Memoir
Heyaa you should write a book yaa… A friend called me early this week after reading my long story about our friend’s visit in Ubud last week. I laughed. Who wants to read the story of my life?! Then she suggests me writing a fiction. So after a few turn takings, her message is Write every day and send me! Oh. I didn’t share my blog with her. A busy New Yorker in Jakarta won’t have time to read anyway.
I only started reading Sting’s memoir Broken Music two days ago although I’d already had the book since I watched his show in Singapore in 2005. I should believe that even a busy musician like Sting had time to write. I like his writing style. He says he’s not writing "a traditional autobiographical recitation of everything that's ever happened to me", only "exploring specific moments, certain people and relationships, and particular events which still resonate powerfully for me". But he writes with details of his feeling and memory that amazingly don’t bore me as reader. At all. A style that I don’t have confidence to start. Like my post, I rarely elaborate a situation. Well, actually, it’s all in mind.
Anyway, Sting’s memoir has flared up the little spark of desire to write a living memoir of Mama. My dormant desire since two years. I’d been searching for the right format that I hadn’t found till yesterday. In a few occasions in Malang, I'd talked about my plan with some of Mama’s closed colleagues but up to now nothing have materialized. I understand that they are busy with their lives too. So here I am in charge (I assigned myself) to make the memoir exists in the near future. I have set a milestone for the project – February next year before Mama’s 74th birthday. It doesn’t have to be in February, even later this year would be perfect. The sooner, the better.
I notice that people like to be ‘entertained’ with nice things. Nice things means positive. Hollywood movies entertain the audience with good-looking maid like Jen Lopez. It looks so unreal. I’m working out the same issue in writing Mama's living memoir. One’s life always has a combination of positive and negative, good and bad experiences, lightness and heaviness, yin and yang,…. So it becomes my challenge to pack up Mama’s life story into something only positive without forgetting the fact that she has lost Papa or struggled with life after had a stroke.
To speed up the project completion, I have set up a blog to communicate the material with sister Dina in the USA and later with persons who are involved in complementing the stories. A friend suggested me to also involve Mama in the process. I think it’s a good idea. He thinks that involving her would give her a chance to pass the legacy (which I believe she has a lot). We’re lucky that I live close to cousin Aga who could help us with layout design and printing later. So I must say that this time I, or must say, we don’t have reason not to kick this to happen soon. Ya Sis??
I made a trip up Tegallalang again today. I started before 10am when the sun was still weak. I stopped by some places and as always it’s a dangerous survey because it involved buying little things. It’s so tempting. Terracotta umbrella holder $2, tiny teakwood chair for display $4, big square batik coaster $1, white washed lying Buddha 80 cm $12,… Fine. I found a place that can take order to make display racks. The price is reasonable for sure. So I’m happy with my productive consumptive day. And before end of the day, Pallava made a big sales in six months. That makes my day!
Photo of Kampung Café where I spent before noon today.