Review: Nineteen

*Efek Ice Blended Coffee Black Forrest-nya Coffee Bean. Maaf Meracau...

19 tahun bener-bener jadi masa transisi dari dewasa awal ke dewasa tahap selanjutnya. Selama setahun ini bisa dibilang gw bener-bener menjalankan target dan timeline dengan sebaik yang gw bisa. Pertanyaan "who I really am" pun sudah terjawab (maaf gbs di-publish frontal).

Biggest steps dimulai dari semester tiga. Bisa ambil 24 sks padahal IPK gw ga di atas 3,5 bener-bener aneh bin ajaib. Antara seneng bisa ambil matakuliah ke atas (walaupun cuma 1) dan sedih liat IP semester dua yang turunnya "banyak banget" gara-gara kondisi kesehatan gw yang memburuk saat itu. Alhamdulillah, IP semester 3 ini melebihi target. Rasanya seneng banget liat papa seneng dengar anaknya ga sia-sia jauh dari rumah buat belajar.

Semester 4 sedikit hectic. 21 sks tapi kuliah tiap hari. Matakuliah dengan nilai berlumur dosa pun terpaksa diulang. Rasanya malu banget ditatap anak 2010 dengan tatapan 'senior bego alert'. tapi justru tatapan mereka itu yang buat gw makin semangat buat dapet nilai surga. I did it. IP semester 2 pun langsung melonjak drastis, IPK? back to its track.

Entah apa rencana Allah, beberapa bulan ini Allah memberikan gw ujian nikmat yang bertubi-tubi: IPK yang bagus, dapet beasiswa PPA buat tahun 2010/2011, keterima jadi delegate buat Indonesia Model United Nation di UI Depok (dan lebih seneng lagi, konfrensi bakal diadakan di Perpus Pusat UI yang baru *katanya perpus ini terbesar di Asia Tenggara. hmm, jadi penasaran kayak apa), dan beberapa hari yang lalu, gw dapet beasiswa dari Dataprint sebesar satu juta rupiah. Nice shot, really the best ones.

Sekarang, semester 5 diambang pintu. 24 sks, 12 matakuliah, 4 ngambil ke atas, inc 1makul syarat pengajuan judul skripsi. Ya, gw udah mateng ngambil pengutamaan terjemahan. Bukan karena mudah (gw tampol bolak-balik kalo ada yang bilang translate itu gampang), tapi gw bener-bener bego linguistik, suka baca tapi ga pengen lulus lama-lama, tapi tetep pengen bisa menggunakan ilmu pengetahuan buat menambak ensiklopedi di otak. yah, translation adalah pilihan yang tepat.

Gw bener-bener ga ngerti apa rencana Allah, namun gw sangat bersyukur Allah membimbing pikiran gw dengan sangat sabar. Allah ga terus memberi kegelapan. entah apa yang akan terjadi tahun depan. Gw akan tetep berusaha dan berserah. Welcome to the club-20 *sigh!

Mun Mun MUn :D

Can't wait for the conference :D yippie :D

My 1st Short Story in English

Don't compare me with Dickens or Austens, please... It's just a shit for my creative writing class. Hah, I deserve the B, thou...

Name   : Dita Ayu Astari D

NPM   : 180410090009

Class    : A

Red Spotlight

“I said, we’re done!”

she slapped the door.

 What a beautiful Morning. Maya has just broken up with me and dumped me immediately from our apartment, actually my apartment, yes my apartment. How many times I said it was my apartment?  Yes, my apartment after she stole the certificate from my desk. Now, I have nothing but my bag. Suddenly, I saw the spotlight turns to red.

Someone slapped my hand

“My bag, my bag…! Hey! Somebody stole my bag..!”

 I ran to that man but he disappeared to the crowd. Damn! Why was he running so fast? That bag is my whole life. My project! My presentation for the Chinese people! It must be this morning. This morning? Project? Presentation? It was a walk in the park. Relax, Carl. Relax.

I looked at my watch, it was still 06.00 A.M. I saw a homeless man selling some diagrams. I came closer and saw those are diagrams of my office rival.

“How much does it cost?”

“a Million dollar”

“What? Only for diagrams?”

“I know it’s worth it. No bargain price please”

“I don’t have a million, for sure. What if I give you a dollar everyday in a million days?”

“Sounds good, I’ll take the dollar.”

I took all the diagrams and ran to the subway. The train has just come. I entered and sat. I saw many couples there; they were kissing and hugging so intimate. I already missed Maya.

“Wait, Maya?”

I ran to Maya, I just didn’t believe in what I have seen. How dare she was.

“Who’s that guy? I said, who’s that guy?!” I yelled.

“He’s my boyfriend. You see? Now get lost!”

“Oh, well. I’m happy for you”

She starred at me, seems very surprised.

Deep down, I didn’t mad. She could do that to me. Wait, mad? I was? Mad? Suddenly I saw the spotlight turns red. Red?

I slapped that man with my diagrams

I saw something red come from his head. The door opened and,

“Help!”, cried Maya, ”Go get that man, He’s a murderer…!”

I ran as fast as I could. I still can capture what we have done together in the past. We laughed, lay down together, kissed, and even made love together. I never cheated on her, made fun of her, ditched her. She ditched me for someone else! Ting! Suddenly, I saw the spotlight turns red.

“Where have you been? That freaking Chinese is waiting for the presentation?”

I handed my diagrams to Richard then had a seat.

“Hey, what diagram is it?

I smiled.

 “Do the presentation. I can’t.”

“Hey Carl. My office, now.”

I walked into my boss’ office, he locked me to the small place and I knew it means,

“You’re fired. You’re fired, you’re fired, and you’re fired. Don’t ask me why, just get

lost.”

I went out from my office, took a walk, and smiled realized I lost many things.

Maya, my apartment, my bag, a dollar every day, my job. Those things were spinning around my head. I looked at to the sky. Sky? I only saw an Empire State Building. Whoa, what a beautiful building.

Then suddenly the spotlight turned red. I heard a honk then everything looked very holy.

***

            There were traffics everywhere. The death body was not evacuated yet. The police, firemen, either the medic cannot move the death body out from the truck. He was stuck. I hold Maya, she was crying and yelling. She seemed regret what she had done to him. You know, somehow I hate him because of what he had done to Maya and made my head hurt, but now I realized that She love him very much although he was a jerk. I already lost, buddy. I saw the red spotlight left the place, noisily. Just like drunken Carl.

Words Count: 638

Another Writing Assignment

Actually, this is my writing for the essay writing class. I got 90 for this writing plus an A to change my D in my academic transcript. D

Dealing with Homesickness while at College

Being far away from your parents and friends are sometimes very hard, especially if you continue your study in other town or country. Mostly, during their freshmen year, many college students suffer from this common disease: “homesick”. Feelings of loneliness and sadness are the common things in “homesick” disease. Then, they find hard to deal with the homesick situation because they never been in this kind of situation before (qtd. ehow.com: 2009).  In my point of view, it is not difficult to deal with homesickness if you follow these three steps: take your parents’ and friends’ photo into your room, keep in busy with your study, and make new friends in your college.

First, take your parents’ and friends’ photos into your room. Sometimes, it looks very silly to take or just hang their photographs in your room. Perhaps, some of your friends will mock and laugh at you. Do not bother them. In my point of view, those opinions are definitely wrong. Take their photographs in your room will help you to pretend that they are not far away from you when you miss them. Looking at pictures of your loved ones will remind you of that person and the good times you have had with them (qtd. ehow.com: 2009). I believe that it will help you to cure your homesickness and make you feel better and put you in a good mood. Good mood equals productivity, am I right?

Second, keep in busy with your study. Finding activities such as working out, hanging out with friends, studying, and enjoying the outdoors will help keep your mind off of missing your family and friends back at home (qtd. ehow.com: 2009). Immerse yourself in your studies. Participate in additional activities outside of class. Look into a part-time internship or job while you study abroad (qtd. ehow.com: 2008). In my point of view, keeping busy with your study or your other activity will help you to stay focus on what you are going to achieve during your study, and being homesick will destroy it all. In fact, many college students resign from their campus because they cannot live far away from their parents and friends. I bet you will never do that, wont you?

Last, Make new friends in your new class, college, dorms, and another place around your environment. You will meet a lot of new people in your new atmosphere that will be very compatible with you. Hang out with them so you can get the feeling of enjoyment and love. Surround yourself with people that will make you feel good about yourself and put a smile on your face (qtd. ehow.com: 2009). I believe, those new friends will never replace your family and old friends, but at least, their existence will prevent you from sadness and loneliness during your study. Besides that, having lots of friends will help you to stay socialized and boost your confident in your new environment, because I believe those factors will also prevent you from homesick disease.

 Thus, from those explanations above, we can conclude that dealing with homesickness in college is a walk in the park if you take your parents’ or friends’ photo into your room, keep busy with your study, and make new friends in your college. College is a huge learning experience (qtd ehow.com: 2009). That is why you have to enjoy it while it lasts. This is your first time being on your own so learn new things, get involved in campus activities such as BEM (College Student Executive Organization) and other student organization. Do not let your homesickness prevent you to develop yourself even it just a little.

Source:

·         eHow Contributor, “How to Deal With Homesickness During Study Abroad”, 2008, full article can be read on http://www.ehow.com/how_2058286_deal-homesickness-during-study-abroad.html#ixzz1NvQOQR9s (access time: Tuesday, May 31th, 2011; 4:44 P.M)

·         Ezachary, “How to Deal with Being Homesick While at College”, 2009, full article can be read on http://www.ehow.com/how_4970453_deal-being-homesick-college.html#ixzz1NvRRveDp (access time: Tuesday, May 31th, 2011; 5:44 P.M)

Katharine McPhee - Better Off Alone

Lyrics | Katharine McPhee lyrics - Better Off Alone lyrics

:D Selalu suka dengan runner-up American Idol... Ini cewe termasuk yang macan lagu-lagunya... :D

The Script - The Man Who Can't Be Moved

Lyrics | The Script lyrics - The Man Who Can't Be Moved lyrics

Too touching and also makes me afraid there is someone out there waiting for me while I've successfully moved on with somebody else...

Don't listen to this if you just broke up with your girl, it kills you... surely...

Random Lama Ga Nulis

Ibarat jasad tanpa jiwa, yah inilah yang saya rasakan karena tidak bisa menulis di blog dalam jangka waktu yang sangat lama. Antara kangen, kepala ngepul karena pikiran udah kebanyakan download tapi datanya belum difolderin, dan macam-macam pikiran yang kadang-kadang membuat saya gusar dan ingin menuliskan sesuatu di new post.

Elegi

Ada kamu ketuk relung hati
Tatap lembut hangat penuh arti
Saat aku tak sedang sendiri
Pintu hati tak terbuka lagi

Lihat awan putih gerak arak
Angin sepoi lambaikan aroma
Tidak sanggup wajah hadir nampak
Pintu terbuka lebar menganga


Maaf, aku tutup perlahan......

Unpadmu, Unpadku, Unpad Kita: Bersinar di Tengah Keterbatasan

          Masih lekat teringat di benak saya saat pertama kali saya menginjakkan kaki di kampus tercinta ini. Saat itu, saya masih sangat senang dan bangga bisa diterima sebagai mahasiswa Unpad, terlebih saya diterima lewat jalur murah meriah, SNMPTN. Namun, saat saya dan ayah saya melihat keadaan kampus yang sangat kotor; sampah berserakan di mana-mana, tidak ada kotak sampah di sepanjang jalan kampus, toilet yang tidak terurus, dan gedung yang sangat suram karena belum dicat ulang, saya dan beliau heran dan bertanya-tanya; “apa yang sudah dilakukan seluruh civitas academia kampus ini melihat pemandangan suram di kampus mereka sendiri?”.

Mengingat Bencana Lapindo (Sebuah Catatan 5 Tahun Tragedi Lumpur Lapindo)

This writing actually is my creative writing assignment, but I choose to write this topic because of honoring the victims of Lapindo hotmud eruptions who lost many things from this disaster 5 years ago...

The Sidoarjo Disaster: When a Corporation Shows Its Greediness

It has been almost five years after the hotmud eruption occurred to the land on Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java. March 31^st, 2006; the day of this country’s unsolved disaster firstly happened. After five years, we all can see the impacts of this disaster become worsen everyday; the victims are increase, the land is subsiding, the underground water tables and the water surface are contaminating, the Porong estuaries creates the sedimentation, the food’s vegetation and livestock are decrease, and the numbers of damage public infrastructures are increase, such as the toll road, people residential, government, educational, religious, and economic buildings (The Auditing of The Audit Board of Republic Indonesia : 2007). In contrary, although the impacts become worse, the main actor; Lapindo Brantas Inc. (LBI) and Government seem do not care about this case anymore. This proves that this case is the country’s failure to control the corporate greed.

When Love Asks You to Share Your Feelings

Ngeliat postingan terbaru Si Kholid tentang "love", membuat gw kembali membuka lembar asmara gw yang emang ga gw buka setelah gw jadian dengan pacar gw yang sekarang. Dan kalo gw inget-inget lagi, betapa berbeda rasanya punya status dengan ga punya status. 7 tahun yang lalu, gw masih menganggap pacaran itu haram, karena aktifitasnya yang mendekati zina. Prinsip ga pacaran tertanam kokoh di otak dan keyakinan gw. Tapi yang namanya manusia normal, yes, I fall in too... Saat cinta memanggil lo dengan segala keindahannya, dengan segala harapan semu yang belum pasti lo dapet, dengan segala kristal yang jatuh dari kedua bola mata yang indah, dengan segala rasa sesak yang menusuk; apa yang akan lo lakukan? Di otak gw dulu, yang namanya pacaran ga jauh-jauh dari berduaan, pegangan tangan, segala aktivitas yang cuma berduaan aja (khalwat istilahnya). Tapi sepanjang pengamatan gw, kenapa orang-orang yang bilang pacaran itu haram justru sangat brengsek saat suka sama seorang cewek? (well, gw lebih mengistilahkan ini dengan kata "tameng"). Ga pacaran, tapi perhatian banget. Mulai dari boncengin ke mana-mana, sms lagunya KANGEN BEN "kamu di mana, dengan siapa? semalam berbuat apa? lalalala...", ngelarang lo ini itu *udah ngalahin bokap lah lagaknya, dan ngerasa kayak lo milik dia lah. Dari sini, gw mulai mempertanyakan apa yang mereka maksud dengan pacaran itu?

Tapi, semakin bertambahnya umur gw, semakin gw belajar untuk mengerti keadaan ini, gw mengambil kesimpulan bahwa pacaran itu bukan yang seperti itu, pacaran ga membuat lo merasa memiliki dengan posesif. Pacaran itu justru membuat lo belajar untuk mengerti pasangan lo, melindungi orang yang lo sayang, menjadi teman yang paling setia saat semua orang tidak ada di pihak lo, belajar untuk menjaga diri lo dari zina, dan masih banyak hal positif yang bisa gw dapet dari hubungan ini. Gw sama dia bahkan ga ada rasa posesif sama sekali, gw masih sering kongekin dia sampe mukanya merah kayak kepiting rebus sangking malunya pas gebetan dia dulu lewat, dia juga sering banget kongekin gw kalo gw ada interaksi dengan cowok yang gw taksir dulu, ga ada sama sekali marah-marahan yang ga jelas  karena emang gw sama dia menganut "komunikasi itu sangat penting dan segalanya dalam hubungan". Dan kalo lo tanya, gw banyak sedih-sedihannya apa senengnya selama pacaran, well, hampir setahun gw sama dia, ribut itu masih bisa dihitung satu tangan. Tapi gw sama dia tidak sama sekali meng-saklekkan hubungan ini. Gw sama dia tetap berserah soal jodoh, karena ga ada garansinya sama sekali. gw sama dia cuma bisa ikhtiar menjaga hubungan ini baik. Dan gw seneng banget, hubungan yang gw jalani malah buat gw makin semangat untuk kuliah dan dapet nilai sebaik-baiknya, mengembangkan interest gw dalam menulis, serta meraih mimpi-mimpi gw yang jalannya sedang gw retas dari sekarang. And so does he...

Pacaran itu tergantung dari perspective mana lo ngeliatnya, dari segi nafsukan? dari segi kepossesivan kah? dari segi haram halalnya, atau dari segi pengembangan diri dan spiritual?

Dari proses hidup yang satu ini gw dapet beberapa pelajaran kehidupan yang ga akan gw dapet lagi:
Sudah tau cinta itu indah, kenapa kamu memperlakukannya seperti kentut?

5 Alasan Mengapa Saya Tidak Perlu Membeli Blackberry

Fenomena BB bener-bener merasuki hampir semua teman-teman gw di kampus. Yang tadinya cuma orang-orang yang B3 yang punya, sekarang hampir semua udah ganti ke BB, dan gw bukan salah satu anak yang terbawa arus "mengganti HP candybar dengan BB". Ga sedikit yang manas-manasin gw untuk ganti BB juga, maksudnya biar bisa BBM-an kalo ada jarkom dosen ga masuk lah, tugas, dll. Tapi gw ngerasa HP yang gw punya sekarang emang belum saatnya diganti walaupun OS nya udah parah kena virus T.T. Berikut 5 alasan kenapa gw ga pake BB:

1. Adanya Biaya Bulanan
Sebagai anak kost yang memang harus hidup hemat demi "hedon yang lain" (baca: beli buku kamus oxford idioms, phrasal phrase, kamus mizan edisi translator, KBBI, Buku tutorial bahasa asing tapi yang buku impor, Lensa Teletamron for alpha 88-300mm, Hunting foto ke Lombok, Bunaken, Wakatobi, Teluk Kiluan, dll), biaya bulanan BB yang rata-rata 50-100 ribu per bulan buat gw mikir dua kali buat beli BB. Karena berarti anggaran gw akan naik untuk biaya pulsa (baca: pulsa modem, pulsa nelpon dan sms). Akan lebih bijak kalo uang itu gw masukin celengan semar gw :p

2. Sisi Historis HP W660i gw
Sebenernya HP ini baru 2,5 tahun gw pake, dan untuk ganti hp ini, gw dapet uangnya dari hasil lomba KIR gw dulu di Jakarta. Karena sekarang keadaan gw beda banget, hp ini yang sering ngingetin gw akan masa-masa emas gw dulu. Sekarang manabisa gw dapet duit dari penelitian teknologi?

3. BB yang gampang kena Virus
GW sering banget liat temen gw ribut gara-gara BBnya error, dan sebagian besar mengambil opsi "install ulang" sebagai shortcut. Well. kayaknya gw bakal ngeluh abis-abisan kalo nasibnya begitu, karena apa? karena gw harus menyiapkan "anggaran tak terduga" buat install ulang. (hp yang ini aja gw mikir-mikir dan ga selesai-selesai mikirnya cuma  buat install ulang)

4. LEMBIRU (Lempar, beli baru)
Banyak kejadian BB yang "udah ga ada lagi garansinya"  bermasalah, mulai dari trackball-nya, keypad-nya, dan apa lagi ya? well, cuma itu yang gw tau sih ::hammer, dan untuk ganti trackball atau service keypad-nya aja biasanya laham banget... *bener-bener ya, ga sanggup gw kayaknya -___-". Akhirnya, mending beli yang baru kan? bebas masalah :D

5. Antara Gaul dan Alay?
Ini sih, murni BUKAN OPINI GW, tapi beberapa cowok-cowok yang emang ga mau pake BB. Kebanyakan orang kan akan bilang kalo punya BB itu gaul (dan kadang ga ketanjak :p), tapi ternyata ada juga yang bilang kalo punya BB itu so Alay karena semua orang pake, pasaran, atau apalah... yah, gw rasa untuk menghindari gunjingan seperti itu, lebih baik ga punya BB aja deh :)

Itu dia 5 alasan gw kenapa gw ga ganti BB, walaupun bokap gw mampu beliin gw (bahkan bokap gw larang pake BB -__-", karena pasti useless.beliau pasti cuma pake buat tlp sama sms doang). Tapi kalo iPhone sih, gw ga nolakkk... haha ::hammer...

*Tulisan ini bukan tulisan provokasi untuk pengguna BB... mohon dibaca pelan-pelan... :)