desparate for more

Desperate Housewives (DH) has been talk-of-the-town for the past few weeks. Since its first opening in early July, I have not properly watched one whole episode. And by watching it for just 15 minutes, doesn't justify me to give full blown review, isn't it!

Nonetheless, I think it's overated! If I can only stay for 15 minutes long, what does it mean? I would rather stick to CSIs series, Friends, Sex and the City or Dalam Hati Ada Cinta? Which by the way is one of Erja's favorites sebab she thinks it's her Mimi and Abah berlakon.

enough, please!

It's funny when one said she got nothing to do and in contact with him at all, but actually secretly communicating with each other through other means.

Whoever you are, I try to think positive and berperasangka baik. I have no more energy left and the tank is almost empty. Let's not go there again. I hope you honor your word!

How bizzare!!!

it's mega sale AGAIN?

The Sun newspaper today has most of the sections parading the Mega Sale, which start this Saturday. Aiyo, kopak lah!

I particularly like this article on “Shopper’s Syndome” which talked about the variety of shopaholics that we can detect from a mile away. I intend to share some of the key point. Here are some of the more visible ones:-

Replacement shoppers
Whenever the sales person rolls around, that’s the time for these busy bee to do some much needed “spring cleaning” to rid the house of “old” items (probably bought during the last mega sale period) to make way for new ones. This is their holy mantra and excuse to shop.

Jual Murah shoppers
You can’t miss them as they flock to shops that display the “Jual Murah” signs from the moment they are put up. These shoppers are attracted to these signs like moths to flame!

Kiasu shoppers
These are the one who loved to be seen at all the posh shopping complexes and branded outlets, flashing their jewellery, with one or two maids tagging along, carrying all the shopping bags. They are mostly the tai-tai’s or datins who will shop till they drop armed with their platinum and gold credit cards. Desperate housewives are also included!

Window shoppers
Ah, they are everywhere. They just love to ogle at the displays in the shops, especially those that sell the hi-tech stuff… the latest 3G handphones, digital cameras, sub-notebooks, i-Pods, DVD players, etc. You can almost see them salivating as they fondle
the items… but in the end, they walk away without buying.

And yes, this probably me!

Compulsive shoppers
They buy almost anything that they fancy. Never mind that they are already burdened with more shopping bags than they can carry, or that their credit card statements run to a hundred pages or more. Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series is their life story in print. They just LOVE to stop. Period.

Serious shoppers
Now, here are the shoppers who will actually mean that they say and say what they mean! So determined and sure are they about what they want that they will walk out of the shop with their purchase(s), usually in record time and without browsing at any of the other items on offer.

Nevertheless, I intend to rush to shopping malls with my mate this Saturday... *shy*...

carpe diem!

Certainly, I’ve made some sacrifices that perhaps many not have been made by a man, but I don’t think it adds up to anything. I mean, I could resent the hell out of him for not being there throughout the pregnancy, for not changing as many diapers as I have, for not having to think twice about just walking out the door, for not having to feed and clean up. And I could have resented him for it, many many times. But then I remember that I chose to have children, too. I chose everything that brought me to where I am, and I am not prepared to risk it all just to prove a point.

At some point, there we are bound to sacrifice something for the loved one. I don’t believe we should genderise “sacrifice”. Without a doubt there are sacrifices to make such as time with family, but I don’t think that the sacrifices that I have had to make are any different from those of a man: especially if we are very driven to create something really successful.

Being a mother to Erja, I now share different perspective on the matter. Women have to make the greatest sacrifices ever; the sacrifice of self! Motherhood isn’t something that ends when your kids are all grown up. We worry about our kids even when there are 40 and you’re 60. Then we worry about their kids. I saw this happen to my mom.

Men simply don’t have that sort of connection, I think! Yes, they love their kids, but mothers go through something entirely different. A woman is forever changed when she becomes a mum.

At least that is what I feel, at the moment.

the light of Your Noor

Allah, as I enter this world
I bring Your presence with me
I speak Your peace, Your grace, Your mercy, and Your perfect order
I acknowledge Your power over all that will be spoken, thought and decided within this walls

Allah, I thank You for the gifts You have blessed me with
I commit to using them responsibly in Your honor
Give me a fresh supply of strenght to do my job
Bless my life so that even smallest accomplishment may bring You glory

Allah when I am confused, guide me
When I am weary, energize me
When I am burned out, infuse me
With the light of Your Noor

In the mane of Allah I pray
With much love and thanksgiving

Amin...

***
I am so determined and just need some times to reconcile. I promise, this will come to an end!

reasons for failure

There is nothing wrong with making mistakes. We all do. A fool is one who makes the same mistake twice. But a person who makes a mistake and doesn't correct it, commits a bigger one. Isn't it?

I read this from a book.

"The best way to handle a mistake is to admit it quickly, not dwell on it, learn from it, not repeat it, not assign blame or make excuses..."

The difference between success and failure is the difference between doing exactly right and almost right. It is easy to be average but tough to be the best. Decide and choose which one we want to be.

Oh... I'm so penat!

07.07.2005

This is how quickly fate can change in a blood-soaked modern world. When a city celebrates its Olympics one day and counts its dead the next. How rapidly the cheers can turn to explosions, and then screams, and then sirens. London stood proudly alone Wednesday, the newest host of the Games. A winner for all the globe to see. Happily facing the prospects of seven chaotic years of planning and spending and work, for an event that claims itself a messenger of peace.

As the television showed the dazed survivors walking away, the thought that came to mind was that London didn't seem so alone, after all. Because it is a curious thing about most of the cities that fought so hard for the 2012 Olympics. London, New York, Madrid, Moscow. A brotherhood of hopefuls. And recent terror targets. All have known days like Thursday. The images. The shock. The debris. The bodies. The vows to move on and persevere.

The suspicion seems to be that this attack was set to coincide with the opening of the G-8 summit. The Olympics might have just been a bonus for the bombers. Ghastly timing, turning a city's joy into horror literally overnight. A sudden jerk in destiny, a nosedive from elation to mourning, that even added to the shock and trauma.

My last visit to London was about 5 years ago and now, some of the places I visited could have been affected. The explosion had ripped apart at least one double-decker and caused officials to close and evacuate the entire subway system.

Terrorist or not terrorist attack, this incident must not happen in the first place.

I guess there will be silence for a while, in terms of the Olympics. Then the long ride to the London Games will recommence. And when the organizers talk about spending more on security - more troops, more dogs, more weapons - everyone will nod and say yes.

And one day in 2012, when the flame is about to be lit in London, I hope I would be able to tell Erja what happened back in 2005.

07.07 is another date to be remembered.

ayah saga

I dreamt of my dad last night and I realised that I have not being visiting his grave for months.

I don't think it's too much to admit that he is the only person who can tolerate and layan my kerenah. I probably learnt more of what I needed to know in life from him than I did from the books in school.

He was never a teacher, but he has been more than that. I have no other siblings and that had made my relationship my father much more closer.

As a person he is dynamic and inspired enthusiasm. He was a disciplinarian but yet approachable. He is a passionate worker and cannot stay idle for long. He is a real role model.

Oh yes, he is my teacher, my mentor.

dare to bare

How many of us have the confidence to step out of the house without a hint of make-up? I normally use make-up. Eyebrow pencil, blusher, foundation are de rigueur. Make-up is a tool for feeling good about myself, which in turn boosts self-confidence.

I do go grocery shopping at Carrefour all barefaced and flushed from gym. I have no problem with that. Regular women are under pressure to look good at all times and this pressure comes from the advertising and fashion industries, which ‘create’ women that look too perfect. For KL men the pressure is probably limited to not developing a beer belly!

Make-up is a total waste of time. In the mornings I’m up, gulp a glass of juice down after a shower and am out the door. Make-up would just slow down my life. I don’t use foundation and the like, but I simply love lip-gloss. The shinier and yummier the better. No doubt I have no qualms walking out of the house without a trace of make-up on.

Certainly there is pressure for women to look good, but not all the time. I think it’s necessary for women to have some make-up on, it only to protect their skin (most make-up products contain SPF). Also, working women look good with it, especially if they’ve had a restless night. You may be down in the dumps, but no one else needs to know that!

Hahaha... that is my take after Erja dropped my MAC compact on Sunday. I guess, I'm OK to bare then...

jamie's thought on love

One thing has become quite clear: All acquaintances are passing. Therefore I want to make the most of every contact. I want to quickly get close to the people I meet because my experience has shown we won't be together long.

People in cars passing by my car, people walking past me on the street, someone leaving a shop as I enter, Zizie coming through the door from work, Wanie getting his mail as I get mine, and with each one of these little brushing-against, these encounters big and small, I leave something behind. If I can feel what I pick up form them, certainly on some level they can feel my state also. When, then, is the trail behind me composed of? Does not this "gift to the world" by its very enormity, outweigh all others?

How much do I really love people? If I had been cut off from people for twenty or thirty years, totally cut off, I would love to hear the yelling upstairs, the screaming of the children, the loud music. I love people when I love then for being people, and not for being young or old or beautiful or hip. I wish I would love what humanity has built just because humanity has built it: streets, power lines, buildings, cars.

Love unites the part with the whole. Love unites me with the world and with myself. My life work could well be love. Love is the universe complete. Detachment is the universe divided. Detachment divides me from myself and from others. Love is the vision that can see all as one and one as all. Love shows me where all minds and essence unite.

How do I get love? I have it. I must drop my definitions of love. Love is not saying nice things to people or smiling or doing good deeds only...

Love is love. Don't strive for love, be it. All my life I have made it complicated, but it is so simple. I love when I love. And when I love, I am my self.

bugger off!

I do not welcome and appreciate any unnecessary comment, remark, opinion, view or even idea from you. Though you are closely related to the husband, please do not assume it is OK to talk to me like that. In case your mother did not or forgot teach you some basic manners, it is rude, very rude to invade other people's privacy and personal life. Just for the record, whatever his is mine too... OK. Tough to accept? Good. Deal with it.

Just because you are bad in planning, that should not constitute an emergency on my part. Do not ever tell me to sacrifice my weekend just because you do not know how to plan! Who do you think you are?

Next time think again when you decide to call or sms me. Just because I did not response to any of your sarcastic sms and your rude phone call, you start calling me name. Ingat sikit, awak tu siapa and saya ni siapa. You might even want to consider STOP making effort to insult me because tak lut. I will never bring myself down as low as you, b***h! Nak geng up with your family to sabo me, go ahead, as if I care!

And here is my last word to you Missy, "Mind your manners and at the moment pun you just not worth of my effort and energy."

Sesungguhnya Allah itu maha kaya...