Farhan's Almanac

I've noticed this personally. Not that I've achieved all I aimed for in life by any means. But then, when I have achieved some things, they weren't so much something to be proud of. There were either things I still wasn't happy with, or they still weren't as good as they could have been, or as good as other people's achievements. Other people being pleased with the result would bring some relief but then, not totally. To an extent, it's been good to have this mindset. It meant there was never a sense of having accomplished enough, so there were then new things to strive for. On the other hand though, not experiencing much joy from achieving certain goals means it makes you question whether any other or higher goals are worth struggling towards. If none are going to bring satisfaction, why bother? I suppose because there was also a sense of failure if I didn't try at all. Plus, the practical danger that I may have to return to a menial job that I would ha...

Tenang, ini bukan interogasi polisi. Ini hanya satu pertanyaan kecil yang mungkin diam-diam Anda pikirkan tiap kali buka toko online, lihat story orang, atau mikirin soal masa depan. Mari mulai dengan sesuatu yang sederhana. Bayangkan Anda akhirnya beli iPhone 17 Pro Max 2 TB Cosmic Orange yang sudah lama Anda incar. Yang Anda pikirkan mungkin adalah “Wah, enak nih buat kerja, render lebih kenceng, multitasking sat-set, rekam video gak takut habis memori, baterai awet, layar enak buat nonton.” “Ini kalau dipost di story pasti banyak yang reply: ‘anjay’, ‘spill dong harganya’, ‘gila naik kelas’, ‘boba tiga nih ye’.” Jawab dengan jujur, yang mana yang lebih dulu muncul? Ini bukan soal benar atau salah, tapi siapa sebenarnya yang sedang Anda layani? Diri Anda sendiri, atau “penonton” di luar sana? Kita geser ke hal yang lebih sensitif: pasangan . Mungkin Anda pernah (atau sedang) suka sama seseorang yang kalau jalan bareng dia, Anda bisa kebayang komentar orang “Gila, kok bisa sih dapetin...

Disagreement isn’t always easy to handle, it can feel uncomfortable or even upsetting. But I’ve learned it’s where the real work begins. The best meetings I’ve been in didn’t end with fast nods. They started moving when someone said, “I see it differently,” and we had to slow down, ask better questions, and sharpen the idea. History backs this up. For centuries, many people in Europe followed the Ptolemaic view: Earth at the center , everything else moving around it. It fit what the eye could see. In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus put forward a controversial thought: the planets, including Earth, orbit the Sun. Decades later, Galileo Galilei pointed a new tool, the telescope, at the sky. He saw moons circling Jupiter and the phases of Venus. They were clues that supported a Sun-centered system. His support for this view sparked fierce debate. Tragically, he was tried and kept under house arrest! The cost was real. But the long-term result was a shift in how people looked at the world and wh...

I'll never forget the moment it all began. After a lifetime spent within the familiar sprawl of Jabodetabek, I was finally venturing beyond it. I stood in line to check my bag, my mind buzzing, a part of me still questioning if any of it was real. Then the plane pulled up to the gate. Watching everyone rush to get on board, it finally felt real. Those first few moments are seared into my memory, every detail I can still see clearly. The flight from CGK to DTB was a blur. I spent the entire flight with my face pressed against the window, staring at a landscape that was completely foreign. Green hills spread under a cloudy sky, a striking contrast to everything I had ever known. Landscape near Silangit Airport I walked down the terminal, taking it all in. I couldn’t stop looking around. The air smelled different, and everyone was speaking a language I didn't know. Everything screamed, " You're not in Jakarta anymore." The rush of excitement was so intense it felt l...

Who built Thebes of the 7 gates?  In the books you will read the names of kings.  Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock?  And Babylon, many times demolished,  Who raised it up so many times?  In what houses of gold glittering Lima did its builders live?  Where, the evening that the Great Wall of China was finished, did the masons go? Great Rome is full of triumphal arches.  Who erected them?  Over whom did the Caesars triumph?  Had Byzantium, much praised in song, only palaces for its inhabitants?  Even in fabled Atlantis, the night that the ocean engulfed it,  The drowning still cried out for their slaves.  The young Alexander conquered India. Was he alone?  Caesar defeated the Gauls.  Did he not even have a cook with him?  Philip of Spain wept when his armada went down.  Was he the only one to weep?   Frederick the 2nd won the 7 Years War.  Who else won it?  Every page a victory....

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime Pas awal masuk kuliah, ketemuan sama Kalkulus I. Awalnya b aja ye kan mirip matematika SMA, eh taunya lama-lama beuh ribet banget. Asli lebih susah Kalkulus I daripada Kalkulus II dan Kalkukus Lanjut. Kalkulus II sama Lanjut itu kan materinya bener-bener baru, jadi tipe soalnya gak yang mendalam banget, lebih ke aplikatif gitu deh. Kalau Kalkulus I kan udah dapet di SMA, jadi pas kuliah, materinya udah advanced gitu. Soal-soalnya teoritis banget, serasa anak FMIPA jadinya hadeh. Semester 1 sampe 2 gw masih ngerasain kuliah oflen. Setiap mau ujian (UTS, UAS, bahkan kadang kuis), mahasiswa itu nanti diajarin sama asisten kayak review materi atau latihan soal gitu (Ini sebenernya opsional si, terserah asitennya. Asisten gw aja yang rajin). Gw lupa sih siapa asisten Kalkulus I pas itu, tapi doi dari dept. metal atau mesin gitu. Kita belajar si ruang K.301, ruangannya kayak tempat kuliah luar ...

Pernah gak sih kalian mau mengungkapkan sesuatu tapi rasanya gak ada kata-kata yang cukup untuk menggambarkan perasaan atau ide dalam otak? Bukan salah lo kok, tapi ini salahnya Bahasa Indonesia HAHAHAHAHAHA. "Lah kok bisa salahnya Bahasa Indonesia?" Coba kita telisik berapa banyak daftar kata di Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. Berdasarkan sumber akurat dan terpercaya a.k.a Wikipedia, KBBI "hanya" ngelist ( see? This is what I mean ) 127.036 entri. Kalau dibandingin sama kamus Webster Bahasa Inggris sih kalah telak, 470.000 entri. Makanya acap kali orang Indonesia kalau ngomongin topik yang agak advanced tuh pasti dicampur sama beberapa kata Inggris. Sebenernya sih udah ada usaha buat memperkaya bahasa Indonesia, kayak menyerap, membuat kata baru, atau menghidupkan kembali kata-kata arkais. Tapi usaha gak kenceng. Alah bisa karena biasa. Seharusnya dari media massa kek dipaksakan untuk menggunakan istilah dalam bahasa Indonesia biar terbiasa masyarakat dengernya. Zuzu...