia minum susu sapi? Dan susu-susu lainnya juga? Susu kuda, susu kerbau, susu kambing juga diminum kan?

Mungkin ada yang bakal bilang, 'Oh iya, soalnya susu mengandung kalsium bla bla bla bagus untuk tulang bla bla bla bergizi bla bla bla.' Tapi (koreksi aja kalo salah) bukannya manusia minum susu sapi bahkan sebelom kita tau kandungan susu itu sendiri? Dari zaman kapan gitu. Di Alkitab (salah satu sumber sejarah yang paling awal yang gw pernah baca) udah ditulis kok soal susu.

Trus kalo dipikir lebih lanjut ya, sebenernya gw agak heran ngeliat pola makan manusia. Kayaknya segala macem dimakan. Daging dimakan. Taneman juga. Susu juga. Madu juga. Dan ini belom soal makanan yang diolah lho. Masih yang berupa bahan mentah.

Maksud gw gini. Singa, dengan makan daging doang, bisa bertahan hidup. Kuda, biarpun cuma makan rerumputan sama mungkin buah, juga selamat-selamat aja. Dan mereka ga perlu tau bahwa daging mengandung protein apa dan apa atau bahwa buah mengandung sukrosa dan lemak dan lain-lain. Sementara manusia, karena kita 'tau' bahwa segala macem itu mengandung bahan-bahan yang dianggap 'baik' dan 'berguna' untuk tubuh, kita makan itu. Ya kan? Bahkan kita sampe mengekstrak atau mensintesis bahan-bahan yang diperlukan itu dalam keadaan murni. Kayak obat, misalnya.

Jadi, intinya, gw bingung. Sebenernya, makanan alami buat manusia itu apa? Biji-bijiankah? Buahkah? Dagingkah?

Atau, mungkin, kalo diliat dari sudut pandang evolusi (ya, gw percaya evolusi, jadi bagi orang-orang yang percaya bahwa manusia diciptakan untuk menguasai dan mengatur dunia dan segala isinya, maaf aja), mungkin yang terjadi adalah gini: kita, manusia, adalah keturunan dari makhluk-makhluk yang, untuk alasan apapun, terbiasa makan segala macem makanan. Dan mungkin itu yang bikin kita (menurut kita, paling enggak) lebih canggih, lebih mutakhir, lebih kompleks daripada hewan-hewan lainnya. Mungkin begitu.

Dan mungkin masih ada kemungkinan-kemungkinan lain! Hahahahaha! Seru abis.

'The Fool on the Hill' by The Beatles

2009-07-15T17:24:00.003+07:00

Dammit dammit dammit.

Why all the drama, man?
I thought I was a kook, a freak that would never fall prey to this kind of petty feelings.
Turns out otherwise.

If you have followed me, I think you'd know that I have written some posts on the subject of 'love'.
Truthfully, I am very, very confused about the whole business.

Is it...? Nah, it can't be.... But perhaps...? Is she...? No, I'm not.... Really...?

Do you want to know the truth?

I DON'T WANT TO FEEL THIS KIND OF FEELINGS.

I don't want to fall in love.
I want to be free. Free from all bonds and attachments. Including that of romantic love.

Alas, it had happened. (I think. Read my posts titled 'Futility' and 'Tribute'.)
I wish it hadn't, but it did.

Now I try very hard to forget them and just be friends.
But something always happens to keep me hoping.
Come on. Why can't I just chill about this?

Some days my brain says "you can live without her, dude".
On others, it says "ask her out, man, you know you want to".
But I don't. I don't know what I want. I am still confused.

Sometimes I think I listen to too many love songs.
Sometimes I think I have gone out of the way I had intended to.
But then sometimes I think that it's perfectly fine.

Maybe you'd say that this is okay.
That this is normal. That this is human.
To quote Harry Potter in his agony,
"THEN I DON'T WANT TO BE HUMAN."

Again, I hate this kind of mixed-up feelings.
How many times have I wished for death?
Really, honestly, I would gladly die.

So, John, yes, I suppose I am that fool who plays it cool by making my world colder.
Don't let Jude near me. Heh heh.
Really? Do you think that I am a fool?

I know, this is petty. I know.
I know that other people can handle this. So why can't I?
Why must I torture myself so?
Why must I deny my feelings?

Ah, maybe I think about this too much.
I really want to say 'screw this, I'm going'.

BUT I CAN'T!!! WHY?!

Ehhh.... Ehmmm..... WAAUGH bingung mau ngasih judul apa!

2009-07-06T19:28:00.000+07:00

WOOOW.

Gw ternyata udah kehilangan banyak kesempatan reunian sama temen-temen SD.
Enggak menyesal sih. Gw ga mau menyesal. Cuman sayang aja hahaha.
Ugh jadi nostalgia nih yahahaha.

Selain itu, gw kemaren baru mengalami Perjamuan Kudus pertama gw! Wooooo!
Bagi yang gak tau, Perjamuan Kudus itu intinya makan roti (yang menyimbolkan tubuh Yesus) dan minum anggur (sebagai simbol darah Yesus). Yap, kami makan roti dan minum anggur di dalam tempat ibadah hahahaha.
Ehm, sebenernya ga begitu penting sih.
Dan, kalo mau jujur, gw agak-agak gimana gitu. Tidak seperti perkiraan gw haha.

Pertama, rotinya. Dari dulu, dari pas SD pas gw sekolah di sekolah Katolik, gw selalu penasaran setiap Misa, temen-temen gw yang udah komuni maju ke depan, terus dikasih hosti, terus dimakan. Gw penasaran abis tentang HOSTI. Yang gw liat sih kayak benda putih berbentuk kepingan kira-kira seukuran uang logam 100-an yang dulu yang ada gambar gunungan wayangnya. Dan kemaren gw makan itu. Ternyata? Kayak roti yang buat harum manis, cuman lebih padet dan lebih alot. Rasanya? Ya kayak roti harum manis itu. Ga ada. Kira-kira kayak makan kertas tipis lah hahahaha. Lewat aja tanpa terasa.

Kedua, anggurnya. Sangat, sangat, SANGAT tidak sesuai perkiraan. Baunya sih lumayan. Tapi ternyata sama sekali ga keras. Emang sih, cuma satu sloki kecil gitu. Cuman, tetep aja, alkoholnya rasanya dikit banget. Bahkan lebih dikit daripada bir. Yah tapi mungkin sebaiknya begitu ya? Hahaha lucu juga kan kalo abis minum anggur ada yang mabok dalem gereja.

Kerupuk: (minum anggur)
[lima belas menit kemudian]
Kerupuk: (mabok, sambil loncat-loncat ke arah mimbar) "Kalian semua itu kayak kebo tau gak! HAHAHAHAHAH" (lalu pingsan)

Kesimpulan? Kalo mau makan roti dan minum anggur, ga usah ke gereja. Udah rasanya ga jelas, dikit lagi.
Yaaah, tapi gratis sih! HAHAHAHAHA!

Statistics! Probabilities! Chance!

2009-07-03T18:35:00.003+07:00

I have promised you that I will tell you about my views on God. Not religions. God.

In this post I shall discuss one aspect of my God.

Firstly, have you watched the movie 'Knowing'? In it, the main character raised a topic. (This is not the exact wording, you see.)

"Is our universe created deliberately? Did some kind of Being created this universe with a certain purpose set?"
"Or is the universe just an accident? One probability amongst millions? Is our being here purely the result of sheer chance?"

What do you think?

I think both might be simultaneously correct, in certain aspects.

Yes, I believe that we were created deliberately by something or someone. Let's call this creator 'God'. So, I believe that God created us.

But just what did God create?

I believe that God created EVERYTHING. It's not the case of 'everything in this universe is created by God'. Rather, 'God created everything, including this universe'.

Can you guess what I'm getting at?

God created EVERYTHING. Every possibility. Everything God can create, God has created.

Do you understand what this means?

It means that we are bound to happen sometime.

So, yes, we are one possibility amongst googols. We are one card in decks of cards. But that doesn't necessarily mean that we are accidents.

To sum it up, God created everything with intent. Including us.

Hey, but this is just my beliefs. I could be wrong.

But I could be right! HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!

(Forgive me if I'm not clear enough. When I wrote this, I had some difficulties expressing my thoughts into words. So, if you have any questions, please post them as comments. I will do my best to answer them.)

A long talk about religions.

2009-06-24T21:25:00.005+07:00

I have always been interested in mythology. Since I was just a little kid. I don't know why, but gods have always fascinated me. Ha ha!

I think it all began with Disney's Hercules. It certainly was not the most accurate of the versions of the myth, but it was interesting all the same.

Oh wait, maybe not since Hercules. Maybe it was before. Ha, I remember now, I was religious, nearly a zealot, when I was a kid. I knew quite a lot about the stories in the Bible. For a kid, I mean.

But my point is, those mythologies are once religions too. Maybe they still are, I don't know. And what I've seen is that, I think, the myths/religions tells a lot about the people.

For instance, the Greek gods are pretty weird. They are by no means perfect. Sure, they couldn't die, and have superpowers, but their characters are just about as flawed as that of the humans who worshiped them. For example, Zeus was a womanizer, Hera was very jealous, Ares was a coward. And the stories tell even more weirdness, even more scandalous ones. There were orgies, rapes, incestuous relationships, castrations, cannibalism, slaughters and of course war. Pretty twisted up for divine beings, I think.

The Norse gods are different. They could die. Hey, Baldr did. But they still have superpowers. And their stories are, as far as I know, dominated by warfare. All the male gods are warriors. And there are lots of vicious mythological creatures which are violent in nature. To mention some of them, there are Jormungandr, Fenrir and Hel, which are Loki's children with the giantess Angrboda. This, too, is kind of weird for me, since Loki is a shape-shifter, and Angrboda is, well, a giantess, while Hel is half-woman/half-corpse, Fenrir is a huge wolf, and Jormungandr is a gigantic serpent.

The Aztec deities are unique too. Most of their antics was quite mundane. You know, like using body parts of a dead monster to create the universe and such. But one thing I'd like to say here. The Aztecs practice rituals that are gruesome by modern-day standards. They sacrifice men and women atop high pyramids, and let the sacrificees' (Is it the right word? I don't want to use the word 'victim') blood flow down the stairs and dye the earth red, while the remains (I suppose you can call them 'corpses' or worse, 'carcasses') were eaten. By the people. Oh, and my favorite Aztec god, Xipe Totec. I forgot the story, but in any case, he was flayed (for those of you who doesn't know, it means 'skinned'). And afterwards, he wears his flayed skin. A bit redundant, I think, but it's still pretty cool. The Aztec drawings of their gods are by far my favorite depictions of gods. I personally like drawings of Xipe Totec (of course), Quetzalcoatl and Mictlantecuhtli. Look them up if you're interested.

As for the other gods, I think they are weird too. I mean, some of the Egyptian gods have heads of animals. The Hindu gods mostly have additional appendages. And that's just their appearances. Their characters and exploits are of course far more interesting and fun.

But my point is, again, these myths, these stories, were once (or still are) religions. They are the people's views of gods.

But nowadays, most people seem to believe differently. I am talking, of course, about monotheism. It is as if those gods were integrated into one Being, and that Being was stripped away of the more unwanted traits. Leaving an omnipotent, benevolent Deity.

Do you see what I see? We can see religions evolving through time. At the time of our ape-like ancestors, they were still quite savage and fearsome. Thus, their gods were fearsome spirits too. The Norse are a warlike people, and so are their gods. At Greece, there were diverse cultural practices, hence the various antics of the gods. The Mesoamericans believed in freeing the spirits from their fleshy prisons, so they sacrificed people and eat them, and their gods do so too. The Muslims are, for me, a bit confusing. Allah is both all-condemning and all-forgiving. Some hippies believe that Jesus is a peaceful guy, while Hitler views Him as a persuasive and tough leader.

You see? I see religions as human creations. We shape our own images of God. That is not to say that God is a product of man. I am just saying that we 'understand' God differently, according to our culture and influences upon us. And no one has the right to force his model of God upon another.

And what is my image of God?

That is a story for another time.

Futility

2009-06-19T17:39:00.007+07:00

Hi. Once more, I am writing about you.

We did hang out today. With her. Like when at your place.
Had lunch. Watched that movie.
Browsed the bookstores.
I accompanied you to your car.
I had fun.

But once again, you left me feeling confused.
Do I have a chance?
I know, we are going to the same university.
I know that we are friends. Quite close ones, too.
What difference does it make?
What advantage does it give me?

In the movie, there was that line.
I don't remember it exactly. It was only mentioned twice. By Napoleon Bonaparte.
But I think I got the gist of it.
It was about being reluctant to confess for fear of ruining the friendship.
BLAST!
I don't know if you noticed.
I don't know if you felt it too.
Heck, I still don't know whether you know.
But I felt weird. You know, awkward and so.
Very accurate. Straight to the heart.
Exactly my feelings. Precisely my fear.

And you don't even read my blog!

Since when did I become like this?!
Where did that arrogance, that pride go?
Where is that confidence now?

I have always wanted to live free.
Free of fear, free of worries.
Free of attachments.

My dear,
You have successfully conquered me.
You have bound me.

And I,
I really, REALLY wish I could say this to your face.

Love.

Millenium Falcon. Judul ini engga ada hubungannya sama isi post ini.

2009-06-03T10:16:00.003+07:00

Wow. Wow. Wow.

BOSAAAAAAAN!!!

Ha waktu sekolah gw males banget, pengennya libuuur aja. Sekarang pas libur malah ga tau mau ngapain. Cih. Kenapa begini?? Memang manusia itu susah puas.

Lalu? Ngapain dong gw??? Oke gw akan membahas perbudakan. Buset berat amat ya?

Tapi engga kok. Serius. Ini mungkin lagi terjadi di lingkungan lo, bahkan mungkin di rumah lo sendiri. Mungkin, lho.

Gw kemaren ke tempat sepupu gw. Anak cewek, masih kecil sih, palingan juga SD kelas 5 ato 6. (Oke gw tau gw bukan sepupu yang baik, umur sepupu sendiri lupa.) Sebut aja namanya Arwen (oke mungkin agak berlebihan buat nama samaran, tapi ya sudahlah). Nah dia kan ada pembantu rumah tangga-selanjutnya kita sebut PRT biar hemat tempat dan tenaga gw ngetik-sama kayak sebagian besar keluarga di Jakarta lah. Nah gw ngeliatnya itu, kayaknya dia kalo mau sesuatu itu nyuruh PRT itu. Nyuruh, merintah, gitu. Bukan minta tolong.

Dan ibunya juga sama! Ibunya kalo ngomong ke si PRT itu ngomongnya "Ani (nama samaran juga)! Kamu siapin tasnya Arwen ya!" Trus, kalo si PRT ini bikin salah, marahnya itu...gimana ya? Marah yang kayak merendahkan gitu, bukan marah yang konstruktif gitu lho. Trus kalo ketemu ibunya, yang mana adalah nenek gw sendiri, kalo ngomongin soal PRT juga pasti dengan nada yang engga enak, seakan-akan PRT itu engga melakukan kewajibannya sebagaimana mestinya. Engga berkelakuan sesuai statusnya sebagai PRT, gitu.

Pendeknya, mereka memperlakukan PRT seakan-akan PRT itu tergolong dalam kelas sosial yang lebih rendah dibanding mereka. Dan gw ngeliat ini sebagai perbudakan. Biarpun digaji, tapi kalo diperlakukan kayak gitu, gw rasa sama aja kayak budak.

Yah tapi mungkin emang peradaban begitu kali ya? Kalo kita liat film 300, kan ada yang bagian si Leonidas nanya "What is your profession?" Orang-orang Arkadia-nya jawab pandai besi lah, pematung lah, penjunan lah. Kalo orang Sparta? "Auuugh! Auuugh! Auuugh!" yang maksudnya adalah mereka itu profesinya emang sebagai prajurit. Dan apa yang memungkinkan mereka fokus dalam profesi mereka sebagai prajurit? Budak. Budak lho. Para orang Sparta itu udah hidupnya udah diurusin sama para budak, jadi ada waktu luang untuk meningkatkan diri di bidang macem-macem. Latihan perang lah, ke sekolah lah, dan sebagainya. Dan ini engga berubah sampe sekarang.

Ngerti engga? Gw ngeliatnya itu, demi satu orang supaya bisa mencapai seluruh potensinya, perlu beberapa orang untuk ngurusin kebutuhannya. Dan menurut gw ini masalah. Jadinya cuma sebagian kecil manusia yang bisa makmur.

Jadi apa solusinya? Kalo menurut pandangan gw yang idealis dan mungkin kelewat utopis, ya semua orang mikirin dirinya sendiri. Tapi ini engga akan berhasil selama masih ada perusahaan sama pemerintahan sama birokrasi. Sistem kayak gitu pasti selalu menang. Jadi, menurut gw, idealnya itu, semua hidup dengan damai dengan alam. Kalo perlu makan, metik buah ato berburu, tapi jangan bertani! Jadi, gw sebenernya mau kita balik jadi hunter-gatherer. Soalnya kayaknya itu yang paling damai dan alami.

Yah, tapi, sekali lagi, ini utopia gw. Kemungkinan besar ga akan tercapai sih. Dan gw rasa juga kayaknya dikit orang yang mau.

Mungkin suatu hari gw bakal bikin komik soal ini. Jadi, gw minta dengan sangat, jangan curi ide saya! Yahahahahaha!!!

God?

2009-05-21T20:13:00.002+07:00

There are many fish
Living in a vast ocean
Searching for water

Tribute

2009-05-20T15:19:00.003+07:00

HA!

Finally.
I confessed, right? Ha ha.
Well, maybe to you it didn't matter. Much.
You knew it already, after all.
But to me, whoa. Another enormous burden, gone.

I did not do myself justice that day.
In the words of the Gallaghers,
"There are many things that I would like to say to you,
but I don't know how."
This is one effort to say those things.
Hope you read this.

You asked, what made me, you know,
fall for you.
To tell the truth, well, I still don't know for sure.
But I answered (rather jokingly),
that you were handsome, kind, and funny.
We laughed, I know.
But that's true. Really.
You are kind. And funny.
And, in my eyes, yes, you are beautiful.

I wonder, how did you know of my feelings?
Was it very obvious? I hope not.
Was it because I have been quiet to you?
Was it because of that Krispy Kreme I nearly bought for you?
Was it because that time when I kept you company
while waiting for your car?
Shucks. I'll ask you the next time you're online.

As you know, I did not ask you to be my girlfriend.
One reason, as I told you, was that there was another woman.
Or rather, that you were the other woman. Ha ha.
Another reason was, well,
I know that you already have that crush on that guy.
(As if anyone in our class hadn't known that yet.)
And, call me a hopeless romantic, but
I'd rather you get him than I get you. Get it? Ha ha.
And the last reason was that
I thought I wouldn't be able to be a good companion to you.
I couldn't make you laugh like he does so easily everyday.
I couldn't talk to you about all those interesting stuff you like.
Heck, I couldn't even make fun of you like they do.
(Although for this one I am not sorry.)

So? What next?
I know I confessed. And I said I wasn't going to make you my girlfriend.
But who knows? My mind changes a lot.
What am I going to do in the future? I don't know.
But this I know:
You will never be 'just a friend' to me.
You have somehow made yourself special to me.
And that is quite an extraordinary accomplishment.

Remember. You are special. If to no one else, to me you are.

Tyler Durden

2009-05-14T07:09:00.004+07:00

Kemaren gw nonton Fight Club lagi. Gila. Maksudnya, beneran gila. Gak waras. Psychotic. Pernah nonton? Gw gak mau spoiler, ceritanya emang gila, aneh, disturbing lah. Model yang gw suka gitu. Siap-siap. Dan kalo bisa jangan nonton sama orang tua. Ntar bisa kacau.

Tapi intinya, di film itu ada karakter yang punya semacem MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder) gitu. Kepribadian ganda, tau kan? Jadi orang itu gak sadar kalo dia berbuat kejahatan, misalnya, karena waktu itu yang muncul bukan dia, tapi kepribadiannya yang lain. Pokoknya kayak gitu. Dan ini menarik banget buat gw.

Soal MPD, gw harus ngomong soal Billy Milligan. Ada bukunya terbitan Qanita judulnya 24 Wajah Billy. Bukan fiksi lho. Ini orang punya 24 kepribadian yang beda-beda. Ada yang jenius, ada yang nyeni, ada yang religius, ada yang jago berantem, macem-macem deh.

Tapi yang bikin ini menarik (buat gw) sebenernya bukan banyaknya kepribadiannya. Emang, 24 itu banyak banget. Tapi yang lebih menarik lagi, si Billy ini berusaha menggabungkan, mengintegrasi semua kepribadiannya yang bikin kacau itu. Jadi, sebenernya, ada satu Billy, tapi kepribadiannya dipecah jadi 23, trus totalnya 24 deh. Kira-kira kayak Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, tapi jauh lebih banyak dan ribet. Dan kenapa kepribadiannya bisa sampe pecah? Karena dia mengalami trauma parah. Pokoknya banyak masalah.

Jadi, menurut Billy, dia kepribadiannya bisa pecah, kepisah-pisah gitu adalah bentuk perlindungan diri. Jadi, misalnya, waktu ketemu orang jahat, kepribadian yang kuat secara fisik yang ngontrol. Waktu perlu bikin rencana, kepribadian yang pinter ambil alih. Begitu. Ada kemiripan sama Voldemort yang bikin Horcrux sih menurut gw. Jadi intinya, dirinya dipecah biar kalo satu bagian diserang, yang lain gak ikut kena dampak buruknya.

Tapi, setelah gw pikir-pikir, kayaknya gw juga melakukan yang kayak gitu. Bukan sampe kepecah sih, tapi kalo menghadapi bonyok, misalnya, gw jadi sopan. Kalo lagi sama temen, gw bisa dibilang rusak secara moral. Apalagi kalo gw lagi sendirian. Hahaha. Tapi bener gak? Waktu kita berhadapan dengan situasi tertentu, ada sifat-sifat dan sikap-sikap kita yang kita pendam, dan ada yang kita keluarin. Menurut gw ini ada hubungannya sama MPD. Mungkin MPD itu kayak gitu, cuman dalam tingkat yang lebih parah.

Di dalem bukunya, konflik utamanya itu perjuangan Billy untuk menjadi terintegrasi kembali. Untuk menggabungkan kepribadian-kepribadian itu. Gw juga mau kayak gitu. Gw mau jadi orang yang gak berubah sifatnya biarpun berhadapan sama siapapun, bonyok kek, temen kek, presiden kek. Mungkin itu ya yang namanya integritas? Haha.

Tapiiiii.... Susah kayaknya.

"Only after you have lost everything, that you are free to do anything." -Tyler Durden-

Apa ini? Kok kaga seru?

2009-05-11T12:41:00.004+07:00

Hahahaha. Kenapa gw ketawa? Biasa, gw juga kaga tau alesannya.

Minggu lalu gw ama temen-temen baru ujian praktik. (Haha gw bahkan nulisnya praktik, bukan praktek.) Nah yang bikin anak-anak pada tegang tuh kayaknya praktik yang sains, tau kan, fisika-kimia-biologi. Entah kenapa.

Tapi abis ujiannya, gw sempet ngobrol sama temen. Lupa, persisnya gimana. Tapi intinya, kami diskusiin apa yang harusnya ditulis di bagian 'Tujuan Pengamatan'. Gw sambil ketawa-ketawa bilang "Harusnya ditulis : 'Supaya dapat nilai praktik biar bisa lulus SMA.'" Hahaha.

Tapi terus gw mikir. Iya, gw ama temen-temen bikin percobaan buat dapet nilai. Tapi gimana dengan orang-orang itu, yang percobaannya kita tiru? Buat apa mereka repot-repot nyiapin segala macem perlengkapan buat, misalnya, mengetahui apakah larutan X memiliki kandungan glukosa? Masa gara-gara disuruh bos?

Bos: Hey kau buat percobaan bla bla bla.
Ilmuwan: Buat apa Pak?
Bos: Buat anak-anak di masa depan biar ada bahan ngajar buat guru.

Engga kan? Trus kenapa mereka mau?

Gw rasa, mereka mau karena emang pengin tau. Jadi, ga ada yang nyuruh, mereka sendiri yang penasaran. Sekarang gw ngebayangin, kalo bikin eksperimen kayak gitu, buat memuaskan rasa ingin tahu sendiri, pasti jauh lebih asik rasanya dibanding kalo karena disuruh ato cuma buat ngikutin kurikulum kan?

Jadi, menurut gw, hakikat sains itu adalah BERSENANG-SENANG. Fun, maksudnya. Kita kan enggak harus melakukan penelitian kan? Tanpa tau bahwa nasi punya kandungan glukosa pun kita bisa bertahan idup dengan makan itu nasi kan? Jadi, sains itu sebenernya engga perlu. Lalu kok dilakukan? Ya itu tadi. Karena ASIK. Karena SERU.

Sayangnya, kayaknya gw ga pernah denger yang kayak gini di sekolahan. Entah gimana caranya, kurikulum Indonesia (yang gw tau) berhasil bikin sains jadi bahan hafalan yang ga seru. Maksudnya, gw dulu pas kecil ngebayangin kayaknya keren banget di dalem laboratorium pake jas putih, goggle, sama sarung tangan, ngaduk-ngaduk ramuan warna-warni yang bikin asep-asep keren kalo dicampur. Pas gw masuk SMA, pertama kalinya gw ketemu sama yang namanya kimia, bayangan gw tadi engga ada sama sekali. Gw jadi gak suka kimia. Pelajaran lain juga gitu. Fisika, misalnya, pas SMP gw ketemu guru fisika yang ngajarnya cuma nyuruh kita nyatet dan ngafalin rumus. Cih. Sekali lagi, kurikulum Indonesia berhasil bikin sains jadi engga seru.

Jangan salah. Gini-gini, gw masih suka sains. Gw masih menganggep nyampur-nyampur cairan warna-warni itu keren. Gw masih nganggep nyambung-nyambung kabel sampe lampunya bisa nyala itu seru. Gw gak sukanya pas gw tanya, "Pak ini kita belajar ini buat apa pak?" gurunya jawabnya ga memuaskan, kayak "Ya emang ada di kurikulum" ato "Biar kamu bisa lulus UAN lah" ato semacemnya.

Mungkin ini agak beda bahasannya, tapi menurut gw ini nyambung. Waktu itu gw pernah ngobrol sama temen di tempat les, sebut aja namanya Keira. Nama samaran kok.

Kerupuk: Kenapa ya di Indonesia fakultas MIPA terkesan gak populer? Kayak gak kepake gitu?
Keira: Karena emang yang diperlukan sekarang terapan.
Kerupuk: Oh iya ya negara berkembang.
Keira: Iya.

Hmmm. Memang. Sains itu sekarang buat apa? Buat ngejalanin mesin-mesin di pabrik dan di pembangkit listrik biar orang-orang bisa idup. Pendeknya, Indonesia masih belom bisa ngejamin rakyatnya. Kita semua masih memikirkan gimana bertahan hidup, jadi ga ada waktu buat rekreasi, buat belajar sesuatu yang asik. Jadi, sains hanya sebagai alat cari duit.

Tapi Indonesia masih muda kok. Gw punya harapan besar.

Atau mungkin gw cuma seorang optimis bego?

"No, mate. I'm free forever." (Captain Jack Sparrow)

2009-04-29T21:13:00.005+07:00

Hehehehe inget post gw yang judulnya "'Losing My Religion' by REM"? Yah pada akhirnya gw memutuskan untuk ikut sidi. Dalam beberapa minggu lagi gw udah akan resmi menjadi seorang Kristen. Seperti yang diinginkan orang tua gw dari waktu gw dibaptis. Haha!

Tapi pandangan gw masih sama kayak waktu itu sih. Orang bisa aja ngaku Kristen dan tetap korupsi. Ada juga kan ateis yang baik yang bener-bener mikirin sesama. Kadang gw malah mikirnya agama engga penting. Gimana dong? Hahaha gw jalanin aja lah dulu.

In other news, my Facebook account was disabled. The account was deactivated. In short, I'm off Facebook. Don't know why, don't know how. Tiba-tiba aja gitu. Padahal tadi siang masih biasa aja. Terus abis itu gw pengen pindah page. Terus tiba-tiba disuruh login. Gw pikir 'ah paling gara-gara disco (istilah guru gw yang sekarang gw pake untuk nyebut disconnect)' jadinya gw ketik password gw. Eh taunya ditulis "Your account has been disabled. If you have any questions or concerns, you can visit our FAQ here." dengan link ke FAQ mereka. Hahaha agak kaget juga tuh tadi siang. Tapi sebelom gw bikin account Facebook toh gw juga seneng-seneng aja kan? Haha! I can live without you, Facebook. Gw males bikin account lagi, add friend yang dulu lagi, dan terutama, mainin Pet Society sampe level 15 lagi. Lama tau. Jadi lo pada yang baca blog ini dan TAU account Facebook gw, jangan heran. Emang udah ilang itu account kok. Haha!

So? Back to the old, simple me. Kepemilikan itu mengikat. Ikatan itu membatasi. Batasan itu enggak seru. Yaaah itu menurut gw sih.

'All Out Of Love' by Air Supply

2009-04-13T21:24:00.004+07:00

Ha ha. Like my friends, I am at last writing about my dream.

I had the dream about a week ago.
It was about me shooting myself in the head.
I died. But that wasn't the end of the dream.
After I died, I met somebody I never met before.
But I felt like I knew him.

He said "Wow."
"You committed suicide. No way you're going to heaven."
"You have to go back to Earth. You're going to have to be reborn."
"But for a dead man to come back to life...."
"It's going to be painful."

After that I found myself standing in a corridor. Quite a wide one.
I walked through the corridor. I knew I had to.
At the end, I came to a door. I opened the door.

Then I woke up.

What does that mean? I don't know.

But two days later my grandpa died.

Coincidence? Fate? Does it even have a connection?
Who the heck knows?

What I know is my grandpa died.
Right before the results of the test came out.
Guess what? I got accepted. Phew.

This was really something for me.
You see, I was not very close with my grandpa.
I can only remember two moments with him.
One was when I was 7 years old.
He would pick me up from school every Friday.
Then we would go to the post office.
He would bought me a slice of pizza from a vendor at the door.
And I can't remember whether I ever thanked him or not.

The other was when I was a bit older.
Me and my cousins were playing a round of minigolf.
He was watching.
At a particular hole, I made mistakes. I got impatient.
It took me 7 strokes to get the ball in. I was kind of mad.
He was a bit cross too.
"Fool," he said. (Well maybe not that harsh, but that's what I remember.)

In short, I always kind of thought of myself as a disappointment to him.
I mean, really, I wasted my time at school.
At home, I never study. I am not a very decent person, too.
I stole things. I cheated. I blasphemed.
All these years, I always felt like I am unworthy of becoming the man's grandson.

But the night my grandpa died, my grandma suddenly said this.
"Yes, he was never disappointed in his children. He was proud of you all."
"His grandchildren too. No one was a disappointment."
Later she said to me what he said a few days before.
"He said, 'Yes, of course he will get accepted.'"
"He always knew it."
"He had no doubts about you."

Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
It seems that, in his eyes,
I am not such a wretch like I thought after all.
Suddenly a MASSIVE burden was lifted from my mind.
Suddenly I was able to think good of myself.
Suddenly I had a kind of a new purpose in my life.

Life... is MAGNIFICENT.

This is a work of fiction.

2009-04-05T14:24:00.002+07:00

Once, there was a house.

One person looked at the house. He doesn't want to enter. So he walked away.

Another person came to the house. He wanted to enter, but he saw the door was closed. So he sneaked to the back, climbed up to the second floor, then entered through the window.

Yet another person came. He, too, wanted to enter the house. So he came to the door and knocked. The master of the house opened the door for him and welcomed him in. Then he entered.

One last person came to the house. He saw the closed door. He came up to the door. He opened the door himself, and entered the house. The house was his all along.

'Losing My Religion' by REM

2009-03-25T23:13:00.004+07:00

Hehehe, ada temen gw yang merenungkan masalah agama juga. Soal Adam-Hawa dihukum Tuhan. Itu topiknya menarik lho.

Gw juga lagi ada masalah dikit sama agama. Jadi gini, gw dibesarkan dalam keluarga Kristen Protestan. Tapi, sekarang, gw berpikir agama itu engga penting. Kenapa? Ayo sini gw coba jelasin.

Menurut gw, tiap orang harusnya punya pemikiran sendiri-sendiri. Harusnya. Jadi, harusnya, tiap orang ada agama sendiri (Jumlah agama : Jumlah orang = 1 : 1). Ya enggak? Maksudnya, coba kita bayangin orang primitif, pas muncul agama/kepercayaan pertama. Mungkin lebih tepat kalo disebut 'saat pertama manusia mulai memikirkan sesuatu selain yang kasatmata.' Menurut gw, tiap orang bertanya-tanya sendiri. Dan masing-masing mikir jawabannya sendiri. Intinya, tiap orang punya pandangan mereka sendiri, ide-ide mereka sendiri, agama mereka sendiri.

Tapi terus kenapa agama di Bumi cuma sekian? Apalagi di Indonesia, dikit banget kan yang diakuin?

Menurut gw begini. Tiap orang punya agama sendiri, bener. Tapi dari semua pemikiran itu, biarpun semuanya unik, mereka bisa digolongin berdasarkan sesuatu, ada kemiripan di antara mereka. Jadilah kelompok orang beragama. Gw rasa itu engga jelek. Kan jadinya kayak semacem klub gitu kan, kayak Order 66, komunitas penggemar Star Wars di Jakarta. Tapi yang menurut gw jadi masalah adalah kalo kita engga mikir dulu, dan langsung ikut kelompok agama tertentu tanpa sebelomnya punya sudut pandang sendiri. Kalo udah gini, jadinya agama mengontrol manusia, dan muncul orang-orang fundamentalis. Ekstremis. Fanatis berlebihan.

Oke, agak kejauhan. Balik lagi. Jadi, masalah gw apa?

Dalam agama Kristen, ada yang namanya sidi. Itu intinya adalah pengakuan percaya terhadap iman Kristen. Kalo udah sidi, jadilah kita Kristen resmi. Mungkin kalo di Islam kayak ngucapin kalimat syahadat lah ya? Ya gitu lah. Lalu masalahnya?

GW BELOM MAU MENGAKU PERCAYA. GW GA MAU MASUK KE SATU AGAMA TERTENTU.

Kayak yang gw bilang di atas, gw nganggep agama itu engga penting. Yang penting adalah pemikiran, filosofi, ideologi gw sendiri untuk diterapkan dalam hidup gw sendiri. Ya, mungkin itu sih yang dimaksud dengan agama. Tapi maksud gw, gw ga mau ikut-ikutan orang, apalagi untuk hal yang krusial banget sama hidup gw. Mungkin gw bukan orang beragama, tapi gw bertuhan. Dan itu perlu dibedain.

Yaah, kalo cuma gitu mungkin engga ada masalah ya. Masalahnya adalah sama orangtua gw. Mereka (jelas) engga mau gw jadi orang non-Kristen. Dan gw gak bisa jelasin semua ini tanpa bikin mereka marah atau sedih. Soalnya ini emang bertentangan banget sama pemikiran mereka.

Wow udah malem. Ngantuk juga ya. Mungkin ini gw lanjutin lagi beberapa hari lagi. Iya, sori, masih ada lagi. Tapi engga banyak kok. Gw rasa ga akan sepanjang ini, tinggal dikit lagi yang mau dibahas. Dan emang fokus pembicaraannya agak beda, biarpun masih nyambung, jadi gw pisah aja. He he.

May The Force be with you.

A Joke I Like

2009-03-19T20:27:00.002+07:00

I read this joke some time ago and, as the title above says, I like it.

A : I love you so much.

B : By 'much', do you mean its length, height, depth, volume, quantity, variety, frequency, duration or intensity?

Make of it what you will.

Angin-anginan

2009-03-02T21:32:00.003+07:00

Hmmmm.

Gw lagi mikirin beberapa hal tentang udara.

1. Pernah ngamatin gak, kalo lo tiup tangan lo dengan lafal 'fuuuuuuh' (ngerti gak?) rasanya dingin, tapi kalo pake lafal 'haaaaaaaah' rasanya panas/anget? Harusnya kan temperatur udara di mulut pada kedua kasus tersebut sama kan?

2. Pasti pernah dong, ngerasa kepanasan di siang hari yang terik dalam suatu ruangan? Panasnya sampe udara juga panas, bukan cuma karena kena matahari. Orang kalo kepanasan pasti suka kipas-kipas kan? Tapi sebenernya ngipas itu sendiri apa? Intinya kan menggerakkan udara ke arah kita. Tapi kenapa rasanya dingin, padahal udaranya itu-itu aja kan? Malah, karena udaranya kita gerakin, bukannya kita nambahin energi? Harusnya tambah panas kan?

3. Kemaren gw, nyokap gw, ama adek gw makan di restorannya Ray A. Kroc. Kalo ga tau cari di Wikipedia sana. Nah abis makan gw cuci tangan (sebelom makan gw kaga cuci tangan, he he). Di sana ada pengering tangan yang kerjaannya ngeluarin udara panas. Tau kan, yang lo taro tangan lo di bawah mesinnya, terus entar kering sendiri. Nah itu cara ngeringinnya gimana? Apa cuma ditiup aja, terus airnya terbang? Ato airnya dipanasin sampe menguap? Tapi bukannya air menguap pada suhu seratus derajat Celsius*? Apa bener tuh tangan kita dipanasin sampe segitu? Tapi kalo ternyata cuma ditiup, kenapa anginnya harus panas (dan sebenernya, kenapa harus pake mesin segala)?

Ada yang bisa membantu? He he.

Nuts.

Links

2009-02-26T19:39:00.005+07:00

Tau gak, kalo lagi bosen, gw suka buka Wikipedia, terus mulai dari satu topik, terus klik berbagai macem link. Misalnya, tadi, gw mulai dari page tentang Rod Stewart. Sekarang gw lagi ngeliat tentang respirasi selular. Gimana tuh nyambungnya?

Rod Stewart. Chuck Berry. Back to the Future. Grandfather Paradox. The Chicken or the Egg. Creationism. Evolutionism. Palaeontology. Biology. Respiration.

Gitu lah kira-kira. Itu sangat sangat dipersingkat, sebenernya tadi juga ngeliat tentang evolusi, Isaac Asimov, bilangan nol, dll. Pembahasan tentang nol itu menarik banget lho, ada teorema-teorema tentang kenapa nol itu genap, kenapa nol itu bilangan real sekaligus imajiner, dsb. Serius. Kalo tertarik cek aja sana di Wikipedia.

Anyway, gw jadi inget waktu itu sempet diskusi sama temen. Udah lupa gimana diskusinya, tapi intinya temen itu bilang kalo cabang sains yang paling mendasar itu kimia, setelah ngeliat Siklus Krebs yang isinya (kayak post gw yang sebelomnya) cuma atom-atom yang muter-muter. Pendapat itu gw debat. Gw bilang yang paling mendasar itu fisika, soal gaya tarik, muatan, gaya magnet, dsb. Inti debatnya kayak gitu.

Mau penjelasan? Emang bener, kimia itu lebih mendasar daripada biologi. Tapi gimana dengan yang terjadi dalam atom itu sendiri? Energi yang mengikat proton, neutron, dan elektron? Pernah denger tentang quark, meson, neutrino gak? Mereka itu partikel-partikel yang lebih fundamental daripada proton-neutron-elektron. Itu bahasannya dalam fisika nuklir. FISIKA nuklir, man.

Tapi, gw rasa klasifikasi gini bisa menyesatkan. Bukannya salah, tapi pemahaman yang setengah-setengah tentang ini bisa menyesatkan. Kalo ada yang membagi-bagi sains ke dalem kategori-kategori yang definitif dan spesifik kayak gini, nanti bisa bingung. Misalnya, kayak yang tadi. Siklus Krebs. Mungkin nanti dia bisa bilang, "Kok ada elektron-elektron segala sih? Ini kan biologi, bukan kimia!"

Menurut gw ilmu itu kayak gini. Mulai dari fisika nuklir yang tadi, terus meluas ke interaksi antaratom (kimia), terus lebih rumit lagi, ke makhluk hidup (biologi). Itu gambaran besarnya menurut gw. Sisanya (astronomi, geologi, oseanografi, misalnya) cuma turunan dan aplikasi ilmu dasar tadi, ditambah logika dalam bentuk matematika.

Jadi, menurut gw, semua ilmu itu sebenernya berhubungan, dan sebenernya gak bisa dipisah-pisahin, kecuali masih dalam tingkat sederhana. Gw rasa sekarang udah gak dikit yang berpendapat kayak gini. Contohnya ya misalnya, ujian IPA terpadu* yang ada di SIMAK UI**. Yang penting itu gimana kita menggabungkan semuanya.

*Menurut gw, adanya soal-soal IPA terpadu itu pertanda bagus. Ada usaha, gitu, untuk bikin murid sadar kalo semua ilmu itu berhubungan dan akarnya sama. Sayangnya, menurut gw soal-soal IPA terpadu yang gw liat selama ini kayaknya kurang berkualitas. Hampir ga ada bedanya sama soal fisika-kimia-biologi yang biasa, selain bahwa fakta-fakta yang diketahui disembunyiin dalam wacana. Akhirnya IPA terpadu cuma bikin soal-soal fisika, kimia, dan biologi dari satu wacana. Gw ngerasanya malah bukan IPA terpadu, justru sebaliknya, mecah-mecahin satu fenomena ke dalam 3 bidang. Tapi mungkin kalo bener-bener IPA terpadu, yang ngetes pemahaman siswa tentang sains dan aplikasinya dalam hidup sehari-hari, soalnya harus dalam bentuk uraian ya. Dan kayaknya Indonesia belom siap untuk itu.

**Bagi yang ikutan, semoga berhasil, tapi jangan kebanyakan latihan soal, nanti lo pada cuma jadi kayak kalkulator aja, jago identifikasi soal, pake rumus, tapi engga ngerti hakikat sains itu sendiri.

Thoughts about Dust. Nothing to do with Counter-Strike.

2009-02-21T08:24:00.005+07:00

YAAAAAAA!

I'm back.

Sekarang mau membahas lagu "Dust in the Wind" oleh Kansas.

Ini lagu menurut gw keren banget. Gw rasa sebagian besar dari lo juga udah pernah denger.

"I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment's gone.
"All my dreams passed before my eyes, a curiosity.
"Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind."

"Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea.
"All we do crumble to the ground though we refuse to see.
"Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind."

"Now, don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky.
"It slips away, and all your money wouldn't another minute buy.
"Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind,
"Dust in the wind, everything is dust in the wind."

Mungkin lo ada yang gak suka. Gak sudi gitu, dibilang kalo semuanya itu cuma debu. Tapi gw rasa ini emang kenyataan, bahkan mungkin agak harafiah.

Salah gak kalo gw bilang manusia dibikin dari bahan yang sama dengan debu?
Banyak orang yang merasa tersinggung dibilang berkerabat sama monyet.
Tapi kalo kita lupain evolusi sejenak,
terus liat aspek kimiawinya,
bahan dasarnya kan sama-sama protein.

Kalo sama benda yang (setau kita) engga hidup gimana?
Sama meja, misalnya?
Semakin jauh gw amatin, gw jadi mikir
Bahwa semua ini kan dibikin dari proton, neutron sama elektron?
(Juga partikel-partikel yang bahkan lebih kecil dari mereka.)

Ya kan?
Berarti, kita ini cuma partikel-partikel materi yang kerjaannya cuma muter-muter, nabrak-nabrak, dan tuker tempat kan?
Terus apa artinya kita?
Apa bedanya kita sama debu?

Menurut gw (seperti di beberapa post sebelomnya),
Opini kita, pandangan kita yang membedakan satu hal dengan yang lainnya.
Contohnya, kalo manusia engga suka emas, dan lebih suka besi,
Harga besi pasti lebih mahal kan?

Kalo udah gitu, terus mau apa?
Yaah, kalo gw sih, setelah mikir kalo semua itu sama aja,
Gw rasa mending mengembangkan pendapat sendiri tentang mereka.
Misalnya, setelah ngeliat dunia kayak gini,
Gw mikir, tujuan gw hidup itu apa?
Jawaban gw,

"Untuk bersenang-senang dan bereksperimen dengan dunia
"Karena kalo cuma diikutin gitu aja,
"Dunia jadinya engga ada artinya buat gw."

Asyik kan?

'Patience' by Guns N Roses

2009-02-07T05:34:00.003+07:00

Hey.
I am confused.

I used to think I
have told you of my feelings.
Now I'm not so sure.

Maybe you won't read this at all.
And even if you do, you might not know that it is you I'm writing about.
But I'm gonna write this anyway.

Remember when I went to your house? With her?
(Hmm. Despite what I said above, I think you (and you) should have realized by now.)
I was very happy.
Although we did nearly nothing.
Just talked. Watched some TV.
Tried to watch that DVD. That abysmal-quality DVD, I suppose.
Ha ha.
But I had fun. Talking to you. Finding out where your house is.
Heh heh.
Really, I had fun.

Some weeks later we met again. At her birthday party.
(Right, you two should really realize it now.)
There I barely spoke with you.
Dunno.
But I remember when the talk began to be about relationships.
(Boyfriend, girlfriend. You know.)
I remember you said this.
"Wow, when am I going to have a boyfriend? Going to an all-girls school. Maybe in college."
When I heard that,
I looked at your face.
Was it real? Was that look you gave me real?
How I wish it was!
Did I have a chance? Was it just a desperate imagination?

I don't know about this.
We scarcely ever meet. Even on the net.
What keeps me thinking about you? What is this attachment I feel?
I don't understand this. I'm scared.

Maybe you think I'm not brave enough.
You're right. I'm not.
I'm not brave enough to ask you out.
I'm not brave enough to face a new kind of relationship.
I'm just a kid. That's it. I'm not grown up yet.
I've been telling myself
"Oh, we're both busy; what with the exams coming up and trying to get into college.
"Not now. Not yet."
Maybe it's right. Maybe not.
Maybe it's just my cowardice speaking.
Maybe after all this hassle about education, I will still find excuses.
But maybe not.
No matter. It'll work out either way.

For the time being,
I hope you can forgive me for this.

Just you wait, Love.

Bamboozlement.

2009-01-28T16:07:00.006+07:00

He he he.

Gw udah mikirin ini dari lama. Berapa bulan yang lalu gitu.
Tapi dulu gw belom punya blog.
Sekarang udah.

Cahaya (yang bisa kita liat) itu gelombang elektromagnetik dengan frekuensi dan panjang gelombang tertentu. Gw lupa tepatnya.
Sinar ultraviolet juga begitu. Frekuensi sama panjangnya aja yang beda, jadinya engga keliatan.
X-ray juga.
Sinar gamma juga.
Gelombang radio juga.
Gelombang mikro juga.

Waktu ini dijelasin di kelas, gw mengkhayal.
"Gimana ya kalo ada makhluk yang bisa ngeliat sinar ultraviolet ato gelombang radio? Manusia kan engga bisa. Tapi gimana kalo ada binatang (ato tumbuhan) yang bisa?"

Seru kan? Bayangin. Gimana rasanya ngeliat warna-warna yang belom pernah lo liat sebelomnya. Bukan sekedar ngeliat kombinasi baru dari warna-warna yang udah ada lho. Tapi ngeliat suatu warna yang sama sekali baru, sampe-sampe engga bisa dibayangin.

Dan, kayak biasa, begitu gw mengkhayal gini, melantur ke mana-mana.

Waktu itu perasaan gw kayak gini:

Lagu 'Bohemian Rhapsody' warnanya apa?
Warna merah rasanya kayak apa?
Tekstur rasa 'manis' kayak gimana?

Mungkin gw agak gila. Mungkin gw gila banget. Mungkin gw gila aja.

Tapi gw suka yang kayak gini!

Relativity, subjectivity.

2009-01-17T17:31:00.006+07:00

Yap. Terjadi lagi.

Gw nge-blank lagi. Kayak post ke-2 gw. Padahal udah lumayan lama kaga bikin entri. Tadi sih pengen, gitu, kayak ada niat 'ah nulis di blog ah,' tapi pas sekarangnya malah nge-blank.

Sial.

Oke, kalo gitu nulis soal relativitas aja ah.

Jadi ada koan (semacem teka-teki Zen) yang bunyinya:
"Kalo ada pohon tumbang di tengah hutan, dan engga ada orang yang denger, itu pohon tumbangnya berbunyi engga?"

Gw mau mencoba menjawab ini. Biarpun mungkin awalnya ini maksudnya adalah buat direnungkan secara pribadi, tapi gw mau berbagi hasil renungan gw soal ini. Ini nyerempet ke sains, jadi maaf kalo ada yang keberatan. Gak suka, komen aja.

Pertama kita liat hubungan bumi-matahari. Mana yang bergerak? Kalo nanya orang-orang sekolahan, biasanya sih pada bilang "Hahaha bego lo, ya bumi lah! Matahari kan diem aja!" Padahal sebenernya ya, kalopun bumi yang diem dan matahari yang bergerak, keliatannya sama aja. Gak akan ada bedanya. Yang bener adalah: matahari bergerak terhadap bumi; atau sebaliknya, bumi bergerak terhadap matahari. Ini prinsipnya si Einstein (kayaknya sih) yaitu semua gerak bersifat relatif. Kalo masih perlu penjelasan/contoh, nih; misalnya kita duduk samping temen di dalem mobil yang lagi jalan. Kita ngeliat temen kita diem, soalnya kita bergerak dengan kecepatan yang sama. Tapi orang di luar ngeliat temen kita itu (dan kitanya juga) bergerak kan?

Ini mau gw lanjutin sama prinsip Heisenberg ato siapa lah. Kayaknya sih Heisenberg. Tau ah. Pokoknya prinsipnya gini: kita engga bisa mengamati sesuatu tanpa memengaruhi sesuatu itu. Contoh: misalkan, misalkan kita mau liat sebuah atom. Perlu cahaya dong. Nah, cahaya itu kan energi, jadi kalo kita nyinarin itu atom supaya bisa kita liat, kita ngasih energi ke atom. Gerak deh. Terpengaruh kita kan? Ya kan? Jadinya posisi si atom berubah, kecepatannya berubah, dan kita jadi engga tau keadaan aslinya tanpa ada kita itu gimana.

Dari dua prinsip di atas, gw menyimpulkan bahwa segala sesuatu, termasuk sains, itu relatif dan subjektif. Tergantung pihak yang mengamati. Engga bisa 100% objektif. Tapi berlaku juga kebalikannya! Tanpa pengamat, tanpa subjek, tanpa objek lain sebagai patokan, segala sesuatu itu engga ada artinya, dan bisa dibilang engga ada.

Dengan itu, gw menjawab koan tadi. Kalo ada pohon tumbang di tengah hutan tanpa ada orang yang denger, engga bisa diketahui apakah pohon itu menimbulkan bunyi apa kaga. Dan engga penting. Bisa diabaikan. Anggep aja engga ada.

Setelah gw jawab gitu, terus gimana?

Gw hubungin sama manusia. Kita ngeliat orang lain secara subjektif. Kita ngukur tindakan orang lain berdasarkan diri kita. Misalnya gw. Ada yang beranggepan gw baik. Ada yang beranggepan gw kurang ajar. Sah-sah aja. Emang dunia cara kerjanya gitu kok. Yang penting buat gw adalah pemikiran gw, pendapat gw.

Dan pendapat gw tentang gw sendiri? Gw puas dengan diri gw yang sekarang.

PS: Ini pemikiran gw. Gw harap lo engga cuma ikut-ikutan. Maksudnya, gw sama sekali engga keberatan kalo lo berpendapat yang sama kayak gw, tapi gw akan kecewa kalo kesamaan itu lo dapet cuma karena lo baca ini, trus ngikut aja tanpa kontemplasi ato kritik. Ini pendapat subjektif gw. Gw harap lo juga punya pendapat subjektif lo sendiri, bukannya sekedar make pemikiran orang lain.

Oedipus Complex? Ha! Ha!

2009-01-08T19:38:00.003+07:00

Hmmmm.

Gw baru dari SMA Al-Izhar di Pondok Labu, ngecek tempat USM ITB bla bla itu lah. Dari sono gw pulang. Itu gw naik mobil, bareng bokap.

Kira-kira 15 menit setelah dari Al-Izhar, di radio ada orang ngomong "...wakil dari kelima agama di Indonesia mengadakan ibadah bersama...." ato apa lah semacem itu. Gw penasaran, terus nanya ke bokap. "Kenapa di Indonesia agama cuman 5?" Abis itu dijawab, katanya karena dulu wakil-wakil Indonesia pas bikin negara mengakuinya emang cuman 5 agama itu. Gw bales bilang, terus KENAPA cuman 5? Kalo ateis gimana?

Kata-kata bokap yang berikutnya bikin opini gw terhadap dia turun banget.

"Ateis ya engga dapet tempat di Indonesia. Engga sesuai dengan Pancasila."

Tuh. Gw debat dong, masa orang engga boleh bebas milih kepercayaan?
Abis itu dia bilang, "Bebas milih agama, tapi di antara 5 agama yang udah diakuin."
Gw bales, "Kalo gitu bukan bebas dong namanya!"
Dia bilang lagi, "Bebas, tapi engga sebebas-bebasnya."

Di situ gw stop. Kalo udah kayak gini, perdebatan sama bokap gw biasa berakhir dengan dia suaranya meninggi dan gw dimarahin. Dia orangnya emang gitu. Waktu itu pernah gw diskusiin pilihan jurusan kuliah gw entar. Gw pengennya kan masuk MIPA (fakultas sains yang menurut gw paling deket sama filsafat), tapi ditentang keras. "Kere kamu nanti," gitu katanya. Gw sih pengennya bilang "biarin lah" tapi gw rasa engga bakal diterima dengan baik. Akhirnya disuruh masuk Teknik Kimia. Hiiiii kimia. Sial.

Tapi, menurut gw, kalo bebas engga sepenuhnya, engga sebebas-bebasnya, bukan bebas namanya.

Finally, some peace. A teeny tiny itty bitty eensy weensy bit of peace.

2008-12-22T18:20:00.006+07:00

Huh akhirnya itu formulir gw kumpulin juga. Hehe. Tadi pagi gw ambil dari sekolah, gw bawa ke Depdiknas, minta stempel apa gitu, trus gw bawa ke Singapore Embassy. Selesai deh. Urusan beginian gw emang paling males. Tapi, cihui lah. All that nagging from my mom will finaly end.

About the scholarship itself, well, I don't really care about the results. Really. The thing I want most from that scholarship is for my essay to be read by people in the education department.

Wanna read the essay? The deadline's today anyway.

------
I have a certain experience that I want to write here. Once, after a particularly simple and interesting class, my chemistry teacher said, “Now isn’t chemistry fun and interesting?” I answered him, “Every lesson would be fun if only we don’t have to have exams about them.” That comment received laughter from nearly every student in the class. Even the teacher chuckled. But then he continued, “Well what’s the point of studying if you don’t get tested for it?”

That particular remark from the teacher got me thinking. What IS the point? After some thought, I came to a conclusion that all this time, we had it backwards. (By ‘we’ I mean ‘the people I know’) ‘We’ study materials to pass the test. That, I think, is not the real purpose of studying. What is? Well, to learn new things! To expand our knowledge! To make life more interesting! To open up new possibilities for the future! Not just to answer some questions some older people, those so-called ‘experts,’ put up together.

After all that, I continued thinking. Maybe that is why I am not too excited about studying in school. Or even end-of-term exams, for that matter. ‘We’ need some revolution. Now, at our school, nearly all ‘we’ do is rehearsing on previous question papers and trying to figure out ‘what will come up in the exam,’ instead of doing something new or inventive or exciting or fun. I think that is not what education is all about. I suppose that is why, when starting school, an elementary student feels excited. He thinks that he will learn new things, and have fun doing it. Well, by a few years he would start getting bored. He would start falling behind in his ‘studies.’ At least that was what happened to me. Yes, if you compare me to other students, you will find me one of the lazy sorts. A ‘slacker,’ if you will. Am I a stupid student? Maybe I am, maybe I am not. But I do not really care what people think of me.

Why am I writing all this? Partly because I myself am wondering “Why have I fallen behind at school?” I think I am writing this because I want to do better at school. I really do. Everyone does. I just wonder if there was any reason for my decreasing scores, any other reason than simply “You’re not studying hard enough!” And the answer I came to is another question. “Why the heck are you studying?”

I would really like to study the right way so that what I learn can really be useful to me, at least. This is what I have been searching for quite a long time. That does not mean I now have better grades. What I would really like to do is read books, interesting ones, about things that capture my interests. That way I can have fun studying. But I cannot do it right now. I still have some attachments. I still respect my parents, and I think they will not be too happy seeing me doing that.
------

Kalo diliat, isinya kira-kira kayak post gw yang sebelomnya. Bener kok. Cuma dijabarin aja kan? Hehe. Ini yang gw harap bakal dibaca serius sama orang-orang sana. Gw betul-betul berpikir kalo masalah 'kenapa kita belajar' itu serius banget, sampe-sampe gw bikin 2 post berturutan tentang hal ini.

HAHA! Tapi, yah, gw juga ga peduli banget sih! Kalo lo pada menanggapi dengan positif, makasih, kalo engga suka ya silakan!

Saying 'screw you guys, I'm going home' is not as easy as Cartman made it look. Especially to your parents.

2008-12-16T17:18:00.003+07:00

Saya benci mengisi formulir. Benci banget. Apalagi kalo isinya tentang sekolah.

Misalnya, gw ada satu formulir tentang Singapore Scholarship bla bla bla gitu. Deadline-nya kayaknya udah lewat. Gw belom ngisi. KAKAKAKAKAKAKA

Trus tadi di sekolah gw liat ada temen sekelas gw bawa formulir ITB gitu. Yah karena gw disuruh bonyok cari tau tentang universitas, ya gw liat aja. Dan gw kaget karena isinya buletan-buletan berisi karakter yang mengingatkan gw pada dua kata: Netis Media. Sompret. Ini udah formulir, harus ngitemin buletan lagi. Males banget dah gw.

Kalo liat di paragraf sebelomnya, ada tulisan tentang gw DISURUH bonyok nyari info untuk pendidikan gw selanjutnya. Betulan, gw kalo engga disuruh pasti males. Biasanya bonyok yang tau duluan soal begituan. Padahal anak sekelas udah pada sibuk ikutan bimbel lah, SIMAK UI lah, tryout segala macem lah, tes skolastik lah (BTW bagi lo-lo yang nilainya bagus selamet yak). Gw kalo dibandingin sama mereka kayak apa ya? Ganggang ijo kali ya?

Tapi gw rasa itu bukan sekedar karena gw males. Gw rasa ada alasan yang agak lebih mendalam dan menjiwa dari itu. Salah satunya, gw berpendapat kalo mungkin gw gak usah ngelanjutin pendidikan formal. Maksudnya, gw bisa kan beli buku tentang hal-hal yang pengen gw pelajarin, trus baca sendiri? Kalo engga ngerti kan tinggal tanya yang ngerti. Bedanya sama kalo kuliah apaan coba? Palingan juga cuman engga punya gelar S1. Tapi masalahnya sekarang kayaknya kebanyakan orang kuliah buat dapet gelar, bukan buat memperdalam pengetahuan. Sama kayak anak sekolah yang belajar biar bisa lulus ujian, bukan buat mengetahui sesuatu yang baru. Ini yang menurut gw engga bener. Ini yang bikin gw males belajar. Guru juga kebanyakan ngajarnya gitu, cara-cara buat lulus ujian. Sedikit guru yang gw tau yang ngajar untuk memperluas wawasan. Serius deh.

Itu pendapat gw. Yang jadi masalah itu pendapat bonyok gw. Bilangnya 'mau jadi apa lo nanti kalo engga punya gelar?!' (Beneran. Bokap gw sering manggil anaknya dengan 'lo.') Dan gw emang masih merasa terikat sama mereka. Bukan maksudnya bergantung lho. Gw sih ngerasa gw oke-oke aja kalo gw idup di hutan, nyari makan dengan berburu ato metikin buah. Yang keberatan bonyok gw. Mana mau mereka punya anak orang liar. Itu maksudnya keterikatan gw sama keluarga gw.

Mungkin asyik juga ya bisa hidup tanpa ikatan sama sekali. Kayak si Yesus sama si Siddartha.

Kerupuk is getting kinda lonely....

2008-12-13T16:29:00.002+07:00

Anjrit.

Gw denger lagu 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' di radio.

Setiap natal pasti ada lagu ini. Dan setiap gw denger lagu ini, terutama pas bagian "faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more," pasti, sekali lagi, PASTI keinget ama itu perempuan satu. Bukan cewe gw, gw kaga punya cewe. Tapi entah kenapa keinget aja. Yah mungkin perasaan gw terhadap dia rada-rada beda dibanding terhadap orang lain. Sial. Gw sebenernya ga mau punya keterikatan, tapi entah kenapa yang satu ini bikin agak seneng. Biarpun engga (paling engga belom) ada niat untuk mendekat, tapi kebayaaang aja terus itu cewek. Pernah waktu itu gw agak 'menyatakan perasaan.' Bukan nembak lho. Betulan, gw males banget nembak. But I can't keep her outta my head! Gwaaaah!

Yah tapi sekarang gw inget salah satu episode South Park yang judulnya 'Mr Hankey's Christmas Classics' (yah kira-kira sih, ga apal). Di episode itu ada salah seorang tokoh nyanyi 'Merry F**king Christmas' dan gw ketawa abis.

Paling engga sekarang gw ga se-emo tadi. Thank you South Park.

Dream On

2008-12-08T16:43:00.003+07:00

Sorry atas entry yang terakhir kalo aneh. Waktu itu udah malem, trus birnya....

Okay I'm back. Here to put a little of myself onto this page. Maybe I cannot explain myself very well, so please ask and debate me if you like.

Gw lebih suka baca/nonton fiksi daripada nonfiksi. Kalo dipikir sekilas aneh kan. "Ngapain fiksi, kaga nyata kok!" Kakek gw bilang gitu, katanya tiap nonton bioskop kita itu dibohongin. Tapi kalo diliat lebih lanjut, mungkin fiksi itu bisa diliat sebagai lebih nyata daripada nonfiksi.

Pernah nonton The Matrix? Itu film sci-fi, dan seperti banyak film sci-fi yang gw tonton, mengandung unsur filsafat yang engga sedikit. Di film itu ada pertanyaan, "Pernah gak lo bangun tidur dari mimpi, terus bingung mana yang mimpi mana yang beneran?" Setelah gw pikir-pikir lagi, kayaknya gw ga bisa mastiin apakah gw mimpi ato bangun. Ini adalah salah satu pemikirannya Rene Descartes (yang nemuin bidang Cartesius itu lho). Gimana caranya bisa yakin kalo apa yang kita alami itu beneran terjadi, kalo indera kita bisa dimanipulasi kayak waktu mimpi?

Ada sih yang bisa diyakini, yaitu bahwa gw itu ada, nyata. Buktinya? Gw lagi mikirin ini. Gw sadar kalo gw yang berpikir ini. Yang mengarah pada kesimpulan Descartes, yaitu 'Cogito, ergo sum.' Saya berpikir, maka saya ada.

Apa hubungannya sama argumen tentang fiksi-nonfiksi di atas? Gini. Kalo nonfiksi, kita liat dunia luar. Kita menerima rangsang dari luar. Tapi indera kita bisa ditipu kan (kayak pas mimpi)? Jadi belom tentu apa yang kita rasain itu 'ada.' Tapi kalo fiksi, kita yang ngebayangin, karena fiksi itu hasil dari pemikiran. (BTW, kalo nonton ato baca, sebaiknya jangan cuma dibiarin masuk gitu aja, harus dikritik, dihajar, diprotes sampe ga bisa diprotes lagi. itu caranya mastiin kita gak 'makan' sampah) Jadi, dengan membayangkan sesuatu, kita membuktikan keberadaan diri kita yang berpikir. Banyak karya (fiksi!) yang membahas mimpi dan kemungkinan bahwa mimpi itu lebih nyata daripada yang dianggap sebagian besar orang. Misalnya, BONE karya Jeff Smith. Lagi, The Great Divorce karya C.S. Lewis.

Maksudnya, kalo kita bermimpi, berimajinasi, kita bisa sangat masuk dalam imajinasi dan mimpi itu sampe kerasa nyata banget. Dan kalo udah gitu, orang lain gak bisa lagi mencegah kita mimpi dan bilang kalo itu engga nyata.

Intinya, tolong, bagi orang-orang yang membaca ini, hargai kami, orang-orang yang masih mau bermimpi. Kayak lagunya si Lennon itu lah.

"The Boy Who Cried 'Wolf'"- kerupuk's version

2008-12-03T21:13:00.004+07:00

Okay! Fiction time. This is a version of the old story about the boy who cried wolf. Read on. (My apologies to those who do not understand English)

Once upon a time, in a small village, there lived a young shepherd. He goes with his flock everyday to the pasture, letting the sheep graze. One day, while he was herding his flock, he got bored.
'What can I do for fun today?' he thought.
'Say, I think I'll play a trick to the other villagers.' With a chuckle, he set off to the village.

'Wolf! Wolf!'
'What? A wolf? Where?!'
'At the field! I mean, the pasture! Please help me! Save my sheep!'
'Don't worry, laddie, we'll help ya! Come on, folks! To the pasture!'

Thus, the villagers all rushed to the pasture. Along the way there were 'Don't worry, boy's and 'We'll save your sheep's and 'I'm sure the wolf won't attack's and such. After a while they arrived at the pasture.

'Alright, where's the bloody wolf?'
'Come out here wolf! We ain't scared of ya!'
'Yea, thou hast threatened this young fellow, thy punishment shall be severe!' (That, I think, was the reverend)

All this time the shepherd hid behind the crowd, suppressing his laugh. After a few moments, though, his laughter can no longer be subdued.

'Ha ha! Got you all! Got you nice and good, I did!'

The villagers looked to each other, then shrugged at each other, and laughed. They all thought it was a nice joke. One of the older men patted the boy's head, saying he had not had such a joke for a long time.

Some weeks later, the boy felt bored again. He decided to play the same trick again. The villagers, thinking that he won't play the same trick twice, believed in his words. They went to the pasture again.

'Alright, where is it?'
'Yeah, where?'

The boy broke into a laugh again, explained the situation again, expecting the villagers to laugh with him again. They didn't.

'Now, boy, that wasn't very smart, what you did.'
'Yeah, we don't like it, we don't.'
'You wasted our time. Once, we tolerated it. We will not do so anymore.'

Then the villagers departed, leaving the boy alone with his flock.

Well, the boy was not that stupid. He did not play any trick on the villagers anymore.
Unfortunately, there actually WERE wolves near the pasture. (Not werewolves; that was not a typo)
One of them decided to go near the pasture. He saw the shepherd and his flock of sheep: lunch. Without hesitation, he attacked.
The boy panicked. He ran to the village.

'WOLF! WOLF!'

This time, the villagers did not respond.

'Little brat, time waster.'
'We won't be fooled anymore, thank you!'

Now, the classic version goes like that. No one believes him, his sheep got eaten, done. I, however, improvised a little bit.

So, no one believed the shepherd-boy, even though he was telling the truth.
Except for one boy about his age. He went with the villagers both times before, believing the shepherd. Now he still believes the shepherd. So they both went to rescue the sheep.

When they got there, well, the wolf had finished his meal. Only about 3 skinny sheep remain.

The shepherd lost his flock. But he gained a friend.

Well, that's that. A bit cheesy maybe. But hey, that's me. This is my first attempt at 'fanfic,' so....
(Moral: Trust people.)

Some ramblings about religion.... hati-hati.

2008-11-30T21:35:00.004+07:00

Eyah bikin entry baru. Entah kenapa kaga kapok gitu ya, ngeliat yang sebelomnya yang kaga ada penting-pentingnya. Oh well, life goes on. Oh, dan yang kali ini agak eksplosif (mungkin) jadi hati-hati. You have been warned.

Pertanyaan: Ada engga kebebasan beragama di Indonesia?

Coba kita liat Sila Pertama. Bagi yang ga tau ato udah lupa, bunyinya "Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa" Ini maksudnya apa? Apa bagi rakyat Indonesia cuma ada satu Tuhan? Atau kita satu dalam kepercayaan bahwa Tuhan itu ada? Apa gimana? Berhubung yang kedengerannya lebih enak, lebih universal yang kedua, jadi okelah kita ambil yang kedua. Entar dilanjutin lagi soal ini.

Lagi. Kalo pas SD ditanya, "Ada berapa agama yang ada?" jawabnya kan lima kan ya? Islam, Kristen (Protestan), (Kristen) Katolik, Hindu, Buddha. Bener sih, ini agama-agama yang diakui di Indonesia. Pernah denger akhirnya Konfusianisme juga diakuin. Oke. Terus, agama-agama yang lain? Taoisme, Yudaisme (Agama Yahudi), Rastafarianisme gimana nasibnya? Apa engga boleh? Dilarang? Penganut agama selain yang diakui gimana nasibnya di sini? Salah satu contohnya ya itu ya kayaknya, yang perkara Ahmadiyah itu. Ngapain sih sampe kayak begitu? Negara menyatakan bahwa Ahmadiyah itu sesat? Apa haknya negara? Kalo saya mau percaya dan berdoa pada "Kuda Nil Oranye yang Menciptakan Dunia dari Upilnya," terus cara ibadahnya adalah ngupil abis-abisan tiap hari rebo, siapa coba yang berhak ngelarang?

Terakhir. Kalo diliat tadi, makna Sila Pertama yang dipegang itu yang kedua, bahwa Indonesia satu dalam kepercayaan bahwa ada suatu kekuatan/energi/entitas/makhluk yang superior dari manusia yang berkuasa atas dunia, yang mengatur kita. Kalo saya engga percaya? Berarti orang Indonesia engga boleh jadi ateis? Atau, orang ateis engga boleh jadi WNI? Masa gitu sih? Apa ini bukan diskriminasi namanya?

Yaah, sebenernya ini engga cuma di Indonesia. Di negara lain juga pasti ada, apalagi kalo di negara agama. Masalahnya, Indonesia bukan negara agama. Ya kan?

Opini seorang anak kecil yang engga tau apa-apa.

Just some random gibberish

2008-11-27T19:15:00.003+07:00

Yaha. Bikin posting baru. Sayangnya kekurangan ide. Padahal baru entry kedua. Ternyata ga gitu gampang ya bikin blog? Apalagi buat orang kurang kegiatan, kurang pergaulan kayak saya. Kakakakak. Iya lho! Kurang kegiatan lho! Sebenernya ada sih kegiatan, cuma ga dikerjain aja. Misalnya bikin PR. PR sejarah buat remed. Deadline besok. Mungkin harusnya gw kerjain sekarang yak? Ah tapi entar aja deh. Males.

Oke, mau tulis apa lagi gw? Gimana kalo bikin dialog pendek?

A: "Hei."
B: "Hei juga."
A: "..."
B: "...."
A: "8+8+8=24"
B: "22+2=24"
A: "(4!)+4-4=24"
B: "(3^3)-3=24"
A: "Ha?"
B: "Pangkat."
A: "Oh."

Wawawawawawaaaaaaaa blank. Nge-blank total. Kaga ada ide. Saya tidak berbakat jadi penulis blog. Huhuhuhu. Lain kali aja deh.

Oh dan selamat hari Thanksgiving buat lo pada orang-orang Amerika. Biarpun saya ga ada kenalan orang Amerika.

Tulisan pertama. Tidak usah berharap terlalu banyak....

2008-11-25T20:28:00.000+07:00

Yah kayak di judulnya ini entry pertama. Masih kaga tau dengan jelas mau nulis apaan. Tapi mungkin aja dengan ini cita-cita bikin aliran kepercayaan baru bisa tersalur sedikit.... Jadi inget! Kalo baca di sini, baca dengan pikiran terbuka dan kritis. Entar salah-salah pada murtad dari agama masing-masing. Kalo gitu, jangan salahkan saya! Oke, mohon bimbingannya!