Sudoku Puzzle
It’s Valentine’s Day. Nothing happened. I got two V texts from Ubud connections -- IN, an artist, and SA, ex PLV staff -- maybe it’s a big celebration there. People remembered. Nice tho to get from the least expected persons.
My life today is ‘pressured’ by Sudoku Puzzle - SP. My Sis sent me SP along with 40th bday card. I just found the card among junk mails yesterday. I felt so bad I found it late, but I believe I got it late too, not in the same week. Anyway, her note was: Now that you’re forty, let’s see if you can solve thee.
SP is about nine 3x3-squares consist of some given digits. Rules are simple: we have to enter digits from 1 – 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must have one of each digit as must every column, and every 3x3-square. Therefore we need to check and re-check THOUSAND TIMES, whether we make mistake horizontally and / or vertically.
I started late last night. It looked simple at start, but it went complicated by minutes. My tactics often changed, looked like no tactic could be applied. I took it to bed for a few minutes before slept, feeding my curiosity. Woke up with SP again, and during breakfast, and till now I haven’t solved it. I did it on n off cos it needs to be away after awhile to be able to see the big ‘picture.’ It’s getting close but it never comes reaaal close cos big change can occur in any square. Grr.. Now I don’t know if I ever conquer it although I only have one 3x3-square left. Think I would never give it up. A challenge for my 40 year old brain. I don’t want to admit my brain has expired. Oh.. my Sis knew exactly how to activate my brain. Thanks to her.
My day then was all about learning. SP pushed me to learn that anything can change, like life, nothing is permanent. Like life too, in SP, any progress can change the rest easily. Nothing is fixed. But I may miss the challenge after I conquer SP. No fun anymore. So, it’s all about the journey, not the destination.
Yaa.. Someone reminded me to watch my E grammar. I’d been thinking about it long time cos one also said that I don’t have good Bahasa. Aah.. I really have to slow down life; I think too fast, I speak too fast, I walk too brisk, I drive too fast, I move too quick,… Slooow… Let mind takes everything slowly; I don’t need to rush anything.
I’m thinking in mixed languages, no such first language for me (first language: language we use for counting, praying, showing anger, cursing, n all about spontaneous verbal...) In a day, I write and speak E 60%, Bahasa 35%, Java 4%, Dutch 1%. Bahasa is simple (if not poor) language, E and Java are richer in expressions. I may have ‘translated’ from one language to another so that creates confusion. Even my staffs have difficulty in understanding me. I talk like blab blab blab while searching for the right words. I learn to take my time now. I take a deep breath, think about the sentence and the order first, then talk ha ha.. I have to make sure that all words are in Bahasa, not even in Java, cos not all my staffs are Javanese.
A friend called me yesterday. After we hung up, I observed. I’d spoken using too many languages. He’s a Javanese and understands E very well. Conveying my message with the exact expressions in short time, I mixed it all. That’s not what I wanted. I want to speak 100% of ONE language at a time. Not mixing it. Oh I have tried but I need to work on it more. My E and Bahasa are both awkward. My cousins called it “bahasa buku,” yaa very bookish with the right subject-verb-object rule. Aarrgghh…
But yes, I need to open my E grammar book again (and may also check the latest Bahasa grammar -- Bahasa is ‘developing.’). And also, I have to learn to write slowly and not just change the word without minding the prepositions and articles that attached. In Bahasa is easier to do well cos no such things. That’s why I’m not interested in learning German. I know I will have difficulty to remember the feminine and masculine of a WORD! Hm.. Well, thanks to someone who reminded me!
Now 15:25, I decided to stop puzzling with Sudoku. It has taken my day serving my curiosity. I intermittently did other thing as a result. I really have to stop now and go on with my day. But I will return to SP some time very soon. I know it still tickles my curiosity.
So far, I got three more V messages from loved oneeesss.. Sudoku puzzling ha ha..
Note: Photo of Sudoku Puzzle I did so far.