yet another coincidence

"are you superstitious?"
of all questions, that's what he asked me once he got on my bike. I take some moment weighed the question before decided to answer "I never think about that".

I met Nick Hogan, twenty-something-year-old-man with sharp eyes and curly hair from Singapore, at the book launching two weeks ago. he and his dad stopped by to my office when I went to Bandung, and I thought that we won't meet again. but he popped in to the gallery when I was there to send a fax and answering two urgent emails on my day off. he said that he wanted to say goodbye before leaving tomorrow. and I said that he was lucky, because I'm about to leave when he walked in.

after we settled ourselves in a warung for lunch, he told me about a numerologist he went to before he came to Bali. he said that this numerologist asked him not to wear certain colors, to write his name 77 times every morning and other things. believe it or not, after he did that, more and more positive things happen. meeting me is one of it, he said. I smiled. he didn't add the fact that I make him losing his hat.
*feel guilty*

Nick plays guitar and plan to pursue a career as musician, after dropping off computer game somewhere. I found talking to him is so easy and fun. I'm sure it's because he come to the Ministry of Sound frequently. his family been traveling to Bali for long time and I think they always stay in the same place. a small guest house in Nyuh Kuning where I took him after lunch. his room in the second floor is overlooking the field. from the facade, I saw a man picking Bunga Pacah with a basket in his hands. birds chirping in a nearby tree, the wind blowing softly. such a calming scene.

he played a sweet song for me the that noon. sweet enough to make me smile while seeing his fingers dancing on the finger board and strings. whether that song bring me a good luck or not, I don't know. all I know is the coincidence unexpectedly continued. soon after the song finished, Ivo called me to say that he's in Ubud! yay! and I can meet him at Monkey Forest. yay again! I'm so happy because earlier that day, I thought that I won't be able to meet him until the day after. and that I will have to go down all the way to Kuta. but now he's here. he's here!

and when I talked to Ivo under a Banyan Tree, it was Anand, one of my friend in Jakarta, walking toward my directions. turned out that Ivo and Anand working in the same place, and they're in the same group that visiting Ubud after shopping in Sukawati. aha!
oooh, so many surprises packed in one day! more than enough to make me smile for the rest of the week. this is my independence day gift!

*dancing*
--I made this post in English so that Nick will understand

intergalactic conversation

I listen to this song on the way to the Airport with Ido and Oscar. it was 5 am and I'm sooo... sleeepy I couldn't lift my eyelids. but then the song is started and I got sober immediately after the intro.

"Good evening. This is the intergalactic operator. Can I help you?"
"Yes. I'm trying to reach flight commander P.R. Johnson, on Mars, flight 2-4-7"
"Very well, hold on please [beeping] you're through!"
"Thank you operator!"

Hi darlin' ! How are you doing ?
Hey baby, where're your sleeping ?
Oh I'm sorry, but I've been really missing you !

Hi darlin' ! How's the weather?
Say baby, is that cold better now ?
Oh I'm sorry, is there someone there with you??

Ooooh...since you went away, there's nothing goin' right !
I just can't sleep alone at night... I'm not ashamed to say
I badly need a friend...or it's the end.

Now, when I look at the cloud's across the moon.
Here in the night I just hope and pray that soon.
Oh baby, you'll hurry home to me.

Hi darlin', the kids say they love you.
Hey baby, is everything fine with you?
Please forgive me, but I'm trying not to cry...

Ooooh...I've had a million different lovers on the phone.
But I just stayed right here at home.
I don't think that I can take it anymore this crazy war.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but we are
experiencing violent storm conditions in the asteriod belt at this
time. We may lose this valuable deep space communication link.
Please, be as brief as possible.
Thank you."

or it's...or it's..."Hello?" "Hello operator?"
" Yes, we've lost the connection! Could you try again please?"
-"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we've lost contact with Mars 2-4-7
at this time."

"Ok. Thank you very much...
I'll...I'll try again next year...next year...next year...next year..."

Yes, it's RAH Band, Clouds Across the Moon. The lyric is so fun, I didn't recognize that it was made in 1985, despite the old sound effect they use. I posted it on my beloved Kampung Gajah, hoping that one of the member have the song and willing to give it to me. and I got it!!!
thanks banget yah, Tukang Kiridit!

foto, buku dan maskara

usia adalah salah satu hal yang tidak pantas ditanyakan pada seorang wanita, oleh karena itulah, sampai saat ini aku tetap tidak tahu berapa sebenarnya usia Gill Marais. yang aku tahu, dia menghabiskan tujuhbelas tahun dari usianya itu untuk memotret berbagai upacara di seluruh pelosok Bali. karya-karyanya mewakili ketekunan, persahabatan dan keberuntungan. tekun karena ada seri foto upacara yang memerlukan sedikitnya lima tahun untuk melengkapinya. Gill akan datang ke upacara yang sama setiap tahun, berusaha memotret ulang momen-momen yang ia lewatkan, sampai semuanya menjadi komplet. untuk memotret karya-karya itu, dia perlu bersahabat dengan orang Bali, dengan para pemangku, pedanda dan pendeta, karena sangat tidak mungkin seorang turis tanpa permisi datang membawa kamera canggih dengan berbagai lensa, tripod, dan flash seperti senter lalu mengambil foto sebanyak-banyaknya. dari persahabatan itu, Gill beruntung bisa mendapatkan akses khusus untuk masuk ke daerah yang suci, misalnya Jeroan pura, agar bisa memotret saat-saat para pendeta menyadarkan orang setelah trance, misalnya.

foto-foto karya Gill mempertemukanku dengannya. bersama dengan pertemuan itu, aku juga berjumpa dengan sepasang ibu-anak yang mengumpulkan karya-karya Gill dan mencetaknya menjadi buku. Sarita Newson adalah wanita yang terlihat lembut hati dan sabar. jenis orang yang bisa meluluhkan kekerasan hati dengan senyum dan kata-kata lembut, tanpa mengurangi ketegasannya. hal-hal inilah yang dia wariskan juga pada anaknya, Kadek Krishna Adidharma, lulusan teknik lingkungan yang dengan rendah hati akan bilang "cuma bantu-bantu ibu saja" setiap kali ditanya apa kesibukannya. jawaban yang memberi kesan seolah yang dilakukannya adalah beli minyak tanah ke warung, atau cuci piring setelah makan malam, dan bukannya mengelola sebuah kantor yang menerbitkan buku untuk diedarkan secara internasional.

sekali lagi, aku harus merasa beruntung karena punya kesempatan untuk mengerjakan suatu hal yang melibatkan keindahan, dan bisa menyentuh hati orang banyak pada saat yang sama. foto-foto yang dimasukkan dalam buku berjudul Sacred and Secret itu, merekam banyak hal yang sarat makna. ritual berusia ratusan tahun, yang lebih banyak dilakukan daripada dipahami. upacara-upacara yang dilakukan dengan standar yang diiturunkan secara lisan dari generasi ke generasi. dengan detil dan kerja keras yang mengagumkan.



jadi! buat yang mau lihat pamerannya, harus buru-buru ke Komaneka, karena semua karya diturunkan dari dinding pada tanggal 22 Agustus. dan kalo mau beli bukunya, yang di indonesia untuk sementara cuma ada 300 buah saja (dan terus berkurang setiap hari), bisa japri aku juga.

OK!... yang barusan itu tadi spam. tapi kan ini blogku, jadi boleh dong... promosi sedikit. lagipula, aku pikir aku perlu melakukannya untuk Gill yang gigih dalam perburuan fotonya, dan untuk Sarita yang sangat menghargai kerja kecil yang aku lakukan untuk mereka, serta untuk Krishna, orang pertama yang mengerti dan bersedia menyetir dengan hati-hati ditengah arus lalu lintas Ubud-Denpasar yang padat, sehingga aku berhasil memakai maskara tanpa belepotan waktu menumpang mobilnya.