Our imminent heartbreaks

(Update 30/09/09: The cat is NOT Mike Mike, thank heavens! He came home last night while we were busy nursing the sick Michael, and I hugged him till he nearly choked & wriggled out of my arms annoyed at our failure to feed him right away. The resemblance is so uncanny! Nevertheless we still took in the sick Michael into our home, named him Miketwo, and wished him a speedy recovery. )

Michael, as described in many of my posts, had been with us since he was a wee kitten and was a feline full of life. If he was a human, you’d want him to shut up – he meowed all the time. Sometimes I think he thinks of himself as a dog – he panted, he enjoyed being pat on the head, he never walked he ran, he chased his tail; he walked on his hind legs and begged for food. Michael, being a cat, a creature of routine, would never fail to show up at our doorstep at approximately 9.30 pm every day – the time when we would arrive home from work. Even if we were home during the days in the weekends, Michael would not be around – he would never know the difference between Mondays or Sundays. The only thing he knew is by 9.30 pm, our Persona front lights would shine on the gates of our two-storey terrace. There he would be, waiting for me to unlock the door so he would casually trot himself in.

Yesterday we arrived home & there was no sign of Michael for the first 20 minutes. We thought he might be out dating a cute girl cat somewhere. Until we saw from the distance in the dark, a frail, scruffy cat wobbling its way towards us. I have seen one of these, due to my experience of raising a somewhat massive amount of cats all my life – fractured waist bones, perhaps evidence of either being beaten up or being run over by a car of some sort. Azry tossed him some bits of chicken from our dinner last night, and as the cat saw him, he tried to escape, accidentally rolled over, bounced back, fell again & tried to escape, making his way under the neighbor’s white van parked in front of our house. My heart shattered into thousand pieces. As we shone the flashlight towards the cat, we saw with our very own eyes – and with that waves of indescribable emotions washed over me as I recognized the raccoon-like black-ringed bushy tail & and the familiar shine in those eyes, even if they had slowly faded.

Sometimes I wish I don’t possess this immense amount of love for these critters. It kills me having to watch our then animated Michael tottering home after cheating death perhaps for the can of tuna & a pat on the head. (Image from comentaloquequieras)

AMG THAT'S SO KYOOTT AWW ROACHARS EW EW!!!

(First of all I'd like to apologize about the title, but read on I'm sure you'd understand where I came from)

So yesterday we went to watch G-Force and there was this group of girls sitting next to me who laughed at everything the rodents do (EVERYTHING!) and screamed out loud during the part the roaches appeared. I mean, I am all for furry adorable animals & roaches scare the eyeballs out of me too, but man, squealing at every damn thing thinking it’d look cute are so passe. Guys are all about independent, strong women now. Think G.I Joe or Charlie’s Angels (the one with Cameron Diaz, not Farah Fawcett, you’d think it’s possible to fight bad guys with all those loads of hair spray up your bangs). Rapunzel & Sleeping Beauty, who waited for men to rescue them all the way, seemed pale in comparison.

Anyway, G-Force = Meerkat Manor guinea pigs edition + James Bond action + Transformers + Disney’s/Barney’s “family is everything” dope. I could still watch Up and cry every single time.

Random Eid 2009/1430H conversations

Here are some excerpts of my random Eid 2009/1430H conversations (Warning: highly localized content):

Mum’s comment on my oversized Tod’s hobo: Can we fit in a batu lesung in there? I hate to use your Mak Long’s to make sambal belacan, it’s so small…

8-year-old niece posing a colloquial riddle:

Her: Kapalalu di mana? (Depending on your interpretation it could mean “where is your head?” or “where does the ship pass?”)

Me: This is that one riddle where any answers are invalid is that so?

Her: YOU’RE OLD & NO FUN!

Me & Mum inspecting a suspiciously-shaped cookie:

Me: Ma, this cookie looks like a foot wearing a sock...

Mum: A foot with gout...

My 15-year-old brother-in-law and I eavesdropping on a conversation between Azry & a friend:

Friend: … so we went to buy the pirated DVDs…

Azry: What movies?

Friend: Well we got Public Enemy, but nothing else in mind…

Me: GET DISTRICT 9!

Me: … or perhaps Inglorious Bastards…

Brother-in-law: (looked at me in disbelief & sported this “whoa you’re so cool” look, and after that tagged me around for days)

(A Britney’s ‘Womanizer’ cover was playing on radio)

Me: Adik, who covered this? Weezer?

Him: You … know Weezer? No no, it was All American Rejects. (And tagged us around the Eid visits for days)

Random aunt 1 at some relatives’ house:

Aunt: Well, your sister-in-law’s expecting, when will be your turn?

Me: Well, technically I could still be excused since she’s 30 and the husband’s 42, and me and my husband, we are in our mid-20’s so let’s do the Math… And I’m expecting a Macbook Pro soon…

Aunt: Dah makan mi kari makcik dah? (Have you eaten my curry noodles?)

Random aunt 2 at some relatives’ house:

Aunt: Dah berisi ke? (Colloquially in context it would either mean, “have you gained weight?” or “are you pregnant?” but in this case she meant the latter)

Me: DAHH. Ini dalam perut ada ketupat, rendang, nasi impit, kuah kacang…

Aunt: *smacks me on my back* (but I think I deserved it)

Eid this year was, for me, challenging. The amount of people questioning my fertility increased also thanks to my sister-in-law's recent pregnancy. I was told that I didn’t sound Malay, also been told that I look like a typical URTV-reading, Scoin-listening, minah kilang look until I speak. And for the first time I cried asking for forgiveness from my parents (partly due to this incident where Dad had heart attack), and also there was this someone who could have been our greatest Eid gift ever this year, but I guess it wasn’t just meant to be.

Other than that, so far so good. How did your Eid go? (Azah, here's your long-awaited post. You'd better comment something nice.)

Farewell Ramadhan 1430

As with every year, I always feel a sudden pang of melancholia every time the holy month of Ramadhan is about to end. Like Mum (and many) was saying, perhaps this will be the last Ramadhan we will ever experience. Also apart from the Eid salah & asking for forgiveness in the morning of the first day of Shawal, I was never really fond of Eid since puberty. Azry said perhaps I have stopped receiving duit raya (a gift of money for children during Eid) which contributes to the factor, but I don't know.

Anyway, farewell Ramadhan 1430. I'm hoping I could see you again the next year. (Photos from The Big Picture)

Away we go

I have a knack for wanting to watch movies based on how good the poster looks. Also especially if it was written by Dave Eggers! (Thanks to This Will be My Blog)

I do have one question though: why do our local movies like to have each & every one of the cast, no matter how insignificant they may be, included in the poster design?

Eid is just around the corner

Can you feel the heat?

When I was little, Mum used to joke that the cats, the chicken & the ducks would flee into their hiding spots once we children started gathering around at the grandparents’ & before anybody had a chance of saying ‘ketupat’, all hell broke loose. Those were the times when we could create a ruckus and get away with it making cute faces.

Wishing you a joyous Eid ul-Fitr, y’all. (Photo credit unknown)

Learning from Carl & Ellie

I watched Up over the weekends, and surprised myself over how much of a tearjerker the animation turned out to be. The first few minutes of the movie pretty much sums up the ups & downs of a normal but content marriage – you save up, something comes up, you use it up, you put on your best effort on something, when it doesn’t happen you don’t give up on each other instead your love grows more. It was endearingly beautiful.

Reminds me to be on a honeymoon state of mind every time.

Pure beauty

In 2008 Anni Nykänen [of Packlab] won four awards for her Popcorn concept. Three of them European student design awards at the IOP: Student Starpack Awards. The Gold, Best in Show Award, Marks & Spencers / Korsnas Frovi Sponsored Award as she helped PACKLAB. Lahti Institute of Design to win the Eric Dickens Award for the second time in 2008. Months later her packaging picked up a 2008 Honorable Mention at the Worldstar Student / Packaging Design Competition (International) Award. (via Quipsologies)

Also FYI, digital moodboard, anyone?

Foot in the throat. Head smashed with bricks. Fish caught in anemone.

Yesterday I left Fantasy Island, landed my spaceship in the middle of Reality Check Boulevard, stopped believing in love altogether and planted my feet firmly on the ground.

How did your weekends go anyway?

My all-time feel good movies

And the next will be...

Feel free to judge me, the closet romantic. (Photo credit goes to various owners via the innernet)

Limousine

I can almost imagine the conversation: “Chauffeur, could you please pass me the iced cold drinks please? And please close down the middle blind whatsoever you call that thing you have in the limo, me and the girls are about to have an intimate conversation… Could you also check the tire pressure once we get home, the ride's a little wobbly..”

“Shut up! That's because you don't have any pedals, and my balls are hurting can’t you see?!”

Limousine by Wouter Mijland (via swissmiss via szymon)

Lighted pearls

I have a feeling when I do have my own house, it's going to be filled with weird stuffs. Like, these lighted pearls. (via notcot)

Rosalie de Kruyf’s collection jewelXLery is an extremely oversized string of pearls which has become a decorative object for interior design. A lamp is placed at the end of the string of pearls and its light playfully dances around the room when it is moved about.

Nothing of me is original

(Image credit goes to the rightful owner via FFFFOUND)

Advertising, racial unity & Lady Gaga

I’m known to be generally heavily opinionated, and when I’m quiet that usually means I am mentally gathering pointers for a comeback, deep in thought or that I have no idea at all what the other person is going on about.

As I was saying, I am currently working in an industry which nature is mostly technical. During meetings they often spurt out terms I mistake for another alien language, explaining my passiveness during any discussions. I felt like I am in the midst of a very bad constipation whenever I don’t have a say in something, fidgeting & sweating, so after a much lengthy, incomprehensible discussion (at least to me) I often read up, Google around as well as harassing my fellow coworkers about things I need clarity for.

Thursday, I was involved in a meeting cum presentation session from a production house. They were presenting a series of tv commercials to promote broadband awareness targeted towards suburban community. The brief, in line with the government initiative whatnot, was to have the elements of 1Malaysia and racial unity injected (which I found pretty overrated now).

The scene: three families – Malay, Chinese, Indian. Imagine a very suburban Klang Valley area like Klang or Jalan Peel. One of the series: Boy 1 plays soccer with Boy 2. Boy 1 plays trick like Ronaldo does. Boy 2 is impressed. Boy 2 asks, where do you learn the trick. Boy 1 says, at home. Boy 2 goes home & practises at home and breaks a vase. Boy 1 sees him & invites him in his house. Boy 1 shows Boy 2 towards his computer & shows Boy 2 the trick: streaming video showing how to do a trick like Ronaldo. Boy 2 is, again, impressed. Zoom in to tagline.

All in all, I found the tvc very linear, too much of a down-to-earth kind of tvc, where you just watch & forget all about it until it plays again in the idiot box. Once more, I find the script weak. I’m no scriptwriter, but I hate weak scripts. When people were raving about how good Kami: The Movie is, I borrowed a friend’s DVD to watch it. I made it past the first 20 minutes and then I returned the DVD. Kids longed for the kind of lifestyle the characters in the movie had, but being an old woman I found the script very weak, very dragging I had no interest in watching.

Anyway.

I told my boss, the tvc was nice, and that was it. Nice. Oh the tvc is funny, Mum you have to see it. It does not make me want to subscribe to broadband. Normal broadband we have now is (nearly) enough for us to watch streaming videos, set up websites, post in forums etc. All our competitors have this already, what are the other capabilities we can offer besides this?

Now Lady Gaga might not be the lady everyone is fond of, but I read an article on her in Marie Claire. During her days stripping for a living, she was heavily involved in drugs in order to focus on her stripping act she claimed as ‘art’. She was so committed to her job she never thought of the consequences. But then, her parents came to see her perform. The dad was, believe it or not, told her to go on do whatever she wants, but upon finding out she took drugs, he said, “I hate to see you fail.” or somewhere along that line. Lady Gaga was upset, she didn’t want to be seen as a failure in her father’s eyes. What she did next is the most amazing thing – she just stopped taking drugs. No rehab, no medication - she just had the most incredible will power. “I like to push barriers.” She says.

Now I may be rambling, but the keyword is ‘push barriers’.

Tell me, which tvc you find tugs at your heart the most? I have three – Maxis’ iPhone, Mamee Slurp series & mostly DiGi ads. My favorite is Maxis’ iPhone, on top of all the good reviews, this tvc just lifts up the hype higher and makes everybody wants to buy the iPhone. It was simple, the iPhone showing the UI & some finger actions. The psychology involved is just so amazing. Soon after people flocked to the Maxis store to get their units.

I ranted to my boss on topics from paragraph 7 to 9. He said, “Ha, now you are talking.” I replied, “It’s just where I belong.” And added, “Also I think companies need to quit it with putting that hideous 1Malaysia logo everywhere. Racial unity should be promoted since early post-Merdeka era when every race was delegated into their own roles, correct me if I’m wrong.”

I rest my case. (Photos from wayback via It's Nice That, Lady Gaga's The Fame album cover via its Wikipedia entry & iPhone via Maxis website)

Chameleon

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -- Robert Anson Heinlein

Back to the subject of legibility, one brilliant thing about us writers is you almost can squeeze a write-up out of us out of any kind of topics provided that we have all the necessary resources. Sometimes we don’t have to know the topics first hand, just a bunch of pointers (if that’s all you ever need) and we’re good to go. It’s like seeing our old folks singing to Hindi songs over the radio & telly when they don’t even know the meaning to those songs.

The last two weeks I spent my days editing a few articles from our dedicated PR consultants on broadband technologies – FTTH, NGN, the last mile etc. The last few months I was at my old workplace I was working up on SAP articles – R3, business warehouse, etc. The last four years I was at an industrial design company writing a copy on a brochure for loudspeakers – FCCT, silk-dome tweeters, reflex port etc.

Until today I was sometimes baffled by how I did it all. We’re jack-of-all-trades, but master of none, and I am perfectly happy with the status.

I guess now that’s why sometimes I read up a mixture of publications just to get the ‘feel’ of other topics. Who knows, one day I might be able to write about the one thing I am passionate most, which is? Heh.

By the way, have you heard that we are all mutants? I knew it! (Photo from the installation of Fiona Banner)

Once again I'm perplexed on how to title a post

Every now and then I picked up a legible (by legible I mean in languages I can understand) publication I have never read before, from Smash Hits to Asian Auto magazine to Azry’s Dragonball comics to a financial report to Malaysian Tatler to just, you know, just because.

I feel thrilled encountering terms I have never known before, despite for the first few reads I was struggling with what liquidity means or why they keep saying yowza or ooh-er all the time, or why some rich folks are so borderline pretentious or that having a good car means more than giving a hoot about its aerodynamics elements and whatnot.

In a sense it reveals a little more about me: beneath this mixture of traditional & liberated mindset that I possess, I can be somewhat adventurous sometimes. Also, I am passionate about any kind of literature as long as the write-ups are legible (now by this time legible means nothing sort of tYp3 LykE Diz or too many butchered words than the amount of slaughtered camels in Mina during Eid ul Adha).

And here is the point where you can point & laugh at me because, as much as I value a good piece of literature, I am stumped on how to conclude this post. Wait, don’t laugh. Go read Interactions Magazine or Sputnik Observatory or something. Get the brain cogs working. (The journals of Sylvia Plath via endosymbiotic)

Powerpoint Karaoke, anyone?

Imagine this: You have to deliver a PowerPoint presentation about an unfamiliar topic, with slides you’ve never seen, to an audience eager to heckle and laugh at you. If you’re in your underwear, you’re having a nightmare. If you’re clothed, it’s called PowerPoint Karaoke. (via swissmiss)

Being known to be able to talk (and write) gibberish for hours, I am up for this! (Photo via Interactions Magazine)