" Fictitious-Mind Wannabe "


I have to admit that again I broke my (latest) promise to finish one book at a time. Hmm...when I was trying to read 'not too easy to understand the Indonesian version' of Ben Jelloun's The Sacred Night, I'm more curious to know (at least) one of Budi Darma's novels, an Indonesian writer who's gonna be interviewed for next episode. I know nothing about him, only that he once had been recommended by one of our audience and also has been planned to be the next profile. So I think, I've gotta know him better, at least, gak goblok-goblok amet kalo nanti wawancarain dia. (So, Jelloun's currently being suspended for quite some time).

So, when on Friday I went to DKJ-TIM to make some errands, I didn't miss out to drop by at Jose Rizal Manua's must visit books store in the right corner of the building. While my co-worker looking for some books for documentation work, I came up to have my own pleasure, by screening over some title which caught my attention. And considering to my 'easy to get bored if I feel bored', so I decided to find short stories instead of novel. So, reading wouldn't be felt that suffering (especially when you've promised to yourself to finish one book at a time! boh! stupid promise! don't you know that you yourself somewhat is an inconsistent person ever?). According to my 'new' interest in fiction books, so I bought these one (all are in Bahasa Indonesia):

1. Amnesti , An Anthology of Short Stories of 14 Notably Writers, such as; Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Najib Mahfouz, Hermann Hesse, and some more outstanding writers. Published by Jalasutra, Jogjakarta.

2. Laila and Majnun, a legend of love story written by Nizami Ganjavi, a Persian Sufi, published by Ilman Books. Here's a review from Dr. Colin Paul Turner, Durham University:

" One of the most popular literature in Islamic society is "Laila and Majnun". In more than a thousand year, various version of this tragic legend had been released, either in prose, poetry, or song, and translated into different languages almost in all Middle-East countries. Nizami himself was a Persian Poet. In year 1188, Sultan of Kaukasia, Shirvanshah, ordered him to write a romantic epic based on that 7th century's folklore and he finally managed to finish 8000 verses of poem, in less than 4 months."

For the time being, this prose then being adapted by Turner and published by Blake Publishing.

3. Menari di Atas Gunting (Dance in a Scissors), An Anthology of Short Stories written by Abidah El-Khalieqy, an Indonesian Contemporary Poet, published by Jendela, Jogjakarta. Not all her writing are easily understood, but I'm impressed with the way she writes. Just like the title of her book, her words are flowing like dancing.

4. Olenka and Rafilus, two novels of Budi Darma. I'm currently reading Olenka. Before, I was reading to get the whole picture of Darma's own character for interviewing matter. But I found, his novel was written well. He also wrote Orang-orang Bloomington which gave him more prize in Literature.

5. Pantau, A Media and Journalism Study Magazine, February edition.

Anyway, at Saturday, April 5th, INDRA my company, celebrating its 3rd year of anniversary. PLUS, we're celebrating our fresh from the oven's TV program, CHAMPION, which been aired since, at Saturdays at 07.05 pm, still on Metro TV. Kinda like Maestro, but it's aimed more to Indonesian champion in sport arena. The first episode was Hendrawan, a Bulutangkis champion, which was the one and only episode I've involved with ever, as I'm being tied for good in Maestro since after. Poor me, huh? ;)

Then at night, hang out at Regal (again!), bukan karena pengin ngopinya...(eneg!)...tapi lagi kangen ma Rani dah lama ngga ngobrol (padahal baru dua minggu gak ketemu yee?). Sebenernya kangen suasana Kemang atau Bakoel Koffie, tapi baru ketemuan aja jam 10, so, cuma Citos yang memberi kenyamanan lebih buat keluyuran sampe pagi. Rada-rada saltum gara-gara abis acara ultah kantor itu, jadi aja dress code kagak matching sama suasana anak-2 muda! berasa ibu-ibu kesiangan begaul dah! Untung bad mood ketolong si Simon, British guy lakinya Sanda yang kemaren berdua ikutan gabung. Yah lumayan lah nambah-nambahin perbendaharaan cerita baru.

So, that's all. Nuthin's new. Just a lil' bit worry with the travelling next week. Arrggghh!! Sultan HB X-nya susyeh dihubungi dan ribeets!!! ugh! gimana neehh??

ps: Hmm...gue tau, kayaknya bahasa inggris gue makin hari makin ngaco...tapi kalo gak dipaksain, ya makin tambah ngaco...so, kepaksa deh, biar salah-salah kata juga...So, sori ya buat Mikey atas complain-nya yang ngga gue turutin...yah, situ kan tau, say Inggrisnya juga kepaksa ini! :D