Happy 2010

So it will be new year tonite. Happy New Year to all.

May the new year be better, brighter, happier, more industrious, productive and positive. More fruitful, berkat. More iman, 'amal. A year where dreams are fulfilled. Aspirations reached. Spirits soar.

Wish everybody the best of the very, very best next year.

Happy New Year!!!

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Some Serious Thoughts (That I Occassionally Have..)

So Christmas is gone. And the year's ending fast.

Do you ever have new year resolutions? Of late, more often than not I do. I checked the ones I made for 2009. I had a long list which I divided into different categories - financial, spiritual, work, family etc etc (I like things to come in compartments; so everything must belong to a group of some sort).

For 2009 I achieved some things on my list but screwed lots. I suppose that's normal..?

I am preparing a similar list for 2010. Of course somethings are transferred lock, stock and barrel - like losing weight (let's do a ho-ho-ho laugh here..)

This year I have a new perspective on my resolutions. I translate these resolutions as my goals for the coming new year. And goals have processes associated with them. The process to attain each goal is as important as (if not more important than) the goal itself - I read this from Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad).

Any goal aka resolution without a process attached to it is just another empty dream (I personally translate this to angan-angan mat jenin).

So basically I am taking my resolution a bit more seriously this year - with some serious thoughts on how to achieve them. A process. A plan. A workable plan.

(Semangat nye..)

What's more I'll let you read this for some thoughts. About last year, next year, about ourselves.

This is from an American uh.. (whose name I will not mention. I mean, if I cant quote a squat from Usman Awang or Hamka or.. (?) who am I to blah.. blah - and I will not elaborate on this thread of thought..). Anyway the quote is here ~

"What lies behind us
And what lies before us
Are tiny matters
Compared to what lies within us."

Ponder this.

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At The Movies

And we hurried all the way hoping we are not so late. We skipped the popcorn-and-coke ritual and dashed straight to the theatre stopping at the doors to get our 3D glasses. Of course the movie had started when we got in and co-incidently a couple of guys were in our seats. We sort of told them to "move along now and get to your own seats".



I like the movie - although the story line is pretty much predictable. I think the movie is flawless - its visual is picture perfect.

Among comments the media made had included that the movie has messages on environment protection, anti-war and that "the American military was pure evil...".



The movie has also been likened to Dances with Wolves (love that; starred by Kevin Costner) and associated with other movies including Braveheart (with Mel Gibson), Jurassic Park and Pocahontas. And Smurf of course, for the obvious reason.

It is also considered to be a front-runner for awards and nominations at the next Academy Awards, including best picture.

I love the movie. It proves yet another theory I have - askar orang Amerika memang jahat! Anyway if you have not seen this, go ahead and do it because it definitely is money well spent at the cinemas.

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Turning Over A New Leaf After All.. ?

And while having tea with the girls last week Delinn had said this blog does not have tales about the terrible me anymore.

I suppose that's because I have nothing terrible to tell. Now. I used to have lots of that while at the toxic office. While you cant stop and think about work there (You just work. Period. ) - here, there is time to sit and think and plan work. I suppose that translates it just about right; operational is almost always fire fighting anyway. Always like a rush against the clock.

So in a way I am deducing that this current office turns me into someone more at peace with world. . muah-ha-ha.. The previous one simply makes me bad.

If you somehow do believe that, you will believe almost anything.

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Season To Be Merry

And we decided to get Eirfan the PSP after all. He had asked for one for doing good in his UPSR.

For a while I thought maybe we shouldnt. I doubt my brother bought one for his son for getting good results in the UPSR (or anything come to think of it. I can imagine him saying it a waste of time / money). But considering many of Eirfan's friends have PSPs we bought one anyway.

He seemed pleased with the present although he didnt show it so much (I hope he likes it!) Maybe his abangs were disappointed. They were hoping for a PS3 or an Xbox. But what would I do with the PS2 then?

We got the PSP at the Sony outlet in KLCC (the Christmas decoration was beautiful there - pix below). It came with standard games (according to Eirfan these games are outdated games that is why they are given free). I was disappointed - there in no Tetris, Galaga, Dig Dug or Pac-man included in the cartridge given..



I told Eirfan I have the right to keep the PSP at times I deem suitable. He of course agreed at the time. Let's hope this is something worthwhile bought.

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Of Wonders, Promise And Hope

[Hijr 15:16] And indeed We created towers in the skies, and beautified it for the beholders. 16. Dan demi sesungguhnya! Kami telah menjadikan di langit: bintang-bintang (yang berbagai bentuk dan keadaan) serta kami hiasi langit itu bagi orang-orang yang melihatnya.

[Hijr 15:19] And We spread out the earth, and placed mountains as anchors in it, and in it grew all things by a proper measure. 19. Dan bumi ini Kami bentangkan, dan Kami letakkan padanya gunung-ganang yang kukuh terdiri, serta Kami tumbuhkan padanya tiap-tiap sesuatu yang tertentu timbangannya.

[Hijr 15:45] Indeed the pious are amidst Gardens and springs. 45. Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang bertaqwa adalah ditempatkan di dalam beberapa taman Syurga, dengan matair-matair terpancar padanya.

[Hijr 15:56] He said, "Who is it that despairs from the mercy of his Lord, except those who are astray?" 56. Nabi Ibrahim berkata: “Dan tiadalah sesiapa yang berputus asa dari rahmat Tuhannya melainkan orang-orang yang sesat”.

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Pagan?

I was reading and found some claims made about Christmas being actually originated from celebration during the pagan days.

I googled "origins of Christmas" and the like to find out more.

It seemed the history of Christmas is a varied story. Early Europeans marked the year's longest night -- the winter solstice -- as the beginning of longer days and the rebirth of the sun. They slaughtered livestock that could not be kept through the winter and feasted from late December through January.

In ancient Rome, people celebrated rowdy festival from Dec. 17 to Dec. 24 in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The celebration consisted of a carnival-like period of feasting, carousing and gambling.

Later the church decided that Christians needed a December holiday to rival solstice celebrations. Church leaders selected Dec. 25 for the celebration. Christmas gained ground over the next several hundred years.

Early Christmas absorbed some of the Roman festival's excesses which featured feasting, drinking and riotous behavior. In fact in 1647 the English Parliament had banned the celebration of Christmas entirely, considering it a festival with no biblical justification and a time of wasteful and immoral behavior.

Charles Dickens with his novel 'A Christmas Carol' helped revive the 'spirit' of Christmas and seasonal merriment. The novel played a major role in portraying (his secular view of) Christmas as a holiday emphasizing family, goodwill, and compassion.

Hmm.. there's a lot more to tell - about the Christmas tree and its baubles and mistletoe and the log and etc etc. But I dont want to bore you.

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Happy Times

And AidilAdha came and went.

The first day we stayed home, we visited, ate and then were merry (so sad - got no photos).

The second day we did the qurban; and then we cook, ate and then were merry. Photos here.

The befallen sacrifices..

.. masak-masak.. I leave this to the experts. I take photos only..

The third and subsequent days we went back to see our mums. We of course ate and ate and were merry.

No photos either. I wanted to get photos of the pair of angsa jahat (according to my mum..), the lone itik nila (the others have alas, but died said mum), the mushrooms Eirfan and I saw on the busut and the old but still sturdy kampung house; but at the last minute had forgotten all about them!)

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Books, Books And More Books Part 19

Yes, yes, I have been very busy and didnt have the mind for blogging (although I did have the time..) Nevertheless..

And I finished this book over the Aidil Adha weekend / holidays.

If you are looking for something spectacular to read, this might be it. It definitely is intense, consuming and hard to put down.

It's not an 'easy' book - I mean Dan Brown does not use my everyday kind of words. And there were definitely lots of research done by the author to write a great book like this. The twists and plots would get anyone turning the page for more.

Like his previous DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons is also about symbology. It is actually a prequel to the Da Vinci Code.

I basically consider this an intelligent book with topics on anti-matter, discrete particle physics and the long-ago history.

Read it. You'll like it - if you can flip the almost 500 pages of them all, that is.

And co-incidently, do you know what is the smallest country in the world? .. it is the Vatican City actually, with a total area of 0.2 sq miles - yeap, that small (fyi total area for KL is 97 sq miles and Taiping is 72 sq miles).

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