organised chaos

When you’ve had a rough Friday with major sniffles and trying to study for a 6pm exam, being dragged to Midvalley on a Friday night was my last idea of fun. I trudged after Ummi and Widad begrudgingly, and at the end of the night found myself with a bought book (the last copy of The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, joy!) and 2 tops. Metrojaya is having some sort of sale, and Widad picked out the tops for me. I think she was more excited about my new clothes than I was; I was barely awake after my long day but I relented, bent under her will.

At the counter, I had second thoughts and asked her “Do you think I really need them?” because I’m more of a shop-for-necessities rather than shop-because-you’re-female person.

She turned around, gave me one utterly grim look and gravely said “Yes. Judging by your wardrobe, you definitely need them.”

I’ll have you know, I don’t dress like a granny anymore. My sister simply won’t let me. It’s like having an overbearing personal shopper, FOC, whether you like it or not.

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I finally got to watch Bride Wars with my sister yesterday evening after a 9 month hiatus from the cinemas. The movie was so-so, not as good as I thought it’d be. Half the time we were laughing our butts off was because of the guy who sat behind us. He had this really distinct guttural roar that you just can’t ignore. Widad was pinching me, and it took us a lot of effort to stop shaking in our seats. I had to put my hand over my mouth and fake a few coughs so that he wouldn’t be offended.

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I just finished ‘Tis by Frank McCourt, and I came across this chapter where Frank the teacher is discussing Humpty Dumpty with his high school students. His students tell him it’s about an egg that falls off a wall, and Frank asks them how they got the idea that Humpty Dumpty is an egg, since it doesn’t say so anywhere in the rhyme. The students are insistent, Humpty Dumpty is an egg, he’s always been an egg, that’s what they’ve known all their lives. They argue about this for a while.

Finally, Frank says this:

“All right. If you’re content with the idea of egg we’ll let it be but I know the future lawyers in this class will never accept egg where there is no evidence of an egg.”

I know it sounds completely anal (sorry, couldn’t find a better word) but unfortunately it’s very true. Humpty Dumpty as an egg cannot be admissible in court unless we can raise a strong presumption of fact or law (under Section 4 of the Evidence Act 1950) that he’s an egg, or maybe by virtue of an established custom or usage under proviso (e) of Section 92 that he’s never been anything but an egg, notwithstanding the absence of any egg description in the rhyme. Personally, I think we should go with proviso (e).

Sorry, after-effects of an Evidence paper.

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I have this dear friend whom I rarely see on campus, though we stay up to date with each other through the Internet/random texting. We usually bump into each other once or twice in a whole semester, but it’s always nice when we do, because sometimes it feels like we coincidentally collide at that exact moment when we need that familiar face, that warm smile, that reassuring hug, that warm human touch.

It happened last week, so out of the blue and unexpected, just a quick hello, a smile, a hug, before we parted ways.

She later texted me: “The strangest thing is, I always bump into you when I’m at my most fragile state. Thanks.”

Dear friend, don’t you know? You’ve just revealed my Superpower.

Oh yes, I have one too, maybe a little different from yours, but I have one all the same.

My power is that I magically appear where I feel I should be, and once I spot my intended target, I unleash a hug with the force of a thousand sunshines. It doesn’t sound like a very cool power to have, but it comes in handy at times.

The wonderful thing about hugs is that you can’t give one without receiving one back, and sometimes the giver doesn’t let you know that when she’s holding your pieces together, sometimes you’re helping hold all her pieces together too.

Just so you know. =)

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It’s funny how we can sometimes overlook the little things that seem so insignificant sometimes, the little things that move us, that touch our heart and soul, that colour our days and nights in different shades and hues, that we wake up for, that we look forward to, that we smile about as we drift to sleep, the little things which really aren’t so little, all things considered.

As much as those big explosive kapows can knock me cleanly over sometimes, it’s the insignificant things that catch my eye, the tiny details that usually go unnoticed.

It could be anything.

It could lie anywhere between tmblr posts and heartwarming messages and motivational twesents and thoughtful comments and endearing blog entries and breathtaking photographs and quiet morning drives to class and encouraging words and get-well-soons and well-meant reproaches and jokes shared and hugs returned and lengthy conversations and thoughtful gestures and motorcycle rides and knowing glances and rainy nights and windy days and irresistible coffee aromas and a dozen other insignificants.

I can never ignore them, and I never forget those responsible for sharing with me these little things. It doesn’t take much, but it means the world, and when the big things take a hit at you, that’s when the little things really count.

The other day I chanced upon a blog by an Indonesian writer who was talking about how small the world really is, how we don’t realise that with our diverse connection of family and friends branching out everywhere, finding a person is only a keyword away. We are all only a keyword away from each other. In the same respect, I think sometimes we don’t realise the full impact of our actions on others. Sometimes we don’t realise that a word can be enough, can be all it takes to make a person’s day, and really sometimes, we’re only a word away from making that kind of difference.

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About 3 years ago, I made an Internet friend through friendster. Back then, she was Syazwina to me.

Today, I call her Awin.

And last Thursday, I met her in flesh and blood for the very first time. It was lovely, just walking around UIA talking face-to-face after having virtual exchanges for so long.

So I’m going to pay tribute and thank the creators of online social networking and blogs for introducing me to amazing people that I’ve been lucky enough to get to know these past few years. Knowing me and my initial wariness of people, the opportunity would’ve never materialised otherwise.

It’s always a wonder to find people whom although we haven’t met in person, we’ve met in mind and understanding.

Enough said here.