Virtually New York

I always get fascinated by New York City. I love songs about New York, from the classic "New York, New York" to the modern one like "Empire State of Mind". Most of my favourite movies take place in New York, from "Breakfast at Tiffanys" to "You've Got Mail" to the recent "Premium Rush". I've never been to New York, but New York is the only city in the US that I want to visit.

And then, there's this magical thing from the 21st century called internet, that enable people from developing asian country with limited budget like me to wander around New York city without visiting it. I like to wander around New York through Google maps street view. Checking out Apple store at 5th Avenue, wondering about how nice it will be to reading a book on a bench under a big tree in Central Park, watching people jogging or toddler playing in the meanwhile. Sitting on the steps of Met Museum and taking picture of all those people hanging around there. Gazing up from the intersection of Time Square to the those giant billboards around it. And maybe walking along 5th Avenue toward the Empire State Building. Well, I've done that virtually and hope can do it literally in the future. 

In the mean time, I find this blog,  Humans of New York. It's a fascinating blog. When I'm wandering around New York through Google Maps street view for its scenery, then I will know a little about its people through this blog. The photographer, Brandon, take picture of stranger in the street of New York City and write short caption or description when post it to his blog. It's like The Sartorialist of common sense, not so fashionable, not so glamour, just real. The picture he take give people a story, and will make us wonder what does it feels to meet those many people, have a little chat while asking to take their picture. I admire his brave in engaging with stranger and his passion that transfer those photos into a fascinating stories. And I also envy his opportunity to meet those varieties of people, including the toddlers. 

I've been following his blog for quite sometimes, and I recommend this blog to people that always has a dream to visit New York City someday, and maybe to those that has interest to meet thousands of people with different stories, virtually. 

Terbang

Jalan ini terasa terlalu lurus. Papan penunjuk jarak jalan tol berlari melewatiku, 80? 100? 120 km/jam? Aku tak punya kemampuan untuk memperkirakan seberapa cepat mereka berlari ke arahku, atau mobil yang kutumpangi ini yang melaju melewati mereka? ada satu hukum yang menjelaskannya bukan? Newton? 1 atau 2?

Ah, aku tidak ingat. Dia selalu menceritakan semua hal rumit itu dengan senyum lebar dan mata berbinar, seperti orang jatuh cinta. Tapi apalah itu disebutnya jika kau jatuh cinta pada hukum fisika?

Aku menutup mata, masih sekitar 20 kilometer lagi sampai ke bandara, dan 12 ribu kilometer sampai Paris. Paris? bukan... dia bilang dia bukan akan ke Paris, Marseille lebih jelasnya. Aku tak pernah dengar nama kota itu sebelumnya. Satu-satunya kota di Perancis yang aku tahu adalah Paris dan mendengar namanya selalu membuatku berpikir, mengapa ada yang mau menamai satu kota dengan nama seorang pria romantis pengecut, atau dalam abad yang berbeda, nama seorang perempuan kaya manja? Yah, aku sendiri pun tak tahu mana yang memakai nama itu lebih dulu.

Dia akan berangkat ke sana tak lama lagi, sekitar dua jam lagi jika tidak salah, untuk satu tujuan... belajar fisika. Aku tak pernah habis pikir kenapa seseorang mau belajar fisika atas kemauan sendiri. Fisika memang menyenangkan, lebih mudah dimengerti dibanding Kimia, dan jelas lebih matematis, tapi tetap saja, aku tak pernah begitu mengerti apa yang bisa dilakukan dengan mengetahui bagaimana menghitung jarak lontar peluru ataupun dari menghapal semua hukum-hukum berbahasa aneh itu. Toh kalau sampai suatu saat aku melontar peluru, aku tak akan punya waktu untuk menghitung terlebih dahulu, itu pun kalau sampai suatu saat aku punya kesempatan untuk melontar peluru. Tapi dia menyukai Fisika seperti aku menyukai makanan.

Complication

It was on a depressed Wednesday night, after a very tough day, I had this little chat with my friend about marriage. He's already married his college sweetheart. Me on the other hand, is a lost girl. The one that don't want to be bothered with the whole dating or marriage thing whatsoever. I ask him one question that keep hanging in my mind...

"how can you let a stranger become a crucial part of your life, let your guard down for him/her and give her/him almost unlimited access to every part of you?"

Because that's what I thought about marriage. It's about letting someone in and hopefully, he'll stay there forever. But that person, eventhough you date him/her for as long as you remember, is still a stranger. You're not born with him/her, not grow up with him/her, not always together with him/her and above all, you have all the right to choose to be with him/her. So what's make a person so sure to accept someone unconditionally and make him/her a part of their life?

It took almost 2 hours after the conversation to get the answer from my friend. It's not really an answer, he gave me the basic reasoning. He said, there's a hint of worry and doubt in my question. The theme is classic, insecurity. Which is common for girls my age. Most girls -basically- are vulnerable and fragile, and they seek security and comfort in a relationship. On the other side, a man has an acute need of being needed. That even a jerk like Barney Stinson still want to be needed by girls because... well... he's good in bed. So, the bottomline is, when those two needs collided in overlapping timeline, finally meet, clicked and matched with each other, my question will be irrelevant. At that point, a couple will realize that what they want and need is take a step further and build a life together. No more question, no more reasoning. Just know that it's right.

It take me sometimes to think about his answer, and come to realization that my girl friends also said similar thing to me with different packaging... 'you just haven't meet the man yet'. I always take the answer like that lightly, but when I talk similar thing to a boy and he gave me different packaging of the answer (with all reasoning and so-called psychological analysis), I get it immediately. Sigh, maybe my brain is hardwired for complication, you have to explain a simple thing using quantum mechanic vocabulary if you want to get my attention. I'm that complicated. But maybe, sometimes I'll look at this subject with simpler mindset. Maybe, when the urge to be a relationship is high, when most of my close friend won't hang out with me anymore because of 'family-issue' and my family has barked loudly in my ears every now and then, I'll be forced to look at thing with simpler perspective. Maybe, someday it's not about trust issue anymore. Maybe, it just about having someone to spend the rest of your life with and prevent human race from extinction. We'll see.

Can you save me?

Lunafly - Superhero

Music: TVXQ - Catch Me

I've been restraining myself from doing this post, but actually, I think I have to do it anyway. It almost 2 years since TVXQ release an album, the last one is Keep Your Head Down, which is great and now they're back with Catch Me.

Before I talk about the album, let me introduce you to the group. TVXQ or Dong Bang Shin Ki in Korean, is South Korean boy group debut under the biggest entertainment agency in South Korea, SM Entertainment. Me, myself, has been their fan for almost 6 years. In the beginning, I was a fan of Japanese music, Japanese Rock music in particular and coincidentally, the people around me also japan-maniacs. One of my friend at the time, recommend me to listen to Tohoshinki (TVXQ's japanese name). Me, never put interest to a boyband before, dismiss the recommendation almost immediately, quoting: "even their name sounds ridiculous!".

Books: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

Another mythology novel! Actually, after reading The Song of Achilles, I've been reading another book... Essays in Love by Alain the Botton. But suddenly September become such a storm in my work life and I hardly find a proper time to read the book. By the time October rolls, The Mark of Athena is released and honestly, I prioritize to read this book first because, well, I can finish it in a very short time, like... 8 hours straight.

The Percy Jackson series target the teenager audience and it is feel every bit teenager as a teenager book should be. For those who are following the the Heroes of Olympus series, we already know that the first two books (The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune) set as the introductory stories that led to the quest in The Mark of Athena. This is when finally two-powerful culture entity collide, different value clash and loyalty tested. 

Starting in the very moment after Percy Jackson raise as praetor in the previous book, the ship Argo II sail from Half Blood Hill and arrive at New Rome with diplomatic mission, to unite Greek and Roman and fulfill the New Great Prophecy/Prophecy of Seven.

The highlight of this book is Percy and Annabeth together again! I love it for that. I love how the author intensify the bonding between Percy and Annabeth, and how importance that development to the flow of the story. The scene when Percy and Annabeth meet the first time in New Rome after months of separation is every bit as I imagine it could be. Annabeth reaction is so good but not unexpected judging by how she and Percy relationship like. 

Annabeth has the hardest path in this story. Bearing a personal quest that has been trusted to the children of Athena for centuries, bring Athena back home. Putting the transformation conflict between Athena's Greek personality to Roman's Minerva as the main driver of the story is brilliant. It means that the author also understand the conflict that once happened eons ago. The story develop more adult and serious vibe because of it, and it also lead to the key to end the Greek-Roman feud.

On the not so nice side, there are 7 POVs in this book, and honestly, it's too crowded. I like the 'Percy Jackson and The Olympians' format much better (with just one POV - Percy), 3 is fine, but 7? it's quite confusing and the emotional exploration of each character feel a little bit so-so. 

I'm also hope that there are some personality/morality clash between Percy and Jason, to think that they are very powerful demigod and a leader from different spectrum of culture. But the main ripple of the group is more like 'love-line' problem between Frank-Hazel-Leo which I found a little bit boring. I love the bromance and competition-to-protect between Percy and Jason, but still, having their bonding so smooth is quite a disappointment for me to think that Percy even had quite a clash with his sister Thalia in The Titan's Curse before.

In my conclusion, this is a better development than the previous 2 books in the series. It set another path to more complicated task ahead and ultimately to the main issue, fulfilling the prophecy. Rick Riordan has stated in his website that the next book will be released at fall next year and the title will be 'The House of Hades'. There are 2 children of Hades/Pluto in this story, and the fact that the story is about the Door of Death, I think it will be interesting. More truth to come in the next book and I'm really looking forward to it.

Books: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Myth -greek and roman- has always be in my list of interest. But I never really seek for a book that directly told about the myth itself, I've just read the modern adaptation or else.

The Song of Achilles is beyond my expectation. Trojan War is a bloodbath. Men sailed to Troy with the promise of glory in the packaging of bring back the most beautiful woman in the world. If I've ever hate a person in greek mythology, that person would be Helen, and thank God that this book is not about her. Told from the point of view of Patroclus, a close companion and most beloved of Achilles, the greatest warrior of them all. Madellne Miller beautifully interpret the relationship of Achilles and Patroclus: they are friends, comrades, and lovers. The story stretch from the self introduction of Patroclus, to his exile to the kingdom of Phtia where he meet Achilles, they are just 9 then. And then the goes to the span of 18 years their time together, the time in Phtia, to mount Pelion, Scyros and of course the sail and battle of Troy. Madeline miller build a love story around one of the most well-known war in the world. She mold the story of Iliad creatively to support her interpretation and I love it. I finished reading this book in 3 days. Eagerly trying to reach the end, cut short my beauty sleep to just 4 hours in those days and it all worth it.

I highly recommend this book, especially to all myth-geek out there. I hope Miller will write other interpretation of Greek/Roman mythology, Odyssey can be next, but I really hope it would be Heracles. So many people told the story of Heracles but I never found one interesting, too much embellishment. Maybe if miller write the story it will be refreshing to the character. I'll wait for it.

Feel So High

It just one calm Sunday afternoon with Ayu and Zakki. We visited a little cafe called Carlo the Hut at Senayan City. It feels a little bit odd, because we visit Senayan City for God knows how many times, yet we never come to this little place. The cafe is homey, with unplastered brick wall, flowers -daisy, a lot of daisies, wooden furniture, comfy sofa, great food, and music...

There's one particular song that caught by my ear and stay on my mind for days after I visited Carlo the Hut. I was pretty sure that it is Des'ree, I googled it and found out that the title is 'Feel so High', and it turns out as Des'ree's first single. I like Des'ree, and I love the song. There's somekind of serene optimism and innocent carefree-ness that I feel when I listen to it. Who said that a girl have to always whining about everything. We can serenade a lovely tune and keep positive mindset about the world. This song is one of the proof for that, love it :)

I'm living for tomorrow not today, gotta make my plans so in caseI'll be prepared when I see you smiling

Cause I feel so high away, I'm reaching out for your skyI've boundless energies, I feel I could run a million miles