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Friday, December 28, 2012

2012 - The Memoir of a Writer's Life in Summation

Another pretentious way to conclude 2012 after blabbering the significance of my life in 2012 that is insignificant to others in any way possible.

September 2012 - How she found her true love


I have always loved this picture. Us 22 years later.
My cousin Nana weds her beau whom she has been keeping mum until 2009. Nana - who has always been choosy when it comes to anything and everything, chose John (real name Feisal, don't ask me how "john" happened) to be her life-long partner. You know your cousin is serious and not in any way intended to tie the knot because it was the trend when she used the word, "I have to think carefully. This is not a short term thing. This is for life!"

I mean, it is the trend to get married early nowadays. I guess the trend happened to people born 1985 and below. Most of my friends born in 1983 don't actually have marriage in mind when they were just 23. 1983 people are hotheaded, career-minded and apt to not get along with employers - that's evident with the fact that most of my friends and people my age are into business and freelance)

Nana's nikah was on 7/9, Dinie held Naurah's birthday on 8/9 but I wasn't able to go due to Nana's reception on 9/9 in Kompleks Perbadanan Putrajaya. I didn't eat much despite the catering was amazing, since I had to protect the sanctity of the goody bags with Nana's paternal cousins, Shasha and her then fiance, King.... ("sanctity of the..."... exaggeration alert!)

Oh, and Mun was my tailor for that dress.

October 2012 - Month of Work and Work-related Stuff


Zara Amani and I went to Buku Prima to discuss about our project and our ideas about the book cover. It was also my dad's birthday so remembering how my dad kept talking about wanting to buy the remote-controlled helicopter, I bought him one. I, of course, forgot that I have two brothers... so they ended up playing with that thing until the battery depletes. And of course, being guys, they never thought about replacing them batteries.

Ajik bought a new car, but stupid car dealer can't even do his job right, so we sack him instead.
Oh, and Karangkraf held Aidil Adha's feast. I couldn't stay long due to massive translation workload but boy was I extremely full.

Gabe's obsession with the aquarium begins from day one
One day, I was talking to Abang Long, my agent, in front of the house when suddenly, out came a black kitten, mewing his heart out at me. Abang Long asked me whose cat it is. I have no idea. But feeling sympathy for its sickly look and desperate eyes pleading for food, I took it inside after my agent left. Gave him some food and let him out again.

But he didn't leave. He stayed. He stayed every day. So I called him Mugabe (because I like my cat with a little bit of dictatorship in it), and he has been mine ever since. I've always wanted a black cat anyway. A writer should always have a black cat since it has this aura that injects creativity....... nahhh. I made that up.

According to an article I read, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had an Angora cat, a white one called Muizza. Just pretend like I have the opposite - a black cat named Mugabe.

November 2012 - Receptions and Reunions


Mun and I also had to meet the lawyer, after several months of no legal discussions. Our legal rep (I just wanted to use the word so badly) told us that we will be having our damage assessment in November, but the other party has decided to appeal the case in January. So we decided to postpone the assessment to another date. I knew dreams-come-true always comes with a delay.

But do pray for us. And do pray that they will end all of this as soon as possible.

Rahmah got married and we went to Kuala Selangor to celebrate it. We also went to our old school to see how it has changed over 12 years. A lot of change. I just pity the students now. They would not be able to enjoy the school as we had. Once upon a time, when it rains, you can see fishes swimming in the grass and egrets and cranes flying from Taman Alam to the fields, looking for the fishes in the grass. Wak Jazz will be out there with his pail and his net, trying to catch them (the fishes, not the egrets). Now where it used to be a huge field, two additional buildings stood uglily (that's a legitimate word).

We also went to Masitah's house and had a good chat.... and robbed the mangoes from her family's mango tree. Muahaaha.
 
Ajik had his convocation in Terengganu. I couldn't come, so I stayed home for three days and cleaned the whole house up. Now I know what I will actually do when there is nobody around - I am one of the members of the cleaner tribe.

November was also a great month in a sense that two people that has been MIA for a long time suddenly reappeared. One is Fer, my best friend in SMKAKS. To tell you the truth, I don't have a lot of male friends in high school. A) because I am just not that friendly, B) I don't really understand boys that much, and C) I just can't be bothered. But Fer was one of the guys that I was close to, due to the fact that we almost always involved in the same societies and almost always fighting.

We fought at gelanggang silat when we were both the committee members, we argued about Persatuan Bahasa Arab's budget when he was the president and I was the treasurer, we argued during Rumah Hijau's meeting with no reason at all, and we argued in class for the pettiest things. Arguing was like our thing. There was even a time that we had a relay-argument - where I stated my case, Che' Wan sent the message and Fer replied. I don't think I have ever met any better arguing partner in my life after Fer. Everybody else admits defeat far too quick, it's no fun.

But after SMKAKS, there was no news about him at all. I had to wait 12 years before he sent a message on Facebook in November and asked me if I remembered him. The guy is now married with two kids. Nothing makes me feel so old as browsing through pictures of Fer's two little clones. Ahahaha.

The next day, Uncle Kirby add me on Facebook. Have I ever told you that I have a foreign uncle? Married to my paternal aunt, he's American and now works as a Semiotics professor in Akita University. I haven't seen him since....... I can't remember, because I think the last time I saw him, I was too little to remember anything. But I was ecstatic when he sent a message on Facebook, because I have heard a lot about him and I love reading his book of poetry, "A Geography of the Soul". I used to Google his image on Facebook, just to know how he looks like, but now he's on Facebook and I can actually talk to him. It's really good to have that.

December 2012 - All the Trips and Flat Tyres


Our friend Fiza got married and her wedding turned into some kind of SMKAKS reunion (they call the school KUSSIS now, but I refused to do so. I will always be SMKAKSian, heart and soul). Cikgu Zaleha still looking svelte and slim after all these years, much to our chagrin. Ahahaha.

Repaired the aircond after three years. Our new aircond-man, Mr. Tsai is a weird man, but then again, so was our old aircondman, Steven. I guess all aircond-man are peculiar, but then again, that's just generalisation.

Nana's sister, Liliee is getting married in January, so we're busy with that too.

Julia, Mas and I had another vacay, this time to Kulai, Pengerang and then Universal Studio, Singapore. It was planned earlier in October. We planned it all out but then I forgot about the migraine that cannot be unplanned in any way. Safe to say that I don't think I am suited for Universal Studio's rides. I mean, the weather is quite hot, but the rooms where people queued are air-conditioned  The rides were extreme, especially the Transformers ride. THAT you have to wear 3D glasses - the most hated technology of all. Then after the ride, you get out to the hot sun to a crowd of people. Then it rains suddenly, sun again, aircond, ride, sun, rain, crowds..... that's just the perfect recipe for a level 3 migraine.

But I am so grateful for Mas' hospitality, as well as her brother and sister in-law's kindness in taking us in.

Tim was home for the school holidays and four months pregnant, so we all went out to Big Bad Wolf and a dinner at Nad's. I went to BBW with my family the next day. The thing with BBW is..... it's not enough for me. You know how some people go crazy hearing the word "Shoe Sales" or have sugar rush after eating lots of candy?

That's how I feel being there, in a hall filled with books. At one point, I almost wanted to live there, thinking heaven would be me in a huge auditorium filled with books and smell like freshly printed newspapers. I think that was what inside my dad's head at the same time. If I let him go on for another hour, I will have to sell my laptop to pay for his books.

We also went to GM Klang two days later, but it was just okay, except for the time when Mun had a flat tyre and we were stranded in front of the bus stand in Section 7, and waited for Tim, her husband and her dad to help us while having a karaoke session at the side of the road at 11pm.

Flat.... like supermodel boobs.
And that's how I feel about my whole 2012 - like a stranded stranger on the side of the road, singing songs of happiness, of sadness and woes, waiting for someone or something to take me to the next stage of my life. The bus may come later on, or I may be singing more songs, may be singing it alone, maybe someone will be playing the guitar for me while I sing, or my friends will come and sing with me together. But we will all be sitting at the side of the road while cars pass us by, waiting and anticipating, whether a bus, a taxi, a bike, a van or just someone to walk us along.

2012 is another bus stand in my journey, with God watching me every step of the way...

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