"Punk Paradox" by Claudya Marthen in Jakarta Fashion Week 2014

Studs and spikes.

Tulles and leather.

Chic and tough.

What more can I say?

This collection is fierce!

(When) The Honeymoon Phase (is Over)

The night is getting darker. A young lover was ready to end the day, when a random thought suddenly appears.

"When the honeymoon phase is over, we'll be back to our normal life, huh?"

"What?"

"Well... You'll chase the girls and I should face all the rejections."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That's how we live our life before we met each other."

"I thought we're going to have a new life."

"There's no such thing as new life, anyway, if we don't change ourselves to be a brand new person."

"I'll change."

"I told myself that I'll change, too, but there might be moments when my fear of rejection is about to rise again, like how it used to before I met you. In other way, you might find another girl(s) that prettier than me, hotter than me, smarter than me, and can give you wilder sex all night."

"Let's just enjoy the moment."

"...before it ends?"

"Don't be too cynical. I love you. You're beautiful."

"No one ever call me beautiful before, don't try to throw some bullshit on me."

"I'm not--"

"I'm tired. Let's just sleep."

***

The door is open. A cab in the driveway. The driver is putting some luggage into the trunk.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I've been thinking about it all night."

"I know you weren't sleeping. I heard you crying. I wasn't sleep all night, too. I can't believe you made this decision."

"I can't believe it either, but we aren't ready to move out of our past."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. It's just me being so afraid of getting hurt."

"What will you do now?"

"I will live all by myself, made a moratorium on relationship things..."

"...so no one will ever hurt you again? That's ridiculous. You're torturing yourself. You're hurting your own heart."

"It will be better than seeing you flirt with other girls."

"But I've promised you I won't do that anymore!"

"No--"

"YOU'RE BEING SO PARANOID!"

"Don't shout. Please. Don't shout."

"YOU'RE A PARANOID DRAMA QUEEN BITCH! YOU BLAME ME FOR SOMETHING I HAVEN'T DONE!"

"I promise I'll be back when I'm ready."

The door has closed.

Jakarta Fashion Week 2014 - "The Artist's Home" by Abocs

Weeks ago, I met this girl.

The first time I met her, I could clearly see her as the type of person who will never let you 

feel sad or angry.

The friend that will always cheer you up and make you laugh your ass off.

She's also a talented designer of Abocs.

The design represents her own character,

a combination of softness and maturity,

and a twist that will make you craving for her unique taste of creativity.

These are "The Artist's Home",

the series of 8 outfits from Abocs in Jakarta Fashion Week 2014.

This post is dedicated to Catherine Soepadhi,

the master mind of Abocs.

Happy birthday!

The Quintessential of Life

Okay, it's been quite a long time I haven't write on this blog, but I'm feeling a sudden urge to burst out what I'm thinking, right here, right now.

Jadi gini,

barusan abis nonton The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. I'm not a huge fan of Ben Stiller, but I will put this movie as one of the most memorable ones I've ever watched.

Bercerita tentang transformasi besar-besaran di sebuah majalah legendaris yang harus menghadapi kenyataan bahwa kini yang dibutuhkan pembaca ialah media yang lebih nyaman digenggam, nyaman dinikmati, dan luwes mengikuti perkembangan era. Media yang membuat para pembacanya tak perlu lagi merogoh kocek demi menikmati hasil perjuangan para jurnalisnya, karena bagi sebagian besar orang, bundelan media cetak hanya akan berakhir menjadi tumpukan sampah, tak peduli seberapa besar tenaga dan pemikiran yang dikerahkan untuk memproduksi satu artikel di dalamnya. There it goes, majalah LIFE pun harus bertransformasi menjadi LIFE Online. Separuh awak perusahaannya pun terpaksa didepak, karena format media cyber yang menawarkan efisiensi tak hanya bagi pembacanya, tapi juga bagi produsennya.

But the most valuable lesson to find in this movie is how to appreciate 

the quintessential of life.

Gw pernah kerja di media yang merasakan betul perubahan di industri ini.

Dulu, mungkin sampai satu dekade lalu, mereka masih yang nomor satu di genre-nya. Even my mom became one of their loyal subscribers. Imagine how happy she was when I told her I was accepted as a journalist of her favorite weekly tabloid. Gw pun pernah jadi pembaca setia mereka, karena apa yang nyokap gw baca, ikut gw baca juga (ada juga cerita tentang gw sering rebutan koran Kompas sama kakek gw waktu gw umur sekitar 4 tahun, I'll tell ya later). Tapi ternyata jaman berubah. Saat gw masuk ke sana, masa-masa kejayaan itu tidak lagi bisa dirasakan.

Berkurangnya sejumlah fasilitas, privilege yang dipangkas, sampai ketidakpuasan dengan manajemen perusahaan menjadi bagian dari transformasi yang dirasakan para senior. Kalo ngobrol-ngobrol sama senior di situ, pasti deh meluncur topik, "Dulu di sini enak, ada ......(isi titik-titik dengan hal-hal sederhana tapi keren, kayak jumlah driver yang lebih dari cukup, etc.)....."

Lalu semua fasilitas itu hilang, dimakan oplah yang terus menurun dan kecenderungan pembaca yang lebih senang membaca berita lewat telepon genggam ketimbang lembaran kertas. Tren media online semakin meningkat tajam. Keluwesannya dalam menggaet pembaca membuat format media online semakin banyak dilirik para pengusaha media. Bos media nggak perlu lagi kuatir sama berapa oplah yang terjual dan berapa yang diretur karena tidak disentuh calon pembaca, pembaca juga nggak perlu keluar duit banyak cuma buat baca puluhan artikel seminggu sekali atau sebulan sekali. Toh, dengan nominal yang sama (jika menghitung jumlah pulsa yang dihabiskan untuk koneksi data), kita bisa membaca berita dengan jumlah yang sama setiap hari.

Tapi apa berarti pengusaha media harus menyerah?

Tidak. Mereka hanya perlu menerima perubahan dan menyesuaikan diri dengan pembaruan.

Bertahan dengan format lama bukan berarti menolak perubahan mentah-mentah.

Just blend it in.

Masih inget film The Artist, kan? Saat seseorang terlalu keras kepala mempertahankan format seninya yang dianggap kuno, isi kepalanya malah akan mati dimakan bentuk baru.

Intinya,

di satu titik dalam kehidupan kita, akan ada momen dimana kita harus

move on.

Move on dari cara lama dan cicipi cara baru, atau membuat formula baru dengan komposisi 30% bahan lama dan 70% bahan baru. Kita tidak perlu orang baru, kita hanya perlu memformat ide-ide usang menjadi inovasi yang mengikuti jaman.

Iya, industri media tidak perlu menggusur muka-muka lama, asalkan mereka mampu mengakui adanya perubahan dan menyuntikkannya ke dalam ide orisinil yang sudah ada di otak mereka sejak lama.

Iya, tidak perlu mendepak wajah-wajah lama,

karena merekalah the quintessential of (media) life.

P.S: Menerima kritik juga salah satu ciri keluwesan dalam berpikir dan menerima ide-ide baru, lho. So if there's any of you, my former working partners, who read this, and you hate me because I expressed what I'm thinking, then you're not moving on :)