Puty's Journal

Hello December. I’m introducing you to April. The month with wordless days and still felt good. The one without beautiful sad songs and I still felt like myself. Some ultra short distances trip without space rocket.

April was not easy, December. I’ve been thinking a lot (grammatically means that I’m still thinking at this very moment, well, yes, but less). Maybe because I’m always a thinker, and never a dancer. I’m stiff. And it’s got to be strong to touch my heart through its shell, quoting Copeland. Oh, talking about Copeland, I know they broke up and are going on a farewell tour, but I still listen to them. Copeland said a lot of definitions I left myself unsaid, like, “Eat, Sleep, Repeat” (my definition of holiday), or “Strange and Unprepared” (one of my favorite self-definitions). And they told, “when they come knocking on your heart’s door, choose the one who loves you more,”. It worked; unfortunately, I never found their further definition of ‘love’.

Well, back to you, December, I was scared. I was scared of misinterpretation. How I risked such thing I really appreciate, for something I hardly knew, and hardly believed. What if it was only fake cherry blossom aroma around us? What if it lasted less than 30 days? I repeated it for you: April was not easy. It is karma.

Then I’m still introducing you to April, December. Because it once ended, and had to begin again. I took the risk, and listened to Copeland. Once again, they defined it, where April is: On The Safest Ledge. I would try. We would go around the town, take a lot of pictures, and live ordinarily. Ordinary, but special.

It is karma.

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”
-John Lennon

If I had to choose the most memorable line from Raditya Dika, it would be, “Time doesn’t fly, it warps!” Simply because it’s so true. It’s already our last ten days in 2009. Another beautiful year, and I’d say, this is my second most favorite year (after 2007) of my whole life. A lot of things happened; a lot of missions were accomplished, and a million blessings were poured.

Most points in my ‘what-are-worth-to-be-dying-for’ list were checked.

Joining Himpunan Mahasiswa Teknik Geologi ‘GEA’ Institut Teknologi Bandung, checked. Joining Liga Film Mahasiswa Institut Teknologi Bandung, checked. GPA > 3.5 of 4, checked. Blogging back, checked. Being a freelancer and earning some coins for my saving checked. Letting my hair grows long, checked. Learning photography (plus owning a DSLR, and 3 Lomos that I love love love them very much), checked.

The rests were left unchecked.

Like losing weights (duh!), and reading 50 books (but I bought stacks of books this year :D), and learning French, and learning to drive, and doing more cooking, and some other else.

And rain is never a plan.

The earthquakes. My father got light stroke. My grandmother, and Yogie, my classmate passed away. I had conflicts with my relatives. I did heartbreaking and got heartbroken (duh, yes). I broke many promises just because I was too busy, or too tired being busy. I also failed on flying.

—

Twelve months after every New Year, my monthly planner agenda becomes such a kaleidoscope. A mirror tunnel with small pieces of memories in various colors. Happiness, friends, assignments, exams, trips, responsibilities, promises, downfalls, tears, love, meetings, deadlines, celebrations, and anything else. Making patterns then leaving lessons about life.

Now it’s already the time to make new year resolutions, and ‘what-are-worth-to-be-dying-for’ list. Time to build another mirror tunnel and be ready to create new future memories. Time to learn more about life.
—

One of my life-lesson about this year:
We, people, love to plan. But we can’t plan to love.

—

I know that I’m truly blessed. I can’t thank God much enough. I would have to spend every single minute to praise Him, and it would still be not enough. Luckily we don’t literally have to (I mean, praising Him every single minute).

But here, I’d like to say:

Alhamdulillaahi rabbil-‘aalamiin.
All Praises to God, Lord/Cherisher/Sustainer of the Universe.

Despite of the movie itself, imho, the New Moon original soundtrack is g-r-e-a-t! With Death Cab for Cutie, and even Thom Yorke. And OK Go. ♥. I rate it ‘whoaaa!!‘. ;D

I stumbled back upon OK Go, and I remembered that once in 2005, I read a damn great article in Elle Girl by Damian Kulash, the OK Go frontman. I lost the copy, but I could find it in OK Go official website. I, who left a lot of lines unpublished as drafts (well, everyone experiences it, uninspired time, you know :P), decided to republish this charming article as the first post this month :)

Here it goes:

—

06/05 Why You Shouldn’t Date A Musician

Ladies, there are a million well-known reasons why you shouldn’t date a musician. We’re self-obsessed, we’re flaky, we’re hot-tempered, we’re unreliable, and we’re always broke, so you’ll have to pay for everything. We’re imperious, impenetrable, and impractical, and, let’s face it ? we ain’t usually the cleanest of folk. Nonetheless, you keep falling for us. The only reason I can surmise is this: our faults are of exactly the type that get mistaken for virtues in the confusing tumult of love. Our brand of crazy is precisely the kind that can appear sexy under the weird lights of romance.

Let’s say you meet a cute guy, for instance. He’s a little cocky, but you say you like some confidence in a man. He’s a bit scatterbrained, but you think of it as creative. He’s manic, but you call it passion. Perhaps he could shampoo a little more often; you say you like’em on the wild side. These charitable evaluations are the currency of love ? they’re how you’re supposed to feel when you’re falling for someone ? but ladies, I’m warning you: you’ve got to stay away from the musicians.

The real reason we’re unlovable has nothing to do with our big mouths or big egos. In fact, it’s not a matter of emotional compatibility at all; it’s a simple matter of practicality. We want precisely what you do not. You want a companion; we want to take our guitars and disappear into the gaping maw of the country. You want someone to eat meals with, someone to tell jokes to, someone to kiss. We want to be in a van somewhere between Minneapolis and Seattle, hopped up on Red Bull at four in the morning and speeding like hell to make it to the club by tomorrow afternoon. We run on endless newness, endless mania, and endless travel.

But wait, you say. The particular musician you are currently butterfly-stomached about doesn’t go on tour; he’s in high school, and his band has never played anything but house parties. He likes languid Sunday afternoons together even more than you do, and he’s the one who’s always perched and waiting at your locker. Rock n’ roll is just something he does for fun. Ladies, don’t be fooled! A shark in a cage is still a shark! The young Jeckyl of your fancy may not know the Hyde inside him, but it’s there nonetheless.

The longer you spend with a musician, the more you will come to know the anxious discontentment at his core. If you are lucky, he will have great success, be swept off into the tempest of the music industry, and he will never bother you again. In most cases, though, you will find your heart tied to someone who is terminally unsatisfied ? someone who cannot ever get what he wants from the world. He will toil endlessly and fruitlessly at song after song, idea after idea, show after show. The only thing that could possibly fulfill him is the same success that would ruin your relationship. And even then, he would want more. Like I said, he wants exactly what you do not.

On top of it all, you’re going to have lie to him, and maybe even to yourself. You’ll have to tell him his band is good. You and I both know it’s not true. Do you really want a boyfriend you have to lie to?

Listen, I know that creative people are sexy, and I know it’s easy to fall for people with talent. But ladies, there are plenty of talented writers and engineers and architects out there. I’m telling you, for your own good: stay away from the musicians.

***

—

Well. You know what. I don’t mind dating Damian Kulash. I adore his music and writings.

All of the astronauts
Champagne in plastic cups
Waiting for the big hero to show
Outside the door he stands
His head in his hands
And his heart in his throat

-Shooting The Moon

—

Or maybe not. I’m dating ordinary guy this time. :P