Road Less Traveled

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference

Woods & Plain

I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately,
I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life,
To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die
Discover that I had not lived.

- Henry David Thoreau in Walden -
(as quoted in Dead Poet Society)

Why am I longing for the plain?

Super IQ Test

The Super IQ Test

My Result: Intuitive Investigator

People who are Intuitive Investigators have multiple talents and can do anything they set their mind to. They're able to detect numerical patterns easily and are able to grasp the true complexity of the world, both in its details and in a more abstract form. You've got a sharp logical mind and are adept at using words to get even a difficult point across. The combination of all these things makes them truly brilliant.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=superiqogt&c=50652

Classic IQ test

The Classic IQ Test

My Result: Visionary Philosopher

Your mind's strengths allow you to think ahead of the game — to imagine or anticipate what should come next in just about any situation. Because you're equally skilled in the numerical and verbal universes of the brain, you can draw from multiple sources of information to come up with great ideas. The timelessness of your vision and the balance between your various skills are what make you a Visionary Philosopher.



In addition to your strengths in math and linguistics, you have a knack for matching and anticipating patterns. These skills and your uncanny ability to detect the underlying blueprint of most of life's situations add to your Visionary Philosopher mind.
Two philosophers who share the same combination of skills you possess are Plato and Benedict Spinoza. Spinoza had insight into how things worked in the world. He could envision a future based on the patterns he saw in life, and used mathematical logic as a structure within which to present his philosophical arguments. With that base he was able to use logic to formulate his theories. Borrowing from his linguistic strengths he wrote eloquent texts and, therefore, was able to bring his philosophical ideas and structure to the rest of the world. His story exemplifies the talents that are present in the Visionary Philosopher intellectual type.



Whatever you decide to do in life, you've got a powerful mix of skills and insight that can be applied in a wide variety of ways. You can expand your mind to understand a situation. Your strong balance of math and verbal skills will help you explain things to others. For example, if you were on an archaeological dig and discovered an object, you could probably use your deductive powers to figure out not only what the object was but also how it was used. Given your ability to put things together, you are more than capable of inventing a life plan that is in synch with your perspective on how things were, how they are, and how they might be one day.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=uiqogt&c=50652

The Female Verses

The Love Verses (Ayat-Ayat Cinta) should be entitled The Female Verses (Ayat-Ayat Wanita) instead

Why do I come to that conclusion and what is the meaning? Let me start from the strong point and weak points of the book before going to the movie. I will not recite the content of the book (there is a very good summary here) and this review is meant for those who already watch it.

I have been telling to my friends that has read the book that it is practically a classic fairy tale storyline. If a man is pure of heart and act nobly, even though poor and not from royal blood, then he will get rich and marry beautiful girl(s).

There are some plot holes that need to be explained. How Fahri learned German is minor detailed but crucial to the plot, Aisha got even more impressed by him because of it. Pesantren in Indonesia usually only teach Arabic and English, some also do Japanese. One line to explain it would be sufficient but I did not found it in the book.

The idea that Fahri would not touch Maria even to save her life, thus a marriage is the only way out, is preposterous. He is supposed to be an Al-Azhar post grad student that knows one of Fiqh principles (Ushul Fiqh) where emergency cancels out forbiddance. Furthermore, the fact that Maria is married to Fahri supposed to weaken his court testimony since of course a wife want his husband not to be in jail.

The strong point of the book is how it used the story as a vehicle for important messages. The message to be good to other people even though (or especially to) people of different religion are certainly in need of emphasis these days. Weren’t Rasulullah SAw known to be a trusted and high moral person that is kind to everyone and even to animals.

Now to the movie.

Director have to select which scene to include in movie due to time limitations. Too bad that the movie leave out the camaraderie of Fahri with his housemates as well as between Maria’s family. This weaken the argument that Fahri is one man deserve to be love by numerous girls. There is only a short scene where he supposed to be a student leader (I presumed in Indonesian Student Society (PPI) Mesir). In the opening scene, which is not in the book, lead us to conclude that Fahri is a rather careless person not to back up his important data and clueless on computer virus. His overall depiction is not one that is as mature and confidence as one would expect after reading the book.

The other scenes not included are explanations on how Nurul (the sufferer and accuser one not the Indonesian one) is supposed to be exchange while baby in the hospital. The movie cut to the end where Nurul is reunited with her family without proper explanations. I think viewers that had not read the book (there was one sitting behind me) would have a hard time to understand it. Furthermore, Nurul’s hair supposed to be blonde and it is a hard evidence that lead Fahri to conclude she is not biological sun of the rude Sudanese (forgot the name) but it is not mention at all in the movie.

So why I still give the move four stars out of five?

The movie has few very touching moments (Hai orang yg berhati lembut….Mesir dan Sungai Nil….) that just linger on my mind after the movie ends.

One such moment is when Aisha left the rooms in tears when Fahri married to Maria in the hospital. She is the one pushing for the marriage to free her husband but when the moment come the heart and the head goes to different directions. The scene elegantly showed that even though done by good people for good reason, polygamy is a hard thing to do and certainly not meant for everyone. The message is subtle but superbly delivers (more so than the in-your-face Berbagi Suami in my opinion).

The other creative path that the director has granted himself is the lengthening of Maria’s life after the court end. In the book she died promptly afterward. Again the leaning is on the difficulty of polygamy. The dilemma Fahri faced when he was asked the first time which room (and which wife) he prefer to sleep in was both hilarious and revealing, especially when finally he decide to sleep alone. There are also some scenes where he is having headache on bringing the two wives together.

The movie also depicts strong points on how Fahri is married to one girl which is smarter than he is and the other is richer than him. The girls do the proposing (at least make their family to do so), take most of initiatives and do the sacrificing while he stumble and mumble. The scene where he explained the strong status of women in Islam to an American journalist is a strong one and delivers the message.

This movie is a thinly guised campaign on the role of woman in society within (the authors understanding in) the framework of Islam, how they could be and should be. That is why the movie should be entitled The Female Verses.