FOUR MEMORIES AND A WEDDING

My friend got married in Ipoh yesterday. Congratulations Acong, if you're reading this. Hope you guys have a great life together (though I hardly know your wife!). It was such a surprise to see Acong... he was so HUGE (and before any of you get any ideas, I am NOT gay!). I remembered that he was always quite big anyway, but seeing him yesterday was still a shock. My, how people change when you're not looking, especially if you've turned your eye aside for the past six years or so.

It was nice as well to see my other friends whom I've not seen for oh so long. A lot of em are married already. One's actually teaching in Malacca right now. Funny.. I never thought that Fahmi Miskon would turn out to be a lecturer, but there you go. Shows you how much of a clairvoyant I am. Fahmi or 'sukun' as we called him, was somebody who, shall we say, liked to ride without a saddle. Or go au naturale. Let's leave it at that. :P

Went there with Feud's car, hence it was the perfect occasion for a 3-hour nostalgic reminiscing session. Feud was a really close friend back in KMYS... I spent quite a lot of time in his room playing Final Fantasy VII. Hadn't seen him for four years up till then... I suppose the difference between a true friend and a "hi-and bye" type is that no matter how long you've been separated, once you get together it'll be just like it was before; no awkwardness, no difference.

Speaking of KMYS, I love that place. Sure, there were some painful memories associated with it, but hey! I grew up a lot there. Seeing Puan Raha again was good. Hearing that she was happier now was excellent.

It's good to have a place to come home to.

My Indie Project

Talked to a friend a couple of days back. He's doing something along the movie-making lines lah, and he's actually freelancing at a post-production house in Wangsa Maju. He asked me about whether I was interested in making an indie movie. At the time the whole idea seemed nonsensical to me, but now when I've thought about it a little, it seems like a good idea. After all, I was always the one complaining about the comparative lack of outlets for my oh-so-great creative side. ;P

So I've thought about a couple of things that might be interesting. At this point, I've come up with two themes, one uplifting and the other depressing but revelatory (I think). The first deals with the question of whether it's better to dream and risk it not being fulfilled or not to expect anything at all and to be content with what we have, explored through the medium of a boy's mind growing up in the kampung of the 70's and his relentless exploits to win the love of a much older girl named (at this point) Jamilah. I won't bother to deal with the second one at this point,it's not as well developed. Tell me what you think.

BACK WHERE I BELONG

I'm back in Malaysia. Sure feels good to be home, to stay in my own room again. Is it just me, or are flights getting more and more boring? I spent the whole flight doing a bloody crossword puzzle. Even the movies suck. The only movie perhaps worth watching was maybe Starsky and Hutch, but the thing is I've already seen that movie. I mean, come on, "Girl Next Door"?? I'd rather watch the bloody Teletubbies smother each other with pillows.
Forgive the moaning and the excessive use of somewhat foul language. I've been reading Vernon God Little, a good read, maybe I'll do a lil review when I'm done with it.

Latest read: "I'm not scared" by Niccolo Ammaniati. A good book for those trying to recapture the lost beauty of childhood. It's translated into English from an Italian text, so I suppose some of its magnificence must have been lost in the process. Nevertheless the translator manages to capture the essence of the childhood terrors and thoughts that make that period of our lives the so wondrous. 3* out of 4.

House-hunting

Life is like house-hunting. Just when you think everything's going your way, when everything seems perfect, that's when you have to be extra careful, for usually that's when life decides to throw you a sucker punch right in the nosh. Usually it's really painful. Like when the landlord tells you that your dream house is already off the market.

Call me cynical, bitter, whatever. I'm not a bitter old hack. I am the product of that complex equation called experience. To my eyes everything has a hidden meaning, so that you always have to be on your guard. I guess the time may come that I shall realise that it may perhaps be better to view the world through rose-tinted glasses of our desires, but that time is not now, and I can't see it happening in the foreseeable future.

"Men have PMS too", somebody said that on the tagboard i think. True, but I think ours are triggered by specific events rather than specific times.

But then again that may just be me.