'Twas Merdeka Eve

10 hours ago most Malaysians were busy preparing for the celebration of Malaysia's 50th Independece, our Golden Jubilee Independence that our forefathers have worked so hard to achieve.

Notice in the previous sentence I mentioned 'MOST', which meant there are some who did not share this joy of celebrating, and unfortunately I belong in this category. Now, I am not unpatriotic, and I don't mean to say I'm patriotic too. I just belong on the fence, but with body leaning slightly on the patriotic side.

No offence, but raising a flag at your home or sticking hundreds of flags on your car does show your patriotism, but how sure are we that those people aren't hypocrites?
True patriotism is from the heart, and when it's time to do something for our country we do not hesitate.

Crap, I'm touching politics here. Truth is, I DESPISE politics.

As I was saying, 10 hours ago most Malaysians were busy celebrating and anticipating for the clock to strike 12. Sadly, I was at home playing PS2.

It's sad, as all my family were out except me; I was lazy to drive, there were too many cars on the road, and I was a bit feverish (yeah, right). Sigh... But when the clock struck 12, I was at my lawn watching fireworks and shouted 'Merdeka' thrice, much to the astonishment of my neighbours and passing on-lookers. And after noticing the unwanted attention I rushed into the house to continue 'Def Jam : Fight for NY'.

'Twas Merdeka Eve.

A New Chapter

I finished my final exam in my university today; the final exam of my final semester. When it was time for the papers to be collected and I was allowed to leave, I solemnly walked out of the hall, and straight to my car.

Funny, this wasn't how I pictured it 2 weeks ago. A fortnight ago I dreamt of this moment to come, where I'll be doing some backflips after handing in my paper & shouting mad like I just won a million bucks.

This was my final day here, I won't need to see the stupid guards, or follow any stupid protocols anymore, I was finally free from the boundaries & restrictions of the university.
I won't be missing any protocols, or classes or the routine of being here; but I feel a bit heavy to leave the people here, my friends & the lecturers.

It's ironic, stating how I hated the place so much when I was here but feeling reluctant when it's time to leave.

Coming September, I'll be starting my internship away from my hometown, beginning a life on my own. I'm a little enthusiastic, & hesitant to leave Nat, my home and my friends.

September, a new chapter in my life unfolds.

Of Digits & Breakfast

I had breakfast with Nat this morning at a kopitiam, which was famous for its koay teow theng. The place would normally be packed; it's a hotspot for elderly people as it's supposedly a long-established business, dating back to my grandma's days.

I was half-way through my koay teow theng when I heard a disagreement going on, between two old people, a lady and a man. They were bickering about some order of digits, initially I thought they were arguing about phone numbers; but the length was only 4-digits.

Suddenly the old lady went off and returned with a Chinese newspaper in her hand and turned to a page, showing the old man that her order of digits were exactly similar to the one on the newspaper. It was then I realized that they were actually arguing about the license plate of a bus which was involved in an accident recently. Why were they so interested? Ha.. no wonder they wanted to get the order of digits right; to buy 4D.

Honestly, I felt disgusted after that, they were actually looking to gain something out of a disaster. People were injured, or lives were lost in the accident, and here 2 people were bickering their tongues out just to get the order of digits right to buy 4D numbers.

Look at how caring we Malaysians are. And we'll be celebrating our 50th Independence Day in 8 days.

LSP No. 1

There's a lot of things that I tend to overlook, especially the small pleasures in life. So, I've decided to come up with a new category, 'Life's Simple Pleasures'; to list and commemerate each & every simple pleasures in life.

Actually, this category was decided when I came home today in the hot afternoon, after my exam. I was sweating like mad, and I quickly jumped into the shower. The water was cool & refreshing, and it felt like... heaven. It then struck me that how simple life's pleasures can be, like taking a cold shower after a hot, tiring day.

These are the things that're so regular, so bland that you tend to take it for granted. Well, not anymore. I'll be listing the simple pleasures in life as frequent as possible, appreciating each & every one of it now instead of doing so only when I'm 69 years old.

But, then again, I don't think I can take a cold shower when I'm 69.

Thus, LSP No 1: A Cold, Refreshing Shower after a Hot, Tiring Day

An Interlude of Awareness

It's funny thinking that you seem to notice and admire the little things around you only when you're in a period of stress. Only then will you seem to admire how pretty the trees are in the rain, wonder where does that road leads to, how relaxing it is to sit at the park, etc.

It seems that when you've got nothing to worry about, these small joys are easily overlooked cause you're supposedly 'busy' with something else.  And during this episode, you promise that 
you're gonna be more aware of these small things; only to forget about it after the worry-period is over. 

In the field so green and so free, seeds gaze up
The clouds keeps them from the light
And the sky cries white tears of snow
But still, the fragile seeds wait long for the sun to shine
Dark winter away, come spring
My young seeds once again will look up to the sky
And I know they will grow strong
My young seeds once again will look up to the sky
And I know they will grow strong

The Return of Tony Redgrave

Ahhh.... it feels good to be home, especially after a long holiday. The best part, there's a maid, oops I mean fantastic lady to help me to take care and decorate this blog.
Whatever would I do without you, A?

I personally would like to state my greatest appreciation to you for a job well done. And yes, my taste may not be so nice.... alright, I admit, it sucked.

The new layout is much better than the the previous ones.

It's a shame that she wouldn't stay to become co-author, it seems she despises writing in paragraphs. But that doesn't mean she won't be back to drop a post or two.

Well, I think that's about it for today. Gotta go study for an exam which I know nothing about.

Look out for the post; 'Interview with a Working Man', an exclusive interview between me & radiuz which will be out sometime next week.

Meanwhile, enjoy the vid below to commemerate my return.

Signing Off

It is with great pleasure that I wish to announce that Dante is finally cured of his emo-state & officially out of WOMBAT mode. This means that he'll be back to take care of his own god damn blog instead of me. Yippee-Yay!!

Now, I can go back to short msgs instead of thinking of conjuncting a string of long words to make a paragraph. Oh, I can't wait.

What I've learned from this short period is that being a blogger ain't ez, especially with coming up with ideas on what to post everyday, or 2 days once. However I enjoyed myself during the short period, I feel I've achieved a lot, especially in changing the layout of this blog. 
Honestly Dante, ur taste sucks.

Without further ado, I, Amanda would like to bow out gracefully from being the susbtitute author of 'For Tony Redgrave, by .45 Artwarks'.

Thank you.

Philosophy of space & time

In the Old Testament book Ecclesiastes, thought to have been written by Solomon (970–928 BCE), time (as the Hebrew word עת ’êth is often translated, as well as "season") was traditionally regarded as a medium for the passage of predestined events. (Another word, זמן zman, was current as meaning time fit for an event, and is used as the modern Hebrew equivalent to the English word "time".)

There is an appointed time (zman) for everything. And there is a time (’êth) for every event under heaven–
A time (’êth) to give birth, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to tear down, and a time to build up.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search, and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep, and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together; A time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate; A time for war, and a time for peace.

– Ecclesiastes 3:1–8

With me currently re-vamping the look-and-feel of Dante's blog, I find myself running out of
time, especially the time to laugh.

p/s: Sorry for the Blogroll links people, it'll be up anytime soon.

Reservations?

I was driving to lunch today when I spotted something interesting, a sticker on a car wrote;

"Heaven or Hell: Have you made you reservations?"

I'll admit that it was intriguing, but then I pondered; 'Do I need to make a reservation to Hell?' Then what if I wanted to make a reservation to Heaven? Whom should I see or call? 
Can we just make a call to Heaven, or straight to St. Peter & demand that we're coming to Heaven at about 70 years old?

Ha, if only life was that simple.

O shoemaker, where art thou?

I recently bought a pair of shoes from a shop in Queensbay, I think maybe a few weeks back. As the design was so appealing & it was my favorite brand, I bought it without a moment's hesitation.

And guess what? The strap broke when I was heading to work this morning. I had just parked my car and was walking to office when it happened so sudden. I had to drag my right foot to my office which was on the 17th floor, the only place which I kept a spare pair of shoes. Virtually everybody was staring at me. Ohh... the humiliation.

sigh... they just don't make shoes like the way they used to. A lifespan of only 3 weeks? Gimme a break. And worse is shoes don't have any warranty. I can't go back and return the shoes like any electronic device and demand for a new one. If only that was possible.....

How I wish that I had the shoemaker's elves that would make beautiful & LASTING shoes for me, a new pair every morning I wake up. Now wouldn't that be nice?

Taking Over

With Dante down with exam-fever and being emo after his recent farewell party, I've decided to step up the threshold & take over his precious blog for a while. Since he's now in WOMBAT-mode, I'll guess I'll have to manage 'for tony redgrave' until he recovers.

Confused? Don't be.

I, Amanda have been entrusted with Redgrave/Dante's blog &, no he's not dead, he's just being emo & a WOMBAT (Waste of brains, money & time). Wow, I nvr thought it's so hard to think of what to write. Chatting seemed so ez, but writing a post for a blog is so hard.

So, you'll forgive me for my abbreviations, as good habits tend to stick with me, & I'll try to lessen my use of Internet slangs & short-forms.


rain dyes dark rows of houses black
brightness of gay neon cannot drive off the hand of the black evil spirit which finishes dyeing the world either
if a morning will comes darkness will retreat & suitable brightness will revive in the world where people live again
there is no it with how often... it's the business in the world which does not change from that day 2000 years ago until now itself

but are there those (any) who have noticed?

breathing in the shadow which sunlight produced & those other than a man
the black shadow which dances secretly & is out of order whenever the darkness of night covers empty
the doubtful signs of wriggling to a shadow to the extent that light does not shine

...if only one person that nobody has probably noticed & this man are removed...

the name of him who is feared from an evil spirit & despairs is 'Devil Hunter' Dante

The Room

For those of you who thought that I was killed yesterday by Amanda, fear not. I'm still here, alive & kicking. 

However, I do feel I owe her an apology, and therefore I'm posting the soundtrack of our favorite game, Silent Hill 4.

Enjoy, Amanda.



p/s: You'll forget about the Baskin Robbins treat, won't you?

1st potential candidate

I received a mail last night from one of my female friends yesterday, well, sort of my girlfriend; Nat's friend.

Apparently she had read my post looking for a sidekick, & she was interested in becoming a co-author.

So, yesterday night I IM'ed her thru MSN, and this was what took place.

Me: So.... you're interested in becoming the co-author for Tony Redgrave's blog?

Amanda: Duh... if not why are we having this conversation at the 1st place?

Me: (offended) Do you have to be so cynical all the time?

Amanda: It's who I am. Can we proceed? I've another window which I'm talking to a hot guy, Brazilian.

Me: (even more offended) All right. (thinks 'How am I going to work with her?') So, why would you want to co-author at the 1st place? I know you got the hots for me, right?

Amanda: Get a life. You're not my type. And I'll make sure Nat hears about this.

Me: (scared shit) Hey, come on, I'm not hitting on you. 'Twas just a joke.

Amanda: I'll forget about this if you treat me to Baskin-Robbins.

Me: What?! Maybe you should consider being an 'along' or something, since you're so good at exthorting.

Amanda: Yeah, maybe I will. And for that sentence, it's gonna cost you 2 treats to BR31; if not I'm gonna tell Nat every single thing you've done online, you cyber-wolf.

Me: (sighs) All right. (mutters; 'You no good she-demon')

Amanda: Hey, did you say anything? Coz I sneezed just now.

Me: You're being paranoid.

Amanda: Hurry up, you're stalling. I now got 2 hotties waiting for my reply, another is French.

Me: Quit boasting. So, can you post frequently? Whenever I'm busy I'll drop you a mail, or you can post whenever you like. Is that ok with you?

Amanda: Sure, considering I'm a Net freak. And I'll consider to re-decorate your page. Your taste sucks.

Me: The decoration is fine. You're not touching the page layout.

Amanda: We'll see about that. Now what about the benefits?

Me: What benefits?!

Amanda: The benefits of co-authoring. You think I'd do this for free? I expect the revenue generated from the ads be split 50/50. And for every post I make, a treat at least to Starbucks is charged; considering you'll be moving to Penang I don't think that'll be a problem.

Me: WHAT?!

Amanda: What's wrong, Dante? Is there a problem?

Me: Err... I'll get back to you later, Amanda.

Amanda: Heyy... you're not trying to run away, are you?

Me: My connection has a problem... (quickly disconnects my TM connection)

The search for a sidekick

I realize my posts are getting dryer & drier (can't decide which spelling to use, crap). I noticed I could write so long in my previous posts but now I'm punctured of ideas.

I racked my brains thinking of a solution, & I've come up with a wonderful idea.

I need a sidekick. A co-author. Someone who is creative, spontaneous & pretty.

Someone who can replenish this blog of its dryness with her woman's touch. Someone who can keep posting whenever I'm busy rushing deadlines.

Yes, I need a sidekick.

The hunt is on.