The Letters' Return (aka I'm Back)

Well. I know that in the last post I said I wouldn't be posting anything anymore, but life has a way of changing your priorities and views in such a way that your past decisions and mistakes seem irrelevant. In simpler terms: I grew up.
Go ahead, call me fickle or inconsistent or whatever. I'm not even gonna delete/remove my previous posts and pretend they never existed.


  I've actually been contemplating to revive the Letters sporadically for quite some time now, and after a short conversation with my girlfriend last night, I decided to give it another go. Before I start talking about anything else, let's talk about that a bit more.


I was walking my girlfriend back to her boarding home (or whatever it's called, from here on we shall use the Indonesian term kost), where we had our usual front-gate conversation ritual. Can't really remember why (I was rather sleepy), but she asked me if I keep a journal or diary. The conversation that followed went something like this:


"Why would I?"
"I suppose to keep a record of your own life. How you were, how you used to feel and think, that kinda stuff"
"I don't really see why I'd want to keep a record of my own life. I mean, I hate taking photographs of myself, let alone write about me."


Looking back now, I suppose I was being hypocritical, having kept a blog for some time. In my defense, the Letters had totally slipped from my mind. Anyway:


"I dunno," she said, "I always keep a journal or blog active." At which point this blog floated through my thoughts.
"I had a blog. Once."
She cocked her head in one direction. "Well, then try it. Call it writing practice or something."


During the walk home afterwards I pondered over reviving this blog. By the time I got back I guess my mind was pretty made up on it; I even considered writing that very night. But I was way too sleepy to write anything coherent. In any case, before my mind was carried off into that land we all visit, I had the basic idea for this post already formed.


I'd like to talk about more, but I think it would be better to restrict each post to a single idea, wouldn't it? Besides, my back hurts from yesterday's capoeira training, and I've got a book to finish reading. I'll try to come up with something at least half-decent to post the next time.


Until then, stay out of trouble, people.


-- Zet Valentine


P.S.
Is it me, or is the font size a bit larger than it used to be?

Last One (aka Finally Never)

Well. This is the last one.

Taking my life in an entirely new direction now, the exact details of which are still unknown to me. Thanks for reading and keeping up with this short-lived blog, and good luck to all of you.

If you've linked to this blog, I suggest you remove the link. Not sure how I can delete this blog, so I suppose it'll still be around until I figure out how to delete it. Until then, expect the next post... uh, NEVER.

Farewell to you,

-Zet Valentine

Damn (I Haven't Posted in a While)

Heya. It's been a while since I last posted something. You'd think that I'd have posted something on Valentine's/Chinese New Year (this being The Valentine Letters and such), huh? Well, I'd love to say that college got in the way, but truth be told, I've quite run out of things to talk about. Seems I've been experiencing a creativity block the past few weeks. Anyway, I've got time to kill, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

Something that's been going around in my mind for the past few days is the movie-favorite, oft-repeated phrase, "I will/would fight for you". Now, in old times, you might actually take this literally - someone would actually fight someone else for another certain someone, win the fight, then live happily ever after. Close book, cue "awww" and happy tears, roll credits.

Let's face it, each and every one of us would like to think that, should the occasion arise, we would heroically rise and do battle for the sake of our loved ones. For the most part, we really would. Protecting what matters is perhaps part of our basic human instinct. What most of us aren't prepared for, however, is when the threat we have to face is sometimes ourselves.

What happens then?
What happens when we become the very thing we swore to protect them from? How do you protect someone you love.. from yourself?

When you first held her in your arms, you knew that you'd never let any hurt, pain, suffering come to them if you could help it. But then you see her going through such pain and hardship, more than anything you could ever think of, and you're the one who caused it, what would you do? Could you live with yourself after that? Even though she says it's okay, that everything's fine, would you ever forgive yourself for doing something like that?

My answer: you just have to. The phrase "love hurts" doesn't mean you should be some pessimistic lowlife and just live with the pain. It means that the person you love isn't the one who can simply make you happier than you've ever felt, but they can also make you feel more pain then you've ever imagined.
It may sound odd at first, I know. But put it this way: God is capable of doing both great and terrible things. If God were only able to do great things, if God were limited to only doing good, then that means there is something higher, more powerful than God, and I'd rather bow to that higher being.

It's extremely complicated, even for me, but If you've fell in love before, you'd know what I'm talking about.

Think about it.

-Zet

P.S.
I've got a new "bachelor's pad": Apt. Mediterania, A/23 C/J. Renting it for the year. Have a looksee if you're in the neighborhood. (Special shoutout to dS members and friends)

I Just Watched Sherlock Holmes (New Year)

It's a new year, so I decided to just post something here to kick it off, since I didn't post anything in December.
First and foremost (don't you get tired of hearing that phrase?), happy new year, everyone. Hopefully you all will enjoy another twelve months of.. well, pretty much doing the same thing over and over til sanity is lost.

No, seriously, have a good year, people. Try out those New Year Resolution thingys. Who knows, maybe you'll actually get to do it this time. If you did it, good for you, now do it again. If you didn't, try to hold out for longer (for the "don'ts/won'ts") or get it over with quicker (for the "To do"s). Or just pick another one and see how that one turns out.

Ooh, I think I just decided that one of my new year's resolution will be to post something meaningful at least once a month. Kind of a tall order, by my standards, which means I'll need help to find things to talk about.

I'd love to talk about more stuff, but it's 2:00 in the morning, and I'm really sleepy.
Until next time,

-Zet

Wishlist (for this year and the next one)

I'm pretty forgetful, so I decidedc to post my wishlist now, while I still remember them. It's likely to not change much next year either. Most of the stuff here are waaaay out of my league, and I'd feel bad if anyone got them for me.

• a pair (or several pairs) of socks
  
• Tekken 6
  
• a new pair of jeans
  
• Rock Band (any incarnation, preferably the newer ones)
• Guitar Hero 5
• A new bridge saddle for my bass
• that shirt I saw the other day at TA
• a new bandanna
• Call of Duty: Modern Warefare 2 (PS3 or PC)
• Under the Dome by Stephen King
• Paulo Coelho's The Winner Stands Alone
• A small bookshelf for my room
• Electronic setup to record bass into my laptop
• that life-size guitar for Guitar Hero/Rock Band
• A pair of plain black-white sneakers
  

Guess that's about it. It's a really wants vs. needs kinda thing.

Out of Pure Boredom (aka Follow the Girlfriend)

Well, I've got nothing to do here at my boarding house or whatever you call it, so I decided to follow what my girlfriend did and make a list of my 25 random thoughts and post them. Here they are:

1. Gw gak yakin gw bisa bertahan ngekos terus
   
2. I'm even less sure that I can live on my own in an apartment
3. Tomorrow's my first anniversary with my girlfriend!
4. I wish I didn't have a quiz tomorrow so I could hang out with her all day
5. Jarang-jarang nih sinyal lagi bagus.
6. Gw ngerasa masih belum berhasil sebagai pacar
7. Cowok mana sih gak bisa dijadiin tempat curhat ama ceweknya?
8. Nggak, bukan macam yang terbaik
9. Hahah, knapa gw jadi negatif ya?
10. Karakter HIMJA kan positif.
11. Yey dia sms!
12. My back hurts
13. I need to go to the spine center thingy
14. And the dentist
15. Unexpectedly, I miss my sister
16. I'll deny it wholeheartedly if anyone asks.
17. I need a haircut
18. Did I tell you tomorrow's my first anniversary?
19. I suddenly wish I could afford a fancy dinner
20. I miss playing the bass
21. Should I take vocal lessons as well?
22. Or maybe guitar lessons?
23. Am I trying to start a one-man band?
24. For some reason, they had a sale on condoms at Alfa mart last week, a pack for 9.900
25. ASTROBOY!! XD

Cheerio.
-Zet

Change of Plans (aka Just for the Sake of Posting)

Well, I've been meaning to post something new for a while now, but with crappy connection, I've not been able to do so. Even now I'm hoping I can get this posted.

Anyway, since I can't post something proper, how about a song? Lyrics that is. If you want the song, google it, or check it on youtube. Look for the broadway recording, if you can.
It's a duet from the Broadway musical Aida, the names before the verses are the characters' names.

Written in the Stars
from the Broadway musical Aida

Aida:
I am here to tell you we can never meet again
Simple really, isn't it, a word or two and then
A lifetime of not knowing where or how or why or when
You think of me or speak of me and wonder what befell
The someone you once loved so long ago so well

Radames:
Never wonder what I'll feel as living shuffles by
You don't have to ask me and I need not reply
Every moment of my life from now until I die
I will think or dream of you and fail to understand
How a perfect love can be confounded out of hand
Is it written in the stars
Are we paying for some crime
Is that all that we are good for
Just a stretch of mortal time
For some God's experiment
In which we have no say
In which we're given paradise
But only for a day

Aida (spoken):
Marry the princess, Radames...

Aida:
Nothing can be altered, there is nothing to decide
No escape, no change of heart, no anyplace to hide

Radames:
You are all I'll ever want, but this I am denied
Sometimes in my darkest thoughts, I wish I'd never learned

Aida & Radames:
What it is to be in love and have that love returned

Aida:
Is it written in the stars
Are we paying for some crime
Is that all that we are good for
Just a stretch of mortal time

Aida & Radames:
For some God's experiment
In which we have no say
In which we're given paradise
But only for a day

Pretty good song for those of you who feel like victims of fate, eh?
-Zet

P.S.
no tag for once, too.

Culture Shock (aka Face Value)

One of my teachers (professors, lecturers, whatever) recently mentioned in class some cultural differences between the Japanese (and most Asian countries) and the West. One that particularly caught my interest was the way westerners are quite straightforward, while most Asians work their way around criticism.

Afterwards, a friend of mine mentioned her discomfort at how another friend of ours liked to hug, poke, and do other things that would get her (the other friend) killed if she (still the other friend) did it to me. I told her that if she doesn't like it, then just say it. Her response: "gak enak", as in she didn't want to offend her. Which led me to ask, "WHY?"
Because she didn't want to offend her. Because she didn't want to offend her. Because she was still considering her (again, the other friend's) feelings.

Right. So it's okay for HER to poke, hug, tickle, and otherwise ANNOY THE HELL OUT OF you, but you don't want to tell her because you're afraid you'll hurt HER feelings? Suit yourself.

In any case, I told her (and yet another friend who was there listening) that if they had something they held against me, they had better tell it to my face rather than talk about it behind my back. That was, after all, what we were doing, albeit unwittingly. What kind of friendship would last if bast on such a lie, anyway?

But seriously now, our people seem to be obsessed with so-called "formalities"; if you do something to offend someone, they could hold it against you forever. Truth be told, I really don't understand that line of thought. Personally, I prefer the "I may not like you, but that doesn't mean I can't work with you" policy. Personal relationships should be personal, professional relationships should be professional, and neither should affect the other.

Not to say that I'm devoid of sentiment. Of course I'll be offended at first if you tell it to my face. But I can get over it and really appreciate the fact that you came forward about it, rather than to keep it a secret.

I'm guessing that some, if not most of you go with the so-called "Asian" line of thought. I'll be perfectly clear that I'm not telling anyone to do things my way, nor am I claiming my way to be the right way. I'm just merely expressing my opinion. If you don't like it, it's perfectly fine; we just simply need to agree to disagree, because sometimes it's really impossible to ask others to see things your way. That's why it's important for me to try to at least understand where you're coming from, and respect where you stand, rather than make you do things my way.

Think about it.

Considerately,
-Zet

Posting paling gak penting (aka iseng2 nunggu dosen)

Haaiii... lagi di kelas nih kuliah, nunggu dosen.
ups dateng
daa

Demographics and Such (aka Life in the Time of Lebaran)

You know, it's funny how once every year, Jakarta empties up so much, it's almost dead. I mean there's virtually no traffic at all. Nor much of anything else for that matter. That tells us two things:

1. Most of Jakarta's residents are from out of town,
2. Jakarta is the only city in Indonesia. Or at least that's what the general populace thinks.

Then again, I haven't been around this country much, so I can't quite speak for other cities. But still, think about it. Whenever people want to do anything, work, education, etc. they look to Jakarta. Sure, that's no problem. The people can think of things however they want. The problem is when the government starts seeing things that way as well.

Why do I say this? Well for starters, somebody please tell me 20 other cities in Indonesia that has the same amount of skyscrapers as Jakarta. No, I'm not being sarcastic, I'm being curious. I've not seen much other places that has skyscrapers in Indonesia.

Still on the topic of urban development, how about that Busway thing? Have it anywhere else, besides Jakarta/Jabodetabek?

Oh, and don't forget that upcoming monorail project. Where's it being built? Jakarta and... no wait, just Jakarta? Hopefully not.

And what about that annoying commercial of a guy dropping all his stuff at the airport? What's the tag for that one? "visit JAKARTA" or something to that effect, right?

How about movies? Check your local movie website. Compare the movies playing in Jabodetabek to the other cities there. Go ahead, have a laugh. They're still playing movies we watched months ago.

Chrissake, people, how can we expect this country to grow, if the only city we focus on growing is Jakarta? No, I'm not saying that we aren't doing anything about other cities, I'm just saying it's not as good an effort.
Seriously now, we're a big country. The f*ckin biggest in southeast Asia. There are plenty of other places to develop, you know? Just because Jakarta is the capital city doesn't mean it has to be the ONLY city. Once you focus too much on one city, you leave the rest up for grabs. Just like our so-called "culture-war" with Malaysia. I hate them for what they did, but I gotta hand it to them, they're smart.

Bottom line, development in areas other than Jakarta would mean better growth nationally, and it'll help prevent shit like that happening again.