Penny Lane

Pink Elephants

2010-05-15T00:44:00.000-07:00

Look out! Look out!
Pink elephants on parade
Here they come!
Hippety hoppety
They're here and there
Pink elephants everywhere
Look out! Look out!
They're walking around the bed
On their head
Clippety cloppety
Arrayed in braid
Pink elephants on parade
What'll I do? What'll I do?
What an unusual view!
I could stand the sight of worms
And look at microscopic germs
But technicolor pachyderms
Is really much for me
I am not the type to faint
When things are odd or things
are quaint
But seeing things you know that ain't
Can certainly give you an awful fright!
What a sight!
Chase 'em away!
Chase 'em away!
I'm afraid need your aid
Pink elephants on parade!
Pink elephants!
Pink elephants!

Holier than thou

2010-04-11T04:42:00.001-07:00

"I'm Holier Than Thou"

This is rebuttal to all the men who suffer from the superior complex.

Indecent behind movement

2010-04-08T05:25:00.000-07:00

I couldn't find a clip of this with the subtitles on it. But here is a gist of what they are saying...

Police: The lady with the bag, please stop running!

Police: Madam, why are you running?

Marjane: I'm trying to catch the bus

Police: You shouldn't run. Because when you run, your behind..erm...makes these indecent movements.

Marjane: THEN STOP LOOKING AT MY ASS!

Home Schooling....your thoughts

2010-03-24T04:52:00.000-07:00

I've been reading about John Holt, one of the pioneers of home schooling. It got me thinking about this concept of letting the children learn at their own time and at their own interest at home with the help of available resources like books and internet and without having them go through a strict educational systems normally found in schools.

What I'd like to know are your thoughts, parents, non parents, teachers, non teachers alike, of this educational method...is it a good idea? Will it really achieve it's goal by letting children decide on what they want to educate themselves based on their interest alone?

Ta dum ta daa

2010-01-07T01:31:00.001-08:00

~*~ dusting cobwebs away ~*~

--
Sent from my mobile device

Gummy Bear's Intro

2009-03-31T01:20:00.000-07:00

It was the day after my birthday in 2007. I was coming home for break when I noticed my sister skulking around near the road. I didn't really take much notice at first. Just went inside had breakfast and went right back to work. But then when I came back home right after finishing work, there she was again. Still going around the same spot as if she had lost something.

I went up to her to ask what's going on and then she pointed towards the gutter. There inside the small ditch within the gutter I saw the most pitiful looking kitten. It had apparently fallen through a crack and couldn't get right back up.

Within 5 minutes my other sisters had joined us including my youngest bro and all of us began 'Operation: Rescue Kitten'. Our excited squeals, laughter and disappointed 'awwww's (when the kitten didn't fall for our bait) brought on a larger curious crowd. Soon enough nearly all the neighborhood kids had joined in our operation, including my most memorable neighbor, 'Freaky Chick No.1'.

It soon occurred to us after much coaxing and pleading with the kitten to come near the crack so we could grab it- which it didn't, the only way to get it out was to lift the extremely heavy cement block off.

So we took turns trying to lift it but alas non of us could. Not even an inch. So one of us found a stick. It could be one of the neighborhood kids or it could be my step mothers son, Elf, not sure who it was exactly. But we stuck one end of the stick into the crack and pushed the other end down. And it did lift. The cement block was off the ground nearly 10 inches wide, before the stick broke in half and block fell with a heavy thud.

Right at that moment my cousin, Kudey showed up. We explained to him what was going on. He thought about it for a second and tried to lift the cement block by himself. He pulled with all his might and was able to lift it a couple of inches before dropping it again. He tried once again with the same result. After that he tried once more and this time he was able to lift it high enough to create a wide arc.

I stood there thinking, 'Oh dear! What if he couldn't hold it and ends up dropping it while one of us was crouching under the block trying to get the kitten out?'

But no sooner I thought this through, my brother bravely leapt inbetween the cement block and the ditch and snatched the kitten out. There was much 'hurrey' and clapping and the stone block was slowly lowered down.

My bro held up the scruffy-flea-infested-nearly-starved-to-death kitten as if it was a trophy. All the kids gathered around to look at it and finally he gave it to me and asked, "What shall we name it?"

I held it up and said, "I shall name you Gummy and you shall be mine."

And that's the story of Gummy Bear and erm... everyone lived happily ever after. Even Freaky Chick No. 1.

The End

Pictures courtesy of:
Gummy 1 month old by Sham
Recent pic of Gummy by Bulhaa

The Gloaming - Part 4

2009-03-18T02:07:00.000-07:00

... Continued

The Gloaming

There were people in the village. As alive as they were before the… ‘they’ had come. And these people were going about us as if nothing had happened. What was going on here? Did we dream this whole thing? These questions swam around my head but I didn’t have the energy to utter them.

The man and the boy brought us to their home instead of taking us directly to their home and this confirmed what I had been expecting. That she was still dead. My mother hasn’t miraculously come alive as they seem to have. And both of them walking ahead whilst whispering about us but I didn’t bother to comment on this either.

The man’s wife took us into their house but not before appraising the miserable state of us. She fed us and showed us the ‘gifili’ and gave us fresh clothing. She, unlike her husband, didn’t ask any questions.

It was hours later that I remembered about the plan we made to return before high tide. I whispered this to my sister and she surprised me again by shrugging. Seeing my look she softly added that maybe things were back to normal. That what we witnessed was maybe an illusion or maybe just a figment of our imagination. And before I knew it, the dreaded time was upon us. This time there was no reddish ting across the sky. There was nothing eerie or foreboding about this sun set. But still…

Dusk time came and everything was normal… One hour after twilight; everything was still normal. Two hours, three hours went by without anything happening. Finally it was time for bed. After dinner the woman showed us to a vacant room in the house where a makeshift bed was made. And we slept, reassured that maybe... just maybe that everything has gone back to normal. And we did sleep on, till the smell woke us.

They were here. I should have known that it was a trap. I lay still afraid to make a noise, afraid to move. It had been an illusion. No one had survived. They made the illusion to bait us. The last surviving victims in their murderous rampage.

The stench grew stronger and a deathly cold bony hand clasped around my mouth roughly and I heard my sister gasp before I knew that they had her too. Then I remembered something. I should’ve noticed before… there still weren’t any animals on the island.

The Gloaming - Part 3

2009-03-17T02:55:00.000-07:00

...Continued

The Gloaming

I started to slowly tread into the water. I didn’t know I was being brave or stupid. We half walked, half paddled to the other island. And there we stood trembling with cold and fear. But the creatures didn’t follow us to this island. The curse was within our island only.

I didn’t think I could sleep that night but somehow we did. And when we awoke to the sounds of crows, of birds, I immediately knew that we were safe on this island. I woke my sister up and together we crept towards the beach.

All was still and quiet on our island. Not a sound came from it. It was silent and eerie. Maybe I was right last night. Maybe our island was cursed. Maybe someone wanted blood for something someone did. Oh maybe it was us all along. Maybe someone within the village brought it on, someone who has done some unspeakable crime against nature.

We stayed on our small island for three whole days before hunger and thirst took its toll on us. At first I thought someone sailing nearby would see us and rescue us but to no avail. And by the end of the third I made up my mind. I felt we had no choice. While huddled together to sleep under the moonlight I told my sister my idea. My sister protested as I had expected. But I asked her what were to do. We’d surely starve to death if we weren’t rescued soon. And that seemed a bleak hope. Finally after much arguing we agreed to go but only during the daytime, and to leave before nightfall.

The next day we waited by the beach waiting for the low tide to come, watching with apprehension at the quiet island that used to be our home.

When low tide arrived at nearly noon we walked slowly, hesitantly towards it. I knew the risk. I knew we can’t stay long. We would have to leave as soon as we can find some food and water. If we missed the low tide then we would have to wait for it after sunset. And that is something neither of us wanted to contemplate for even a second.

Suddenly a movement beyond the trees caught our attention. I took my sister’s hand, both of us too afraid to go on further. There was something there. My sister began to whisper that we should head back. But I was too afraid to even move.

Where ‘they’ waiting for us? Was it a trap?

The trees moved again and out came a small boy. He was smiling and beckoned us to come out of the water.

I was shocked. What was going on here? I recognized the boy as one of my neighbors. My sister tightened her hold on my hand. I sensed that she felt as confused as me.

Again there was a movement behind him and out came an older man. He too was my neighbor. In fact, it was the boy’s father. The man called out this time, demanding what we were doing out in the ocean alone.

I felt my sister move. I couldn’t believe it. She was heading towards them. I held her back and asked whether she has gone mad?

She turned to me and said that maybe ‘they’ were gone. Maybe these people survived… just like us. I didn’t like it but I also didn’t like the idea of starving to death and I definitely wasn’t going to let my sister go to that island alone so I went alone with her.

We hesitantly approached them. But they smiled as if amused at how frightened we were.

The man asked what happened and why we were so afraid but I only shook my head and this only made the man more concerned. Silently they led us back into the village. I steeled myself expecting a blood soaked empty village but the scene that met us made me draw in a sharp breath.

....Continued

The Gloaming - Part 2

2009-03-16T01:43:00.000-07:00

... Continuation

The Gloaming - II

First thing we heard was this strange howling. We thought it was the wind or maybe the coming rain but I realized the unearthliness of the sound. It was nothing made by nature. After much begging I urged my sister to accompany me to the beach. At first I noticed nothing except the growing foul stench in the air and slowly as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I saw ‘them’. A group of people, by the hundreds it seemed, were making their way along the beach from the north side. As they got nearer it chilled me to the bone to know that they weren’t at all human.

There were beings; dark, mysterious beings. Some short, some tall, some crawling, some seemingly not touching the ground. And they were coming at us from the far off side of the beach. They were the ones making the hideous noise. The stench was coming from them.

We screamed and ran into our village, screaming that ‘they’ were coming. My sister wanted to go home but I knew we won’t be safe from ‘them’ as long as we stayed on this island. Hearing our voices people came out of their house with puzzled expressions on their faces. Some pointed and some called out to us what’s going on. But we didn’t stop. We didn’t dare stop.

A scream suddenly filled the air. Not ours. Someone had seen them. Without thinking I turned around. They were indeed inside the village. I grabbed my sister’s hand and dragged her behind a tree. And from there we stood watching the horror unfold.

The people who had come out to investigate stood there staring at them. And ‘they’ stood staring at the people. But this was only for what seemed a minute, maybe less. They stood within the shadows and almost blended within the blackness of the night but everyone knew they were there. It was almost as if they were giving off this pulsating vibe. Like a rotten heart pumping dirty blood through the nerves.

Suddenly they moved. It was the smaller, the crawling ones that struck first. They had ugly sneering faces with mouths full of sharp teeth. And these creatures ran towards the people closest to them. They tried to run but it was a useless attempt as the crawling creatures were on them within seconds. The whole island erupted in screams. People ran in all directions. And it was the screams that ignited an action from the other beings. The taller ones who didn’t seem to touch the ground flew off towards the sounds. Like shadows that sprung up when the candle was diminished. These beings were fast as they flew but they were also blind and only knew where their victims were from the sound of their screams. It seemed the whole thing was orchestrated. First the smaller beings entered the village followed by the taller, flying ones. Their stage was our island. Their music was our screams. Their act was bloodshed.

Seeing this I slid my hand across my sister’s mouth and beckoned her to follow me silently. We slowly slid out of our hiding place and quietly made our way towards the woods trembling with fear from head to toe. And as soon as we saw the trees we ran for our lives.

We ran and ran. We ran blindly through the forest until the trees gave away to a beach. I was confused at first and didn’t know where we were. Then I saw the little island beyond us, across the sea. My sister screamed that they are coming and sure enough the howling was getting nearer and the stench was getting stronger.

I didn’t know what lay beneath the ocean. Maybe they will grab at our ankles if we were to wade into the sea. Maybe they will drown us. But I didn’t want to muse on this for too long. I grabbed my sister’s hand and made for the water. She let out a strangled scream, panicked and tried to hold back.

I told her in a feverish whisper we should head for the small island and we could walk through the low tide. I promised her we would be safe even if I had no way of knowing that because for all I knew we could very well drown. But I did know we wouldn’t survive on this island. Not tonight.

...Continued

The Gloaming

2009-03-15T01:30:00.000-07:00

With nothing better to write about these days I decided brush away the cobwebs in here by publishing one of my old stories.

The Gloaming

‘They’ came for us around dusk. No one knew ‘they’ were coming. Not my family, not my friends, not my neighbors. No one.

But still there were signs. The first of the signs came a week before. A strange flu struck our small island. People became sick. Some died. Some, through medical means, got better. The people who died were better off. They were the lucky ones, I think.

For some reason, my sister and I were safe from the disease. But our mother was one of the first to get infected. The flu took three days to kill her. It was a slow and painful death. She continuously vomited and when there was nothing left inside her she vomited blood. She constantly moaned out in pain when she was awake and sometimes hallucinated. But she wasn’t the only one.

The flu struck here and there. And some did die bleeding to death, while others curiously got better. It was the strangest thing. Neither the medicine men nor the men of ‘fanditha’ could explain it. It was a week of funerals, a week of anxiety, a week of fear, a week of unknown; a week that reeked of death.

Amongst all this my sister and I noticed the most peculiar thing. On the last day before ‘they’ came we realized that there weren’t any animals on the island. No birds, no cats, not even rats. Even if we had gone deep within the woods there weren’t any sign of them. Where had they gone? The foreboding feeling continued throughout the day. We wanted to leave, quickly. But we had no one to turn to. We were orphans and everyone else was too busy caring for their loved ones who had the mysterious plague.

Thursday morning came. It has approximately been one week since the plague claimed its first victim. Everyone went about doing what they did as any normal day. The sick had lessened somewhat. People began to think the disease has passed. But they were wrong. It was only the calm before the storm.

My sister and I were still uneasy. That morning we had already set off towards the thundi of the island. We left the village area and walked along the beach avoiding the woods that had grown quiet, dark and eerie. When we reached the end of the island, the area the locals called the thundi, we saw the tiny island near ours where we sometimes went to swim and play. With all the horror going around and my mother’s death I had forgotten about this place.

The distance between the two islands is somewhat short and if it is low tide we could easily have walked the distance through the sea. I thought again of leaving this place. Of swimming over during high tide to the tiny island that somehow seemed strangely… safe. But the thought fled as fast it crossed my mind and my sister and I walked back to our village not knowing what horrors await us at the time of dusk.

That evening when the sun set there was a reddish tinge across the sky. The reddish glow was everywhere. As if the whole island was bathed in blood. But nothing unusual happened. People were scared, yes, but still it was an hour after sunset that ‘they’ finally came. It was as if they were waiting for total darkness.

First thing we heard was this strange howling. We thought it was the wind or maybe the coming rain but I realized the unearthliness of the sound. It was nothing made by nature. After much begging I urged my sister to accompany me to the beach. At first I noticed nothing except the growing foul stench in the air and slowly as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I saw ‘them’. A group of people, by the hundreds it seemed, were making their way along the beach from the north side. As they got nearer it chilled me to the bone to know that they weren’t at all human.

.......To be continued

Maldivian Next Top Model… or is it?

2009-03-07T06:02:00.000-08:00

After Pro Models had advertised that they were looking for wannabe models for what might be Maldives’ very first reality show, “Evince Model 2009” or something like that, I had rubbed my hands in glee and thought to myself, “Ooooh this is gonna be good!”

Needless to say all my sisters and female friends all thought the same. So after waiting weeks for the show to start, DhiTV finally aired it last Wednesday night at 12:00am.

After much shoving and pushing for space on the couch we finally settled down for the show right on the dot. And what a show it was! Of coz it was no American Next Top Model. The drama seemed to be missing and the ‘ooomph’ factor from the models as well. I know, I know, height cannot be a factor in a ‘short’ society like our and I’m the last person to harp on about height. :P. But there has to be self confidence and a drive in order to be on a show like this. Otherwise it’s just flat. On your nose flat.

The girls all shuffled in front of the judges; Xee, Suzan, Kiram and another guy (which I’m much too lazy to find out about) and introduced themselves. The girls looked nervous and some looked terrified out of their minds. There were much blushing, much stammering, more blushing, giggling, shuffling to and fro, embarrassingly stiff commercial poses and some more blushing. And the judges didn’t help matters by asking some dumbfoundedly stupid questions which caught the girls off-guard and made them even more nervous than before (if that’s possible).
One of the most highlighted issues the judges posed as questions were: What if your boyfriend was against this? Would you drop out?

At first it was fine and dandy and some of the smart-ass answers from the contestants were actually funny. But later the question just became an irritation. I fail to see it as such a big issue. In fact I think it shouldn’t be an issue at all. Perhaps shouldn’t even be asked. After all it is the girls who are competing. Not the boyfriend. Now if it were a matter of parent’s permission that’s a whole different issue all together.

Although nearly all the contestants were cringe-worthy and embarrassingly shy there was one who stood out – least for me. She came all decked out in a new dress, dolled up and ready to beat out the (non-existent) competition. She looked straight into the eyes of the judges and told them she’ll win this. Plus she also had a good walk. I decided that the show was already over. Give the girl the gifts. She won. Done. Puff. Rifinito.

But then no. Where is the fun in that! The girls had to be driven through muck and mud. In this case the said muck and mud are excessive amount of peroxide, hair bleach, face packs, makeup, lots of blow-drying, hairspray, colour etc etc.

Later the girls were all shown in their before and after state after this makeover session. And ta-daa they all look like CLONES! Same hairdo, same highlighting work. Perhaps a shorter do here, a curly do there would’ve done the trick.

Overall the whole show could’ve been better with just a tad of good editing and a little bit of more drama. And better questions. Hopefully ones that’ll put the girls at ease instead of frightening the daylights out of them. But still you can count on me to catch the next episode. I won’t miss it for the world! :D

Death Making Rounds

2009-01-25T03:15:00.000-08:00

The Continuous Series of Unfortunate Events

2009-01-03T00:58:00.000-08:00

This is actually supposed to be my last post of 2008 but due to circumstances like laziness, I was prevented from writing this last year. So fueled by guilt and caffeine here goes nothing.

Right up until December 2008 I seemed to have had a pretty much lukewarm year of good days and bad days but never really excellent days nor really, really bad days...that is up until December 2008.

December Phenomenon
As far as I can recall December has always been a bad month for me. Call it bad luck. Jinx. Cursed. Anything.

I remember days of having terribly bad colds every December during third term tests in school and having to sit right in front of the chalk board with right along that cold. (The teacher thought we were good friends you see)

I also remember after finishing school and joining the rat race, days of disappointment in December when my annual increment is nothing more than just a mare Rf200.00 bucks or worse not being paid at all.

2008 however seemed to have packed quite a punch…
December 2008
1- My cashcard got expired mid-month without warning. This happened even after I called up a friend at the bank and he reassured me that, 'no it won't expire till the month ends'

2- When my card expired I had only Rf30/- as cash on me. That's it. Nada

3- After the card fiasco I come to work next week on Saturday and right on the dot the power goes off. I was later told that we won't have electricity till after 14:30. Apparently some people at work already knew of this and had completed all their work on Friday. You guys are probably thinking that this is good news and that I can goof off and chalk up Saturday as an off day. Wrong!! I still gotta complete my work.

3- So I go home that morning and come back in the afternoon all relaxed and ready to finish my work. That is when my PC won't start. I tried to start it again. Nothing. I begged, screamed, kicked, begged some more; to start, damn you, start. Still Nothing.

4- The IT kid tells me that hard disk may be corrupted or whatever lingo it is and he'll have to format it. He didn't make any promises of saving any of my files.

5- So being broke and having to use someone else's computer at work, I decided to become a hermit and just stay home, so as to distance myself from any further bad luck that might befall upon me.

But then not everything was so bad and although all my plans for New Year's Eve were a bust, I still managed to make the best of everything and actually have some fun with a couple of my friends. So I guess it wasn't all too bad ;)

Happy New Year Everyone!

Happiness!

2008-10-28T21:40:00.000-07:00

Goldfrapp - Happiness
Uploaded by MuteRecords

Nostalgia, Electioneering with a splash of Iced Toddy

2008-10-06T00:55:00.000-07:00

The very world surrounding us is a changing. For worse or for better, who knows? 8th October maybe the day the world shifts for some of us. Or it may simply just carry on the way it did for the past 30 years.

I've tried to blog about politics. Gave it a few tries, deleted, tried some more, delete, delete some more. To tell the truth I was just one (or two, three) step behind the fast changing phase of Maldivian political scenarios, so I just made do with discussing them with my friends and family.

So instead of discussing politics I have a spanking great idea of making a nostalgia list. A Nostalgia List, you say?

Nostalgia: a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends -- Dictionary.com

So with the meaning aside. The list is a compilation of anything, anyone, anywhere that reminds of me the good old days. Others are most welcome to contribute.

* Remember those eyeliners we had that comes in a small tin. You rub a piece of rock (I don't know what it exactly is) on the solid eyeliner to turn bits into dust. Then you rub your fingers on the dust and line your eyes.

* The color pencil box that comes with a picture of a robot on the front. The robot had a 'TV' as a face.

* The plastic book bag with pictures of smiling fruits we carried for tuition.

* Majeedhuge. Majeedhu. (he can still invoke fear in me)

* Pencil Cases. Ones with Buttons!!!

* Bicycles. Riding them early in the morning.

* The sound of gun attacks on that eventful November day.

* Kao Shampoo!

* Phones at home. Real phones. Not mobile ones.

* Watching TVM. Only TVM

* Listening to Boduberu on radio early every morning.

* Waking up at 8:00am is considered sleeping in.

* Sleeping at 9:00pm is considered sleeping late.

* Iced Toddy

* Haunted school toilets

* Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper

* UB40, Duran Duran, Aha, MJ, Madonna, Rob Stewart, Dire Straits, The Bangles, Bob Marley etc

* Hindi Movies

* Bad copy English Movies

* Itty bitty shorts for boys, Huge, scratchy princess style dresses for girls with alice bands.

Ok I'm gonna stop for now... If I remember more, I'll include them.

To top it off I'll just add these lines as a sign off and dedication to Maldivian Politics:

I will stop, I will stop at nothing.
Say the right things when electioneering
I trust I can rely on your vote.

When I go forwards you go backwards
and somewhere we will meet.
When I go forwards you go backwards
and somewhere we will meet.
Ha ha ha

Riot shields, voodoo economics,
it's just business, cattle prods and the I.M.F.
I trust I can rely on your vote.

"Electioneering" by Radiohead

Hypocrites and Househusbands

2008-09-03T01:13:00.000-07:00

This has been something I've been mulling about for several days. A friend of mine works, while her husband stays home.

The husband in question is currently taking a break from his studies and basically just stays home. He does help around the house, helps with the cooking, does the shopping, tries (and I put extra emphasis on the word 'try' here) hard to help his wife. Their's is a good marriage. 5 years courtship and 2 years of marriage. No children. The husband does make some money off by leasing some property, so financially they are both stable.

So I've been asking around, asking family members, friends what they think of 'househusbands'. Is it still a taboo subject? Are people warming up to the idea of staying-at-home dads? What do you think?

And I can't believe Nahula is going to sue that guy and make him pay Rf100,000 to Rf 500,000 when she herself would be the first one sued for plagiarizing all those hindi songs. Big fat hypocrite!

I divorced my dream guy in my dreams!

2008-08-11T02:10:00.000-07:00

Writer's block. Writer's block. Writer's block. Lets start with a dream.

Last night I had a rather interesting dream. I dreamt my little sister's were getting married and not wanting to be left out I decided to get married along with them. I've really no idea who the guy was and in the dream I didn't seem to care less. All I can recall was a tall, quiet, slim guy who just left me to my destructive ways. Anyhoo I got married. The wedding was all blah blah same old same old things. I don't think they even played The Beatles there which by the way is my biggest wish.

So the next day (still in the dream) things were basically back to normal. I finished work. Met up with my friend, V who asked how my husband was. I paused for a while and remembered. "Good lord. There's a guy waiting for me at 'our' house."

I told her something as if like waving the question away and mentally began plotting on a divorce.

I can't believe it!! A guy can't even hold my attention long enough even in a dream. I got bored in one day!! I got up from my sleep feeling apprehensive and wondering how many marriages I would go through like this.

Annnnd in other news, my mom (of all people) are facing peer pressure from our neighbors. These women, me and brothers had lovingly labeled as 'Desperate Housewives', are actually lecturing my mom on wearing the veil. They chide her for her 'lack of attire' and have even promised to donate an entirely new wardrobe - for free. My mom had finally told them she would do it at the start of ramadan just to get them off her back. Hmmmmm... I wonder how she's gonna dig herself out of this. We'll keep you posted.

My resolution of cutting back costs is still ongoing with some minor glitches...

- Only one shopping spree and no impulsive shopping. (glitch: I've spent Rf 400.00 in one go for just cosmetics)
- No more shoes and heels unless I NEED them. (no glitches)
- Only ONE coffee outing. (glitch: The bad side is that my phone bill is increasing)
- No taxies! (glitch: My legs. My poor legs)

P.S: I just put up that Elijah Wood pic just for the heck of it. And coz I enjoy looking at him.

Face Veil, Pitchforks and Emotional Blackmail

2008-07-27T02:39:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks back I got a call from a cousin of mine whom I haven't seen in a very long time. Probably 5 years now. Well she got married at an extremely young age, has a bunch of kids now and lives in Vaikaradhoo (my mom's island).

One thing I can say about my cousin is she loves a good laugh. She never tends to take things too seriously. Well all this was way back then.

Anyway she had finally gotten my number and rang me up one night and decided to catch up.

(After all the hello's, how are you's, ho hum hums...)
Cousin: So when are you going to visit?

Me: Maybe later this year when I take holiday.

Cousin: Do you wear the buruga?

Me: No hehehehe

Cousin: Really? Then how are going to come here? Everyone here wears it. I wear Moonu Buruga now.

Me: (bit shocked) Really. Why do u wear that?

Cousin: My husband told me to

Me: Oh i see. I thought you should wear these things after making the decision by yourself. Not cause someone told you to.

Cousin: Anyway are you married now?

Me: hehehe no

Cousin: Why not? You must be 20 by now

Me: 25

Cousin: (laughs really loudly) My goodness! You're getting old. You should get married before you turn into a grandma.

Me: I'm young! hehehehe I'm not old yet.

(By this time my cousin was basically rolling around on the floor i suppose, coz she was laughing so hard and i was beginning to sound whiny) :P

The next day my cousin sends me a pic of her through my mom's phone. Lo and behold stood was my cousin against a blue wall, face veil and all. A second later she calls again.

Cousin: Well? Waddaya think?

Me: I barely recognized you

Cousin: (deadpan tone) You didn't???? Why not??

Heehehe it was nice hearing from her after all a long time. And I can see her humor hasn't changed much.

Now I'm wondering whether I should visit the island. It would be an experience I suppose. Either the local folks will drive me mad or they'll chase me off the island with pitch forks. My cousin's husband helpfully said he has a speed launch ready in case...

Anyway I was also wondering about Nahula's new movie Yousuf. According to my friend, all the shows were fully booked. I haven't seen it but I've seen a bit of the trailer. So my question is...

Nahula's Yousuf:

A) A work of art

B) Emotional Blackmail

The High School

2008-07-08T01:54:00.000-07:00

Right first and foremost I'd like to state that I regret asking a certain someone to nag me. Not only did he not nag for what i asked he nagged for the wrong article all together. So there.

OK now that we have that out of the way, back to the post. Since my recent introduction into Maldivian blogs I couldn't help but notice certain "sects" in this sphere. Certain groups. It's almost like a high school. The popular crowd, the nerds (or intellectuals if I may), the artists, the goths and of coz cheerleaders. Let me describe them with a bit more flair ...

The Frat Boyz: They have a swagger in their writing. A certain strut. A certain “I own this bit of the universe and there ain’t nothing you can do about it” blogging attitude. They have their standards, they have their ideologies (some very highly opinionated ones as well) and they have their coffees. Plus you can smell the leather and the cigarettes all the way from the monitor.

The Pop Princesses: Mostly this group consists of teens and girls in their early twenties (and a very rare breed who are a bit older). You can recognize them first off with their username, which consist of a colour followed by some sugary sweet noun that might leave you feeling a bit queasy as if you had eaten an entire carton of sugar plus honey. You can also recognize them by their "MySpace-y" lookalike blog, with wedges in every crook and cranny. And they also have a tendency to write their blogs center aligned. And oh yea loads of (sugar sweet/ bittersweet) poems.

The Gang War Zone: These come in different areas. Be it political wars or religious wars. It’s basically like watching a tennis match. Nuff said.

The Chess Club: These are the intellectuals. The older and wiser bloggers. They normally blog intelligent articles on everything and nothing. The highs and the lows. Even if you’re not big on reading, you can still recognize them by their easy on the eyes, minimalist blog decoration.

The Starving Artists: In short, the flickrs. They flickr here. They flickr there. They flickr everywhere. If it’s not a flickr account it is a creative and cool blog designs and food for thought creative, be it photos, art or even written pieces.

The Class Clowns: The satire blogs that pokes fun at everything including themselves. You can’t ever expect them to take themselves seriously. Ever.

Well I guess that’s about all I can come up with. I’m sure there are more. Maybe you can help me out in the gray area where I had become fuzzy. =)

Zombies!

2008-06-26T01:28:00.000-07:00

I normally have this unusual obsession with things that I'm scared of. I have always been terrified of zombies (yeah you can laugh here) but that never stopped me from watching zombie flicks, sometimes even alone just for the thrill of it, though recently I have sort of sworn off horror movies for some reason I can't remember. hmmmm.....

Anyway recently I saw this weird movie on HBO. The starting of it is curious. It had me guessing what genre the movie was. Was it a kids movie or was it a zombie flick. You can't tell... The movie was full of bright colors, quirky characters and whimsical background music. And yet there were flesh eating gory zombies running around everywhere.

I asked myself dare I watch this. I kept thinking of switching to another channel but I was already hooked. In the movie there is a boy and his family hires a zombie to do their housework. Yea, housework. Anyhoo the boy is at first skeptical about how safe the whole thing is (understandably) but later establishes a friendship with the decaying help.

By now I'm expecting the zombie to goble up the boy any time now. Didn't happen. Then I expected the zombie to goble up the boy's mom. Didn't happen. The boy's dad. That didn't happen either. By now I had sighed in relief that there would be no gobling of anyone in this movie. But then to my utter horror the zombie eats the boy's neighbor, old Mrs. Handerson. She in turn changes into a zombie and attacks someone else.... You get my drift by now I suppose.

I think the movie was actually pretty good. There are some squirmy parts like zombie kissing (eeech) but I'd still give it 4/5. By the way the movie is called 'Fido'. Check out the trailer.

Simmering pick and pluck
Tenderize bone to dust
The sweetest grease, finest meat you'll ever taste

So you scream, whine, and yell
Supple sounds of dinner bell
We all will feed the worms and trees So don't be shy

Swallow and chew
Eat you alive
All of us food, that hasn't died

... mosquito song by Queens of the Stone Age

Fuzz Bucket

2008-06-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

My friend calls me one day and asks me whether I'd like to adopt a new kitten. I patiently told her that I've reached my limit of one pet (my mom's rule). Anyway during work break I raced off to her house to see the new family member.

Let me first say that her house is full of all sorts of animals. They have two eagles, couple of birds, loadsa fishes. They also kept a couple of bunnies, snakes and chicks in the past. But when it comes to cats, her mom put her foot down on it. And oh yeah while I was there playing with the new kitten, her bro's tried to sneak in a white mouse and promptly got busted. Luckily instead of bursting a nerve my friend's mom just shook her head and sighed.

Anyhoo, the new kitten. He's soo adorable and very well behaved too. Since my friend's mom was threatening to have it thrown out on the streets I decided to adopt it temporarily till a proper home was found. Two days later I still have no luck and I'm running out of excuses to keep my mom from getting frustrated. Help!!!

Blowing Steam

2008-06-17T00:11:00.000-07:00

I was going to make no mention whatsoever of the word 'football' but when I heard that the president himself was awarding about Rf 200, 000 to EACH player I just can't sit still. All I can say is we are truly and royally f*cked!!

I have already heard different views on this from work. Some say they deserve it. Other's agree but is of the opinion, considering at the current state of our country, that the amount a wee bit over the top.

There are people STILL living in makeshift homes after the tsunami and ours players get Rf 200,000 each. Like I said before we are truly and royally f*cked!!!

A blood sucking vampire or a thalassemia patient?

2008-06-12T01:26:00.000-07:00

It doesn't really make me angry when a person confuse me for being sick. I've had countless teachers in the past give me sad, sympathetic looks whenever they saw my frail, skinny, little frame. It was understandable since I was a year younger than the rest of the students (my mom apparently couldn't wait to send me off to school). There were in fact perks for being so small. The teachers gave you a break if you don't complete your homework and some of them even forgo punishment. :D

Anyway now that I've grown and filled out a bit, I can't understand why people still come up to me and ask, "Are you a thalassemia patient?" .....really.....they actually ask me that. Normally in a quiet, worried voice. So anyhoo, I've decided to make a list of those who confused me for being a thelassemia patient...

* My Sixth Grade Dhivehi teacher : One day just out of the blue she asked.

* Some girl at Sheri Salon: She actually swore to the receptionist that I'm the first thalassemia patient to have undergone a bone marrow transplant. (who'd knew!!!)

* According to a work colleague, the office gossip states that I might be one of them thalassemia patient.

* One of the neighbors who lives below our office stops me one day in the stairwell and asks (same hushed, saddened tone) if I'm a 'T' patient.

* One of the women who goes to aerobics with me.

* A friend's husband (who asked his wife for confirmation)

* A friend's wife (who asked her husband for confirmation) - this actually happened this morning.

hmmmmm....i might've missed a few....anyway I keep wondering why this happens to me. This is what I got so far...

... Earlier I had assumed it was because I was scarily thin but that's hardly the case anymore.

... Next I thought there might be someone who looks exactly like me.

... One of people who asked me said it was because of my cheeks. Cheeks??! Yes, cheeks.

... One of them also said something about my forehead! (don't ask, I've no idea myself)

... My friend says, that I actually might be a thalassemia patient and that I just haven't realized it yet coz I turn into blood sucking vampire every night and feed upon helpless victims.

Personally I like that last one. Makes more sense to me considering how thin my close friends, V and D are...

The Gentlemen

2008-06-10T01:36:00.000-07:00

The Gentlemen, my muse and the only characters on Buffy that really gave me nightmares. Yup they did! I swear I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking that they are standing beside my bed silently leering down on me. Apart from their evil grins, it's the fact they float around the streets gesturing to one another as if they are in deep conversation even though they make no noise whatsoever. And oh they are after our hearts and they have a box that'll take away your voice, so however hard you try to scream no one will ever hear you as the Gentlemen carves out your heart.

The Gentlemen are best described as humanoid, fanged, clawed, bald, pale, always smiling, mute and wear black suits.

Photoshoot

2008-06-07T01:50:00.000-07:00

Tonight me and a friend are going to have our pics taken. So going to get all dolled up for tonight. Hope it turns out alright. gaaaaaaaaaah

The Round Table Bargain

2008-06-02T01:48:00.000-07:00

There we were, all sitting around a round table. Me sitting right next to the devil. He pushes a piece of paper towards me.

Devil: Here you go. I believe this is what you had in mind before you came to our meeting.

Me: hmmmm.....(going over the paper)...wait... I also recommended pain's involvement in this.

Devil: Errmm...actually, we...er...had a problem with that.

Me and the Devil looked over at Pain who was sitting across from us.

Pain: (with a nasty expression on his face and shrugs) I want no involvement on this.

Me: Oh come on!

Pain: Forget it!!

Sanity: Please!! (looks imploringly towards me) Don't do this. Just think of the consequences.

Me: (ignores Sanity's pleas and faces the Devil instead). You also promised me no Pain.

Devil: Yeah...welll.. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it. Their mind is pretty much made up.

Me: hmpf... fine then. It's a deal.

Devil: (beams) excellent. I'm glad every thing's in order then. I've been after your soul for a while.

We all stood. Sanity still grumbling under her breath follows a couple of steps behind me as we all leave.

Pain: (standing behind everyone) and oh by the way... I might visit once in a while and if you don't mind I'll bring along Sick as well...

I shoot Devil a look and he shrugs and shook his head as if to say he can't help it.

Me: Fine. As long as I get my share.

A colleague of mine inspired me to write this. He always complains that I never take sick leave. So here you go. Here's the reason. Sick has been pretty mild with me whenever he visited. Pain as usual visits me often these days just for his sick pleasure. As for Death. He's keeping his end of the bargain.

PMS Sorrow

2008-05-28T23:50:00.000-07:00

I'm in serious need of a pick-me-up. I'm basically teetering over the edge of my good and well kept patience. The stress of smiling through everything when all I want to do is bite someone's head off is tiring me out. So I think I'll just list out all the stuff that annoyed me through out this morning.

1- On top of having a bad knee I nearly twisted my ankle.

2- I nearly tripped over a fallen brunch. I mean for goodness sake, I well avoided all the puddles but I didn't see a freakin' three feet long fallen brunch.

3- I nagged. I loathe nagging. It's a waste of my energy. But I ended up nagging and I'm upset with myself over that.

4- My foot is having pins and needles as we speak and I just want to bang it against the desk.

5- I just want to sleeep, instead I'm stuck at work.

....... I'm sure there's more but I can't actually think of anything right now ..... so anyway I'm just gonna post one of my new favourite comic strips

Ok, now I'm just gonna go and drown my PMS sorrow in Slipknot

Fire!

2008-05-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

This morning around 6 I get this sms from my friend, saying "Hot News! Our house nearly burnt"
I read it through with one eye still shut and went right back to sleep. My friend really does have tendecy to exaggerate sometimes. Besides she sounded excited rather than alarmed.

So after finally getting up around seven, I stopped by her place on the way to work. What I saw astounded me. Right in front of her house were this huge pile of ashes that used to be four motorcycles. The outside wall were blackened with soot. After shutting my mouth I went inside to find my friend.

Turned out someone set fire to those motorcycles (they belonged to a neighbor of theirs), the fire then in turn spread over to the outer wall of the house and nearly blocked the entrance. My friend told me that she and her family were trapped inside and had no way of getting out of the house. I knew the house well and she was right. The only exit is through the front door, there were no other doors or windows. She later told me her younger bro had run out with bucket of water and had tried to put out the fire by himself. According to her non of the neighbors had tried to help. She said they all just stood around gaping.

Thankfully at least no one was hurt in the incident.

Polygamy for the selfish man

2008-05-24T00:52:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting little article I ran across this morning...

Women should accept polygamy, Malaysian lawmaker says

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23, 2008 - A Malaysian lawmaker told parliament that there would be fewer marital problems and a lower divorce rate if Muslim women were taught to accept polygamy, news reports said Friday.

Ibrahim Ali, an independent parliamentarian, proposed moves to address the issue in response to complaints that women were always blamed for marital issues.

"Such problems happen because women cannot accept polygamy. From a preventive point of view, what about doing a big campaign so that women can accept polygamy?" Ibrahim was quoted saying in the Star daily.

The ethnic Malay Muslim lawmaker said women who are pregnant or who have "problems" when they hit their fifties do not understand that men still want to "have fun".

Fuziah Salleh, an opposition lawmaker, had earlier questioned the qualifications of Islamic sharia court counsellors as she had received complaints from women that they were forced to take the blame for most marital problems.

"They are not counselled but given 'advice'. And every time, they are told that the woman is to be blamed. If it is a family problem, they must be patient. If they are beaten up, they must also be patient," she said.

Muslim men in Malaysia are allowed up to four wives. Activists and women's groups say polygamy is cruel and has deviated from its original purpose in Islam, which was to protect widows and orphans.

Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, where more than 60 percent of its 27 million people are Muslim Malays. Polygamy is illegal for non-Muslims. - AFP

Welll.....Not only are they saying that men has every right to marry any number of women they'd like, NOW they are saying that we should be TAUGHT to accept polygamy. What does this guy think women are?! Brainless idiots??!! Counting from personal experience, it was polygamy itself that had ruined my parents marriage, not to mention several other people's. Guys like these are nothing but selfish perverts.

Gummy and the aww factor

2008-05-22T02:15:00.000-07:00

Aaah the weekend has arrived. Only 5 more days till payday. I just need to hang on to my coins and living off my mom for just 5 more days. I would need to buy a vacumme cleaner, a new bedsheet and a birthday gift for my friend (her birthday was in April).

Gummy blooper of the week: My cat was in one of her crazies this morning, playing a mean game with my mom on this double bunk bed in our house. My mom was cleaning the top bunk when Gummy decided to 'lend a help'. All I heard was my mom cursing and the sound of Gummy running around in excitement. Next thing I know poor Gummy was hanging off the top bunk by the tips of her front claws, meowing pitifully. My mom was laughing her ass off (sorry mom) but it was ridiculously funny. Finally I went over grabbed her heavier lower side and helped her up. Seriously Gummy you should really lay off the kitty biscuits a little, your kitty ass is too fat now.

I saw the sweetest thing on tv last night. Jay Leno's interview with a couple who's been married for 75 freaking years. Now before you go sticking your fingers down your throat, I suggest you watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtGaMJ7ma9E

Doesn't that just twist the 'awww' factor all the way up. :D

Anyway I'm off to enjoy the weekend.
byes

Yuppies and coffee shops alongside dreams

2008-05-21T01:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've hung out with some of my friends. We normally hang out at some coffee shop (yes i believe the term would be 'yuppies'). But then nearly all of us are broke, there's hardly any of us could do except stay home and visit their homes. Visiting is hardly fun as the houses are normally crowded with other family members and we can't talk in private as we'd like.

And I saw 'Requiem for a Dream' last night. A beautiful sad movie. Been listening to the movie soundtrack all morning. It's sad how everyone just ends up being alone in the end. Either you leave someone you love or they leave you...

My First Blog

2008-05-20T03:15:00.000-07:00

Alrighty letseeeeeeeee now....

When this year started I made two new resolutions (this is a first for me as i never made new year resolution before).

One was to exercise more. Which i did start in January itself (surprise surprise). I went jogging, everyday for two whole weeks before spraining BOTH my ankles. Then last month i started an aerobics class. (I'll explain all about that later)

The second resolution was to write more. Currently I'm going through this phase where I just don't feel like writing. Oh things are happening but I don't feel the need to share them. I've tried all sorts of methods. Keeping papers and pens in my purse so I can just whip them out wherever and whenever. Moving into my friend's apartment and staying in her guest room every weekend hoping the peace and quiet will prompt me (no luck there... I'm too busy having fun with my friend.)

I've even tried a no-talking experiment. For some reason i thought that if i talk less I'll write more. Unfortunately the timing was wrong, and for someone who hardly gets much social calls, that one hour when i decided to be quiet i get all sorts of calls.

.......wow well waddaya know I just wrote, 1, 2, 3 ....6 paraphraphs including this. :D Must give myself a good pat in the back.

And to sigh off I'll quote arnold swarzwhatisname "I'll be back!" (hopefully)