Anonymous on ask.fm: "Please write down your type of girl" #serious

It is uncommon for guys to determine the types of girls that they want. Guys usually go for anything roaming out there. Just like fishing, we don't really bother with the kind of fish we're looking for. That if we're lucky enough to catch one. You might wanna rephrase your questions to: what kind of girl would be perfect to you? That, my friend, I would be very happy to answer.

I want her to be adventurous. We would travel together to the most absurd places in the world, using the worst transportation available, yet she enjoys every moments of it. Andes to Kilimanjaro. Sahara to Gobi. Aurora Borealis to Emperor Penguin.

I want her to be flexible. She should be able to appreciate a 1974 Cabernet Sauvignon on the roof of the tallest building in town, but still finds ecstatic pleasure eating a fried tofu in the local street market. She could be my mom's new best friend, and still bursts into laughter hearing cheap, dirty jokes from my buddies.

I want her to be artsy batsy. When we go to the museum, she would talk of Picasso, Magritte and even Dada. She enjoys good music with a cup of coffee, reading Nikolai Gogol. And when we have a live music in a cafe, she would not hesitate to step up the stage and say; "This song is for that guy who's sitting over there!"

I want her to be beautiful. Just the way she is. She will still look beautiful even before shower. She should have the face that makes you grateful to have such angelic beauty in your life. The face that will be the first you see every morning, for the rest of your life, yet never bores you anytime soon

I want her to be random. She can speak foreign languages from countries you never heard of. She enjoys being alone on the roof watching the sunset. She's unpredictable. She would be mad at you during uncertain times, and in uncertain places, doing uncertain things. You would get enough of her. But you realize that you still love her, without any specific reason.

I want her to be wild. Untamed. Independent. Liberal. Free like a bird. Brave like a lion. Cunning like a fox. She should be strong. As if she doesn't need me. But when we meet, we know that we are bound to each other. No matter how strong we are. 

Lastly, I want her to make my 'box' bigger. Within this 'box', I have put all my past, present and future. All the experiences, stories, knowledge. My financial status, careers, lifestyle. My dreams, my opportunities, my success, my happiness. EVERYTHING. All contained within this 'box'. Now, when I look at her, I'm pretty sure that she is the only one who can make my 'box' bigger.




She's not gonna be easy. But, she's gonna be worth it.

All the pictures below are taken from the book 'Codex Seraphinianus', by Luigi Serafini. It is also generally known as the weirdest book in the world. A big thank you to Danny Fahey for showing me this inconceivable, mind-boggling masterpiece.

Art as we know it might not be what we've understand this entire time. Unless, you're a bohemian or some sort of avant-garde, post-modern, freudian, surrealist, or any member of other occult groups that is not listed even on Wikipedia.

I began my journey through the world of art only to found out that true art needs no explanation. But of course, tertiary education around the globe often features subjects like literature and art philosophy. In fact, some major works of art often have a deeper meaning, implicitly imbued beneath words, sentences, even acts and animations.

Some example: Some scenes in Disney's 'Pinocchio' symbolizes masonry and child slavery, while Studio Ghibli's 'Spirited Away' highlights human greed and gluttony, also criticized environmental damage in modern day Japan.

But, the more I studied one work, the harder it gets to describe the meaning, especially when there is none. We, arts people, and virtually everyone who had studied in the Western secular education system, are challenged to be skeptical; questions everything beneath the surface until we squeeze dry even the last drop of knowledge that only leads to a new, more complicated question. Its a never ending loop.

Until I had a chat with my senior, Rama, just this afternoon while enjoying a nice box of Japanese bento. And I only bragged about how much I know (and desperately wanted to buy) this weird, surrealist book titled 'Codex Seraphinianus'.

We talked, and I said, "What if authors only write words LITERALLY? No deeper meaning behind it. But those literature guys are just too smart, or too dumb, to think that those words has other meaning than its literal meaning?"

I even gave him an example, "If I write 'blue sky', I would only want it to be, literally, a blue sky. Nothing else. But you, as a literaturist (is that even a word?), might think 'blue sky' as... I don't know. As peace? Or serenity? Tranquility?"

And he said, "Art is very subjective."

I listened.

"What the authors do is just write." He continued, "Their job is just to enhance and amplify your imagination, while your job is to give meaning and purpose to his artwork. The rest is within your mind."

He silenced me.



Authors sells an idea. You play with it.

Apa kabar Melbourne?

Oh, Melbourne baik-baik saja. Bahkan lebih baik daripada biasanya. Entah kenapa, kota ini dengan segala macam sihirnya bisa membuat gue lebih rindu daripada gue merindukan kota kelahiran gue sendiri. Dan untuk beberapa malam terakhir, The Capital City of Hipsters ini makin berwarna. Saat yang tepat untuk melepas asa bersama jutaan warna-warni yang menerangi gelapnya malam hingga ke sudut paling gelap di mimpi buruk kalian.

Seiring kita dewasa, beberapa dari kita mungkin akan mulai merantau dari rumah. Jauh dari keluarga, teman dan rumah kita masing-masing. Menuju sebuah tempat, yang mungkin tidak begitu jauh, tapi begitu asing bagi seorang pendatang seperti kita. Kita beradaptasi, begitu sulit, selalu kangen rumah dan tak jarang merasa sendiri dan tak berdaya.

Perlahan kita bangkit. Mulai dari hal kecil seperti memasak sendiri, mencuci, mengurus segala keperluan rumah tangga dengan tangan kita sendiri, hingga menjadi sebuah kebiasaan. Banyak hal baru yang kita temukan. Tempat nongkrong baru, makanan paling murah di sudut kota paling antah berantah, selera musik yang berbeda, fashion, gaya hidup hingga hal-hal kecil seperti belajar cebok dengan tissue.

Waktu berlalu, dan kita menemukan wajah-wajah baru dalam kehidupan. Dan senantiasa memasukkan wajah yang lama dalam kenangan, atau sebuah foto dari beberapa tahun lalu yang ada di sudut terdalam Facebook kita masing-masing. Kita belajar bahwa friendship is seasonal. Bahkan Path mengajarkan kalian agar hanya dekat dengan 150 orang paling berarti dalam kehidupan kalian yang sekarang.

Dan apa yang terjadi ketika kalian kembali ke kampung halaman kalian? Dengan pedih kalian akan menyadari bahwa rumah kalian yang dulu bukanlah rumah kalian yang sekarang. Obrolan kalian tidak lagi nyambung dengan mereka, kalian bahkan tidak tahu tren dan kata-kata gaul terbaru yang beredar. Kerabat kalian perlahan mulai pergi menyusuri jalan hidup mereka masing-masing. Bahkan untuk sekedar jalan bareng pun adalah perjuangan. Dan ketika kalian ada dirumah, kalian berpikir "this is just a house, not a home anymore."

Kalianpun menyadari bahwa konsep rumah tak lagi berarti bagi kalian. Dan mungkin mulai membenarkan kata-kata "a home is where your heart is'. Lama-kelamaan, kalian tidak ingin pulang lagi, dan kalian akan lebih menikmati hidup di kota kalian yang sekarang. Pada akhirnya, banyak manusia yang tidak ingin pulang kembali ke negara asalnya. Bukan karena mereka tidak mau, tapi karena hati mereka sudah menemukan sebuah 'rumah' yang baru. Dan seperti rumah dalam arti sebenarnya, jika kita pindah kerumah yang baru, hampir mustahil bagi kita untuk kembali kerumah yang lama.




Dan, jika kalian datang bertamu ke rumah baru saya. Saya siap menerima kalian dengan sambutan dan kopi paling hangat untuk hati kalian, spesial dari hati saya.