A Smile To Hide...

*Combine and intergrate the two versions so it reads like the story of the photo being taken.*

She sits on the bench at the beside the newly built Surau, eager to go for their outing that day. Everyone must cover themselves up wearing black gowns and a purdah before leaving the grounds. She made sure she brought her cash and held it tight so she doesn't lose it.

Her friend moved away so that she would not be captured in frozen time. She move to a different bench as another girl in the same gown and purdah takes the picture. There were many girls gathered there waiting for the van that will be transporting them to the city for a day. Murmurs could be heard all around. Talks about the latest beauty products could be heard. They all spoke in very low voices as they were trained not to be heard.

Poem - From Imaginary Friend...

Helpless

Thirty days and thirty nights,
finally I've arrived home,
I've been pushed around at sea left and right,
until now I've been all alone.

From here I can see them,
they look like my family but they're not,
I wonder where I am?
It's been too long, I think I have rot.

Here I am,
being washed up the beach,
rolling on the sand,
a new home I have reached.

Thirty days and thirty nights,
since I first landed on the sands,
I used to be afraid of heights,
I'm so glad I'm on land.

They stand tall close to each other,
dancing to the wind,
I wonder how the got here?,
in the sands they've been pinned.

*Work in progress*

Poem - Postcard To My Imaginary Boss..

Leave Me Alone

I ran away,
away from all the work and errands,
I'm here to stay,
stay on this peaceful little island.

Stop calling my cell,
I'm having my massage,
far away from hell,
it's almost like a mirage.

Reschedule your own meetings,
and pick up your own mail,
get your own drinks,
let's see you keep a smile.

I've work my butt off for too long,
I deserve this break,
I'm listening to

*Not done yet*

Poem - Postcard From Pa..

To Inspire

Look at your Pops boy,
I used to be groovy,
I spent my life with full of joy,
I swore I was in a movie.

I loved to dance,
hard to believe I know,
I did it every time I had the chance,
it was what helped me grow.

I put my entire heart in dancin',
that's how I became so good,
they used to call me Mr.Icin',
that always got me in the mood.

I danced hard to the groove,
that's how I met your Ma,
she always admired my moves,
now I have her heart.

Put your heart into everythin' you do,
that's how you get inspired,
you'll only look like a fool,
if you don't light the fire.

Poem - Postcard To Ma...

My Wooden Legs

Look at me Ma,
look at the way I move,
I can dance now, like Pa,
my legs ain't no longer made of wood.

I dance a lot,
but I do it alone,
I know I ain't hot,
but I'm sure well known.

At home I'm call wooden legs,
that's a'coz I couldn't dance,
but now I never take breaks,
from my midnight chants.

No one can keep up with me,
they call fast Lance,
with that I have to agree,
no couple could outshine me in any dance.

I keep cloths clean white,
white as pearl too,
coz when I'm dance with all my might,
I shine like the moon.

Poem - A Personal Exclusive Place...

Crumbs On The Floor

There were crumbs on the floor,
crumbs from the last tea time,
it was never there before,
the crumbs were none of mine.

Several makciks came for tea,
they were in the living room,
they sat in the sofas with Ummi,
I better go get the broom.

After the makciks went home,
the living room floor was mine again,
at night I lie on it alone,
it has been mine since I don't know when.

I've never had my own bed,
nor have I ever had my own bed room,
it's alright I always said,
I might get one soon.

Until then, this floor is my nest,
this floor is my dining table,
this floor is my study desk,
and this floor is where I watch cable.

9 Items (class activity)

The Nine Items:

• Dusty radio*
• Rugby ball*
• Fortune-telling cards*
• Leather jacket*
• Business card*
• Silver locket with inscription*
• Bottle of herbal medicine*
• Jar of sharpened pencils*
• Brand new laptop*

*I feel a bit creative today, so I thought I would write a new description of a character using
these items*

Eric came home on his David Harley after a week being away. He parked his bike inside the garage. He entered his house through the door in the garage which led to his kitchen. He put his bag on the dining table beside the bottle of herbal medicine he had gotten from his previous travels to India. He hung his leather jacket on the cloth and gave it a pat for its loyalty. He limped through the living tripping over a rugby ball then collapse onto the sofa.

He took out a business card from is pocket that he had gotten from his latest trip. As he looked at the card, he held and caressed a silver locket around his neck. It had inscriptions on it which spelled the same name as the one on the card. Then put away the card and went to his bag to take out his brand new laptop to plan his next trip for more inspiration.

He sat at his sketch table that had a jar of sharpened pencils on it. He always kept his pencils sharpened just in case he get any ideas for his art. Also on the table, was a dusty radio that was never turned on since after she had left.

Who would have thought he would ever see her again and in China too. She had given him a deck of fortune-telling cards to remember her by, other than the silver locket that he had worn for so long.

Entry 4 - The Fasting Month..

Before Ramadhan, I made a new resolution.

• To finish the read the whole Quran.
• To Zikir everyday of Ramadhan.
• Not to buy food at the Bazaar Ramadhan.
• To not waste time with things that are not beneficial (like music).
• To avoid committing sins that would reduce my Fasting Pahala.
• To avoid getting sick and missing any days of fasting.
  

Since Ramadhan began, I've been trying so hard to keep myself within the walls of the rules that I have made for myself. I've realized a long time ago that it is a big loss if we don't make full use of every free time we have during Ramadhan with Amal Ibadah. Allah SWT dedicated this month especially for the Muslims to easily gain Pahala. The most obvious 'amal is the Tarawih prayers. Each night Muslims who perform Tarawih prayers are awarded with different Pahala every each night.

I sad that not many people seem to realize that. Most people think that Ramadhan is just another month but you're just not allowed to eat. But it's not. I see people fasting but still talk badly about others or gossip. They fast but they look at woman's curves everywhere they go. They fast but they swear at every little thing that makes them a bit angry. I'm sorry to say, but in Islam, that is not fasting.

Fasting is not just not eating. It's restraining ourselves from anything that would reduce our fasting pahala. All the things that I've mentioned before. It gets worse when there are people who claim themselves as Muslims but do not bow down to Allah 5 times a day or even at all. These people have lost the meaning of Islam. To them, it's another religion that anyone can choose to practice or not for the sake of filling in their spiritual emptiness.

This is why for this Ramadhan, I have been conducting a program called Tadarus Al-Quran at the faculty to spread this awareness in the Muslims who have lost their purpose of existense.

This Ramadhan, for me, has been a session of realization. I've opened my eyes to things that really matter.

Entry 3 - Favorite Fictional Character..

In my life, I've come across so many fictional characters. Most of which I see from watching cartoons or movies. Not so much from reading. I've never really thought of any favorites though.

My childhood imagination was mostly inspired by the Aime Dragonball Z (DBZ). I used to watch it every single day. I loved watching that characters fighting in lightning speeds and shooting energy beams from their bare hands. Son Gohan was my favorite character.

I followed the development of Son Gohan's character from the beginning of DBZ. From the moment he first appeared in the series. It was very exciting watching Gohan during that time. He was just an innocent little boy whose father was a great world champion fighter. However, Gohan didn't share the same interest in fighting as his father does.

Son Goku is a man who loves to fight. He loves fighting people who are stronger than him in order to test his abilities and to improve is skills. Gohan is the opposite. He's sich a peaceful little kid who plays with butterflies and who is afraid of sea turtles. He was then, just an ordinary little boy.

Gohan eventually changes though. Throughout the series, Gohan into a great and strong fighter like his dad, Goku. It was much exciting to know that Gohan possibly had hidden powers which surpasses his father's but could only be seen when Gohan get angry.We were 0nly entertained by glimpse of Gohan's power.

As Gohan grows older, he becomes so powerful that in one of the seasons, he becomes the main hero. The DBZ character, Gohan goes through such drastic changes. Changes that I find very exciting. I love seeing the smaller characters become the heroes.

This character has influenced most of my teenage fantacies. When I start imaginig a character, that character will very much resemble Son Gohan. Until today, gohan has been one of the biggest influence in my action packed fantacies.

I myself sometimes am able to relate to Gohan. A small sized teenager who was one of the strongest fighters in the world. This idea really convince me that theres nothing wrong with being small. You can still be better than other tall guys out there.

Entry 2 - Books That were Important To Me..

I've come to except that I'm a person who doesn't read. By that I mean that I don't use the free time that I have reading. It's a very rare occasion that I finish a whole novel unless my life depends on it. This means that I only read books for the sake of my studies which has required me to finish quite a number of novels.

In my life, the only books that I've ever read for pleasure were the Harry Potter Series. I've read all seven. It takes a lot of motivation in order for me to finish a whole book. Even so, Harry Potter had managed to keep me reading all 7 of the books.

I love reading Harry Potter. Some of the books I've read more than once. J.K. Rowling is a great writer. She describes every event in a way that we are watching a movie in our minds.

The characters were very relate-able. First of all, Harry's a teenager, in school! Many kids could easily relate to him. He's a student who faces all kinds of problems in school. For one, he was not the best looking guy. Harry's just an average kid who happens to be important. Harry also gets bullied. Many us get bullied in school. So it's comforting read about a person who shares the same problem as you. Not only that, we get to read about his thoughts and feelings towards the problems that he face.

The story get exciting because of all the magic. In the world of Harry Potter, it's not you regular hocus pocus. They have schools for young witches and wizards. There are so many spells with catchy phrases that kids even myself start saying just for fun. These magical spell, jinxes, curses and charms are put to practice in the stories. We see how Harry acquires these spells and magical skills in order to attack or in defense.

The magical world seems very real. There were also some important public figures in the story. They had the ministry of magic which was filled with imperfections like corruption and so on. It's also has such a political theme. The ministry is lead by an incompetent minister who hides the truth about certain dangers just to keep the magical society and himself in peace. The political issues raised in the story was also somewhat relate able to many political situations of many countries in the world. These books are quite matured books.

There are many more reasons why Harry Potter is an important book in my life, but I figured that I've made my point.

4/5 Questions on High Fidelity

1. What was the movie about?

It's a love story about a guy named Rob Gordon, who has had many failed relationships in the past. This time he had just broken up with his latest girlfriend, Laura, who left him because the guy was unable to change. Change as in growing up and maturing. However, Rob doesn't seem to know why all of his relationships were a failure. Throughout the movie, he tries to figure out what he's been doing wrong by tracking down his previous relationships and asking them why his ex's left him.

2. How is it different from the common fiction?

There are quite a lot of thing that differentiate this love story from the typical love fictions out there.

a) Rob is not such a romantic man. Usually in typical love stories, the men are very romantic. They are able to fulfill their lover's needs. But Rob is such a clueless regular guy who doesn't seem to be able to figure out why his relationships end tragically. He doesn't say the most charming things either. Take his proposal for example. It was in a bar and he just blurted it out like it was nothing special. More like "you want to or not?".

b) I think the way this story took off was very different from your old love stories. Instead of having a boy meets girl plot, it began with a girl leaves guy plot. You don't get to see how this actually came to be. You only find out where and how they met during the flashbacks. Other than that, we're only seeing how they're handling the breakup.

3. Who's your favorite character? And why?

Rob. Mostly it's because he represents most guys out there. Men can be clueless at times but that doesn't mean they are emotionless. I feel that I could relate to the character with my own relationship. Like Rob, when I get into a fight with that special someone, I always find it hard to figure out what I did wrong or if it was even my fault.

4. Provide and alternate ending.

My alternate ending would be Rob succeeding in a career as whatever that has to do with music. He doesn't end up with Laura until a few years into the future. They meet again after she had left Ian and had been living by herself. She's surprised by the success he's had and by the change that he'd gone through. He had missed her so much since the last time they had seen each other which was on Laura's dad's funeral. They had spent a lot of time catching up and end up getting back together again. The end.

5. Personal reaction after watching the movie? (will be submitted in class)

Difficulties Faced When Writing

I have written some shorts stories of my own when I was very young for my school's publication department. If I'm not mistaken, I was only able to publish two of my short stories. Most of my stories were science-fiction. They were inspired by Power Rangers, Dragonball, Star Wars and the like. I never wrote anything original. Nowadays, I don't write stories at all. I've lost the spark that I had during my developing age. The only thing I write is my blog.

After reflecting on my experience in writing when I was young, realized that even then I've faced some difficulties in writing. There are many stages in writing. At least I think there is. The pre, while, and post-stage.

During the pre-stage of writing; coming up with a stroryline. I used to be a very imaginative kid. I loved day dreaming. Pretending I was Goku from Dragonball and flying around fighting an evil alien. I thought of my own fighting scenes. I ran that scene over and over agian in my head so that I would be able to watch it again. I imagined these kinds of things every chance I had. This went on for so long to the extent that I was able to make up my own characters and memorize each of them. This is where most of my ideas come from.

When an idea was formed, it's time to think of a plot. That's where I usually get stuck. I know there are techniques in creating a plot. But I usually just start writing whatever it was that came to mind. But the plot just dissolves into the white pages. I quickly loose inspiration to keep writing. My teacher used to say that my story had a very untidy introduction. She said I needed to smoothen the edges. As my stories went on, my teacher had a hard time seeing the relevance of the events. Not only that, the ending was so quick, my teacher thought the story wasn't finished yet.

That's 1 problem I face while writing. Another problem I face is the use of language. I don't know how to express my ideas in way that is exciting to read. Other than the plot, I think language comes second in writing a good story. I love Harry Potter so much. I've read all 7 of them. What kept me reading those books was the language. J.K. Rowling is so good in getting the readers see what Harry sees and feels. That's something I wasn't and may still not able to do.

Nowadays I don't write at all. The only things I write are my assignments and my blog. That's pretty much it. I think even from reading this entry, you'd get a picture of the problems I face. The only reason I started a blog is to improve my writing. I hope this course will inspire me to start writing stories again.

Entry 1 - The New Semester

I have always perceived the new semester as another chance to achieve greatness. It's like being given another chance to live another life but not making the mistakes that you've made in the previous life. Cats have 9 lives. I guess you can say I have 8 lives. 8 semesters. After 8 lives, I will be judge by God. In my case, my overall performance during that 8 semesters will be judged according to my CGPA.

I'm half-way through the 8 semesters. My current CGPA is nowhere near impressive even with all 4 semesters combined. But what's done is done. There's no use crying over spilled milk.

In the beginning of every semester, I do an annual reflection on the previous semesters. Basically it's like finding out what are the dos and donts for the new semester. Other than that, I try to pin point my strengths and weaknesses. Having done that, I try to list it down in hope that I will never repeat the mistakes from the previous semesters that may have jeopardized my chances towards excellence.

This may sound like a great initiative taken by me. Well, it should. Sometimes I even impress myself with this. Too bad it's never worked. I want to change. I really do. But there's some kind of force out there that just keeps the same cycle going every single semester. I procrastinate when I know that it never ends well. I submit my assignments after the due dates. I waste my money for fun when I know I'll need it later for something much more important. Is it in my nature to be this way? Or maybe I just haven't tried hard enough? I'd rather think that I can do better then to be destined to fail! I won't let history repeat itself.. Again. I will make this my new semester. I know where my flaws lie. It's up to me now.

Well, that's my reflection on last semester. I've inspired myself through this entry and hopefully this semester will truly be my 'new' semester.