.

Kadang-kadang ada satu tahap busy tu mengalahkan presiden. Stress level meningkat, boleh jadi depresi tapi tiada masa nak melayan perasaan pun. Lari, makin laju lari. Tengok dunia banyak mana nak uji. Tengok kita mampu lari pecut atau tidak.

Doodle : Notebook Weekend

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I've been too busy with works, I had no time for my doodle therapy. So I bought empty notebooks from Muji, Moleskine and GoPalm and started doodling since last week. A great weekend escape. Preparing for any upcoming events next month.

Got tired of my playlist and slow internet connection. So I downloaded Spotify to my Mac and played 'Coffeehouse Playlist' - oh remarkable technology. I can listen to 6 hours non-stop playlist of good musics without having to choose every once in a while and my slow connection doesn't even bother the playlist.

And I found a sticker-plastic wrappers for these books, so the pencilled illustrations won't smear. I remember my dad used to wrap things using these wrappers when I was small and I bought it to try it on my books. Great stuffs. 

Doodle : The Sleepyheads Wallet by Dynomighty

Good news, 

Dynomighty just launched their Artist Collective several days ago. 

>> You can now get your Sleepyheads Wallet straight from New York City <<

About :

+ 2 large pockets for cash and receipts.
+ 2 credit card pockets that expand to hold lots of cards.
+ 2 quick access business card pockets.
+ 4 writable Tyvek® business cards included.
open - 8 w x 3.25 h x .125 d

The Mighty Wallet® is tear-resistant, water-resistant, expandable and recyclable. 

Made from Tyvek® (think express mail envelopes), these cool wallets resist tearing because of thousands of interlocking plastic fibers spun in random patterns, giving them incredible strength.

The ingenious origami construction was and is the original folded Tyvek® wallet designed by Terrence Kelleman. The stitch less design reinforces the materials own strength and allows these very slim wallets to instantly expand and adapt to your own personal storage needs.

The Mighty Wallet® will expand right before your eyes. Because of the slim, lightweight and water resistant features, you can take these cool wallets anywhere. They make great "night out" wallets for a slender silhouette and the writable surface conveniently acts as a quick note pad on the go. In time, the Mighty Wallet® will gradually soften and patina but, even after years of wear, it will still offer surprise and solicit intrigue.

*

Too bad they don't do wholesales, or I'll probably buy a bunch of them and resell it here, reducing the international postage fees. You can buy it from here, for $25, international postage $15.

PS - I'm using the wallet myself since last month, yeap, kertas tak koyak wei :D

Little Things 121 : Daily

Every month I post an update on books that I've read and short reviews about those books. 4 months = 16 books not including short stories written by writers all over the world. I am deeply touched by the variety of our minds, accumulating imagination and experience into something so deep and beautiful. 

I love us, writers of the world. Putting your faithful thoughts into patient words, shouting feelings into beautiful paragraphs. I love us, introverts of the world. Letting harsh unspoken thoughts sleep inside, becoming lessons for our soul. I love us, silent rebels of the world. Watching those dark rotten hearts and whispering silent prayers for us, for them. 

Be still, soul.

*

I am working at a news portal company and I read current news on daily basis. I love the environment, I love the people, I love the work, I love the pay. What I'm worried about is daily feeds I am receiving.

Ditto social network. 

I am actively using my fake office's Facebook for research & knowledge sharing so I don't have to see never-ending shares in my real Facebook. The world is just too loud these days. 

Excerpt 06 : Karma

Sebagaimana kita melayan orang yang sayang kita, begitulah juga kita akan dilayan oleh orang yang kita sayang. Setimpal dan seadilnya untuk setiapnya kita. 

Cuma ada kala kita akan dapat dua kali timpal dari itu. Mungkin lagi sakit, atau lebih bahagia. - Adi Wafi

Little Things 120 : Loud

I turned off the light so I can be in total darkness. My head ached for the whole day, I had to rest and even sleep during daylight. By 11pm, I tried to close my eyes and forced myself to sleep. Restless, the body wasn't that tired to rest early than intended on my day off. 

I woke up between dreams, felt my head thumping hard, and lost in another dream. 

By the early morning mist, I woke up with a mild headache. 

My neck was sore from last night's battle, but thank you. Thank you for another day.  

Excerpt 05 : My Father's Suitcase

The question we writers are asked most often, the favorite question, is: Why do you write? I write because I have an innate need to write. I write because I can’t do normal work as other people do. I write because I want to read books like the ones I write. I write because I am angry at everyone. I write because I love sitting in a room all day writing. I write because I can partake of real life only by changing it. I write because I want others, the whole world, to know what sort of life we lived, and continue to live, in Istanbul, in Turkey. I write because I love the smell of paper, pen, and ink. I write because I believe in literature, in the art of the novel, more than I believe in anything else. I write because it is a habit, a passion. I write because I am afraid of being forgotten. I write because I like the glory and interest that writing brings. I write to be alone. Perhaps I write because I hope to understand why I am so very, very angry at everyone. I write because I like to be read. I write because once I have begun a novel, an essay, a page I want to finish it. I write because everyone expects me to write. I write because I have a childish belief in the immortality of libraries, and in the way my books sit on the shelf. I write because it is exciting to turn all life’s beauties and riches into words. I write not to tell a story but to compose a story. I write because I wish to escape from the foreboding that there is a place I must go but—as in a dream—can’t quite get to. I write because I have never managed to be happy. I write to be happy. - My Father's Suitcase by Orphan Pamuk

After Murakami, I am definitely going to try Orphan Pamuk's writing.

Movie : The Grand Budapest Hotel

Dear Wes Anderson's fans,

You can now watch his latest movie : 

The Grand Budapest Hotel at MidValley, Pavilion or One Utama. 

A special international movie that rarely picked in here, less publicity and advertisement, you can watch it for RM 10 in the smallest movie theater in Midvalley. 

For 1 hour and 40 minutes, you will be entertained with interesting story in story, familiar faces, whimsical songs, beautiful backdrops, and little delightful things for you to find. It is definitely a fairy-tale for adult. 

*

I went to watch it on the first show last Thursday, surprised by the RM 10 fees and the smallest movie theater in Midvalley. I enjoyed the whole time. Simply put, he produced a perfect story for me. I felt intrigued to watch it again and again like I did for Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom, because watching his movie is like playing 'Where's Wally?" - there will be new things for you to discover each and every time! :D

Most people might not agree with me. After all, I am his fan, things I say about him will definitely be lopsided :D But then, after the movie, I went to watch Captain America *this is after 3 months of no movies, I just think I should do a movie marathon on my day off. It was not half as exciting as watching The Grand Budapest Hotel. Maybe I am bored with the whole super-hero thing, or never-ending destruction or special effects.

Maybe I just need something simple.

*

Books : March List

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9. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

This reading took almost 3 weeks, longer than I intended. More than 600 pages long, with small text beautifully aligned near each other. My colleague asked me; "Is this your first Murakami's book?", I said it is my third. She said she will only read one book per author to know the writing style. I wanted to disagree but decided to only let this thought silently echoed in my mind : "You can't judge a writer by reading only one of his/her book."

If Zahir is about an obsession of finding a missing wife by Paulo Coelho. Then the Wind-up Bird Chronicle is an obsession about finding a missing wife by Haruki Murakami. They are almost alike in the theme and main focus but with a totally different lesson to be learned. 

With Haruki, it's always dream-like, ambiguous, seemingly lost in the character's thought, stories in stories, and most of it doesn't even make any sense at all. Sometimes I got short "hm" while reading, in the random odd chapter of one of the unimportant character's letter or childhood experience, imagine for the whole one chapter! The story doesn't even relate at all, except to vaguely explain certain behavior or is it?

I always wonder, what makes him write about random people in his own story? He makes all characters, even the one that crosses the road or work at the laundry have their own life in the story. He is that detailed to the bones.

*

10. What we talk about when we talk about running by Haruki Murakami

For anyone who wants to understand why some people love running so much, this book might give you a glimpse of what a long-distance runner feels about running. He wrote it to understand about his attachment with his routined life and while learning about himself in his running journal that he kept, he shared with the world about himself.

True, it isn't much. It is more or less like reading an informal journal. I learned about him, his routine, and his obsession. Anything to give me a glimpse of who he is as a real person in a real life, that is more than enough. I highly recommend this to people who love running, and writing.

*

11. Short Sufi Stories by Mohamad Yasin Owadally

This reading took less than 2 days on the train. A compilation of short stories for wisdom and guidance. The story that you heard when you were around 7-12 at sekolah agama. A light reading, I enjoyed putting yellow stickers on useful stories that I could use in the future. One of my favorite :

You've no idea how hard I've looked for a gift to bring You. Nothing seemed right. What's the point of bring gold to the gold mine, or water to the Ocean? Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient. It's no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these. So - I've brought you a mirror. Look at yourself and remember me. O love, O pure deep love, be here, be Now, be all; worlds dissolve into your stainless endless radiance. Frail living leaves, burn with you brighter than cold stars: Make me your servant, your breath, your core. 

Rumi says, "God is your mirror in which you contemplate yourself and you are His mirror in which He contemplates his divine attributes." 

Ibn Arabi says, "I won't serve God like a labourer in expectation of wages". 

- Love of Allah & Remembrance ( page 48 )

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12. Langit Vanilla by Wani Ardy

I bought this book, among other books from independent poets.
I loved it ! I love how clean and neat her language is. The way writer writes things usually reflect how he/she thinks.

In my opinion, there is this trend of writing self-expresion in the form of so-called art. Even though art itself can be anything and everything, without any limitation. I strongly believe that art should be beautiful. Be it in words of poetry or story, or painting or photography. It should be beautiful. We might see things differently; some people think death is beautiful, some people don't. Some people use bad words in every breath and feels nothing, some people never even said the word "shit". So I guess we can't really put a real definition on that, huh?

To conclude this, I don't prefer to read any written books with obscene and vulgar language, even in a manner of speaking. Independent writing or not, just be aware of your language. We have enough dirts and rubbish in life.

Hati manusia itu sesuatu yang rumit, sulit. Sepuluh orang boleh melalui peristiwa yang sama, tapi belum tentu dua orang merasa perkara yang sama. - Pemuja Rahsia.

Kau manusia, kau tak boleh ada semua.  

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Little Things 119 : Designers vs the World

01 :

One of the editor came to me and asked me to find a suitable image for the latest article. We have accounts for Shutterstock and Bigstock, so finding images aren't so hard. 

He stood next to me while we both searched for suitable image in Bigstock. But none could be used. So he said to me;

"How about Shuttlecock?, 

I looked at him, "Sorry?".

"The other account. Shuttlecock."

I looked at the computer screen and smiled to myself. 

"Oh, Shutterstock".

*

02 :

A journalist came to me and informed me : 

"I have new photos that I found suitable for the article. 

Can you do your magic and make it usable for us?".

I sent her the edited version of the images and she said :

"I have no idea how you guys did that".

*

03 :

I heard a journalist commented on our work :

"These infographics you guys did are really nice. 

Too bad people don't read it".

=.=

*

The great thing about working in a place with a mixture of people from different field is how interesting every one of us can be. There are writers, reporters, editors, translators, designers, web-masters, photographers, videographers, and other people from sub-departments. 

Everyone of them are passionate about what they do, working on one single thing that matters to them. And I feel inspired by their energy. 

PS : Writing this on my Wednesday day-off while eating 'pau kacang' and getting ready for a jog.