Safe landing 2010

Here's to another 365 clean slates for us to work on. Photo from Polanoid, Paris, July 2009 using Polaroid 101 Land Camera (isn't she a beauty?).

Usually I'm not fond of men with mustache but for Jude Law I'll make an exception

Here are some little Wednesday discoveries: I found out I was able to devour RM80 worth of sushi buffet in four hours (and get extremely hungry two hours after such an epic dinner!) & that Sherlock Holmes in literature is actually more of Dr Watson in the movie - proper & more collected, and Dr Watson in literature is more of Robin to Batman than Holmes' babysitter in the movie. Needless to say, I forgive Jude Law in mustache. Heck, I'd forgive Jude Law if he ever decides to strut around in gunny sack anyway.

Here's another top 10 of 2009

Oh hey, 2010 is fast fast fast approaching, and everybody's been constructing their top 10 lists in 2009 of almost everything: my favorite yogurt, which shape of snowman melts the fastest, the biggest jackass in the office etc. But don't worry, here's a top 10 that is pleasant to the eyes: top 10 movie posters of the decade. And here's another one you might like - every movie released in 2009, edited into one delicious video.

Not really

(via Le Love)

Reading one book a week for one year

Michael Surtees put together an interesting interview with Inaki Escudero who he rightfully describes as a ‘creative’s creative in that he’s extremely genuine, curious and open to new ideas. While a lot of people are living in an outdated model to pursue ideas, Inaki is embracing everything and anything which I highly respect.’ What's even more interesting is Inaki managed to read one book a week for an entire year - which makes up 52 books! (via swissmiss)

You know what? I'm gonna make that my 2010 resolution - to read a book a week for the entire year. Wish me luck! Anyone else up for this?

2009: the unabridged edition

2009 sadly opened up its curtain presenting a tragedy for Gaza. All throughout the year, I learned that the magic of instant film was put down to a halt & some jolly good fellow decided to revive it back (yay!), that love does not need a token in hundred dollars tag in order to prove its worth, how trivial daily office equipments can bring such joy to two loony (but lovely) ladies, where a one-day workshop made me fall in love more & more in the wonders of writing, that I have to learn to love the fool in me, where I was among the lucky ones picked up to have breakfast with The Boss, then I went & got a new camera, also found that we don’t have to attend Princeton or Yale or any Wellington Cocksniff institutions for scholarly lectures, 2009 was also the year where the inaugural KL Design Week took place & the KLickrs participated, the year where a lovely stranger, whom is very dear to our hearts passed away and the film & movie industry & not to mention the universe will never be the same again, where more & more publications ceased due to the unforgiving economic crisis, where one of those many experiences in hospital taught me to evaluate my priorities, and our cat decided to play the loveliest prank ever on us by giving birth in our mailbox, the year where us (Azry & I) beach bums never failed to celebrate our 2nd anniversary running along the coast, then there was the day where I found my shooting stars, where after all these years my transfer request was finally approved and above all, I was promoted (2nd yay!) but not actually loving the murderous work hours & had me contemplating about Charlie Hoehn’s advice, the year where we lost a dear little bugger (and so much more), also I took the time & rolled up my sleeves & wrote a lengthy letter to 16-year-old me, here’s my 2nd year blog post, where I went to a Manchester United football game and regretted, the year where it is possible to create a scent based on an act of humanity, also I found out that I may looked Indian to others and that I am a ‘rat-riding copywriter with a designer heart’ with a blog that ‘links to beautiful things’, in 2009 a new form of karaoke emerged, where the first 10 minutes of an animation film struck a chord on what marriage is all about (at least to me) & how we can learn so much more from a movie, my 2009’s Eid was spent finding out something pleasant & losing it in just a couple of days, and weeks after we MAGICALLY organized an open house and survived, then about a month I conducted a public perception study and whether you like it or not we are still pretty much caught in biased racial prejudice, and hey do you know that being angry all the time actually promotes better decision-making, also the year where I was diagnosed with a chronic disease (I was hoping you’d click on the link before going bonkers), the year where we braved the monsoon season and had a blast, and above all, we have no valid reasons to be less happier or less grateful than Katie Kirkpatrick.

In the midst of updating this blog, believe it or not, I am actually far from updating. Things around me are rapidly changing while I’m stuck in the very same place. I felt I haven’t seized 2009 to its very best. Me, being hard on myself, as always. On another note, you finally had an idea what I had been prattling on all year long now, hadn’t you? (Photo via sine-qua-non)

Dear Morocco

In my life, I am often the middle man. The bridge over two coasts. The messenger. And you know what they say, in one way or another, people shoot the messenger first in any circumstances.

Later. (Photo from this isn't happiness)

I see you

Avatar as summed up by Woei Hern: dances with wolves + jurassic park + last of the mohicans + thundercats + pocahontas (somebody even suggested to throw in ‘The Smurfs’ in the equation). Probably the only movie where I was able to hold my pee & not blinking my eyes for three hours, and came out of the theater exclaiming loudly rempit-ishly, “Tangkap lentok wa cakap lu!”

Probably it holds true to what they said (who are these ‘they’?), save the best for last.

The orphanage

(Written based on an observation after tagging along to Azry's company's charity drive to an orphanage located somewhere in suburban Klang Valley.)

It was the same with every visit: there'd be an idiot who tried to be the clown, making squeaky voices & stuffs. Then there's the musical box game: we've been playing it again & again even Elspeth, who was the youngest at four never needed an explanation how to play the game again. The first time she was exposed to the game was when a group of visitors came over and she was only a month & 5 days, a week after the caretaker found her abandoned at our doorstep wrapped in a faded blue shawl.

The visitors flashed toothy smiles and talked to us loudly like now we are orphaned we are vulnerable to deafness & idiocy. The ladies never failed to signal for us to sit on their laps, and was a bit disappointed when we shook our heads politely. Some of them tried to grab our hands to have us clap along to the music, and was even more upset when we slowly pulled away. They brought lots of stuffs, most of them we already own and the ladies donated clothes too lewd for us to wear even in our hostel corridors. Even the visitors themselves, they almost looked the same: there'd be some lady visitors who'd forget to dress decently. The men were OK, that's one good thing about being men: they can dress up in anything and they look pretty much acceptable in any events. But they all shared the same expression on their faces; the expression that borders between indifference & pretense, once in a while sneaking a glance at their watches, the type of watches of which price of one could pay for our meals for the entire year.

The hardest part was when their 2-hour visit was up. We shook hands and hugged and took photos and some of them left with watery eyes. They'd thank us for having them and promised to come again. But we weren't fooled. Most of them never set foot in this perimeter of our orphanage ever again, if not for the company visit. We knew it very well.

But there'll always be some visitors with the same characteristics the next time: phony smiles, fake tears, the same games, some ladies who forget to cover up, and one man in the group trying frantically to impress us by resuming a role as the clown. All of whom will never pay us a visit again the second time around. (Photo credit goes to the rightful owner via FFFFOUND)

Katie & Moo playing hide & seek

Moo from katie sokoler on Vimeo.

This is too cute! Michael our cat is only nice to me when I have a can of tuna in my hand (and he farts a lot too). Visit Katie's fun blog.

LN: The pain is so enlightening. And now having experienced childbirth, I watch CNN and I really feel like I understand war.

I finally got around to watch Away We Go after Azry came back grinning with the movie’s Bluray DVD on his hand. If there’s anything remotely peculiar about our relationship is that we both have a completely contradicting partiality in movies. For Azry, the more explosions, blood & gore, the better. For me, road trip movies, the truth about life & relationship, funny spontaneous dialogues coupled with nice design-y stuffs thrown in the timeline always gets me (read: Mona Lisa Smile, Dead Poets Society, The Darjeeling Limited, Garden State, Elizabethtown, Little Miss Sunshine, 500 Days of Summer, Rachel Gets Married etc.)

Away We Go tells about longtime couple Burt & Verona (Burt wants to get married but Verona doesn’t see the point) traveling all across America finding family members or friends, in another words, perfect surroundings of which they could raise their about-to-be-born child with. Along the way they meet up with Burt’s parents, who “has taken to a new whole level of selfishness”, Verona’s loud & bawdy ex-colleague, Burt’s crazy, spiritual cousin, LN, who insists on children & parents sleeping on the same bed & “lovemaking must absolutely be transparent to our children” & disregards the idea of a stroller (“I love my babies, why must I push them away from me?”) and lastly Burt & Verona’s friends from college who is the perfect copy of Brangelina (except for the looks) in terms of adopting children from all types of ethnicity of whom later they found out just recently experienced their fifth miscarriage (“some people have it so easy. We just keep losing them.”)

My favorite character has to be LN. Maggie Gylenhaal is perfect to play a cuckoo sort of spiritual woman – something I always envision her as. John Krasinki (from The Office) and Maya Rudolph are pretty new to me, and I just love how close to the real life their onscreen relationship is (“Verona, I will always love you, even if I’m gonna have trouble finding your vagina after you gave birth.”)

And also did you know that Maya Rudolph is the daughter of Minnie Riperton, the late singer with the rare, five-to-six octave range (Lovin’ You)? And that Dave Eggers co-wrote the movie? Didja didja?

Stop

It was Sunday morning and I was already wide-awake, watching Azry deep in slumber. His floppy fringe, fanned willy-nilly across his forehead covered half of his face which was buried under one of his three pillows. Despite having some texture of the pillowcases imprinted on his cheek, he looked serene and ridiculously cute I had to refrain myself from inching my face closer to his and giving him my signature butterfly kiss. Once in a while he let out an audible soft sigh, or a schoolgirl-ish giggle that would be impossible to hear when he’s awake.

And at that very moment, I don’t want to be anywhere else, or with anybody else. I’d wish for the time to stop so I could drown myself in this moment forever – where no one can be sad, no life can be taken from after it’s been lent to us for a moment, no expectations are obligations, no wishes or hopes are orders.

As 2009 is preparing to sail away, I welcome 2010 with open arms. May the best beckon after us all. (Photo from ingue)

This is me...

...over the weekends - all jolly, like I've just been out of a successful mission to help the starving kids in India. It feels so good.

And this is me, when Monday approaches, where I hate pretty much just about everybody, and will snap at everything that moves especially ones that stand in my way.

Good luck encountering your darkest fear, whatever that will be, you and me. (Credit goes to random photos owners from Google images)

You could fit the entire universe in a ring

I'm a sucker for these kind of stuffs. Stuffs that you see & you assume it's just ordinary but upon closer inspection it will represent something entirely out of this world. Like me. I'm this girl you see on the streets and you wouldn't thinking of looking at again twice, but once you get to know me I am entirely unique. And very much self-absorbed. And like to type random gibberish. Oh yes.

"A continuous ring, delicately proportioned, beautifully polished and seemingly flawless. There is only one tiny imperfection. A speck, no larger than a piece of dust. At a glance, it is barely noticeable. Upon close examination, it appears intentional and more clearly defined.It is a model of the known universe. Inspired by the writing of Stephen Hawking and loosely based on the anthropic theory to22 puts our daily pursuits into perspective and reminds us that we are always a part of something bigger.

Now you may be asking yourself; how does that little vortex-looking spiral thingie represent the Universe? Refer to the diagram below for a timeline of the Big Bang and the creation of our Universe."

If you believe these sort of stuffs.

Stop acting like you have a set path

Charlie Hoehn offers his best career advice: "And therein lies the best career advice I could possibly dispense: just DO things. Chase after the things that interest you and make you happy. Stop acting like you have a set path, because you don’t. No one does. You shouldn’t be trying to check off the boxes of life; they aren’t real and they were created by other people, not you. There is no explicit path I’m following, and I’m not walking in anyone else’s footsteps. I’m making it up as I go."

Hm, I'm not sure about that 'just do it' stuff Charlie, but I'll take note of that. (via swissmiss, photo of the awesome W+K Delhi office)

The decade of dirty design

The first decade of 2000 is coming to a close, and Steven Heller reminisces on why it turned out to be an exciting (and grungy) decade for graphic designers in the uprising era of computers as the dominant medium.

By the way, Jonathan Safran Foer is one of my favourite authors & whose book cover designs I simply adore. Later.

Kissing checklist

Kissing checklist, by Rachel E. Foster (via the ever fabulous swissmiss). Have you got any other occasions you'd like to add?

Gradual happiness

It has come to my attention today that my outfits on weekdays are mostly dependent on how close the day is to weekends. I am known to wear black on a Monday to mourn for the temporary passing of the two greatest days of the week. The color tones of my outfit gradually brighten as Friday approaches. How novel to find out trivial personal rudiments like this.

And because it’s Thursday, only two days away till Saturday, here’s a happy-happy image from Aakash Nihalani as we watch the clock ticks away and hope time moves a lot faster.

Darkroom is where good & evil exist side by side

From Wikipedia: “A photogram is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a photo-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. The result is a negative shadow image varying in tone, depending on the transparency of the objects used. Areas of the paper that have received no light appear white; those exposed through transparent or semi-transparent objects appear grey.”

My first photogram was during my photography class in uni. I had a cut out paper in the shape of a briefcase; I arranged some stationery right in the middle of the said briefcase, trying to create an impression of x-ray scanning effects of a luggage going through a security checkpoint in the airport. An even more creative friend created a detailed paper cut out of a human lung skeleton model, of which he threw in some random knick-knacks like paper clips and dried grass and used roll of films.

Darkroom was a load of fun, as I recalled. We had to enter through a revolving door and as we set foot in the room itself; it was as if we were in a parallel world where good & evil exist side by side. It was dark and stuffy and full of chemicals, yet in a few moments later our eyes adjusted to the darkness and a whole new exciting world transpired before us. We had to hide behind a closed, pitch black curtain, almost closet-like, to process our roll of films, giggling amusingly as we carefully set up a plan to sneak a kiss on the boy we had a crush on (of which we never did, but it was fun strategizing anyway).

Do college kids nowadays have the chance to experience darkroom like we did, or was it all about Photoshop now? (photo from here)

I want each and every one of these darlings

Don't start givin' me evils! There's this whole other fing wot you dont know nuffin about so SHARRUP!

I hope life calms down soon and gives me the breathing room I deserve

Our weekends were spent in a rush. We were completely drained. Drained as Spongebob let out of the water for 3 weeks and missing Patrick the starfish and then he/she/it launched into an irreverent song belted out of tune with his squeaky voice. I wanted to explain the reasoning behind the last three sentences and to brief you on our weekend’s excursion chronologically but I’m still knackered, hungry and cranky as *uck. And back at work, running amok like a madman on crack. And oh by the way, the title is from a Facebook message written by Iain Thomas of I Wrote This for You (Azah, the person behind the site is a dude. You are wrong, HA!)

I need more sleep. (Image from Angus Whines)