JOURNAL 6

This is a photo of the lady of my life- my granny. This picture was taken in Langkawi when we went there for a holiday. It was a family holiday where my cousins, aunts and uncles tagged along. It was a holiday to remember. The picture was taken by my father. She was reluctant and shy at first to snap a photo, but after much pasturing, she finally agreed. She’s wearing a dark blue Punjabi suit and a light blue head scarf. She’s very fair and young for her age. She’s 75!! The scenery in this picture is magnificent. The coconut tress stand tall to provide shades for visitors and the vast eye-catchy blue sky is pleasing to anyone. The crystal clear water makes you want to deep your feet in and never take it out. The water is so clear that you could see the little fishes swimming in it. There are plenty of beautiful sea shells and corals to die for.

My granny is my mother’s mom. She’s a lady with big heart. I usually spend my holidays in her place. She stays in Setapak Garden in Kuala Lumpur. A single storey house that would make anyone feels at home instantly. She cooks the best meal anyone could. Her fish and chicken curry, tomato purri, egg fried rice and tofu ketchup is honestly mouth watering. I am feeling hungry myself now. The other best part of spending my holidays over in granny’s place is that I don’t have to be awake early to clean the house, do the dishes or either wash the clothes. My granny would do all that even before I could be awake!! And it’s really pleasuring to not do house work once in a while :-)

THE HOUSE OF MY FEET...

THE HOUSE OF MY FEET

They are the houses of our feet,

Something so adorable, everyone is petite,

It’s the perfect fit for your feet,

And it’s definitely a glitz.

Red and pink,

Tell me what I should choose,

If they’d let me buy.

Bow ones, buckle ones,

Pretty pointy-toe ones,

Strappy cappy low ones,

Let’s have some to try.

White ones, dark ones,

Dance-all-night ones,

Perhaps a little sexy ones,

Like some? So would I.

I dance with it on the floor,

Making all guys go down to the core.

I walk with them on,

Making everyone turn their head to this throne.

Hard surfaces of grounds,

With dusty layers in town,

As I brace through life with a frown.

Cutting my toes,

Hurting my heels,

As I walk through roads,

And others go on wheels.

Only now after all the suffering,

Without a treat,

Do I miss my hard protective house of feet.

As my love for Mr. Sandals and Mr. High heels blast,

I am confident that my graceful walk through life will last...

MY LIFE... (POEM)

A normal life is what I long for,

I am alone,

They watch me, their eyes not knowing,

Knowing nothing of what they see.

I am but another creature alone,

All alone in this world of hope.

Sometimes when I'm alone
I cry,
because I am on my own.

The tears I cry are bitter and warm.
They flow with life but take no form
I cry because my heart is torn.
I find it difficult to carry on.

If I had an ear to confiding,
I would cry among my treasured friend,
if ever I could have one.

But who do you know that stops that long,
to help another carry on.

The world moves fast and it would rather pass by.
Then to stop and see what makes one cry,
so painful and sad.
And sometimes...
I cry
and no one cares about why.

MY FAVORITE CARTOON CHARACTER..

No other cartoon like it.

The Simpson’s are a typical family who live in a fictional "Middle American" town of Springfield. Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant—a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. He is married to Marge Simpson, a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart, a ten-year-old troublemaker; Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old activist; and Maggie, a baby who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. The family owns a dog, Santa's Little Helper, and a cat, Snowball II. Both pets have had starring roles in several episodes. Despite the passing of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays, the Simpson’s do not physically age and still appear just as they did at the end of the 1980s.

The show includes an array of quirky characters: co-workers, teachers, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople and local celebrities.

I think all the episodes in the first ten seasons of the Simpson’s are brilliant but after that most of the episodes are poor but occasionally you get the odd episode that makes you laugh. All in all the Simpson’s is the best cartoon series ever.

POEM (POSTCARD)

Postcard one:

Dance steps

A step forward to the victory I gained,

A step backward for the friends I lost,

I raised my hand as a new life begin,

I dance whole night in the cold winter frost…

REPLY:

Afraid not of the triumph you achieved,

Regret not of the friends you lost,

Dance the whole night to splendor,

And you shall see nothing is moved out…

Postcard two:

Ocean

As summer sun shines,

As yellow daisies bloom,

As peaceful scenery catches our eyes,

Clear blue ocean reflects the shadow of the moon,

As sunny summer goes,

Winter brings a gloom,

Blue ocean still reflects the shadow of the moon…

REPLY:

Seasons may change,

Time may pass,

On the blue ocean,

It sets overcast,

Trees chopped,

Environment breaks,

Poor blue ocean,

Deals with our mistakes…

HIGH FIDELITY :)

REACTION AND RESPONSE WHILE AND AFTER WATCHING HIGH FIDELITY

"What came first? Music or the misery?

“Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable, or was I miserable because I listened to pop music? “

This is a movie where you get inside a guy’s head and see what makes the other half tick. Well, it’s a chance to see what makes a hot guy tick anyway. This is a comedy about Rob Gordon (John Cusack) who is in his thirties and is still afraid to fully commit to a serious relationship. It’s a story of an unambitious music lover who is constantly reflecting and wondering how past screw-ups could have been prevented. His girlfriend, Laura (Iben Hjejle), leaves him because he cannot grow. He has become stagnant. So, Rob goes through a painful rehashing of his five worst breakups, since he is constantly making Top Five Lists of everything. He goes all the way back to when he was fourteen to the present and he comes to conclusions that are both eye-opening and very funny. As he goes through this process, his fantasies take over and these scenes are simply hysterical. He has a penchant for the dramatic and he loves to wallow in misery. He owns a record store called "Championship Vinyl" and he has in his employ two of the oddest people you could ever meet. Both are geniuses as far as music is concerned, but one is meek, retiring and overly sensitive (Dick played by Todd Louiso) and the other is outrageous, rude and flamboyant (Barry played by Jack Black).

To me, the movie is well-written, witty and has strong acting sensation. On the other hand, its ‘sturdy’ language and some violent scene may be a no-no for certain people. I couldn’t keep my feet steadily on the ground, as the movie is hilarious and at some level, it relates to a real life situation. The cast shown in this movie have very different characteristic. For example, Mr. Cusack has rumpled hair; his mouth is slightly open at all times, and he looks, well, vaguely unhealthy. Todd played role as a geeky music store-worker, all neat and nice and the total opposite of him is his colleagues; Jack Black. The movie, somehow teach us that no matter how lousy others think of us or how screwed up things might be in the end, there is no harm trying. It gives a different dimension to crisis of loneliness, and the meaning of relationships. Courtship doesn’t mean all roses and chocolates, and this movie portrays the exact. It shows the differences of all character and how they each react towards circumstances. It also describes how creative can an imagination be. It is clever and contemporary and offers hope that differences can be resolved and love will win, in the end. It is about one guy struggling with self doubt, and his successful purging of the mistakes of his past...

I DON'T BELIEVE IN FAILURE !!!

Think about your own early reading history and write up to 500 words about books that were important to you and why. If you were deprived of books for any reason, write about that and what it meant to you. Give your writing an appropriate title.

It’s never easy to start to read a book and an avid reader is never born overnight. Sometimes I ponder upon what has change me, the way I think and my beliefs. Something that made me crave for books at all times, and that somewhat which made me what I am today. There’s always a light that guides us to right path or shows us what is right and wrong. That light can be our family, friends or school. But for me, it was this book.

OPRAH WINFREY: I DON’T BELIEVE IN FAILURE

This African-American biography shares the real story of Oprah’s life from the beginning right up till now. She has had a hard childhood where she was poor and her parents stayed separately and she had to split her time between her mother in Milwaukee and father in Nashville. She was also raped and abused by her family and friends in Milwaukee. She then moved with her dad when she was secretly pregnant, who helped her to rebuild her life when her week old baby died. Winfrey then worked her way out to college and became the first female African-American news anchor in Nashville. It has always been a debate that the blacks are given lower priority compare to the whites. Oprah has also once said that she doesn’t believe in sexism and race discrimination, where if practice, will lead to destruction of human kind.

She then later on took over the show, AM Chicago which eventually became The Oprah Winfrey Show. It was rated the best in viewer ship, and from there, her career built ranging from acting in Steven Spielberg’s movie “The Color Purple” which earned her Oscar nomination to opening up a South-African girls school. She has also produce an inspiring movie called "The Great Debaters". It's a movie of a life time!! This budding charm is an inspiration to everyone. Her life story is exciting and inspiring and should be shared and read by people who wish to succeed against all odds.

This book is important to me as it was the only book which made me a wiser person I am today and more mature in my decisions. Her stories of success and not giving up in life makes me have doubt in my own judgments and that made me open my eyes to what I can be if I work harder and determine to do so. I am what I am by what I believe and I definitely can’t be what I need to be by remaining what I am. It changed the way I contemplate about people and circumstances. I used to laugh at society with incapability’s and thought that they can’t do anything, but deep down I knew that I was as uncharacteristic as they as, because I didn’t do anything that I could be proud of. For the fact that those people are physically incapable and yet they strive to make ends meet, and me, who can make wonders, but still struggling to find my identity. I use to give up even at slightest things, even at circumstances which can be solved in minutes; I procrastinate just so that I can be leisurely free.

This book has changed me in a way that I learned how to appreciate people around us and a person is always a person no matter how small he is. There’s a saying goes “you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover” and that is exactly what I refrain myself from doing. I’ve met so many people of many walks of life, of many experiences and status, and they never fail to amaze me. There’s also some who brags about their class and fame and about things that they do and contribution to the society, but at the end of the day, there will be a moment where they’ll ask themselves if what they are doing is what they desire. Different people have different personality and through this book, I learned to appreciate each of them. There’s some who are quiet, but that doesn’t mean they are unintelligent and not aware of surroundings. These people are more introspective and they tend to out do the rest. There are also some who are relatively noisy and bossy, but that doesn’t make them any intelligent or stand out of crowd. People often choose the latter group to mix around with and at some point they lose their character and identity, because they were too busy trying to fit in. I struggled with this phenomenon once. I tried so hard to blend with people whom I thought was popular and all-so-wow, but later I realized that I was not being myself and that was not what I want. I don’t blame that bunch of friends either, because they were born in that circular of lifestyle.

I am merely quiet, but if I have my clicks, then I do talk as much, something which I don’t do with everyone. I am not being arrogant, but this is what I am and I am happy with it, because I know I’m mature enough to take the right step in order to gain success, and doing the best at this moment puts me in the best place for the next moment. I don’t have to show people my capabilities, but as long as I can prove it to myself, no other happiness would outcast that feeling. There are so many people out there who share the same characteristic as I am, and what we all have to learn is to appreciate every human being, as what I have learned from this book. Yes I do struggle at times juggling with these substances. But where there is no struggle, there is no strength. This book changed my prospective towards life and to see things beyond what it is shown. I still have my feet on the ground; I just wear better shoes..

Oprah Winfrey :

“I don't believe in failure. It is not failure if you enjoyed the process”

Source:

http://www.people.com/people/oprah_winfrey/biography/0,,20006996_10,00.html

http://www.amazon.com/Oprah-Winfrey-Just-Facts-Biographies/dp/0822524724