2010

We have lived a decade since Y2K.
Both nouns which I still cannot completely fathom.

This year however is still fresh and not yet over; is still throwing tantrums.
Nevertheless how bad, overcoming them to satiety seems to thread the theme of the year; fulfillment.

From uncharted waters leading to unforgettable experiences,
From unknowns to new friends,
From unknowing to learning.
It was fulfilling and for that it will be missed.
Thinking back the successes, we are humbled by the human spirit and can only be better.

Quintessentially to seek inspirations within oneself.

Wishing everyone a very happy new year and even more happier ones to come!

Home is ...

Where you eat less than required,
Where you seem not to put on any weight even if you are constantly eating,
In which both situations you are commented upon and made to gorge on more.

Where clothes get washed without you bothering them,
Where unacceptable clothing is acceptable,
Where buying new clothes is primarily a matter of preference than finances,
In which clothes is not even a topic except when getting more of them.

Where chores get done no matter how much you grumble,
Where chores are less even if you grumble,
Where you can escape chores by pointing out a sibling doing less when it is actually the opposite,
Where you can feign breathlessness or allergy and escape,
In which if there are any real chores in the first place.

Where as much as you hate the excitement,
You would not have it otherwise,
Where as much as drama you create,
You know it is an unwritten responsibility of yours,
Where as much as you compare it with any other place,
You know you rather be at no other place.



Wishing everyone a very happy Diwali and even more happier ones to come!

Making a Point

Straight to business; there is a community message I would like to spread.

You can start by reading this first:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2010%2F10%2F29%2Ffocus%2F7323462&sec=focus

The Pusat Pemulihan Dalam Komuniti work to empower children with special needs. The centre in Merbok is organizing a Jumble Sale at the end of this year to raise much needed funds to run the place and organize activities.

They are looking for any form of contribution that fits into the bill of a Jumble Sale. If you have any used items, please contact Pusat Pemulihan Dalam Komuniti, D/A Dewan Orang Ramai Pekan Merbok, 08400 Merbok, Kedah or

Mr. Husni Zain, Chairman at 019 559 7951;
Madam Norliza, Supervisor at 019 420 8414;
Madam Rodziah at 012 549 6528;
Ms. Nurul Hasni at 017 432 7244;
Madam Sharipah at 017 414 5326

Thanks!

Needed vs. Wanted

To trust is a most foolish thing and
to hope on people requires many more leaps of faith.

There is a very distinct line of difference between people needing you and wanting you.
Hoping tries to smudge this line but who are we kidding?
When the need vanishes, the needed also becomes invisible,
with the feelings forgotten and relationship turning rancid.

The only person wanted these days lives in the list in the police station. To discuss this is basically irrelevant.

I am lousy at long jumps let alone to take any leap;
across the drain or hopes likewise.

Allergies

Mast cells can be directed towards anything: dust, pollen and even people.
Unfortunately they can't react towards the last: people whom your subconscious and conscious have meticulously dissected and deemed molecularly unacceptable to your very being.

We really can't deal with those whom we can't seem to set our eyes upon let alone waste any other sensory modality. The point is being that their existence has became your bane. It is really not your fault if they turn out to have manners of a five-year old, behaviours rivaling the Teletubbies, neonatal nuances and mindsets of the sixties.

Arcane irritants.
Choking characters.
Toxic personalities.

However life is not that kind to spare you from the balance. We resort to dealing with people we rather not deal with due to so many reasons.

The only way to keep your peace of mind then is to be as clinical as possible in those dealings. By that I mean: keeping things black and white and not involving any gray as the last spells trouble. Two plus two equals four and no lingering around for any small talk.

Sensory isolation helps me keep my sanity and my peace of mind.
A big word it has become these days.

Of innocence and irritability

I may not be patient but I am at least reasonable and if you are peckish, I am fair.

I sometimes think people go all out to annoy the little patience out of anyone.
Instructions when told clearly should be followed. That is why they are given in the first place.

"Bus stop" does not mean "maktab." Any hearing impairment also would not translate to that either. So I was clearly thrilled when the cabbie decided to drop me there.
The worst is the audacity to correct me.

I did not respond much for I have long given up responding to brainless people.
There was just two things I could infer out of the situation: either he was going a for longer ride to get more out of my wallet or he was plainly ignorant. I am thinking the latter.

Either way, I was being patient.
May be they can learn conversational English, no?

And I think I will be reporting to the authorities about cabbies not using meters in SP.

The Art of Behaving

Just because you can do something, whether you ought to do it is the ultimate question.
Ought to is simply not disturbing anyone anyway.
Let it be wearing more skin than clothes to embarrassing PDA.
And if you disturb someone, any person with a cerebrum would respond.
If the response disturbs you, you have just got a taste of your own medicine.
You asked for it and please don't insult the intelligence of the people you have just disturbed.

This is the simple logical chain of events.
Unfortunately since stupidity is the most contagious thing on the planet, hardly anyone would understand this and behave.

Common sense is so uncommon these days. PERIOD.

Abandonment Issues

Just like how I abandoned the blog, I got a taste of my own medicine.
And I have realized it boils down to the choices one makes.

I choose not forgive.
I choose never to be foolhardy.
I choose not to look back.

I choose to move forward.

Somethings Never Change

Image from http://jenbreaux.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/partyscenegg.jpg.

Sinusitis and I said, "I do" a real long time ago and even if I tried to cheat, sinusitis has clung on to me.

So when we get really romantic and chummy, we become much of a public nuisance.

I have learned over the many years through this affair to get medicated and stay away from people. Not that I am infectious or anything. Merely the fact that each time I sneeze, everyone stops for a split second from what they are doing and look at me. Then H1N1 came and everyone thought I was constantly infected.

When I cut off human company (which is really not a bad thing), I read books. Lots of them. They don't complain when I sneeze at them or splutter coffee when I sneeze or medicate them by mistake. I really do define "unputdownable" to the point that I have developed a BR* cramp in my left forearm.
*brachioradialis

I don't really remember when I started reading books. I don't really remember my very first book. That is how long me and books go.

Recently (meaning about 16 hours ago), I finished Sophie Kinsella's Twenties Girl which truly is unputdownable. Before you go thinking it's a chic flick or some trashy literature, it makes The Namesake look shy. So you know it's good; may be we will get a movie in the years to come. Quite an unexpected storyline (that which makes stories unforgettable). The author did a good job in storytelling a hip 20s scene (and yes this is the 1920s with the top hats and flapper dresses) while highlighting the challenges that those times.

It was really naive of me to associate the 20s to New York. Something about Marilyn Monroe and me being confused. Set in London and quite a first for me as I have not read about London per se in the 20s or the 21st century (P.S. I Love You was set in Ireland). Quite a breather from all the heather and villages of the 60s which I have come to associate London to. And yes, it is not just a quaint little shopping district.

A story is only as good as it is able to engage with the reader and vividly form a mini-universe in their head. This story has touch of all the right things to make it right. Paced storyline but not too fast or heaven-forbid too slow, rich with details but not florid and most of important of all filled with everyday people. I guess that last bit is what that makes me passionate about this book. Most stories these days are filled with characters which too much of "something" which makes them a pain and makes you look how many more pages are left in that chapter. Either that or they are canned with cryptic messages and imagery that stresses one out trying to decipher them. One or two is cute, a few is perfect but sentence after sentence of personification and depersonification?! This book as I have implied has neither of those foolish emblems.

More importantly I guess besides these niceties and enriched experience, it has got to have some message but not the wrong message. This book has some really funny ones like "Don't end up being a trailer" (that's a stalker in 21st century speak). That's from Sadie Lancaster by the way.

Speaking of Sadie, she would be now in trance as I have started droning. I better go and wake her up.