Men of Good Fortune

Said title refers to a chapter of the Sandman in the Doll's House, where Dream makes ...um.. an acquaintance... with a Robbie Gadling. This story taught me quite a bit about friendship. I think the main lesson is simply that sometimes we do not realise that we do have friends around us. We may not meet them everyday, we may not get to talk with them regularly, but when we do, we feel happy. Comfortable.

I just want to take the time to acknowledge all my friends out there. You know who you are, and I am glad to have known you guys and gals. Without you all, my life may very well be much different.

Friends - Rembrandts

So no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOA,
It's like you're always stuck in second gear,
when it hasn't been your day, your week, your month or even your year!

but
I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for you, like I've been there before
I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too....

Your still in bed at 10 and work begins at 8,
You burned your breakfast so far things are going great
Your mother warned you there'd be days like these
But she didn't tell you when the world was brought down to your knees!

No one could ever know me
No one could ever see me
Seems you're the only one who knows
What it's like to be me
Some one to face the day with
Make it through all the mess with
Someone I'll always laugh with
Even at my worst, my best with you, yeah...

Vine Trellis

Excerpt from Emily Climbs, L.M. Montgomery.

"Am I pig-headed?
"I know I am determined, and Aunt Elizabeth says I am stubborn. But pig-headedness is worse than either of those. Determination is a good quality and even stubbornness has a saving grace in it if you have a little gumption as well. But a pig-headed person is one who is too stupid to see or understand the foolishness of a certain course and insists on taking it, insists, in short, on running full tilt into a stone wall.
"No, I am not pig-headed. I accept stone walls.
"But I take a good deal of convincing that they are stone walls and not cardboard imitations. Therefore, I am a little stubborn"

On Saturday I accepted a stone wall. It was very hard to do, but sometimes you just have to admit defeat. There is only so much you can do...

Guess I can't take that road after all. *sad smile* C'est la vie...

Quick update! Raya rocks!

Highlights of the day in point form cause I'm just so tired!

1. Dressed in full Baju Melayu (pics later!)
2. Asked forgiveness from mum and dad for sins (a list would take all day!)
3. Received a really awesome Hari Raya sms that made me go wow!
4. Went to friend's open house and stuffed myself while talking with ex-colleagues
5. Discussed speech therapy with ex-colleague (more on this in a future post!)
6. Received a lovely surprise in the form of a phone call *smiles*
7. Went to Ayu's house, met most of my relatives and stuffed myself some more
8. Tried to squeeze in some Monopoly at Ayu's but gave up after four rounds!
9. Tour of relatives proceeds to my house and actually talk politics!!! On Raya!!
10. Head to another Auntie's place after Maghrib, and the Tom Yam was amazing!!!
11. Arrived home exhausted and proceeded to pack for tomorrow's trip up North
12. Blogging superspeed
13. Will now proceed to collapse into my seductive bed! Good night!!

Hope you all had a good first day of Hari Raya! It was a good day...

Long overdue...

To everyone,

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri! And Maaf Zahir Batin!

Azmin Mohd Khalib
Living On Imagination

-------------
Dear God,

Thanks for all the love You share
Though I am so not worthy
Yet You continue to show how much You care
I thank You oh so dearly

I'm clearly weak, and not that strong
Thanks to You I survive
I sin and sin and still do wrong
And still I am alive

My obligations to You I still fail to meet
Like praying 5 times a day
And though my soul is not complete
You still don't turn away

Instead You continue to be bless me so
With all that life can give
And am I grateful? I'm not, I know
I don't deserve to live

I pray that You'll forgive me
The one who knows all is You
A person of faith I'll try to be
And do my best to be true

From this day on I'll try my best
To remember You each day
Improve myself to face each test
And not to go astray...

-----------

Unusual word association + random picture

Unusual word association

We did some word association back in Pre-University College and as is usual in these exercises, people end up putting their feet in their mouths. Tempers flaired, grudges held, and even the tutors got accidentally insulted, to the horror of the students when they realised it. Fortunately, the tutors were pros...

However, it's always interesting when mention of one word can get a totally unexpected and possibly even unrelated responses due to ones personal memories or personal experience. Example:

Computer - Jealous (during childhood, your sworn enemy was the only one in the neighbourhood with a comp)
Calvin & Hobbes - Jacqueline (your childhood sweetheart, who gave you a collection as a birthday present)
Accounting - Accident (you tripped on an accounting book and well... broke your arm!)

I'm only mentioning this because of my last posting. Now, I am an avid Star Wars fan. I daresay I've memorised 90% of the dialogue in Episodes 4-6, and can tell you what happens in all the scenes. As for Episodes 1-2, I think I'm at 50%, but that's cause it's still new, plus the fact some of the dialogue between Anakin and Amidala is just plain horrible. However, I can still tell you what happens in all the scenes as well!

And yet, now, whenever Star Wars is mentioned, a totally unexpected memory comes to my mind...

And hey! It's a great one!

When George Lucas named Star Wars Episode 4 as A New Hope, he never realised just how prophetic that title turned out to be!


Random picture moment

Totally unrelated picture follows. I realised I haven't posted any pics for quite a while. So here's a shot taken recently at Wolf's Game Shop.


Aside from the gaming, the socialising, and the deep contemplation of WGS's larger than life personality of Chen, this picture also treats you to what is now considered a rare moment indeed: Wolf having free time to paint miniatures!

Have a good one, Wolf!

Star Wars Episode 3!

Without doubt this will be the biggest challenge for George Lucas to squeeze in all the story elements to complete the trilogy to link to Episode 4. So MANY things that people wanna see, Anakin's full conversion to the Dark Side, his duel with former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, the disfiguring of Palpatine, the hunting down of the Jedi, the formation of the Imperial Senate, the Death of Mace Windu, not to mention how much of the Clone Wars they plan to show!!!

So much to do in one movie! Star Wars fans are abuzz, some cynical that it can't be done, some optimistic hoping that Lucas will do better for this final instalment.

Me? I just hope I get my wish, i.e. the beheading of Jar Jar Binx by Anakin Skywalker (hopefully). I am sure Star Wars fans around the world would agree he is one of the most useless supporting characters of all time.

Watched a bit of the trailer at a mamak, hence my sudden revival of the subject. And I must say I am eagerly awaiting more..!


A few hours later, my spectacles fell apart... Impact to much to take? We'll se...

Cleaning up time!

Uggh!

Have to admit, I was never one of those fastidious, rushing people when it came to cleaning up my personal space. I have no problems assisting others to clean up common areas, but when it comes to mine, well... er...

Ha ha, y'know, I could argue I do it on purpose so as to lend an identity to my personal areas, but truth of the matter, I'm just plain lazy.

I also have problems throwing out old stuff. Well, this I could actually argue. You never know, I might still be able to use it, and some of the stuff just has so many memories. Aye, spoken like a true hoarder of all things useless...

Still, when the whip starts a-lashing, then a-cleaning is a must. Why?

Hari Raya is coming soon!!! Less than a week to go!!!

Note: Haven't seen the Amcorp gang for quite a while. Miss ya lots! Will catch up soon...

Ever felt so helpless sometimes?

Ever been in those situations where you felt so helpless? That there doesn't seem to be anything you can do to improve it? Don't you feel so weak, so useless? You try and try, but there's only so much you can do.

The only thing you can do... is wait.

So here I am... waiting. For better or for worse.

Now, to get through this weekend...

The long road ahead...

Well, it's longer than I thought it was.

I've been spending the last week just trying to come to terms with that fact.

And today?

This morning I woke up feeling surprisingly different. I am not going to solve anything by moping around. Life doesn't work that way.

It's a long road, but I'm still walking it.

Wish me luck.