tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76444615179449784172024-02-21T05:51:54.422+08:00Silence In SoundHush hush. ListenAfiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.comBlogger183125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-12139958893617135322016-06-02T06:21:00.002+08:002016-06-02T06:24:05.737+08:00We are as I am<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.3594px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>We are bound. To the earth. To our ways of thinking.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>We are bound to our faults and our weaknesses.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>To fall. To hurt and be hurt.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>To bleed and burn.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>We are bound. To be lost.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>And experience loss.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>To not be fine.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>To break as we walk this crooked line.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>We are bounded by obligations.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>By needs and wants.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>By expectations, unmet.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>By visions unreal, grand.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>We are bound. To anger and hate.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>Some call it human.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>To others: that is fate.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>We are bound.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>We are.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>We are.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>I am.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>Not as people see.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>Not as people know and think.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>More of a wreck. The first to be there.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>When deceiving, the last to blink.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>The foremost in cutting ties. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>Ever so eager to say goodbye.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>The one bound to his way of thinking.</b></span></span><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;">Never open to suggestions. Always reckless.</b><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><br /></b>
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;">I am. The one bound.</b><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;">The one who knows. But refuses to acknowledge.</b><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;">The one who'll break. As he walks this crooked line.</b><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;">The one who bleeds and burns.</b><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;">The one who is bound to his faults and his weaknesses.</b><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', trebuchet, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;">I am bound. To this earth. To my ways of thinking.</b><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-27699307710023316892016-02-02T01:39:00.002+08:002016-05-03T02:28:54.698+08:00No Name, First Piece<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.3594px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.3594px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>I started. Then I stopped. That which I should have continued on with. I started. Then I stopped again. Only to start, not once, not twice but too many times. Thinking - lying, in fact - to myself, "Just once more"</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>It is never just "once more"... There are always more. Much more.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>If I were to paint the state it is in (whatever 'it' is), I'd paint it black. Black as night - a starless, moonless night. And if I were to imagine how it all started, I'd start to blame others. Play the victim. Act the martyr. When in truth, we all know that is not true. It never was, never will be.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>Acting. I'd say I'm a pretty darn good actor. There's this mask I like to wear. But this mask is not like any other. No, unlike other masks, this one requires a hefty sacrifice; I must rip my face off. Sorry if this sounds gory. I apologise if this makes anyone worry. That is not my intention. It never was.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.3594px;"><span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold;">But this... this mask. I can't tell if what I'm wearing is the mask or my face. They seem too alike nowadays. Before, I could differentiate the two. Now, it is not as easy. But I know some people who can still tell the difference. And sometimes, I need them to tell me which is which. So, will <i>you</i> </span><span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold;">tell me?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>No answer is needed. That was a rhetoric. As is a large part of my life. A theatre. One actor. Two masks. Full of unanswered questions.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.3594px;"><b>Perhaps... perhaps there is light somewhere in the audience. Yes, I see it :)</b></span></span></div>
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Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-21562756976811977082015-11-03T20:37:00.002+08:002015-11-03T20:38:04.150+08:00Revelator Eyes<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.3594px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.3594px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.3594px;">I've found something very interesting a few days ago. It's not educational, it's not informative. Just interesting. Okay, I'll tell you what it is: it's a music video for the latest Paper Kites album. Usually, I'd embed a video of it here but Blogger likes to take it down as I'm too lazy to declare that I do not own the content. So here's a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fi4T-yR8tM" target="_blank">link</a> instead. Or just search Revelator Eyes, whichever works. Enjoy :)</span></div>
Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-76925529603053562482015-05-11T15:26:00.000+08:002015-05-11T15:27:13.072+08:00Do you know me? I don't think so...<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَام عَلَيْكُم وَرَحْمَة اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">I would write it down if I could.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">But I cannot. For no words can capture what I mean to say.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">And for that...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">Those words remain on the verge of my lips.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">And as long as doubt strangles me,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">I stay on this path</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">of silence.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">I would tell it if I could.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">But I cannot. For no words can capture what I mean to say.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">And for that...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">These words get pushed further down.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>And as long as fear has a hold on me,</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I stay rooted</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>in space.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I would show if I could.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>But I will not. For no actions can undo what I've done.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>And for that...</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>You get half-a-broken-man.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>And as long as I continue sinking,</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I stay my hand</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>from swimming to the surface.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>And let the depths wash over me,</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>so no one can see the tears,</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>as I fall back</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>to the bottom.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>-16 Nov 2014-</b></span></span></div>
Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-91836599956387975122015-05-02T04:24:00.000+08:002015-05-02T04:24:37.831+08:00Eulogy<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَام عَلَيْكُم وَرَحْمَة اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">For some reason, one of my dusty pieces of writing was deleted when I clicked 'publish'. It was a good piece too. How unfortunate. Oh well, that is what you get when you don't use a pen. But then again, my paper copies are rarely preserved too. It seems the stuff I write either dies sad and forgotten or deleted by accident. I cannot tell which is worse.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">In memory of "</span><b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.359375px;">That Piece of Writing</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">19 February 2014 - 1 May 2015</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">Miracles Are In The Eyes</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">Remembered for being an honest and blunt one</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">RIP</span></div>
Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-16764819590470612642014-11-17T06:33:00.005+08:002014-11-17T06:37:06.555+08:00The Path to the Forbidden Gate<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَام عَلَيْكُم وَرَحْمَة اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">The night was cold but not unpleasant. A glance to his bare wrist revealed that he had no way of knowing the time. But he knew it was getting late - tomorrow was going to be a big day. And what better time for a detour? So when he was nearly at his door, the boy went straight instead and followed the road until a bend took him left. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">A few paces later, uncertainty crept into his mind. "Should I be doing this?" The roundabout was deathly quiet. In his moments of reflection, two cars sped by from his left: one took a twelve and went on, while the other took the path straight from him - the path he so wanted to go into but dared not. The rear light of the vehicle soon vanished from sight and with it his fears. And so, he crossed the road and let the unlit road swallow him in its darkness.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Of course, it took a while to see afterwards but he kept on walking. The road ahead should be a straight one if memory serves. With one of his senses muted, he was walking blind. But the sounds never left him. Sounds of rubber on gravel constantly reminding him that he was still walking and needed to keep moving. Sounds of keys clinking against one another - his fears had returned now that light has deserted him, spurring his hands to fidget in his pockets. And loudest of all: the music of the night! Winds whistling scary tunes, branches swaying and dancing eerily, leaves rustling and rustling all to the beat of his heart. In all the madness, all he could think of was "There's no turning back". So he pressed on.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>***</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The field. The lack of stars. The birth of stars. Music ceased. Calmness ensued. Only thing missing: moon. To be replaced by a memory</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>"Are all your family members Muslim?"</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>"No, unfortunately it's just me"</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Silence.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>"It's nearly a year now I reverted to Islam. I started reading a few books, met a Muslim friend and then I came here..."</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>A second pause, this time longer.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>"You know, you're lucky. See, I was born into Islam. I never knew what it entails or what Islam meant. I was showed what to do and I've been doing it since without knowing why. You are lucky. You knew Islam before embracing it. In a way, brother, I too am new. On paper I was always a Muslim. But in reality, you and I are not that different..."</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>***</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>What is there to be scared of? We create our own demons. Making peace with the world and the Creator, he left - calmer than before. Still surrounded by darkness but a different kind. One that beckons to be discovered. Guided by two rabbits, trusting the animals' eyes more than his own to avoid hidden hazards. Past dark windows of abandoned halls. into the light of the world of the living. Grateful to be back. Even more to finally be friends with the night. The very night in the items of horror movies. The very night humankind tries to keep at bay. The exact same night chained by forbidden gates. Gates that we put in place to protect ourselves and our children when in truth the ones that needed to be chained most are within us.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>-written approximately a year ago-</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-16638585978481394372014-05-28T01:35:00.001+08:002014-05-28T01:36:25.248+08:00The shadow of everyday life<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَام عَلَيْكُم وَرَحْمَة اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I am a living embodiment of contradictions. </b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I treasure books but I don't read. </b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I know time's precious but I often waste it.</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I love flowers and greenery but I don't do my part to save it.</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I expect trust but I do not give it freely.</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I value freedom but I shove myself into a prison.</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I hear but I do not listen.</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I hear but I do not heed.</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I see but I do not believe.</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I believe but I lack faith.</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I smile but only rarely.</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I laugh but only on the outside.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Inside, I cry and weep.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I give with the notion of taking.</b></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I build so that I can one day break.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I say but I rarely do.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I talk but I rarely speak.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I wonder but I do not think.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I yearn for the sun but stay in the shade.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I care but only for myself.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I am man.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>And that is (some of) my shadow sides.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>-16/4/14-</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7YK2bOivTWM/U4TMfuvqfXI/AAAAAAAABLA/XnVOUdT6Caw/s1600/28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7YK2bOivTWM/U4TMfuvqfXI/AAAAAAAABLA/XnVOUdT6Caw/s1600/28.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosie_hardy/2942438120/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Source.</a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-68346517694740886182014-05-14T18:11:00.002+08:002014-05-14T18:17:07.428+08:00Stars 2.0<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَام عَلَيْكُم وَرَحْمَة اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>It has been nearly a year. Yes, one year. Just yesterday, we were newcomers in this land. Strangers then. Strangers still. But familiar strangers now. Is that a good thing? I'm not so sure it is...</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>So how's it been since that first landing, first face, first place? One thing's for sure, we are not who we used to be. I am not me. For I have learnt much from this alien land. "At least, I hope so." One can only wonder what travelling does to one's mind, one's outlook and one's self. As always, I wish I can document the changes that occur within and around me from day to day, sun to sun (not that we get much sun here) and moon to moon (God, I miss my night walks).</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Speaking of those walks, I sort of wish there were more stars in the sky. For one reason or another, the stars have been disappearing bit by bit every night. Whether purely by chance or not, I can't be certain. But it does point out a major weakness of the human race: no matter how much progress we make, we still can't alter the grand designs of the world we live in. If He chose to put out all the stars in the heavens above, who can stop Him?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>And if He chose to put out the dim lights on the Earth that represent our lives, who can intervene? </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>(written: a few weeks ago)</b></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EthFeyeMt7k/U3NCmEJ80fI/AAAAAAAABKg/aJ9wu7qfypg/s1600/fantasy+clouds+landscapes+stars+lanterns+artwork+nightlights+passage+1920x1080+wallpaper_www.wallpaperhi.com_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EthFeyeMt7k/U3NCmEJ80fI/AAAAAAAABKg/aJ9wu7qfypg/s1600/fantasy+clouds+landscapes+stars+lanterns+artwork+nightlights+passage+1920x1080+wallpaper_www.wallpaperhi.com_4.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-9239391587825635802014-05-05T06:29:00.003+08:002014-05-05T06:34:01.358+08:00Shelves<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَام عَلَيْكُم وَرَحْمَة اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">Before we begin, may I ask you a question? Make that two. How do you imagine yourself to be?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">Do you think of yourself as an outstandingly average person? Are you a writer? A musician? An amazingly good friend? A cruel person? A heartless? An introvert? Just another person to be forgotten by time's flow? A leader? A follower? A student? A gamer? A man? A woman? A nerd?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">Sorry, but that looks to be more than two questions, I know... But seriously, "How do you see yourself?"</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Often we define other people (sometimes effortlessly) as we go about our daily lives. "You know that Asian boy from D-block?" or "...that lazy guy in our Management Accounting lecture..." or even "the very quiet Malaysian who eats a lot" (Yes, all of that refer to myself).</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>It doesn't really matter what you call it: descriptions, prejudice, presumptions, labels. They all point to a single thing which is an image of a person/object/event. They all mould and shape our understanding of that person/object/event. For now, let us keep the object of our discussion limited to people, shall we?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Yes, it is too easy for us to describe others. But when it comes to defining and describing ourselves, we often place a very distorted picture of ourselves and present that instead of the truth. I can only wonder why... Is it because we say things that we wish for ourselves? Are we dangerously biased whenever we start to examine ourselves under a microscope? What explanations can there be to this baffling phenomenon?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>These and many other questions visited me tonight. At first it seems easy to come up with an answer. After all, who would know me better than myself, right? Surprisingly, I can't even begin to answer the first and most fundamental question of "Who am I?"</b></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I have a fairly vague idea of what I look like, how I carry myself. I know my preferences in certain matters. I have twenty years of experience living with myself (no breaks, no holidays!) to help me create a self-image that would closely resemble my entire being. I have laughed and cried, gone through highs and lows with myself. So naturally it should be a cakewalk.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Ironically, it is the very intimacy with myself that prevents me from having a solid grasp on my own image. It is those very information that I've gleaned to add clarity that clouds my vision of myself. I <i>think</i> I'm a good enough guy but then I've done certain bad things in life. So am I good or bad? I help people quite a lot. Then I remember the many times I saw a person in need and walked away blind, knowing that it was within my ability to help. And this process repeated itself for EVERY single aspect of my life.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Frustrated? You bet! :/ This then begs another question: if everyone knows what I know of myself, how would that change the way they think of me? Not so highly I would assume.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>(Written: last year)</b></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O817_G6AkpQ/U2a__NOsobI/AAAAAAAABKM/pKG0PBprIm8/s1600/dusty-books-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O817_G6AkpQ/U2a__NOsobI/AAAAAAAABKM/pKG0PBprIm8/s1600/dusty-books-001.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a></div>
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Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-60465924862887406992014-04-16T05:05:00.001+08:002014-04-16T05:05:40.779+08:00A promise I plan to keep<div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَام عَلَيْكُم وَرَحْمَة اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">I have a confession to make: I have been writing many things but I have not shared them with anyone. Some lie on forgotten pages. Some locked in the web, unpublished. Even more dead before they got life.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">All written. More honest than the last. Too honest to be liked. Too frank to be read.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>So here's a deal:</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I plan to let go. One at a time. Soon.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I promise.</b></span></span></div>
Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-52466775160285925132014-02-22T10:26:00.002+08:002014-02-22T10:26:35.468+08:00Stones<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">We go to bed every night leaving this world. Leaving it as if our coming back here is certain. With unfinished work strewn across our desk. "Tomorrow," we assure ourselves. As if our words carry much weight. As if we have control over anything. As if we control <i>everything</i>.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">What would happen then if you did not return? Who would finish what you started yet never had the guts to finish? Who would pick up the pieces of your sorry life? Who in the world will carry you away? You and your duties, obligations, responsibilities.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.479999542236328px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">Or would you rot in that bed. Forgotten. A missing piece no one misses, another stone in a sea of rubble. And I wonder...what would I find if I cleave that stone in two? A jewel? Probably not. Most likely this: a blackened core.</span></div>
Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-91359777573974194262014-02-11T20:05:00.001+08:002014-02-11T20:09:10.122+08:00Of Home, Flying Creatures and White Things I<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Now, imagine a scene. A dreamy world where time is a myth and space is unlimited. In this universe, at the centre of it all: a boy. Not too young, nor too old. Judging by his long, messy hair and out of fashion clothes, you can almost tell at first glance that he's from a different world. Almost. Because somehow...he looks most at home in his outward contrast.</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Enough about the boy.</b></span></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Now, imagine another scene. This time of a line a people whose age, colour,and appearance are blurred. Again we see the boy. How he got there, God knows. The scene just shifted and the boy came with it. These people were playing a game it seems. You probably can tell if you saw the laughters and heard their smiles. Yes, you heard me right. See. Laughter. Hear. Smiles.</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>A side story: this world is not normal. In fact, it is everything but normal. Here, you see sounds and you can hear what you see. Confused? Don't worry, I can tell you're not from around here. I won't tell *a wink and a smile*. But you have to do as the boy does - act natural. While we're trading secrets, why not I let you in on one? I'm not of this world too. You see, me and you, we're more similar than you think. Oh, and did you like the sound of my smile just now? Come let's join in their game!</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Shall I explain the rules of this game? Do you hear that swishing sound coming and going past your ears? See, the idea is that you have to catch that thing as it flies past the line of people. That thing - that creature - will weave its way through all of us from that boy at the front, past all the blurry masses of people, to me and finally to you. If no one manages to capture it, the thing will make a gigantic loop over us all and start over. Whoever catches it first wins and gets to keep it. What's the point of this game? Well, that is for you to decide, child - no one knows what that creature is. Sometimes, it's just trash. Other times it's really valuable stuff. The fun is in not knowing what you'll get. Get ready, cause here it comes!</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>And so began the game. For us, at least. The rest of the line has been at it for ages. "Zoom and whoosh! Zoom and whoosh!" it went. Twice it slipped through my fingers. Want to know another secret? *Zoom and whoosh!* It swerved at the last minute to avoid my outstretched arms. When people tell you they've gotten used to.. *Zoom and whoosh!* Too slow..their sights and sounds reversed...never believe them. *Zoom and whoosh!* You'll never get used to it. They're lying. *Zoom and whoosh!* Another miss. That's why no one can win this game from learning the rules. *Zoom and whoosh!* You need luck. And I have none, kid. Let's hope you do eh? *Zoom and whip!*</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Silence. Then despair as the line discover their loss. Well, what do you know? That boy is not bad at all. Not bad at all... Coming here and making it look like he's been here all his life. But I'm happy for him, aren't you? Come have a sit with me, kid. We'll just wait for the next game to start. Mind you, though, it could be a long wait. So better make yourself comfortable. Now, why don't you tell me how you got here? It's been a long time since I've met another person from my previous place. Do tell me what's happened to our world since I left it all these years? I'm itching for news... and home. Mostly home. But news of home won't hurt either...</b></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Before you get started though, do you want to know the name of that tiny creature there? We call it Opportunity. Now, on with your story, kid!</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-77894187350340671662014-01-20T08:13:00.002+08:002014-01-20T08:41:21.354+08:00When a name is just another name<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">Names.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>First came you, then came your name.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Letters pieced together to hold a meaning.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Syllables representing your entire being,</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>chosen with great love, care and hope;</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>hope of one day seeing:</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>the person, that name, one day becoming</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>a light, a gift, and joy unending.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>But when tyrants walk this Earth unopposed,</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>killing, massacring, slaughtering</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>tainting </b></span></span><b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;">this Land with blood, black and dried,</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;">the light, the gift, the life once bright</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;">turns ever so dim.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;">A mother becomes naught but faint.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;">A dad becomes naught but saint,</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;">and humanity feels nothing except pain.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;">For when the lives we built become yet another game,</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;">a name becomes just that - another name.</b><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></b>
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></b>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gkIVDcqW6dw/UtxtHz7FJrI/AAAAAAAAAo0/40_twAz47WI/s1600/Free+Palestine+Girl+Face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gkIVDcqW6dw/UtxtHz7FJrI/AAAAAAAAAo0/40_twAz47WI/s1600/Free+Palestine+Girl+Face.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-77225146863117033332014-01-06T05:36:00.004+08:002014-01-06T05:58:52.519+08:00Another year. Another start.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Yet another 12 months has passed. What have I done with it? Have I achieved anything in the past year? Maybe. That's hard to say, really. What I didn't get done, I'll do this time round, insyaAllah. What I did get done, I won't tell (much). </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>What I <i>would </i>tell, though are either: 1) fragmented due to my tendency to forget important details; 2) a false memory implanted into my head by someone; or 3) both. How time really flies when you're having ____ (fill in the blank with whatever is appropriate), eh?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>So to save myself from telling outwardly bloated lies of my otherwise uneventful - yes, I'll allow you to call it that - life and to spare you readers from thinking too much (we all know how hard it is for us to think, right?), I'll just put up some of the interesting/memorable/I-didn't-forget-to-take-a-photo-as-proof moments for the year 2013.</b></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">First of, it's coming to Warwick. (I'm pretty sure none of you expected that :P). Yes, for one reason or another, I find myself enjoying my first term here. Maybe it's the beautiful, big, all-in-one-city called Coventry. Maybe it's ridiculous amount of free time we get between classes. Maybe it's the all-so-comfortable lecture theatre seats that never fail to rock me to sleep. Maybe it's the people I meet here. Or maybe it's all of it. I don't know, but after going through 3 months of university life, I end up thinking "Hey, maybe I will make it out of this alive, after all!" And that is reason enough to be happy.</b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">Next up, meet my room and my (first) bike! Yes, I know how pitiful my life must seem now. "Who in the world list his dormitory-style room and his second-hand, used bike as his second most eventful thing of the year?" I would, of course.</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Because, one, this list is not done in any particular order. (I just take whichever photo catches my eye & write something about it. If it doesn't pop up to me, it's not that important. Simple as that). And two, my room is pretty much the only place of privacy I have here. It's the one place that made my first term here bearable. You can call it my personal recuperation space because this is the second place I think of after a hard, long day; the first being that bed in that room :)</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Why the bike, then? Because it has saved me a lot of time & money. Mostly money. What more do you ask of a yellow bicycle? Plus I just love zipping past the broken line of people going to and coming back from Tesco on this thing. "You still walking? Pity you..."</b></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">Ah, yes... the ever-present drizzle. Love it or hate it, it's always there for you. I, for one, have grown to tolerate it. It's not that bad really, once you get used to it. It sort of helps you when you are all alone, feeling really tired and stuff, then that really sad song on your iTunes starts to play, and you look outside to see dark clouds and rain. Nothing beats making sad people cry then a good-ol' rain! I told you it helps. In a very unhelpful sort of way...</b></div>
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<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">Next up, the people here in Warwick. From all corners of the world, from many walks of life but all weird in a good way. The way that makes you learn to be accepting. Sometimes in ways that makes you see that you yourself are weird too and it's perfectly fine to be yourself. The one upfront is Rahman, and that's not his normal face. This was on Eid al-Adha. Sorry, but this is the only picture I have plus I think this picture brings my message home :)</b></div>
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<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">Then we have some of the activities we've done here. We've had picnics outdoors, a roti canai session (semua tunjuk skill menebar masing-masing. Ada yang born-to-tebar and some...better left unsaid), potlucks and loads of other stuff. While it may seem that all we do here is eat, that is not true. We also have sporting events, and weekly 'meetings', weekly classes that may or may not involve food. Hahaha~</b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Hmmm... this one's a bit hard to pen down. The picture may not be so clear. If any of you where there on that night, you would've seen so many stars in the night sky. Welcome all to my night life! Some people go on parties, others watch movies but for me nothing beats walking in pitch black darkness (I'm not pulling your legs here, there really is no lighting whatsoever on the path I usually take) under the starry skies. Usually, I don't bother snapping a photo because it's never going to look good anyhow (you wan't proof? Seriously..? -_-).</b></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">There's also the occasional daytime walk. These ones are fine, but seeing as how we rarely get clear skies, there's not much to see really on most days unless you like to see rain. Nonetheless, it is a very pleasurable experience, especially when the sky gets really clear like in the photo :) Notice how the clouds are below the sky and not the other way around. I never bothered finding out why that was the case on that particular day. It was just too beautiful a day to spoil by thinking :)</b></div>
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<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">Now, onto more food! I never really understand why people take pictures of food before eating them. Coming here, where you're thousands of kilometres from home, I finally get it: people take pictures and post them online to tell others that they are still living and are actually eating something passable as food. The first photo is of what I usually eat for breakfast. The second is what I usually consume for dinner. They may not look like much, but they actually taste great and apparently, they're healthy too!</b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>I lost track of how many items I've penned down. Next, three photos from one particular weekend. This was my first ever hiking trip. It was really taxing, but in the end, the view and experience I got was all well worth the effort (and monetary investment). Would you look at that marvellous sunset? :') The third picture was a dinner a very good friend cooked up for me just after I got back from the trip. Thank you very much! That was one of the best meals I had since coming here :) and just behind the plate is a really cool watch I got from my 'secret' Santa :P I even kept the wrapping paper it was in (that was too valuable to throw away).</b></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">This is a picture of Edinburgh. I really like how the sky was cut in two here - it's a perfect reflection of what a normal day in the UK is like: rain and clear skies in (somewhat) equal portions. This old city is beautiful. I wish I can go there more often just to walk its streets. Maybe one day I would. InsyaAllah~ so when did I go to Edinburgh?</b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>When these guys came over! Yes, I had the pleasure of spending the winter holidays with my family :) This was at a fish & chips restaurant near Coventry. We usually cook on our travels so a proper dinner like this is a rare occasion for us. Talking of so many food is making me go hungry again :3</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Here is a snapshot of one part of the terminal in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. I think I've passed by this place thrice in the last three months which is why I bothered taking this picture. It just feels like deja vu times three for me. This was taken en route to our next destination in our little family vacation.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Up next is Amsterdam! Yes, this is the place we stayed at. Nope, we didn't get the whole building to ourselves. And yes, those are (some of) our bags. We don't travel light, I know. Imagine carrying those bags up two flights of stairs that was steeper than anything I've ever seen. How steep, you ask? Two floors high over steps that were each only half my shoe size. I don't have a picture to show, but just imagine a staircase where you need to tiptoe going up. Put a few heavy loads in and you get the picture.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>But after the initial pushing and pulling of luggages, we had a nice place to stay with this view to enjoy. Yes, that is a boat docked on the banks of one the many canals of Amsterdam. You can't really complain when you get a view as good as this, now can you?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>This here is the national monument in Amsterdam located in Dam Square. This was a little early in the morning so there weren't that many people walking the streets. Come afternoon, this place will be packed with the most numerous object you can find in Amsterdam: bikes.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Nearly <i>everyone </i>cycles here. Forget about young athletes or casual bikers, Amsterdam is the place to go to see old people ride bicycles like they're still in their 20s; young kids riding when you're thinking "How'd that kid got on the bike in the first place?"; men cycling in suit and ties & ladies in their heels; even babies cycling to get milk from a local store. Okay, I may exaggerate there but you get what I'm saying, right? Bicycles are an important aspect of their life here. How important?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Important-enough-to-put-heating-in-our-bike-sheds important! Yes, this is an actual bike stand and on the sides are working, functioning heaters. Only in Amsterdam...</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Another unique thing I found while travelling here were the gable stones. These stones were nicely made, painted, then set above doors of many old buildings in Amsterdam. They act as signs to tell people what a building's function was. Some of it makes perfect sense (like a bread implying a bakery, or an axe and a tree probably marking the woodcutter's shop), while others just seem like a big practical joke. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">What's more amusing is the fact that when the emperor Napoleon made it compulsory to have surnames in Holland, many people thought up of their own surnames (you can give anything you want, really). This led some people to believe that the origins of the really funny names you find in Holland to be the result of this particular period in history. When asked "What's your last name?", most of the Dutch replied with a name synonymous to their trade/job but a few 'funny' guys replied "Born-naked" or "From the d*ck". Their joke may have caused a great laugh then. Unfortunately for their bloodlines, the name stuck.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Now let's look at the buildings in this city. I noticed it from when I first entered our apartment: it was not level. Our tour guide explains this was due to the fact that Amsterdam and much of Holland's buildings was built on marsh lands meaning unstable foundations. So if you think your house is leaning sideways, rest assured your sense of balance is not off. Don't worry though, most of the houses are safe to stay in, because according to the locals, the dangerously unstable ones collapsed years ago. The remaining ones are unstable yes, but not unsafe. I hope.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>You may notice by now how high the houses are. And yes, they don't use elevators here. So how do you carry stuff up into the upper floors? They use hooks. You may not notice it at first, but look closer and you'll see hooks dangling from pretty much every building in this city. So basically what they do is hoist up anything they need with ropes. I wonder why we didn't think of that before we broke our backs carrying our bags up our apartment?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>And now we have the second smallest house in Amsterdam consisting of only that one windowed room on the second landing. I wonder which is bigger? My room or that room?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>All this house-talk is getting boring. Let's talk food. In Amsterdam, sweet temptations are everywhere. This was the first shop we went into to get our taste of waffles. It was quite nice, though some may pass it as too sweet to eat.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>This is the central station. While it may look like an old building on the outside, its interior is completely modern. I just love old buildings, it's a pity really they love to tear it down back from where I come from :(</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>What's a trip to Holland without seeing the famous windmills? The winds here are seriously out-of-this-world kinds of winds. No wonder they can use these huge mills to do everything - from grinding spices and wheat to pumping water. Speaking of water, if there's a place with more rain than England, it has got to be Holland.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Windmills are fine and all but the one thing I love most in Holland has got to be cheese. Look at those yellow stuff. Doesn't it just makes you want to stuff melted cheese down your throat till you can't take any more? Nope? It must be just me, then :) did you notice I kept this picture larger than the rest? Did I mention I love cheese?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">And what would Holland be without wooden clogs and tulips? I didn't buy those clogs, they were all either too small or too big for me plus I don't think wood is my preferred material for shoes. But I did get some tulips :) I wanted real ones, but it's just too bothersome to care for it especially since my room is not a conducive place for it to grow. So I bought two wooden ones instead. Maybe not as nice as the real things, but it will suffice.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Oh, and did you know that one of the earliest stock market crashes were somehow related to the beautiful tulips? Here's a link for any interested souls out there: <a href="http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/12/when-certain-tulips-cost-more-than-a-house/" target="_blank">Tulip crash</a>.</b></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">We then drove to Brugge (actually my dad drove, I just slept at the back :P). If Amsterdam has beautiful old buildings, this place is a treasure trove of even more beautiful, even older buildings! I could walk these streets for days :3 </b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">In Brugge (I'd put a pronunciation help here, but I don't even know how to pronounce it right), we had more waffles. This particular one was the best I'd eaten. Hot sugary waffles with whipped cream and pralines ice-cream. It was soooo good :3 (pralines is my favourite ice-cream flavour, so I may have liked it even if the waffles weren't that much better than the ones before). Soon after, we returned to Brussels...</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">...where the very next morning we woke up to this. Two bags worth of souvenirs were stolen. But hey, it could've been worse. This was the first major incident we've ever faced since travelling all these years. An eye-opener for sure. After a police report, while repairs were being made, we went on to do what tourists do best: see more sights!</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>But before that, take a look at this piece of art. This was taken from an escalator in one of the underground stations of Brussels. Each station the train stopped at has a different theme of art. Here was an idea that could really make the stations back home a little more lively because truth be told, most of our stations look so dead. One day...</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Mini-Europe. The name says it all. I felt like a giant walking these 1:25 scale models of famous buildings in Europe. The kid in me wished I could jump into the scene and wreck chaos among the buildings' fake streets and inhabitants (just to get a taste of destruction. I used to build Lego models and break them up for fun) but I didn't do it. What would've happened if I did it?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>The models were amazing! This one I liked most. The artists used real stones to replicate the building's original structure and texture. You probably can't see it from this picture but there are even moss covering the 'bricks' making the scene all the more real. And yes, this thing is no higher than my knees.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>I can't help but marvel at the details they put on these replicas. Even the statues (each just the size of my fingers) have complete faces with earlobes, nostrils, eyes with irises and every finger carefully carved. I wonder how many people think of the artists and designers when they see these amazing replicas. Not many I'm guessing.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>At some point hereafter, my phone's battery died out. So I wasn't able to take pictures of anything afterwards. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>That is all there is. This has been a terribly long post, I just realised. I'm not sure how many stuck out to read until the end but thanks if you did :) Scrolling up, I think this post is not a good representation of the year 2013. It's more like a log of my winter break or the past three months. Hahahaha, I guess it can't be helped that you lose what you don't use. I have to write more often, I guess...maybe I will.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Tomorrow will be the start of my second term in Warwick. Looking back over the past year, so much has changed. Yet so many things stay the same. Here's to a better year, a better life. For all of us. Amin. </b></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">P/S: Sorry if I sound insulting or irritated in any part of this writing. This is what happens when you lose human contact for a few days straight.<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It could also happen when you have two essays due in two weeks.</span></b></div>
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Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-60455707637605875252013-10-21T03:04:00.002+08:002013-10-21T03:08:14.706+08:00Warwick<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>This post here has been on draft since...ever. Not really. It's been there for weeks. Yeah, that's right.</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.359375px;">Anyway, I made this as a means to relay what (I/we) (am/are/had/have) been going through in UK. Tapi tak tahu lah nak tulis apa... Hence, the draft comprising only a single-word title and salam.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">So, to avoid this master procrastinator from further procrastination, I figured I'd just write something about anything. Having said that, I think prior warning is necessary: THIS WILL BE A PIECE OF UNCOORDINATED WRITING. If any of you are allergic to such styles of narrative, then by all means, stop reading NOW!!</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">Here we go.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">(For simplicity's sake - both yours and mine - I'd like to breakdown this post into 5 basic parts, thank you)</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><u>What I See</u></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Lots and lots of greenery. Let's face it, this place is a nature reserve compared to where I came from. You get huge trees everywhere, expenses of lush parks where people (and animals) can come to play. And flowers! I get a nice view from my window, mashaa Allah :')</b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><u>What I Feel (physically)</u></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>A large spectrum of sensations every hour of the day. You start the day with a beautiful morning sun. A few hours later, it drizzles a bit. Then strong winds sweep it all away followed by heavy downpour. If you're lucky you get thunderstorms, meteors and candy falling out of the sky all in the same day ;)</b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><u>What I Smell</u></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>I don't smell anything here. My nose is (for the most part) frozen and non-functional.</b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><u>What I Think</u></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>I think I should take some of the trees here and bring it home. I just hope they can survive the weather back in Malaysia.</b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><u>What I Feel (emotionally)</u></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;"><b>Life's here a bit taxing. You walk wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy more in a day here than you ever have to do in a year there. (Maybe I am exaggerating, but who cares?) You have to find time to prepare for lectures, cook, study, attend lectures, prepare for and go to seminars, eat, clean, save the world, do dishes, bathe, exercise, do your groceries, socialise, solat, sleep, and still keep a few hours for yourself to do what you love. You'll get used to it after a while, I guess. Still...</b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">And that is it. I have work to do, so bubye! :)</span></span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kbQuhZ9uqrY/UmQpCiOpA5I/AAAAAAAAAYE/jtbmSib62NM/s1600/DSC00235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kbQuhZ9uqrY/UmQpCiOpA5I/AAAAAAAAAYE/jtbmSib62NM/s320/DSC00235.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 16.34943199157715px;">This is not a picture of Warwick. <br />I just put it here cause it looks nice :)</span></b></td></tr>
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Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-28624722188184056052013-09-03T22:26:00.004+08:002013-09-03T22:26:57.594+08:00Ralph Didn't Wreck My Day<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">Tonight was the second time I watched this movie, and it still hit me as a fantastic one! The kid's real cute and all :) and Ralph's just amazing (even though he wrecks pretty much everything).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">In a way, this movie is a brilliant effort of telling people that the way we were born (or programmed, in this case) does not dictate what we can do with our lives nor does it limit who we can be. Vanellope von Schweetz (I like her name ^^) was portrayed as an accident & Ralph was someone who never did anything right. In the end, though, both of them worked it through.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Our lives, in reality, may not be as easy as theirs & we may never get a taste of 'living happily ever after', but hey, we can all try can't we? And I personally believe that is what is most important - that you try to do good even in the worst of situations. The world may not see what you do, but who really cares when you do it for Him & only Him.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I know it is difficult, and I cannot say that I have always been at my best. Especially lately...</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>We all have a villain inside us. Each of us hold the power to destroy something. And like Ralph, we sometimes lose control. Maybe what all of us needs is a Venellope to help us see better :)</b></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DW_rvQUsv2k/UiXw2eAcT4I/AAAAAAAAAKk/h7Z7NCdkh7c/s1600/Imbadandthatsgood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="134" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DW_rvQUsv2k/UiXw2eAcT4I/AAAAAAAAAKk/h7Z7NCdkh7c/s320/Imbadandthatsgood.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px; text-align: left;">"I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad.<br />There's no one I'd rather be...than me."</b></td></tr>
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<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px; text-align: left;">"Because if that little kid likes me, how bad can I be"</b></div>
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Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-62106232871648722122013-08-31T18:24:00.003+08:002013-08-31T18:24:58.142+08:00Bubbles<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Everything about this music video - the lyric, the sound, the story - is perfect.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I want to make big bubbles like that too :3</b></span></span></div>
Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-41604828667607104442013-08-27T15:46:00.000+08:002013-08-27T15:46:04.654+08:00The Flowers They Bloom :)<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">I don't think this entry needs explaining :)</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iToXxse__jI/UhxXwG0Kc1I/AAAAAAAAAJ8/RMG3O2KRzkI/s1600/DSC08232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iToXxse__jI/UhxXwG0Kc1I/AAAAAAAAAJ8/RMG3O2KRzkI/s320/DSC08232.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>That car spoiled the shot :(</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Ab36I9p3QM/UhxX17XfWKI/AAAAAAAAAKE/oq3skg4AjjE/s1600/DSC08231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Ab36I9p3QM/UhxX17XfWKI/AAAAAAAAAKE/oq3skg4AjjE/s320/DSC08231.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Now that gate's spoiling the view...</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mAvE3SW3yjs/UhxYV-PLcHI/AAAAAAAAAKU/JIgPW5jmvbY/s1600/DSC08234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mAvE3SW3yjs/UhxYV-PLcHI/AAAAAAAAAKU/JIgPW5jmvbY/s320/DSC08234.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>This could've been in a rainforest :)</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Perfect :')</b></span></span></div>
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Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-86255178929252427672013-08-22T15:07:00.001+08:002013-08-22T15:15:43.593+08:00Links! Links Galore!!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The date: </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Monday the 19th</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The sights:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Dark sea on my right. Buildings and lights to my left (way too noisy for my liking). In front, a straight long stretch as far as my eyes can see. Then a bend on the beach. Further down, nothing I can make out even with the bright moonlight. So I went in that direction - away from the city-noise towards the nature-noise. Away we go.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The sounds:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Loud music drowning slowly in the sounds of white caps crashing. Now and then: the occasional giggle of drunken couples merging into shadows. Some time after, just the steady beat of oceanic music.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The sensation:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Peace. Calm. Indifference. The sand was smooth. Where it was still wet, it clung to my toes.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The night sky:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>I counted 61 stars at least. Most bright. Some dim. All from light-years away. But I can't really tell because I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Why, you may ask? Because, on more than one occasion, I see stars in the waters, on sand, and even my palms. But we can be sure there were at least 61 that night.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The lights on the horizon:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Blue and red.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The numbers:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The blues: two, slow & shifting. The reds: 6 rapidly blinking; 1 unchanging. Another was a unique blend of both colours.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The other sounds:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>**<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY4mYXgW5lo" target="_blank">Room at the End of the World</a>**<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-ha9ptqUx4" target="_blank">Drop To Hold You</a>**<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZGSDSZMWBw" target="_blank">Buses & Trains</a>**<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdyogTSWdvE" target="_blank">Falling Not Flying</a>**<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jduFDgIr598" target="_blank">A Lack of Color</a>**<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4rm9xnyVec" target="_blank">Stay Close, Don't Go</a>**<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeATvJpBpe4" target="_blank">My Boy Builds Coffins</a>**<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DmuVLYfEoQ" target="_blank">A Comet Appears</a>**<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6RmnoQKveQ" target="_blank">Keep Faith</a>**<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoPEvtqpQkc" target="_blank">They Bring Me To You</a>**<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY" target="_blank">Somebody That I Used To Know</a>**<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oPdGJA13rA" target="_blank">Vegetable Car</a>**<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoEBLp_WbnA" target="_blank">Take Your Time</a>**</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The drift:</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>At one point, I cease to be. I was not awake but nor was I asleep. Sort of in a limbo. I heard the music, I tasted the salty air, I felt the silken sand, I saw the lights - both natural and man-made - but all those and more I did from outside; as if viewing myself from a distance. From another man's point of view, if you'd like.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The change:</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The waves moved farther away from the stone-strewn shores. The lights-of-man shut itself off one by one, while the lights-of-sky multiplied. People got tired and left for bed. The shops closed their doors and I was vaguely aware of how alone I was on that beach. The biting air was getting too cold. So, I forced myself into my body.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The last walk:</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>It was chilly. The receding tide and the lack of other lifeforms made the space three times as large. And it was in that huge expense of land that I walked, under the watchful eye of the full moon - obscured as it was behind toiling clouds - to my humble abode. The land now had a silvery sheen to it, and after the bend on the path and a few hundred steps, I made it.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;">The parting of ways:</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Without any delays, fatigue took over and sleep came easy. The misty night air says bye bye at door number 9.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;">The after-image:</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>A deserted beach. A full moon. 61 or so stars. Billions of sand particles. Two sets of footprints - one going, the other coming back. On a backdrop of island outcropping. All in all, a beautifully ghostly scene fit for a <i>fairth.</i></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WGgu2c3DTUY/UhW6jlqkOwI/AAAAAAAAAJs/fewdu3wDBxM/s1600/Moon_and_man_at_night_in_marina_beach,_chennai.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WGgu2c3DTUY/UhW6jlqkOwI/AAAAAAAAAJs/fewdu3wDBxM/s320/Moon_and_man_at_night_in_marina_beach,_chennai.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div>
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Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-40935415277639485872013-08-12T16:31:00.000+08:002013-08-12T16:40:06.731+08:00The Price of Knowledge<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px; text-align: left;">Responsibility. Reckoning. Judgement.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px; text-align: left;">Answers. Questions.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px; text-align: left;">Understanding. Empathy. Closeness.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px; text-align: left;">Detachment. Attachment.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px; text-align: left;">Thought. Speech. Hearing.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px; text-align: left;">Freedom. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Oppression.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Practice. Malpractice.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Ignorance. Knowledge.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Darkness. Light.</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K-SuuxfuYtQ/UgifFwEIPNI/AAAAAAAAAJc/GHDvtkdqoV0/s1600/Book-Wallpaper-reading-32699180-1024-768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K-SuuxfuYtQ/UgifFwEIPNI/AAAAAAAAAJc/GHDvtkdqoV0/s320/Book-Wallpaper-reading-32699180-1024-768.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;">The. End.</b><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></b>
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;">***</b></div>
Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-2618398673494507012013-07-23T07:06:00.002+08:002013-07-23T07:06:26.192+08:00I Wish I Could<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">If I had it in me to make a <i>fairth </i>of the view I saw last night and two nights before, I would have done so. A camera cannot capture that image well enough. Like the many times I tried to share what I see, this time too I have failed. We need better ways to see, better ways to communicate.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">I'll find it, insyaAllah~ :)</span></div>
Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-23647059391272530292013-07-10T23:13:00.000+08:002013-07-10T23:13:08.307+08:00If the world is...<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">If the world is a book, why can't we read it?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">If the world is food, how come it tastes bad?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">If the world is there, why are we here?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">If the world is an ocean, let's swim.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">If the world is a huge forest, let's get lost in its wonders.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>If the world is a blanket, I'd like to curl inside.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>If the world is a house, I'd make it my home.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>If the world is asleep, I'd rather stay awake.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>If the world is ideal, we wouldn't be here.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>If the world is <i>the </i>world, where would we go next?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>If the world is right, how come so many are wronged?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>If the world is at peace, how come there's war?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>If the world is better, why do we feel worse?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>If the world is a flame, I'd dive straight in.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>If the world is darkness, I'd go in without a torch.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>If the world is broken, let's try to fix it.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>If the world is within, let's dig deep.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>If the world is without, let's not keep.</b></span></span></div>
Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-19018617755500386212013-06-21T20:00:00.003+08:002013-06-21T20:09:38.798+08:00Land of Old, Weight of Contentment<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">The second:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">I like older people. They are like huge recesses of knowledge just waiting to be tapped into. I like how they regard us with not a tint of prejudice, how their smiles reach their eyes, how they can do much with so little at hand.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">The land of old people; I've been there a couple of times before but I did not appreciate the crippled wonders that land and its people provided. The third time here (a month ago) was different. Worlds apart sort of different I'd say. Why you asked?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">Because I start to see how paper-thin can't even begin to describe their skins. Yet they seem to stretch further than us, further than you and me. For the first time I saw that the old can be tougher than they look. It is true they limp about their daily chores, take years to cross spaces that take us mere minutes. It is true they need more sleep, more rest, take less food and have more time.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">But when we - the young and strong and able-bodied - stumble or fall, who comes to our sides the swiftest? Is it not the residents of the land of old? When we fail to make heads or tails of a situation, when we lose our heads, the old take the reins with hands firm and strong. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">When we need company, they provide. I recalled many a times sitting out with them under the porch, with tea in hand for hours. Just sitting. We don't often get to sit purely to sit. Usually, we sit to eat or to rest or to talk. Never to just sit except when we are with the old. They can meet then stay rooted for hours at times. And when the sun starts to set, a smile and a word of thanks was given. It was as if the meeting bred no conversation when in truth a million words has been spoken.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">Time mysteriously bends around the old. It passes through them but at a slower pace. Maybe it has something to do with the dense stores of experience they hold, but whatever it is time for them is a long-awaited reunion. They seek it as if seeking a long-lost friend. For that, time embraces them, slows around them in many ways - some sad, others a miracle. We, the young and the reckless and the greedy also seek time but to kill not to cherish, to use not to make use. And for that very reason, time slips out of our hold, always taunting us to run for the finish line as fast as our little feet can go. Until at the very end, when our feet can run no more and sudden realisation strikes us, when we look into our empty hands - hands with skin stretched paper-thin - that we ask "Where have you gone to oh my friend? Where have you run to oh time?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">At that moment, time will hopefully reach out and grab our hands. In that instance, we the once-strong, once-young, once-greedy will hopefully begin to see the world as it should be; as companions to lead our lives, not tools to further our aimless wandering. When you have reached that point in life, it is time for you to sit with a cup of tea, welcome anyone to your silent party and look at them with kind understanding. Let them think and see you as strong. Let it not be seen that you were just like them. And as they wonder and fiddle with the thought of one day living the quiet life you now live, you watch your frame grow thin and frail, as the scales show ever smaller numbers, as your physical weight falls. And yet show them how to smile with your eyes, and teach them the one important lesson in life: the weight of contentment far outweighs whatever the world can offer you.</span></div>
Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-47389524464690279432013-06-14T01:11:00.003+08:002013-06-14T01:12:42.879+08:00Smokes<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">The first story: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">It was in the dead of night. Two days ago I think. Or was it three? I would like to believe that the whole world was asleep, but on this too I can't be sure. But it sure was silent. Just the way I like my night drives. No soul to see, a little less of the usual business of daytime and wide open roads lit by my headlights.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">And like all those times, I drive slow. You don't often get to appreciate your surroundings driving in the day. And if you still can't slow down enough at night, you'll never learn to do it in the heat of day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Anyway, there I was in my car. And... I won't reveal everything because some things are never meant to be shared. But have you seen smokes from the dying embers of burnt leaves? Well, I have too. Many times before but never at night.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>You should see it! I saw it before I smelt it. White, ghostly creatures drifting into nothingness. My first thoughts were to avoid them but somehow, it was as if the smokes were beckoning me to come into it. And I did just that.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Part of me wished as I whisked into the apparition that I arrive in another world altogether when I hit the other end. The other half talked sense and said, 'It's just smoke. There's nothing to it'</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>The pile of leaves was too small and so was the smoke it gave off so after one-tenth of a second I was out of it. The part of me with reason smirked, 'See. Nothing to it' but I can't help but think that something did happen in that short interval, between here and there. I can't put my tongue on it, but there was a different aura to the air later.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Smokes. I used to play with them when I was younger. When I liked to burn things. Those days long ago, I wouldn't have had a shred of the thoughts swirling in me today. Hell, I would have stopped the vehicle and played with the embers, fanned and encouraged it until it was again a big pile of flames instead of the pitiful shadows it was. That would be me, if I was that same old (or young) kid.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>This time, however, and only on the fourth night after the smoky drive have I come to my senses. Only tonight as I write this that I figure out why I wanted to avoid the smokes, why the white beings swayed so sadly, and what changed the atmosphere three nights ago.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Wasn't that smoke the remains of once living leaves? In a way, I realised that I had hit dead creatures. That as a child I savoured having the leaves tremble at my hands. I looked gleefully as the life force escapes their veins and all I can think of is 'What sort of a monster are we? How can human beings be the most inhumane beings?' Such irony...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.359375px;"><b>Forgive me, smokes.</b></span></div>
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Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644461517944978417.post-76868742765623333582013-06-14T00:40:00.000+08:002013-06-14T00:40:03.664+08:00Catching Up<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16.359375px;">اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ</span></div>
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I have multiple stories that has yet to appear on these pages. Some half-finished, others still on the shelves of my mind. Even more stories dangling on the tip of my tongue, never meant to be written but a single, one-time per lifetime privilege/torture for those with hearts to hear it.<br />
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In due time, I'll finish the drafts and empty those dusty shelves before I forget any more than I wish to forget. 'In due time...' I noticed I've said that one too many times these days.<br />
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<br />Afiz Fazrizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12334714328815261599noreply@blogger.com0