When I click the Publish button, this lady and her two friends will have landed -- or been minutes away from landing -- in Kupang. Without meaning disrespect to Kupang, and eventually East Timor, I assume she won't be reading this blog anytime soon.

Which means it's now safe for me to publish this kind of entry, without the risk of having her nose fly away -- an inside joke, don't worry about it.

The hotel room's air conditioner was running strong. Yet, the beads of sweat on the 60-year-old man's forehead were evident. His gaze swept the room slowly, pausing for a tad longer when it met each of the three pairs of eyes.

"All right. Now that I've shared with you my concerns, does anyone have anything to say?"

Silence. As expected.

"Anyone? Anything?"

Some movements produced the slightest sounds. The muteness otherwise prevailed.

As the day drew to a close, soldiers from both parties dragged their tired bodies to the respective camps. It had been agreed to have a ceasefire every night, to allow for the exhausted to recharge, the wounded to be treated, the falling comrades to be buried -- only for the survivors to resume killing the next morning.

Such an irony, if not a sorry attempt by the mankind to make humane what is not. To whitewash the biggest mistake that is war.

The usual long strategic briefings ensued. Battalion commanders reported how many they had lost, made assessments for today and recommendations for the next day, and generally tried to look tough in spite of everything. The generals took these in and had their discussions before passing the final orders.

...for narcissism?

Kutatap kursor yang berkedip-kedip di atas jendela Outlook-ku. Kugerakkan penunjuk tetikus ke sudut kanan bawah layar komputerku: 10:23. Aku sudah menghabiskan hampir satu jam, berusaha mengkonstruksi surat elektronik ini. Berkali-kali sudah kutulis satu-dua alinea hanya untuk kuhapus lagi.

You know, I always dislike grammar nazis. Check that. I loathe them.

I'm of the opinion that no matter how grammatically incorrectly one delivers one's ideas, it should not cloud our judgment on whether what he or she tries to express makes sense or not. Well, short of that person saying, "I'm a ManU fan because they is so cool!"

Because they is so not.

Some weeks back, a friend asked me what my passion was. It turned out to be a rather difficult question.

What is my passion?

He -- contrary to what most people choose to believe, not all my friends are female, thank you -- tried to help me out: what thing you have are you most proud of, what makes you voluntarily spend heaps of time and money on, what has you travel miles just to get it?

Akhirnya balik juga di Jakarta. Ini beberapa hasil perjalanan selanjutnya.

Bersama Bapak Made, presdir Bali Medianet -- De, kok banyak error git git sih situsnya?

Ampir dua minggu di tanah aer, inilah beberapa hasilnya...

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