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A friend gave my name to SUN TV station when the station was looking for a female figure with certain profiles to be interviewed for their woman program, Aksen. He meant it as a surprise but it was soon discovered that he was no good in keeping secrets. Soon, he informed me about it and the first thing I did was... laughing. Laughing like when you hear something really funny and your first reaction is 'Aw! Get outta here!'

A few weeks after, he called me when I was on my way home from work. Between talking and giggling (you'll never know if a male creature can giggle like he does), he told me somebody from the tv station would call me later. I laughed (again) and said OK. What could they possibly want from me anyway? And then, long story short, they did call. Long story short, I found myself doing an interview for them...

During the filming (being interviewed, walking here and there, posing like this and that), I was grinning all the time. I almost failed to hide my laughs. If I were fair-skinned, I was sure my cheeks were glowing red. And there were my colleagues, other employees, people I didn't know. Oooh, it would take a year to make them forget about it. For me, it was like... 'GOSH, now I know I wasn't born for this'. No wonder life made me a teacher and not an actress, no matter what some experts said that teaching is 90% acting and 10% skills.

Then, the program was aired on Sunday, 28 June, at 4 PM. Just in case you ask, I didn't record the program, but Papap took some pictures (of the tv monitor!). From now on, I will give some respects to those actors who can do things in front of the camera without even a little urge to grin.

Gara-gara mengalami susahnya nyari parkir di UI Salemba, siang tadi saya membujuk teman saya si Je untuk mengojeki saya ke Salemba. Sebelumnya saya pernah ditolak dia juga. Katanya, "Naik taksi dong, Dep. Jangan sok susah deh." Tadi siang, saya ditolak lagi sama dia. Dari yang beralasan harus meeting di kantor pusat lah, lalu baru sampe kantor lah, trus harus ngerjain ini itu lah. Kalau bukan karena saya butuh motornya, sudah saya *tuuuuuuut* dia!

Berbekal rasa tak tahu malu, saya kembali memaksa dia mengojeki saya saat saya bertemu dia di kantin pas makan siang tadi. Tentu saja dia sok nolak lagi.
"Gile lu, gue baru sampe kantor nih!"
"Ntar gue dicariin!" (sapa sih yang mau nyariin elu, Je?)
"Gue harus ngerjain sesuatu."
Tentu saja saya tetap bersikap tak tahu malu. Terus memaksa. (Ha!)
Akhirnya, dia menyerah juga.
"Sekarang ya?!"
"Sekarang jam makan siang. Disono juga tutup kalee!"
"Elu tuh emang paling-paling deh! Udah minta tolong tapi pake minta syarat lagi!"
Dia cuma bisa menggerutu.

Setelah dia selesai makan -dan saya BELUM-, dia bilang dia akan menunggu saya di lobi. Saya selesai makan setengah jam kemudian...
Setengah jam kemudian, saya berlari ke ruangan saya di lantai 4 untuk mengambil perabotan lenong yang mau dibawa. Sambil berjalan turun tangga (lagi), saya menelpon dia.
"Ya udah, gue turun," katanya singkat.
Eh, ternyata perabotan saya ketinggalan satu. Saya balik naik lagi ke lantai 4.
Dari kaca-kaca gedung, saya bisa lihat teman saya ini sudah sampai di lapangan parkir. Saya juga lihat dia berjalan menuju parkiran motor yang berseberangan dengan pintu lobi.

Sesampainya saya di parkiran, dia berteriak-teriak sambil berjalan cepat menuju saya. Di tangannya ada kunci motor.
"Dep! Dep! Motor gue.... ilang! Motor gue.... ilang!"
Beberapa karyawan menjadi saksi kepanikannya.
"Apaan sih, lu?"
"Gue pikir motor gue ilang!"
"Hah?"
"Gue kan gak bawa motor hari ini!"
"Jadi motor elu ilang atau apa sih?"
"Gue tadi ke parkiran. Gue nyariin motor gue kok gak ada. Gue pikir motor gue ilang."
"Jadi motor elu ilang?"
"Gak! Hari ini gue gak bawa motor! Huahahahaha..."
Pemirsa, kalo ada orang yang bisa menertawakan ke*tuuuut*an sendiri, Je lah orangnya.
"Naek mobil lo aja deh!"
"Emangnya elu bisa markirin?!" semprot saya. "Gue ngajak elu karena butuh motor lu!"
"Emangnya parkir butuh skills sendiri ya?" semprot dia balik.
"Dodol! Elu kan gak bisa nyupir! Ntar kalo gue kudu turun, mobil gue mo ditaro mana?!"
"Ya udah, kita naek bajaj aja!"
Sambil ketawa-tawa dia ngajak saya naik ojek. Saya mengikuti dia sambil mikir. Kayaknya ada yang aneh nih.

Sebelum dia sempat memanggil bajaj, saya memberi pengakuan.
"Je, gue gak bisa nawar. Elu aja yang nawar ya!"
"Elu tuh ibu-ibu gak bisa nawar!"
"Sembarangan lu ngomong gue ibu-ibu!"
"Nih, lu liat orang Arab nawar."
Kayak penting banget gitu nunjukin ras pas kondisi begitu?!

Hebatnya, dia berhasil menawar si tukang bajaj untuk mengantar kita ke Salemba dari kantor di Pramuka seharga 8000 saja! Laen kali gue bawa ke tukang sayur gue ya, Je!
Di dalam bajaj saya masih berasa ada yang aneh.
"Elu tadi naek apa ke kantor?"
"Jalan. Eh, elu lama gak entar?"
"Gak," jawab saya.
Si Je menyolek tukang bajaj, "Bang, entar tungguin kita ya. Kita cuma bentar."
Si abang ngangguk aja.
"Je, si bajaj mau dibawa masuk?"
"Iya."
"Terus ini bajaj parkir dimana pas gue turun?"
"Nggg...."
"Lagian elu ngapain ikut gue ke Salemba? Gue kan cuma butuh motor lu."
"Hiahahahaha.... Bego banget ya, gue?!"
Saya gak komen.
"Terus tadi gue pake belagak nolak diajak lagi! Huahahaha...."
Saking kesiannya, saya janji padanya untuk tidak menghina dia hari ini, while I have a very good reason to do it!
"Terus motor lu ditaro mana?"
"Di kos."
"Kenapa bajaj ini gak nganter kita ke kosan elu aja terus kita naik motor?"
Wajah si Je seperti mendapat pencerahan. Singkat cerita, dia nyolek si abang lagi untuk berhenti sebelum pintu kereta api Pramuka.
"Sini aja, Bang! Ini duitnya, Bang! Berapa tadi? 8 ribu?!"
Udah gitu, pemirsa, dia juga yang bayar bajajnya! Dia yang bayar!

Singkat cerita lagi, kami berhasil mengambil motor Je dari kosannya. Sebelum jalan, dia memberi saya sepotong(!) helm yang saya gak yakin ada fungsinya selain untuk mengusir Polisi.
"Je, elu jangan jatoh ya!"
"Je, elu punya SIM kan?"
"Please, deh, Dep. Udah jalan bgini elu baru nanya SIM?!"
"Je, elu nyupirnya model supir metromini naek motor ya?"
"Je, ini kok anginnya banyak banget sih?"
Bukannya menenangkan saya, dia malah sibuk cerita. Kepalanya ditolehkan ke kiri untuk bercerita sepanjang jalan. Sepanjang jalan!!!
"Je, elu itu satu-satunya orang yang nyupir motor sambil ngobrol, tau gaaaaak?!"
Jawaban dia singkat aja.
"Dep, kalo kita sampe ke kantor dengan selamat, elu kudu beramal artinya!"
O-MY-GOD!

Je, my friend, this is my way of saying thank you. With you, a day is never ordinary. Tapi teteup, gue masih pengen idup!!!

Pesan moral saya kali ini adalah try to have an extraordinary day once in awhile. Leave your comfort zone -in my case riding a motor bike with this insanely crazy creature0 and have a blast. Don't forget your helmet, though. Safety always comes first even on the most extraordinary days.

I don't know if it's busy-ness, boredom, or simply mindless-ness (if such thing ever exists). I do know, however, it's been circulating like virus. First, Pak Dhe went MIA, then Nenek went AWOL, and finally I just couldn't find the right words to write in my blog. Gosh, it was so easy to follow their lead and just forget about this blog.

Naturally, when s**t happens, people I'm busy to find something to blame. Or someone. Or both. In my case, it's easier to blame my work load and the people behind it. I'm just a human being after all.

Lately, my work has been draining my positive energy. I have learned that I should not write anything, or even be near any writing tools (paper, notebook, notebook, tabletop...) when my positive energy level is low. I have learned, though, that kick-boxing-kind of aerobics IS the best place to be when my positive energy level needs recharging.

Then there was this day when I was so fed up with something, and then someone, and then both, but I couldn't get my trainer to give me a private kick-boxing session. Eventually I wrote 'My Life Doesn't Begin At Work' for my FB status. In no time, people gave comments. How nice.
One friend wrote '... it just ends there', which was quite amusingly catchy if I was in a different mood. Another friend put '... but it revolves there', which was also amusing but of course I would never admit that to him. I will admit, though, that my life is indeed kind of revolving around my work. And I hate that very much. I also know the only thing that can stop my work from ruining my life is to turn off my cell phone. Period.

Period?
There was this movie about a daughter who felt burdened by her father's certain expectations on her. The daughter wanted to go on with her life but she couldn't because she felt it would be like betraying her dear father. That would be what would happen if I turned off my cell phone. It would be like betraying my friends while they were in a combat field. Then I remembered what an old lady said to this miserable daughter. The old lady took the daughter's cell phone and turned it off. She then said, "sometimes what you need is simply to turn off the phone".
I don't have an old lady who can grab my phone and turn it off for me.
So, I decided to do it myself.

Message of the day: when you feel that the world gives you too much pressure, you can always turn off the phone. PHONE! Do not turn off the internet connection you use for blogging!

Indonesia katanya negara yang heterogen.
Bangsanya bangga dengan keaneka ragaman rasnya.
Slogan Bhinneka Tunggal Ika dikobar-kobarkan.
Fanatisme kesukuan ditabukan.
Sekolah-sekolah, sebagai agen pendoktrinan, mengajarkan perbedaan itu indah.

Coba lihat bagaimana sekolah -sebagai perpanjangan tangan departemen pendidikan- mengaplikasikan konsep perbedaan.
Salah satu kalimat di ujian sekolah dasar berbunyi...
Tini (entah kenapa, subyek penderita di sekolah selalu bernama Tini dan/atau Tono) pergi sekolah memakai baju...
a. Baru
b. Bagus
c. Seragam

Jawaban yang diharapkan?
Tentu C. Tini pergi sekolah memakai baju seragam.

Memangnya semua pelajar pergi sekolah harus pakai seragam?! Sepenting itu kah seragam sehingga harus dijadikan salah satu nomer dalam ujian?!

Anda bisa menebak jawaban Hikari?
petunjuk: Sekolah Hikari sekolah bermetode non konvensional.

Mereka harus gugur lagi?!

Mereka gugur lagi...