a date with the pornographer* 

After such a long wait, yes...the date is set on May 10. I have decided on what I will be wearing that night. Something kinky? Err, definitely not. Am not going to place my expectation too high. Hence, I will not get dissappointed. But something tells me it will be worth the wait.

Hey pornographer, am counting the days.
Come cow dung, rain or shine...i will be there!
You betcha!

April 26, 2004 // anjali* pranced on tip-toes all over the keyboard at 11:43 pm
|

a good prayer* 

While I continue to feel compressed and worn-out, Steph forwarded me this email. Do take time to read and pray along. Am sure you will feel refreshed too. God Bless.

--------*--------*--------*--------

Dear Lord, I thank You for this day.
I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning.
I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God.
You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me.
Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you. I ask now for Your forgiveness.
Please keep me safe from all danger and harm.
Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude.
Let me make the best of each and every day to clear my mind so that I can hear from You.
Please broaden my mind that I can accept all things.
Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over.
Let me continue to see sin through God's eyes and acknowledge it as evil, and when I sin, let me repent, and confess with my mouth my wrongdoing, and receive the forgiveness of God.
And when this world closes in on me, let me remember Jesus' example - to slip away and find a quiet place to pray. It's the best response when I'm pushed beyond my limits.
I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my heart.
Continue to use me to do Your will. Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others.
Keep me strong that I may help the weak.
Keep me uplifted that I may have words of encouragement for others.
I pray for those that are lost and can't find their way.
I pray for those that are misjudged and misunderstood.
I pray for those who don't know You intimately.
I pray for those that will delete this without sharing it with others.
I pray for those that don't believe. But I thank you that I believe.
I believe that God changes people and God changes things.

I pray for all my sisters and brothers. For each and every family member in their households. I pray for peace, love and joy in their homes that they are
out of debt and all their needs are met.
I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than God. Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight.
I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees them and every mouth that confesses them willingly.

This is my prayer. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

April 22, 2004 // anjali* pranced on tip-toes all over the keyboard at 6:23 am
|

i am tired* 

Yep, that's how I have been feeling for the past week. What's even more scary is it's not just physical.

It's really not good to be feeling like this. I know. Therefore, I am holding tight to the verse below...

Isaiah 40:28
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

Sometimes I wish life is as easy as advertisements. So simple. Solutions are always within reach.

Waking up feeling down? Brush your teeth with the new cooling toothpaste. Before you know it, you're snow skiing down some French Alps in high ecstacy. This is when I wish I'll meet the Von Trapp family and sing my heart out.

Work and annoying colleagues testing your patience? Have some traditionally baked wholemeal cracker...you won't get cracked up anymore!

Life getting you down? Feed on some twisted junk food and untangle all your troubles away. And some fantasies may just come true too. Maybe Sarah Marbeck was having that while watching MU on TV. Maybe her brain became so twisted she could not differentiate reality vs fantasy. Anyway, who am I to judge? I am not the one laughing all the way to the bank. Sigh.

Or was she eating this choc-coated biscuit which could arouse you to the point of orgasmic esctacy. But hey, that was for a tennis game lah. Duhh me.

Or maybe I can perk myself up if I start talking in high-pitch voice like in some radio commercials! Sometime I wonder whether their pants were too tight during recording!

"Feeling crap? Hey, let's kill ourselves with retail therapy with Bank XYZ credit card. Just spend RM120 or more in a single receipt and you will stand a chance to win a trip to Kathmandu. Yay, what are we waiting for? Let's apply for the card NOW!"

Lastly on a serious note. I think I am just jaded. Burn out, actually. Definitely. I will end by paraphrasing a piece of advise from a verbose genius. "Better to burn out than to fade away".

How true. But right now, am just gonna feed my face with some junk food.

April 19, 2004 // anjali* pranced on tip-toes all over the keyboard at 11:19 pm
|

triumphant day* 

Today has been a totally exuberating day.

First half of the day
I finished my third Elizabeth Berg book 'Open House'. Within a week, after borrowing it from Mei. She bought the book for a whooping cheap USD5 from a small bookstore in NYC. Gorgeous book it is. Made me realised that there's always a second chance for everyone and most of us live our lives being oblivious to our own strengths - 'validation' is the key word.

Second half of the day
I learnt how to post pictures onto the blog. And how to align the copy to the pictures. And how to resize the pictures. Hey presto, I think the blog looks much more interesting now. I am happy.

I have also registered with several blog directories.

Gila monster on the loose. Grin.

April 10, 2004 // anjali* pranced on tip-toes all over the keyboard at 11:18 pm
|

dummies on blogging* 

Yep, if you're keen to start your own blog, do look towards the right header 'other hermits on the blog' and click on 'itchyhands'.

David aka the itchyhand & my personal HTML consultant (whom I have yet to pay in kind!) has just started his own 'Itchy Guide To Blogging'. Quickly go learn and grab a piece of the cyber space.

Great job, David! You're such a blessing!

April 09, 2004 // anjali* pranced on tip-toes all over the keyboard at 9:57 am
|

howz life* 

Hidup segan, mati tak mau.

Hm.

April 06, 2004 // anjali* pranced on tip-toes all over the keyboard at 10:40 pm
|

intellectual diarrhoea* 

This was written on 27 Mac 2004 at home, but I forgot to post it.

I think today I have exceeded my own intellectual standard. The standard, which turned myself into an irritating fruitcake, who compares a movie based on a book to the book itself.

Would I be a tasty fruitcake? Maybe, if I pour enough brandy unto myself. Now that's a thought! And would fruitcake get herself spongy over a beefcake? Hmm, I like where this is heading...

Anyway, I used to have this belief system - 'Why read the book, when you can watch the movie?' But for the past year, I have unbelievably managed to place reading as my top stress buster and mode of escapism; over cooking, the idiot box and surprise, surprise - music.

I had just finished reading the book 'About A Boy' by Nick Hornby this evening. After almost 2 weeks of stolen hours early in the morning and before bedtime, I finished the last chapter in the taxi, on the way back from the airport. Oh, I managed to read five chapters by the Teluk Chempedak beach yesterday - what a blissful experience!

With the completion of reading 'About A Boy', I felt a sense of achievement which is beyond words. Even beyond monetary value. Why?

1. This is my fourth Nick Hornby book.
2. And if I were to discount reading 'Fever Pitch', I would have achieved one of my 2004 resolutions! Within the first quarter!

So with all the adrenaline rush, the minute I reached home, I dropped the luggage, got hold of an Old Jamaican choc bar, pulled out the VCD and played the movie.

And I evaluated the scenes in correspondence to the book chapters. Got myself a natural high in return with these ding-dongs.

My comments?

1. Think the casting of the boy was bad. He did Marcus total injustice in character representation. He seemed to snigger whenever he acted silly, and I think that's bad acting. (A good actor should be oblivious to his character's antics.) It's as bad when a stand-up comedian start laughing at his own corny jokes.

2. Hugh Grant was bad too. But then again he has always been a so-so actor. Again, injustice to Will's character. Think they got the wrong Hugh.
Mr Jackman would have been the better cast. Drool. Drool.

3. Toni Collette was perfect as the estranged, suicidal mum.

4. Badly Drawn Boy was super perfect with the whole soundtrack. Super ABC concoction - Awesome, Brilliant & Contagious!

5. Some key scenes were scraped, some were mixed and some were changed. Character build-up was quite lame.

Evaluation of the subtitles was equally fun too. In fact, I thought it took the limelight! Dig these Lost In Translation gems:

Santa's Super Sleigh - Kaki yang hebat dari Santa Claus.

Are you nuts? - Adakah awak biarawati?
I think they had mistaken 'nuts' with 'nuns'. So it should have been 'Adakah awak kekacang?'

I'm good at buying trainers and getting records - Saya pandai menjadi pelatih dan mencatat.

Now that I'm on this intellectual high, I can't wait to get my hands on 'High Fidelity' the movie. I'd like to see if John Cusack did justice to Rob's character and also to see what Championship Vinyl really looks like.

And I hope they will make a movie based on 'How To Be Good' - I'm really keen to find out who would be casted as DJ GoodNews. And I hope Nick Hornby will make a cameo appearance too - that would have been a brilliant idea in itself.

Don't worry. I will keep my ding-dongs to myself.

Promise.

(Get intimate with the genius by the name of Nick Hornby here and get the reviews for 'About A Boy' the movie here)

April 03, 2004 // anjali* pranced on tip-toes all over the keyboard at 5:08 pm
|

getting sued by paul simon* 

After a whole agonizing month of searching for the missing Paul Simon 'You're The One' CD, after turning my apartment upside down, inside out, I finally found it trapped between my bed and the bedside table.

Agonizing because it belongs to AJ. Agonizing because I realised I am jinxed when it comes to borrowing his CDs. Firstly, I chipped his jewel-cased The Best of Elvis Costello CD, then someone flicked it from my table. Later, I realised the Paul Simon CD went missing! Aiyo...headache and migraine came prancing hand-in-hand.

Agonizing because his constant reminders became unbearable. Sometimes I just want to strangle him alive, but I realised I was in the wrong. Thus, have no choice but to be nice.

So I sent AJ this email the moment I reached the office this morning :


Subject: Lost & Found

There was once a dear Mr Simon
Who was lost
Oh so, so lost he was
But now was found
Breathless
Stuck
Sandwiched
Between the bedside table and the bedsheet
So amazing is the grace
Mr Simon should sing more of this cover
Yes, he should
And he must

Do stop by for collection.
Wow wow!

:-P~


And the response was :

Messrs Konman, Cheet & Crooke
1112 Ripov Avenue
NY466668
New York

Dear Miss Anjali,

We represent Mr Paul Simon.

We are suing you for US$100 million for the physical and mental distress you have inflicted upon our client.

Mr Elvis Costello is also 'tumpang-ing' on this lawsuit to the tune of US$50 million.

We hope you have your ATM card with you.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
I.M.A. Konman
SENIOR PARTNER

April 01, 2004 // anjali* pranced on tip-toes all over the keyboard at 8:14 pm
|