Vulcan, on Earth

A typical Vulcan's scenery

The biggest surprise for me, while watching J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, was not the sight of Winona Ryder as an old and wrinkles woman, but when looking at a glance of the Vulcan scenery (right before we could see Amanda Grayson and her beloved son, Spock, in a hallway).

The infamous Ryugyong Hotel

Boy, it sure reminded me of one of a few photographs of Ryugyong Hotel, and Pyongyang in a typical hot and dry summer days.

A typical summer in Pyongyang, viewed from Juche Tower.
Photograph courtesy of Adrian Tute.

Kok Bisa Yaaa ... ?

Kebetulan saja lagi tinggi hasrat bergosipnya hari ini.

Kebetulan kemarin abis bangun pagi instead of mandi, aku leyeh-leyeh dulu di kasur sambil nonton TV. No particular channel or program sih yang dilihat. Just flipping through channels.

Nah, kebetulan saja pas di salah satu kanal, sedang ada gossip selebriti a.k.a. acara infotainment. Sebenarnya pas baru liat orang yang dijadikan pembahasan, sempat males ngelanjutin nontonnya. Tapi entah kenapa saat itu I stay put. Dan kabar yang kemudian kudengar, membuatku sangat terkejut (alias shocking news!).

Ternyata si selebriti mediocre (untuk tidak menyebut dirinya artis, karena ya emang menurutku ga pantes aja, sebab sepanjang pengetahuanku yang bersangkutan ga ada kemampuan art-nya sama sekali) yang sedang dikerubutin wartawan ini lagi diinterview untuk sebuah prestasinya (tumben banget). Biasanya sih, si selebriti mediocre ini kan dirubung wartawan gossip kalau ada kasus (negatif) baru yang menyeret maupun membawa-bawa namanya.
Masih pada ingat dong, sebelumnya si selebriti mediocre ini sempat ”kondang” lagi namanya di infotainment lewat skandal tersebarnya foto-foto yang bersangkutan di bawah shower sedang telanjang bul-bul bersama her sister (sempat dikomentari oleh seorang ”pakar” telematika berinisial R.S. sebagai foto aseli bukan rekayasa) sambil berpose sensual dan terbuka. Persisnya bagaimana, silahkan googling sendiri saja ya.

Ternyata untuk kali ini aku keliru sungguh.
Si selebriti ini kembali masuk radar pemberitaan infotainment, karena dia baru saja diwisuda dan resmi memegang gelar Sarjana Ilmu Politik dari Jurusan Hubungan Internasional, Universitas Paramadina.
Tak tanggung-tanggung, skripsinya yang mengulas hubungan diplomatik Republik Indonesia dengan Timor Leste terkait kerjasama perbatasan, berhasil mengantarkan sang selebriti lulus dengan nilai akhir tiga koma empat tujuh.
Yap, betul sekali. Kamu tidak salah baca. IPK-nya benar 3.47. Artinya, nyaris mendekati limit minimal untuk lulus dengan pujian (cum laude).

Sempat aku bertanya-tanya, apakah selama ini aku terlalu memandang rendah si selebriti terkait tingkat intelektualitasnya?
Berhubung aku pernah bekerjasama dengan si selebriti ini, dan dari hasil perbincanganku dengan salah satu teman dekat yang adalah juga saudara sepupunya si selebriti, dapat ditarik kesimpulan bahwa sebenarnya dia relatif kurang tanggap dalam soal keilmuan (ini adalah eufemisme). Mungkin karena dia susah atau kurang berkonsentrasi saja selama ini (sekali lagi, eufemisme). Itulah sebabnya, mendengar kabar infotainment kalau yang bersangkutan lulus nyaris cum laude, bagiku benar-benar menjadi surprise yang shocking.

Wow! Masih bisa kuingat, beberapa orang teman yang aku tahu persis otaknya berlabirin banyak alias pintar banget, sempat dibuat jungkir balik di almamater untuk bisa meraih IPK tiga koma empatpuluhan.
Aku sendiri juga sempat dibuat tidak bisa tidur demi nilai rata-rata tiga koma empat sekian itu. Dan mendengar si selebriti yang bisa meraih indeks prestasi kumulatif lebih tinggi daripada yang kudapatkan ketika lulus, rasanya hati ini dibakar rasa iri dan tak bisa menerima keampuhan otak orang lain. Huh! Kok bisa-bisanya ya dia?

Dari awalnya rasa iri, kemudian malah jadi timbul kecurigaan (namanya juga lagi niat berghibah yang kebetulan bisa diakomodir habis-habisan di sini), sebenarnya bagaimanakah standar penilaian mahasiswa di Universitas Paramadina, apabila dibandingkan dengan almamater teman-teman?
Rasanya pertanyaan ini harus kuajukan kepada seorang teman yang pernah menjadi staff pengajar di perguruan tinggi tersebut, dan kebetulan merupakan jurusan yang sama seperti yang diambil sang selebriti.

Korek-korek info dulu aaahh ...

Reminiscing "Janji Joni"

It was when I saw cameo appearances of Tora Sudiro and Winky Wiryawan in Janji Joni back in a couple of months ago that gave me the beginning idea of this writing. To me, both of them looked pretty much convincing as ideal poster-gay-couple: fashionable gorgeous looking hunks whom seemed completely falling into each other.

The audiences laughed very hard when Laki-Laki Urinoar 2 bit his fingernails in such a cute way while asking Laki-Laki Urinoir 1 with a particular look on his face, "Did you already find the one you really love?" (or a question similar to that, I kind of forgot).

And that was when suddenly Diane, while holding my upper arms whispered, "Hey, it's just like what Freddy did to you yesterday, don't you think?", then she laughed in such a way that made me blushed.

Thank God it's dark inside the theater; otherwise she could see my reddened face.

I think it was the awkward situation inside the men’s room, or maybe Winky's facial expression when he looked at Tora that reminded Diane about that particular scene the other day.

It was Freddy's 29th birthday, he of a nice funny good-looking guy who I kind of suspected of liking me. He didn’t plan any party or celebration, but I still went to his place, accompanied by Diane, to congratulate him and wish him everything nice will happen to him. He’s the kind of guy who already has everything a man’s need (and what I mean by that is credit cards, cellular phones, a car and an establishment not necessarily have to be a house), so I didn’t bring him any present. Or in other word, my practical mind told me that all I have got to do was presenting me in front of him.
Because he kind of likes me, right?

When he showed up at the front door, Diane did just like what any other girl does to her friends while congratulating them on something: hugging and kissing them lightly on both cheeks.

After that, it was my turn.
Freddy still spreading his arms widely, just like a teddy bear waiting for a big hug.
I thought, "Oh, okay, it's not a problem, just make him feel special for today."

So I went to hug him and kissed him lightly on both cheeks, and he went on as far as squeezed me closely and lightly and said, "Thank you, dear."
If you could see Freddy's sparkling eyes that moment, I believe you will think the same way as I did that time, that he seemed to enjoy hugging me much.

As I turned around to see who stood behind him, I saw that Laetitia, Freddy's closest best-friend who happened to be there standing within arms reach from us while we were making that scene, looking at us with such a surprise look upon her face.
I remember her jaw hung open in amazement.
Maybe she couldn't (or refused to?) believe what she just saw.
And when I turned around to face Diane, she did support the same mimic on her face.

Freddy started blushing and giggling nervously, and knowing that I should *neutralized* that situation, my only response to Diane - and Laetitia - was like, "What?! Is there anything wrong? Don't tell me you girls never see two guys hugging each other before?", and then I started to walk away from the door.

Felt a bit embarrassed with my emotionally-panicked response to Diane and Laetitia, but never regretted the hug and kisses I gave him.
I know Fred likes me, based on his gestures all this time.
And somehow I do as well, though in inexact same sense.

I believe there is nothing wrong in making someone who likes you feels happy and joyful, even though what you do is only to give hugs and kisses.
Spread the love and make others happy, is there anything wrong in doing so?

No one ever mentioned Freddy’s birthday-wishing scene again until today (with the exception of me with this writing!), but every time I see Janji Joni poster and related items from the movie I’d smile to myself and thought, "Boy, what a scene you and Fred caused back then!"



< Reminiscing “Janji Joni” was originally posted online under the title of "Janji Joni" and What It Would Forever Reminds Me of ... on June 22, 2005 >