#Columbia Univ.

[newyorkthegoldenage]

This young man from Austin, Texas is making good use of his summer vacation by learning, by the sweat of his brow, how tons of steel become giant skyscrapers, August 21, 1925. He is an iron worker on the new 15-story physics building being constructed at Columbia University. Besides not being afraid to balance himself atop the highest girders, the student iron worker is quite a boxer, fighting under the name of "Wary" Wade, the proceeds of the fight going towards paying his way through college.

Photo: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images/Fine Art America

[world-beauty]

Fornax Cluster in Motion

Credits: Columbia Univ., CXC, NASA

[enchi-elm]

Caleb Brewster's signature, an evolution 1778-1780

We start off reasonable and professional, in a letter to Benjamin Tallmadge dated October 22, 1778:

Caleb Brewster Lieut

Source: Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/mgw4.053_0566_0567/?sp=1

That's good, you know, pretty solid. Clean, neat, mindful of his military position. Then a bizarre and exciting change of pace in a letter to Benjamin Tallmadge dated February 26, 1779.

I am with respect yours [etc.?] Caleb Brewster

Source, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/mgw4.056_0281_0284/?sp=4&st=image

Incredible. Diva. I'm amazed he found stable ground to write this on and enough time to compose two pages. The "B" should be framed and taught in calligraphy classes. In the same letter, he writes a "g" so effusive it bisects New York in the row below to land on "at".

Was it too much? Did he fly too close to the sun? Has he since grown more secure in his correspondence or is this him at his most confident? Either way, 18 months later we see a more subdued return to form in a letter to Benjamin Tallmadge dated August 18, 1780.

With respect your friend and Humble Servant Caleb Brewster

Source: Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/mgw4.069_0709_0710/?sp=1

No flourishes, short lines-- in fact, a total lack of swoops throughout the entire letter. But he's become a friend! Aww. I wish I knew what Maj. Tallmadge had written in return.

Other things I have found out while doodling on the themes of Chapter 18 of Wind and Water and researching tangents,

Caleb and Ben owned land together (?!?!), purchased August 5, 1784: "The Middle of the Island Farm" in Brookhaven Twp. and four lots in Nocamack. (The source given, that I can't access, is this: Page 251 Loyalism in New York during the American Revolution by Alex C Flick PhD. Columbia Univ. Press, London 1901. Accessed Meehan-411 16 Jan 2020.)

Caleb's father's name was Benjamin, likely the reason his son was also called Benjamin (another son was named Daniel, for his grandfather). His first daughter was named after his mother, Sarah.

He had three half-sisters from his father's first or second wife? (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Brewster-1687) Except the birth dates make it seem like Caleb was somehow born between the last two? Someone messed up the geneology there, or we're talking bigamy.

[my-deer-friend]

The post you reposted about not hating historians was really interesting, thank you for sharing it. Do you have recommendations for historians who are researching queer history in the 18th century?

Do I!

(Note that I'm using "queer" below in the modern sense of "behaviour outside the sanctioned/accepted gender or sexual norms of the time".)

Strands of scholarship

I've come to see two broad approaches in historical queer studies, at least those focused on the 18th century; these are my own observations, and not formal groupings (as far as I'm aware).

One one side, you have those scholars who have a very open and loose conception of queerness, and are usually interested in "queering the past" – aka using a queer scholarship lens to investigate historical social-cultural behaviours. They often focus on literary analysis and tend to be more liberal about applying modern queer terminology to the past, and usually lean social constructionist or postmodernist.

On the other side, you have strict queer scholars, who have much more stringent definitions of what is "definitely queer" and what isn't, and are interested in making sure that only those historical figures who are "truly" queer are labelled as such. They tend to focus on official documents like trial records and homosexual acts as the most valid kinds of evidence of queerness. These are most often critical realists.

The first group risks taking an over-broad approach to historical queerness, while the second risks being overly narrow, so the majority of scholars tend to fall somewhere in the middle. I do however think it's important to be aware of the differing entry points that a historian might be taking, so that you can read more critically.

All that said...

Here are some recommendations

Haggerty, G. E. (1999). Men in love: Masculinity and sexuality in the eighteenth century. Columbia Univ. Press. For me, this is the gold-standard starting point. Haggerty takes a very pragmatic and compassionate approach to investigating historical queerness. He has also published a more recent book about Horace Walpole which I've skimmed and it looks excellent (Haggerty, G. E. (2011). Horace Walpole’s Letters: Masculinity and Friendship in the Eighteenth Century. Bucknell University Press.)

Godbeer, R. (2009). The overflowing of friendship: Love between men and the creation of the American republic. Johns Hopkins University Press. Another excellent foundational work, this one focused more on America.

Tobin, R. (2000). Warm Brothers: Queer Theory and the Age of Goethe. University of Pennsylvania Press. This book focuses on queerness in late-18th/early-19th century German culture, but has lots of useful cross-cutting insights.

Sedgwick, E. K. (1985). Between men: English literature and male homosocial desire. Columbia university press. Sedgwick doesn't pull many punches, and that puts her ahead of her time; you'll find many theorists leaning on her study.

Malcolm, N. (2024). Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe: Male-Male Sexual Relations, 1400-1750 (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. I have heard great things about this book and it's somewhere on my long, long reading list – but by all accounts it's worth a look, and is the most recent source on this list, so it should contain the most up-to-date scholarship.

Cleves, R. H. (2014). Charity and Sylvia: A same-sex marriage in early America. Oxford University Press. This one takes place in the early 19th century, so not quite what you're looking for, but is an interesting investigation into (the scarcer field of) female same-sex relations.

Norton, R. (Ed.). Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook. Updated 17 December 2023. http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/. An invaluable resource of source documents and analyses (with the small caution that Norton very blatantly uses modern queer terminology in historical context).

These are all books, so they serve as a good starting point for a broad exploration; all of these authors have also published academic articles, which go into much more depth on narrower topics. I also have some more focused resources, if there is a specific topic within this massive field that you have a particular interest in!

[eretzyisrael]

by Todd Bensman

Columbia University finally sent in the New York Police Department on Tuesday night to clear anti-Israel protesters mouthing pro-Hamas messages.

But DailyMail.com can now reveal that administrators may need to look in-house next if they truly want to clean house.

For a new investigation has uncovered an endorsement of Hamas media outlets in – of all places – Columbia's storied journalism school.

Mounted on either side of the entryway to Pulitzer Hall – named after Joseph Pulitzer, the founder of the university's journalism school and the namesake of the coveted Pulitzer Prize – there is a memorial purporting to honor 'journalists' killed in the Israel-Gaza war.

The honorees were selected from a list compiled by the non-profit Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

However, 21 of the 98 names displayed were employed by Hamas' propaganda TV and radio stations, 11 worked for outlets affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, and at least three were active alleged terrorists before their deaths.

The school has not publicized the memorial, but in February Columbia's journalism professor Nina Berman shared a picture of it to her personal Instagram account, accompanied by the following warning: 'Anyone commenting with doubts about the legitimacy of these journalists or suggestions that they are terrorists will be promptly blocked.'

Though while Columbia Journalism School may regard its display as a tribute to 'journalists,' facts suggest otherwise.

Mohamed Khalifeh, a director at 'Al Aqsa Television,' is just one of 15 memorialized names who worked for the Hamas-operated media network operating in Gaza.

In 2010, the Obama administration sanctioned Al Aqsa TV as a terrorist entity.

'Al-Aqsa is a primary Hamas media outlet and airs programs and music videos designed to recruit children to become Hamas armed fighters and suicide bombers upon reaching adulthood,' the US Treasury Department noted.

'[We] will not distinguish between a business financed and controlled by a terrorist group, such as Al-Aqsa Television, and the terrorist group itself,' the department concluded.

[journeytothewestresearch]

Hi! You seem to be the JTTW expert and I was wondering if you could clarify something for me; If I understand correctly, Wujing ate 9 of Tripitaka’s previous incarnations, right? If so, shouldn’t he be super-powered by all of them? After all, the reason the demons want to eat him is because Tripitaka cultivated power in his previous lives, which will give them immortality and power. Didn’t that apply to the previous monks?

The 13th-century oral JTTW openly states that Sha Wujing's antecedent has continually eaten Tripitaka:

Deep Sand said: "I am the one who devoured you twice before, monk. Slung from my neck are all your dry bones!" (Wivell, 1994, p. 1190). 深沙云：「項下是和尚兩度被我吃你，袋得枯骨在此。」

And since Tripitaka is the tenth reincarnation of Master Golden Cicada and Sha claims to have eaten nine previous scripture pilgrims (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 210), it's reasonable to assume that Sha has eaten the monk's past nine lives. However, to my knowledge, JTTW never openly states that the Buddhist master had made previous attempts in his past lives to travel to India, or that he had been eaten by Sha in the process (someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

It's important to remember that Tripitaka, better known as Xuanzang (玄奘, 602-664), is not the only Chinese monk who has traveled to India for scriptures. Another famous scripture pilgrim is Faxian (法顯, 337- c. 422). So, the novel could be referring to other such monks.

But if we were to view the aforementioned nine monks as Tripitaka's past lives, I think the reason why Sha Wujing isn't empowered by their flesh is because their compounding life-long austerities only results in the tenth and final reincarnation being holy.

Fun Fact: The "Deep Sands" demon mentioned above is actually a vilified version of a spirit said to have originally helped Xuanzang in his 7th-century biography. This figure came to be worshiped as Jinja Taishō (深沙大將, “General of the Deep Sands”), a minor protector deity in Japanese Buddhism. One 11th-century Japanese source claims that the General manifested before Faxian in a wrathful form. Most importantly, the skulls around his neck are said to be those of demons, not monks (Dudbridge, 1970, p. 20)!

A 13th to 14th-century Japanese Kamakura carving of the General of the Deep Sands.

Sources:

Dudbridge, G. (1970). The Hsi-yu chi: A Study of Antecedents to the Sixteenth-Century Chinese Novel. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Wivell, C.S. (1994). The Story of How the Monk Tripitaka of the Great Country of T’ang Brought Back the Sūtras. In V. Mair (Ed.), The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature (pp. 1181-1207). New York: Columbia University Press.

Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4) (Rev. ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Shruti Rajkumar at HuffPost:

The Manhattan district attorney dropped the charges for more than half of the Columbia University protesters who were arrested in April during a pro-Palestine demonstration on campus. Hundreds of students seized Hamilton Hall, a building on Columbia’s campus in Manhattan, on April 30 amid a nationwide mobilization of protests on college campuses to protest Israel’s attacks on Palestinians and called on their institutions to divest from Israel. The protests revolve around Israel’s ongoing offensive against the militant group Hamas in Gaza, after it had launched a deadly surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7. Since then, Israel’s ongoing strikes have killed over 30,000 people in Gaza and displaced most of the population.

On Thursday, Manhattan district attorney’s office, dismissed the charges against 31 out of 46 protestors who were arrested on April 30 at the college’s pro-Palestine demonstrations due to lack of evidence, among other reasons. Those who were students or employed at Columbia are facing ongoing disciplinary hearings. All the individuals whose cases were dismissed were students or staff at Columbia, Barnard or Union Theological Seminary, the DA office told HuffPost. James Carlson, another defendant who is unaffiliated with Columbia University, faces charges for trespassing and burning an Israeli flag. According to NBC News, he has two open cases against him involving separate charges. Some individuals — two students and 12 individuals who were not staff or students at Columbia — were offered a proposal to have their charges dropped as long as they aren’t arrested within the next six months, NBC News reported. Prosecutors said that the individuals’ nonexistent criminal history and the limited video or surveillance footage of what happened inside Hamilton Hall were factors in the dismissal of their charges.

Good news! Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg drops charges for 31 out of the 46 protesters that were arrested in a pro-Palestine demonstration at Columbia University that had hundreds of protesters seizing Hamilton Hall.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Hannah Ray Lambert

Published: Sep 10, 2024

For the second year in a row, Harvard University's "abysmal" free speech climate earned it the lowest ranking among 251 colleges and universities scored by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).

“This year, however, Harvard has company. Columbia University ranks 250, also with an overall score of 0.00,” reads the report released Thursday.

New York University, University of Pennsylvania and Barnard College rounded out the bottom-five colleges, according to the report.

FIRE, a pro-First Amendment nonprofit, worked with College Pulse to survey tens of thousands of students about the free speech environments on their college campuses for its annual College Free Speech Rankings.

“We’re trying to provide an indication of where students can get the best experience in college in terms of being exposed to a diverse set of views,” FIRE’s chief research adviser Sean Stevens told Fox News Digital.

A Barnard spokesperson told Fox News Digital the college is “committed to protecting academic freedom and freedom of expression, and to fostering environments where students, faculty, and staff can engage in open and respectful dialogue.”

Barnard has adopted the Chicago Principles, a free speech policy previously endorsed by FIRE, and this school year a faculty committee will develop “a Barnard-specific framework,” the spokesperson continued.

Harvard, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

The universities that ranked poorly all experienced incidents in which speech was censored, suppressed or shouted down, Stevens said.

Since FIRE started ranking schools in 2020, the bottom-five colleges and universities have been “consistently bad performers,” he added.

“They rarely stand up for speech,” Stevens said.

“When a controversy arises, the speech typically gets punished. A speaker gets disinvited. A faculty member gets sanctioned in some way, or a student or student organization does.”

The poor performers share another notable trait, according to FIRE’s analysis.

“Most of the students are very upset with how the administration has responded to protests over the past year,” Stevens said.

Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the war that followed “sent shockwaves through American college and university campuses,” according to the FIRE report. Protesters occupied the South Lawn at Columbia for about two weeks in April before police broke up the encampment.

After the start of the encampments, researchers noticed a large increase in the percentage of Columbia students who said they self-censor in classroom discussions or in conversations with professors or other students.

At the other end of the free speech spectrum, the University of Virginia earned the top ranking. Michigan Technological University, Florida State University, Eastern Kentucky University and Georgia Institute of Technology rounded out the top five.

The full rankings can be viewed here.

Stevens noted that the schools that performed well tended to have fewer controversies overall and, when controversies did arise, administrators typically defended speech rights.

He said he hopes parents and prospective students use FIRE’s ranking tool to make better-informed choices. The tool also provides a look at the liberal-conservative ratio on campuses, and a deeper look at student attitudes toward free expression.

“Experiencing open inquiry and that process, having to grapple and have their views challenged” sets students up to be better “adult citizens in our country, once they graduate,” Stevens said.

FIRE and College Pulse surveyed students at 257 schools in total, but excluded six from the main rankings and gave them “warning” ratings.

The private colleges, which include Pepperdine University, Hillsdale College, and Brigham Young University, all “have policies that clearly and consistently state” that they prioritize “other values over a commitment to freedom of speech,” according to the FIRE report.

--

Executive Summary

For the fifth year in a row, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a nonprofit organization committed to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought, and College Pulse surveyed college undergraduates about their perceptions and experiences regarding free speech on their campuses.

This year’s survey includes 58,807 student respondents from 257 colleges and universities. Students who were enrolled in four-year degree programs were surveyed via the College Pulse mobile app and web portal from January 25 through June 17, 2024. 

The College Free Speech Rankings are available online and are presented in an interactive dashboard (rankings.thefire.org) that allows for easy comparison between institutions. 

Key findings:

The University of Virginia is this year’s top ranked school for free speech. Michigan Technological University, Florida State University, Eastern Kentucky University, and Georgia Tech round out the top five.

Harvard University is this year’s bottom ranked school for free speech for the second year in a row. Joining it in the bottom three are Columbia University and New York University. All three of these schools have an “Abysmal” speech climate. The University of Pennsylvania and Barnard College round out the bottom five and each has a “Very Poor” speech climate.

All of the bottom five schools experienced a number of controversies involving the suppression of free expression. They also received significantly lower scores than the top five schools on “Administrative Support,” “Comfort Expressing Ideas,” and “Tolerance Difference,” which measures the strength of students’ favoritism when it comes to allowing liberal or conservative speakers on campus.

Since 2020, UVA, Michigan Tech, FSU, North Carolina State University, Oregon State University, Mississippi State University, Auburn University, George Mason University, Kansas State University, the University of Mississippi, the University of Chicago, and Claremont McKenna College have all consistently performed well in FIRE’s College Free Speech Rankings.

A majority of students (55%) said that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is difficult to “have an open and honest conversation about on campus,” a record high for a topic on this question in the five years we have asked it. At least 75% of students on 17 of the campuses surveyed responded this way to this question.

The percentages of students who said shouting down a speaker, blocking other students from entering an event, and using violence to stop a campus speech is at least “rarely” acceptable all increased since last year. 

A majority of students said that six of eight hypothetical controversial campus speakers should “probably” or “definitely” not be allowed on campus.

Student concerns about self-censorship have declined. This year, 17% of students said they feel like they cannot express their opinion on a subject at least a couple of times a week because of how students, a professor, or the administration would respond. Last year, this percentage was 20%, and in 2022 it was 22%.

[theninthdoor]

what do u think about mark lee's feeling after getting caught in columbia univ? is he really meet his gf?

cards: the high priestess, ace of cups rx, king of swords

this was actually a lot juicier than what I had expected… lmao. so- I just answered another question regarding this, here: X my initial impression remains the same BUT… I wouldn't put it past his "gf" or romantic interest being somehow related to the University or being friends with the people he was there hanging out with. I kinda feel like he wanted her to see him there, to get a reaction out of her (good or bad, I can't tell). also, in his mind, Mark had a reason to be there beyond personal matters, so he doesn't really care if people saw him.

(Disclaimer: All is alleged and for entertainment purposes only. Based on current energies.)

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night keeps this mascot from his duties. The Columbia University lion (human name: Robert Berne) accessorized his usual furry ensemble with an umbrella and mackintosh for a football game against Holy Cross on October 24, 1959. Despite such valiant encouragement, Columbia “provided little more than a muddy showcase,” the New York Times reported, losing to the Crusaders in a 34-0 rout at Baker Field. “Wherever the Lions tried to breach the Holy Cross line,” reporter Robert L. Teague wrote, “they were rudely jarred by robust personifications of no-trespassing signs.”

Photo: Carl T. Gossett, Jr. for the NY Times via Times Instagram

[beardedmrbean]

Today, The Lawfare Project — together with co-counsel Eiseman Levine Lehrhaupt and Kakoyiannis, P.C. — filed a lawsuit against Columbia University on behalf of Mackenzie Forrest, a Jewish student who was forced out of an academic program after she requested religious and safety accommodations.

Mackenzie began attending Columbia's School of Social Work (CSSW) in August 2022 and was subsequently admitted into the specialized Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Program (DBT). Mackenzie’s initial antisemitic encounter with faculty occurred when her request for accommodation for her Sabbath observance was met with resistance, and only begrudgingly provided after significant pressure was placed on her to forgo it. Then, in the wake of Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, the campus devolved into a cauldron of antisemitism. Mackenzie, feeling physically unsafe, reported the hostile environment to faculty and requested permission to take classes via Zoom. Although that accommodation is routinely granted to other students, it was not extended to her. Soon after Mackenzie’s request, faculty members began a campaign to force her out of the program. After fabricating pretexts to justify failing her, they were ultimately successful.

“The vitriolic and antisemitic environment at Columbia to which Jewish students like Mackenzie have been subjected is utterly indefensible,” said Ziporah Reich, Director of Litigation at LP. “Mackenzie’s right to an education in an environment where she feels physically safe is a fundamental, non-negotiable right protected by law. The university's refusal to provide Mackenzie with a basic accommodation to ensure her safety is not only shameful, but a dereliction of the university's moral and legal responsibilities. Such negligence demands accountability.”

The Lawfare Project is seeking injunctive relief and money damages based on federal, state, and common law claims arising out of the pervasively hostile environment Mackenzie has been subjected to, as well as Columbia’s retaliation against her because of her status as a Jew.

“Columbia University failed Mackenzie and decided to launch a retaliatory campaign instead of protecting her from Jew-hatred,” said Brooke Goldstein, founder and Executive Director of LP. “If the university had provided her with the appropriate accommodations that she is legally entitled to, we would not be in this situation. Columbia, like any other college or university, must protect the civil rights of their students and provide them with safe learning environments free of discrimination.”

“It is simply not acceptable that some American colleges and universities tolerate and foster antisemitism,” said Eric Levine, Head of the Litigation Department of Eiseman Levine Lehrhaupt and Kakoyiannis, P.C. “If this lawsuit is about nothing else, it is about bringing those days to an end.”

[tieflingkisser]

Over 100 Arrested at Columbia After Univ. President Orders NYPD to Clear Pro-Palestine Student Protest

Columbia University President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik on Thursday called on New York police to forcibly clear a student occupation on the lawn of the school, which had been dubbed the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, resulting in over 100 arrests. The protesters were demanding the Ivy League school divest from firms and institutions that profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestine, but Shafik ordered the raid a day after being questioned on Capitol Hill about ongoing pro-Palestinian protests on campus. The move caused outrage among students and many faculty, who decried it as censorship and a violation of academic freedom. The renowned professor and presidential candidate Cornel West, chair of the Columbia-affiliated Union Theological Seminary, joined students Thursday in solidarity with their protest and told Democracy Now! they “represent the best … of the human spirit,” and lauded them for “fighting in the face of domination and occupation and subjugation, and doing it with tremendous determination.”

transcript:

[l-edelweis]

Cerita Tentang Kak Izzati, UI, dan yang lain-lainnya

Kali ini aku mau cerita soal salah satu inspirator aku, role model aku, seseorang yang bisa kubilang, cukup sedikit-banyak berpengaruh buat hidup aku. Namanya Kak Izzati.

Karena kemarin Kak Izzati alias Kak Izzi baru aja wisuda dari Columbia Univ. Yang ternyata barengan sama salah satu kakak alumni RK, (yang kutau belakangan dari sebuah grup alumni RK, hihi). Jadi aku mau ceritaa soal Kak Izzi kali ini.

(it gonna be a loooongggg story)

Pertama kali aku kenal Kak Izzi tuh waktu SD, melalui buku karangannya. Kalau kalian pernah baca serial KKPK, pasti enggak asing sama yang namanya Sri Izzati. Iya, karena dia adalah salah satu penulis pemula seri KKPK dan bahkan pernah dapat penghargaan MURI sebagai penulis termuda. Keren banget emanggg Kak Izzati inii.

Aku sangat mengidolakan Kak Izzati, karena waktu aku baca bukunya saat itu langsung berpikir, 'keren banget ini tulisan anak umur 8 tahun(?) udah sebagus ini'. Memang waktu nulis buku itu, Kak Izzati masih SD dan udah sebagus itu ceritanya! Judul bukunya adalah '2 of me', yang cerita soal anak kembar. Sebagai pembaca yang seusia Kak Izzati waktu menulis buku itu, aku cuma bisa takjub karena kalau aku diminta buat menulis cerita, belum bisa sebagus dan semenakjubkan itu.

Kalau di kelas, kerjaanku dan temen-temen gengku selain ngobrolin Idola Cilik, novel-novel KKPK juga jadi bahan gosip kami. Soal penulis-penulisnya, cerita-ceritanya, judul-judul lain yang jadi rekomendasi, pokoknya macam-macam. Termasuk salah satunya adalah selalu membanggakan Kak Izzati karena emang kami se-ngefans itu sama dia hahhaha.

Karena Kak Izzati belum nulis buku lagi, dan waktu aku SMP rasanya udah kurang pas aja kalau berulangkali baca buku-buku KKPK-nya, aku mencari apapun yang membuat aku bisa selalu berhubungan dengan Kak Izzi. Aku follow ask.fm nya (yaampun ini sosmed jadoel bgt nggasi wkwkw. Sejujurnya aku lupa, ini eksis waktu aku SMP atau SMA ya), dan termasuk salah satunya, aku ikutin tumblrnya.

Kalau lagi pelajaran komputer dan pakai lab komputer sekolah, alih-alih memperhatikan Abi Ari yang mengajar kami (huhuhu maafkan saya Abiii), aku justru melipir pergi ke tumblr Kak Izzi dan membaca dengan seksama tulisan-tulisan dia di sana. Aku suka banget gaya dia bercerita, cerita-cerita yang dia tulis, apa-apa yang dia kisahkan di sana. Terutama saat dia bercerita waktu exchange ke Amerika dengan program Rotary.

Aku juga suka banget baca ask.fm Kak Izzi (hayo siapa dulu suka main aks.fm wkwk) yang isinya tentu menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan netizen. Mayoritas adalah soal SIMAK UI, Psikologi, dan tips-trick menulis. Iya, karena Kak Izzati kuliah di Psikologi UI lewat jalur SIMAK, dan tentu banyak yang bertanya soal tips-tipsnya dsb. Oiya, sepertinya ada yang bertanya-tanya juga soal exchange study ke dia.

Yha, jadi bisa disimpulkan bahwa hobi saya menulis dan bercerita mungkin salah satunya adalah karena dipengaruhi oleh Kak Izzi. Bedanya, Kak Izzi udah nulis belasan buku, kalau aku udah nulis ratusan surat cinta buat kamu tapi ngga dikirim-kirim. Bismillah semoga suatu hari aku juga bisa menumpahkan khayalan-khayalan fiksi di kepala ini jadi tulisan yang ciamikkk.

Suatu hari, Kak Izzati menulis di tumblrnya kalau dia akan mengadakan kopdar di Jogja. DI JOGJA! Senaanngg sekali rasanya. Tentu saja aku langsung mendaftarkan diri, karena nggak sabar mau ngobrol dan ketemu langsung bareng salah satu idola aku sejak iyikk. Ini sekitar tahun 2014 kalau tidak salah(?) Berarti masa-masa aku waktu transisi dari SMP ke SMA. Kopdar waktu itu tuh menurut aku eksklusif banget. Kami cuma ber-9 orang kalau tidak salah. Ngobrolnya lebih intimate, lebih hangat, lebih seru tentunya! Waktu itu tuh pas bulan puasa, jadi kami sekalian buka puasa bareng gitu. Senenggg karena berkesempatan buat ketemu bapak-ibunya Kak Izzati juga, yang sering diceritakan di tulisan-tulisannya. Super ramah sekali! Bahkan waktu pamitan, ibunya Kak Izzati memeluk kami satu per satu. Masyaallah a really warm family!

Waktu kopdar itu sebetulnya dekat dengan terbitnya buku baru Kak Izzati yang judulnya 'Satu Keping'. Salah satu buku favorit aku karena ceritanya (pernah) sangat relate dengan kehidupan aku (ceilehhh). Waktu pertama kali baca sejujurnya aku nggak paham isi ceritanya apa. Maklum emang waktu itu bacaan aku masih kentang-kentang gitu. Jadi disuguhin bacaan yang pakai kata-kata bermakna tinggi belum begitu paham. Kemudian waktu aku baca lagi buku itu saat aku SMA, aku baru ngeh dan paham dan WOW ternyata gini maksudnya! Ini buku tentang patah-hati yang menurutku superrr banget dan aku langsung suka, dan nggak bosan aku baca berulang-ulang sampai sekarang. Apalagi kalau lagi patah hati.

Iya, kalau lagi patah hati pas banget baca itu wkwkw.

Kalau dipikir-pikir, melihat perjalanan hidupku di masa lalu, apa-apa yang aku lalui, secara nggak langsung sedikit banyak dipengaruhi oleh Kak Izzati. Aku pernah ikut seleksi AFS/YES karena tau ada program itu dari Kak Izzati (dulu pernah daftar tapi nggak lolos, terus ikut Rotary), bahkan aku bikin tumblr ini juga karena Kak Izzati (sebelumnya aku main blogspot, tapi tema dashboardnya tuh lebih seru dan lucu di tumblr), aku suka nulis dan bercerita kayaknya juga karena Kak Izzati. Termasuk waktu itu aku kepikiran buat kuliah di UI karena Kak Izzi juga.

Selain itu, menurutku Kak Izzati adalah salah satu orang yang cukup berjasa dan berpengaruh bagi seorang Faiz dalam memilih jalan hidup (nggghhh). Waktu mau lulus SMA, aku lagi pengen banget tuh memperjuangkan UI, dan aku tanya-tanya infonya ke Kak Izzati. Waktu udah lulus sarjana juga, aku super galau soal dunia pasca kampus, dan aku cerita juga ke Kak Izzati.

Aku mau bahas keduanya, tapi dimulai dari UI dulu ya berarti kwkw.

Karena aku dulu sudah sangat getol ingin keluar dari Jogja, kuliah di luar Jogja, dan pilihanku tentu saja mendarat di UI. Sebagai 'calon' perantau nih, tentu saja aku harus mencari tau tentang kehidupan di Jakarta gimana (padahal mah, UI di Depok ya wkwk). Karena tidak ada yang terlintas di kepala, siapa orang-orang yang bisa kutanya selain Kak Izzati, akhirnya aku memutuskan buat mencari info tentang UI dan kehidupannya ke dia. Bertanyalah aku ke Kak Izzati soal tarif kos-kosan, asrama mahasiswa, harga makanan, biaya hidup, transportasi anak-anak UI, naninunaninu perihal kehidupan mahasiswa metropolitan Jakarta. Maklum, belum pernah merantau dan mindset aku soal Jakarta waktu itu adalah, 'kota yang keras dan misterius' (maksudnya, mengerikan, menakutkan, dan deskripsi-deskripsi lain soal Jakarta dari warga-warga daerah macem saye). Jadi aku mau memastikan dan mencari tau kondisi semuanya dulu, sebelum betulan mengalami nantinya.

Sedikit aku bertanya soal jurusan impianku, filsafat. Karena Kak Izzati kan anak psikologi yah, jadi kalau aku tanya-tanya soal filsafat tentu kurang paham. Maka waktu itu aku coba tanya ke Kak Izzati, adakah temannya yang anak FIB? Sekedar aku mau tau, filsafat UI ngapain aja, belajar apa aja, anak-anaknya gimana, mahasiswanya mengerikan enggak (eehh).

Ini cuplikan-cuplikan obrolan aku sama Kak Izzi. Baca ini lagi jadi ngerasa Omg Faiz, kamu sangat cupu ternyata dulu, bedanya Fakultas sama Jurusan aja nggak tauuu wkwkkw

Baiikkk banget Kak Izzi mah. Padahal aku bukan siapa-siapanya. Akrab juga enggak. Ketemu cuma sekali waktu kopdar, dan lewat buku-buku, tentu saja. Yah, beginilah hikmah silaturahmi dan kemajuan teknologi ya. Terima kasih untuk buku, sosial media, tumblr, dan segalanya yang memfasilitasi aku tetap bisa catch up sama Kak Izzi jadi berasa dekat walau sebetulnya super jauh:"

Long short story, akhirnya takdir membawa aku untuk tetap di Jogja dan kuliah di UGM.

Waktu udah lulus kuliah nih, aku mengalami graduated-student-life-crisis alias krisis pasca kampus. Super galaauuu karena bingung mau memutuskan; kerja dulu, atau kuliah dulu? Kalau kuliah, jurusan apa? Tetep filsafat? Atau mau ke jurusan lain yang terkait sama hobi dan kesukaanku?

Iya, sempet kepikiran buat ambil master di creative writing seperti Kak Izzi. Soalnya seru, thesisnya nulis cerita, tiap hari kuliahnya baca-nulis-baca-nulis dan itu tentang FIKSI! Bukan baca-nulis-baca-nulis jurnal dan makalah >_< Aku memang pernah ada di masa-masa suka banget nulis fiksi. Tapi mungkin lebih pasnya, aku pernah ada di masa-masa berjuang banget buat nulis fiksi. Suka, tapi sulit. Nah loh gimana tuh.

Tapi kalau aku, kayaknya lebih milih kuliah S2 yang thesisnya adalah nulis tumblr setiap hari sih. WKKKK

Atas kebingungan itulah, aku coba cerita (lagi) ke Kak Izzi. Lebih tepatnya, berkonsultasi, bertanya(?) Karena Kak Izzi juga sedang menjalani study S2 nya di Columbia, jadi aku pengen tau creative writing itu ngapain aja.

Baiikkk banget, karena aku nggak nyangka, Kak Izzi masih membalas pesan-pesanku. Lebih tepatnya, masih merespon curhatan-curhatanku. Setelah cerita terakhir soal UI, kali ini cerita soal pasca kampus juga direspon dengan sangat baik oleh Kak Izzi:" Terharu dehhh pokoknya.

Baik banget sampe sempet VN dan ketikin jawaban super duper panjang:"

Aku tuh selalu kepikiran, siapa ya nanti yang jadi suami Kak Izzi? Pasti dia beruntung banget, karena dapat teman hidup yang baik, cerdas, seru, asik, ramah, keren deh pokoknya! Aku selalu menunggu masa-masa pernikahan Kak Izzi karena yahh, siapa yang tidak penasaran dengan kehidupan idola masa kecilnya.

Sampai akhirnya, akhir bulan Februari kemarin Insek nge-DM aku, "Iz, Kak Izzati nikah ya?" waaa aku langsung excited DEMI APA DEMI APA KAK IZZIIII NIKAAAHHH? Aku langsung lari ke instagram dan mengecek story kak Izzi (story Kak Izzi selalu ada di paling kiri) dan ternyata benerrr aaaaa KAK IZZII NIKAAHHH.

Aku langsung kepo banget sama suaminya. Ternyata masnya dari Jogja dan adalah merupakan mas-mas dari fakultas tetangga alias alumni FEB UGM wkkww. Meskipun aku nggak kenal, tapi ternyata kita beririsan. Karena waktu kutengok profil instagramnya, beberapa temen aku dan salah satunya adalah temen KKN aku ada yang follow dia juga.

Iya, ternyata masnya orang jogja hahahha.

Makanya waktu lebaran kemarin, Kak Izzi berlebaran di Jogja. Seru banget ngikutin ceritanya lewat story-story di instagram. Di sela-sela mudik, mereka berkunjung ke sekolah suami Kak Izzi yang itu adalah merupakan sekolah yang hampir setiap hari aku lewatin kalau pulang kerja.

Eaps. Dunia sesempit itu. Sesempit itu.

Terus kemarin waktu wisuda, Kak Izzi nih wisuda pake baju nikahannya. Wkwkwk lucu banget. Emang sih, baju nikahnya so simple dan bisa dipake buat acara-acara lagi. Yhaa siapa tau besok aku kembali mengikuti jejak Kak Izzi buat wisuda S2 ditemenin sama suamiikk dan wisuda pake baju nikahan.

Eh. Wkwk.

Senenggg bisa kenal KKPK dan kenal Kak Izzi dan baca-baca tulisannya dan nungguin banget niihhh, goresan-goresan tinta selanjutnya~~

[antonjesus]

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