50 TRIVIA ABOUT ME

1. What color is your toothbrush?  I always try to get the red ones to camouflage my yellow tooth.
2. Name one person who made you smile today:  Mario Teguh.
3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?  Looking at my nephew's face in his angelic slumber.
4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?  Spraying my room with Raid.
5. What is your favorite candy bar?  Nothing beats Beng-Beng.
6. Have you ever been to a strip club?  Why? Do you wanna go there and need a company?
7. What is the last thing you said aloud?  Boo!
8. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?  Rum-raisin, strawberry, tiramisu.
9. What was the last thing you had to drink?  A cup of cofee, Kapal Api--Indonesian brand (don't do Malaysian coffee, sorry), with brown sugar
10. Do you like your wallet?  Yeah, but it's not really a wallet I think. It's more of a wrist bag.
11. What was the last thing you ate?  Many things but roast dinosaur and crayon ice cream.
12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?  This week? You mean this year? No.
13. The last sporting event you watched?  My husband and his gang beating Manchester United 10:0 (yeah, right!)
14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?  No flavor, please. That'll be offensive to the corn. If you want the corn to respect you, you must show some appreciation.
15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to?  My sister.
16. Do you take vitamins daily?  No, I don't.
17. Do you go to church every Sunday?  No. I'm Moslem.
18. Do you have a tan?  What are you talking about? I was born dark.
19. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza?  Of course I do.
20. Do you drink your soda with a straw?  Soda makes me nauseous. But I'll take the straw if you insist.
21. What did your last text message say?  Hi, Sis. Tom Cruise just called. He said hello.
22. What are you doing tomorrow?  Writing, teaching, just work routines.
23. What sounds are you listening to now?  Budi Anduk rattling on TV.
24. Look to your left, what do you see?  Red matryoshka. I got it from my Russian friend, Tatiana Sukhanova. We lost touch. Does anyone know her whereabouts?
25. What color is your watch?  Don't have any. Plan to give me one? *wink-wink*
26. What do you think of when you hear Australia?  Crocodile Dundee, koalas, Nicole Kidman, Heath Ledger, opal, wombats.
27. What is your birthstone?  I didn't bring any stone when I was born. Why? Did you lose one?
28. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru?  Go in of course. Driving thru won't give you the opportunity to stretch and massage your cramped feet.
29. What is your favorite number?  Number 1 for soya sauce. Number 39 for my shoes.
30. Who's the last person you talked to on the phone?  My brother.
31. Any plans today?  Any suggestion?
32. How many cities/towns have you lived in?  Four: Palu, Bandung, Surabaya, Jakarta.
33. Biggest annoyance right now?  Don't have enough strong will to finish what I have started.
34. Last song listened to?  Lupa-Lupa Ingat (Kuburan Band)
35. Can you say the alphabet backwards?  You go first.
36. Do you have a maid service clean your house?  Yes, for the past seven months.
37. Favorite pair of shoes you like to wear all the time?  My black and red Reebok.
38. Are you jealous of anyone?  Yes, I'm jealous of people who can beat their deadlines.
39. Is anyone jealous of you?  Maybe. How would I know?
40. Do you love anyone?  Sure. My family. My friends. Myself.
41. Do any of your friends have children?  Yes.
42. What do you usually do during the day?  Scribbling, typing, printing, cursing.
43. Do you hate anyone that you know right now?  The word 'hate' may be too harsh, but of course there are people who I think are hard to deal with.
44. Do you use the word 'hello' daily?  Don't need to. I'm not a telephone operator. I tried saying 'hello' to my monitor but it kept silent.
45. What color is your car?  Red of course. Like hot chili pepper.
46. Do you like cats?  I love cats but they love me even more.
47. Are you thinking about someone right now?  Someone, no. Something, yes.
48. Have you ever been to Six Flags?  What's that? A hangout place?
49. How did you get your worst scar?  In a car accident in Malang when I was a child. But I'm sort of proud of that scar. It makes me look like Xena the warrior princess.

OK, enough already.  How about you?

REMUK

Sore ini aku remuk dengan kepergian seorang sahabat yang melanjutkan langkah entah ke mana...

Bertahun-tahun lamanya ia menjadi sumber kekuatanku untuk bertahan. Dengan sabar dan welas asih telinganya selalu menampung keluh-kesahku. Dengan berani dia membela kepentinganku tanpa kuminta. Dengan senyum yang selalu tergambar di wajah, dan sepasang mata riang yang jenaka, dia membuatku merasa tulisanku bermakna--ketika orang-orang lain mencibir dan mencerca.

Tapi apa balasanku kepadanya?

Kutinggalkan HP di locker ketika ia meneleponku malam itu. Internetku mati dan YM-ku seperti lahan tidur ketika ia mungkin sedang ingin mencurahkan beban batinnya. Kemarin seorang teman berkata ia sedang berkemas untuk pergi. Sore ini aku berbincang dengannya, hanya dalam hitungan menit karena ia sedang bergegas. Ia sudah memutuskan untuk pergi dengan langkah ringan, meski belum tau hendak melangakah ke mana. Setelah tubian dera itu, justru hal mulia yang dilakukannya: ia tak ingin seorangpun merasa marah pada yang telah membuatnya tersiksa.

Duh, Gusti Allah, nyuwun ngapura. Tolong bukakan semua pintu untuknya, yang sedang melangkah tanpa rencana. Mudahkanlah semua urusannya. Pertemukanlah ia dengan orang-orang yang membawanya ke tempat yang teduh. Amin.

Luber dan Jurdil

Anda merasa hidup Anda berjalan di tempat, rencana-rencana Anda tidak terlaksana, dan sering kecewa?

Ketik REG (spasi) SABAR *pengaruh buruk TV mode on* Hehehehe... jangan dengarkan saya. Saya bohong.

Begini... Menurut saya, bayi-bayi dan bocah-bocah kecil punya kesaktian meredam gelegak rasa. Keponakan saya, cucu pertama ibu saya, Ayman Wyakto Omar, akhir pekan lalu mencontohkan cara melakukan Pemilu yang luber dan jurdil sebagai obat kegalauan saya kala itu. Meski belum punya hak suara, Ayman si bayi mungil Pejambon (peranakan Jawa-Ambon) berusia empat bulan itu saya beri tanggung jawab mengambil keputusan.

Sepulang dari suatu perjalanan dinas, adik ipar saya membawa oleh-oleh tiga dompet dengan tiga warna untuk saya, adik perempuan saya, dan adik ipar bungsu saya (ibu si bayi). Adik perempuan saya mendapatkan dompet berwarna merah muda. Ini bukan hal yang sulit karena dia memang penggemar fanatik pink. Lalu tersisa dua, biru dan krem. Adik ipar bungsu saya yang santun dan pemalu tidak mau memilih, rupanya dia sungkan. Saya juga tidak mau, karena saya terbiasa membiarkan adik-adik saya memilih duluan. Lalu saya dekati Ayman kecil yang sedang mandi matahari di pintu dapur, "Ayman, bisa tolong Bude pilihkan dompet yang cocok untuk Bunda?"

Lalu dia tersenyum kecil pada saya, dan memandangi kedua dompet yang teracung di depan wajah mungilnya, bergantian. Wajahnya tampak serius seolah sedang berpikir keras. Beberapa detik tatapan matanya berpindah-pindah, dari dompet biru ke dompet krem. Semua diam. Menunggu dalam debar. Tiba-tiba telunjuknya teracung dan mengarah ke dompet krem. Seisi rumah tertawa dan bertepuk tangan.

Ah... betapa Tuhan punya cara unik untuk mencandai umatnya. Padahal bisa saja Ayman begitu hanya karena ia terpesona pada warna kinclong dan tiba-tiba ingin melatih kemampuan motorik dengan gerakan menunjuk. Tapi di mata orang dewasa, ia seolah-oleh sedang sungguh-sungguh melaksanakan tugas dari saya.

Saya memang tak sempat mengabadikan momen indah itu di perekam vidoe pada ponsel saya, tapi memori rasio saya sudah merekamnya dengan sangat baik dan menyimpannya di folder pembangkit semangat.

Pernahkah Anda punya pengalaman yang mirip? Sudikah Anda membaginya dengan saya?