Monday, September 29, 2014

Word of the Day: Meatspace

According to Wiktionary:

1. (Internet often derogatory) The physical world, as opposed to the virtual world of the Internet.

According to Dictionary.com:

1. (slang) The real physical world, as contrasted with with the world of cyberspace.

According to Urban Dictionary:

1. noun. A term, originating from cyberpunk fiction and culture, referring to the real (that is, not virtual) world, the world of flesh and blood. Somewhat tongue-in-cheek. The opposite of cyberspace.

"Writers, who can go for three or four days at a time without talking to people in 'meatspace' are particularly attracted to this form of friendship." - Andrew Brown

2. Deriving from cyberpunk novels, meatspace is the world outside of the net -- that is to say, the real world, where you do things with your body rather than with your keyboard. William Gibson's novels (Neuromancer, Mona Lisa Overdrive, and Count Zero in particular) note the difference between the net of the console cowboys and the world of the meat outside.

"For many a true computer geek, moving through meatspace is a daunting prospect."

"SimStim was a meat toy, which is why Case had never been able to get into it."

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Former Schoolmate and Whatnots

It's another peaceful (read: boring) day in Mesapol, Sipitang. I wish I had a bike so I could go cycling around the neighbourhood in the evening (because jogging/walking requires a lot more effort and doesn't burn as much calories as cycling does. Excuses, excuses). Now I regularly go to the gym with Farah after work. There's a gym facility provided for public use (read: free, well at least for now) in the UTC building and me and Farah have been going there for around 2 months, give and take. I didn't know that I would enjoy going to the gym. It's good for me since I have been living a sedentary life for a very long time and I wouldn't want to be any fatter than I already am. Urgh. It's been a week since I got back here, so that means it's been a week I haven't been working out as well. I hope I can go back to KK this weekend because I feel like going to Bazzar (yes, that's how they spelled it) Music Fest that will take place at Starcity, KK on the 28th and 29th of September. Maybe I will ask Marwan to join me and Ain as well. Tengok lah nanti camana. :)

OK, who's Marwan? He is... Um... We went to the same primary and secondary schools. We were even classmates during primary school. Well, at least in Primary 6. So, um, we finally hung out 2 weeks ago at Fook Yuen, Asia City, but it wasn't just me and him. I tagged No Joke along, because it would've been awkward if I didn't. Farah was supposed to join us too but she cancelled at the last minute because she had to take her brother out for stationary shopping. Zzzz.... We've been chatting sometimes, prior to our meeting. I found him to be an okay guy. We talk about boring stuff like our lives, bla bla bla. I believe that he's not doing anything at the moment, but, he used to work in KL, he studied in MMU, Cyberjaya, he used to be in a band called... I forgot. Hehe. He doesn't smoke, he doesn't watch horror movies, he watches lots and lots of TV, he goes jamming alone, he plays guitar and drums, and he's quite a funny guy. Well, the Marwan I remember was a funny guy, kid. Hehe. Hmmm another thing about him is that he hates Sir Aminuddin, our former English teacher in Primary 6, whom I adored and still do until now. He was my favourite teacher. He was a really good teacher. Kids feared him. I feared him too, but at the same time I respected him. Even though he always rotan us if we forgot our books or didn't do our homework and teased us (the sole reason why Marwan hates him), somehow I found it very easy to understand what he taught. My English wasn't very good during the initial years of my primary school, I always got a B or C, never an A. But it was with Sir Aminuddin that I got my first A in English. And I have never received a lesser grade since. I have always thought to myself that if one day I'm going to be a teacher, I want to be able to teach like him. It was so easy to understand and since then English had become my favourite subject in school, thanks to Sir Aminuddin. :) Marwan told me that he's lecturing at UMS now. He found out about that little information from another former classmate of ours, Azril, who is now working at UMS.

Marwan vindictively said that if one day someone murders him, he would write down Sir Aminuddin's name using his blood on the floor or wall so that he would become the prime suspect. Buduh. Hahahahaha. What did Sir Aminuddin do that Marwan hates him so much? Well, I understand why Marwan feels that way towards my favourite teacher. It wasn't his fault. I would've felt the same way if I was in Marwan's place. I always felt sorry for Marwan every time Sir Aminuddin teased him about the way he walked. And I think because of that, the other kids thought that it was okay to make fun of him too. Okay, not so much of an ideal teacher, I know, but, I liked the way he taught okay, is that so wrong? And good for Marwan that he doesn't walk the way he used to anymore now. But so what if he still does? It doesn't matter. It doesn't make him a bad person. Making fun of someone does though. Because it equals to bullying. I hope that someday Marwan will be able to forgive Sir Aminuddin and I hope that Sir Aminuddin no longer makes fun of anyone for any reason anymore.

Well, okay, let's go back to the day that I hung out with Marwan. And No Joke. So after hours of chatting and laughing at his silly jokes, we went to see a movie, Lucy, which was a very lame movie, at Growball Cinemax, Centrepoint. No Joke seemed to enjoy it very much, it was in fact her second time, but me and Marwan thought it was a total BS. I could endure it only because of Scarlett Johansson. We went back home right after the movie. He was, sweet and all, thanking me for spending that Sunday night with him. I was like, yeah, sure man, it was a pleasure. I'm glad I brought No Joke with me, because honestly, we've never spoken to each other before. We only chat on Facebook. Itu pun kadang2 jak. Guys are weird. They acted like they didn't care about us, like we didn't exist in school, and suddenly they are acting all friendly with us years after we finished school. Jan Andris was like that as well. He recently got married if I'm not mistaken. I used to hate that guy because he was one of the boys at school who used to tease me and call me a poseur just because I like Nirvana and boy bands at the same time. Zzzz.... Well, I stopped listening to boy bands when I was in Form 2 or 3. Not because of the teasing, but because my music interest was getting more towards the alternative side of me. Hey, I started listening to alternative rock since a very young age okay! And I didn't have any brother (I have a brother but he's not into music) or sister who influenced me or anything. It was totally natural. I was born with it. Haha okay Nurul, okay!

Okay lah, it's almost 4 PM and I have yet to perform my Asar prayer. I feel like taking a walk or something. Until next time! :)

Friday, September 19, 2014

Hello Stranger(s)!

It's been months. (there was a several-minute pause here)

I meant to start this post as if I have never stopped blogging, as if I have been doing it every single day, but I haven't done it for so long I have completely forgotten how. I just deleted the 3 drafts I had been saving and been meaning to finish because I don't know what to do with them anymore. I might as well let this blog be defunct, but maybe I'm just another one of those cliched bloggers who started their blogs because everybody else is doing it and then stop and then blog again and then stop again and then blog again and then stop again and then blog again and then finally let the blog dies because keeping up the pretense and playing make-beliefs that you are a so-called writer/blogger has finally worn you out and proves to be a daunting task. Yup, daunting, for a lazy pig like me.

Many things happened between my last blog post and at least last week, but too bad I was too lazy to document them in this lame diary of mine. For instance, I BOUGHT MY FIRST CAR. Yes, I finally bought a car in July, meaning that it has been roughly 2 months since I drove the car back from the dealer to my house. The car is a MYVI, which I named Napoleon Dynamite (keh3), dark purple in colour, automatic (of course), and is already scarred (zzzzz). It got its first scratches on 2nd raya day, not once, but twice, at two different locations. I was so upset by it I even considered getting it repainted, but of course I didn't because I couldn't afford it. Kau ingat cat metalik murah???? Zzzzz.... The second incident was definitely my own fault, which made it all the more upsetting and irritating. It even caused a minor dent (luckily not so obvious) to the right back door. Ya ya I know, I was so stupid and reckless. Urgh. But I am getting better at driving now and my parking skills have improved, if not much, a little. More practice is required especially on the drum and violin. Omg. Oh. My. God. OH. MY. GOD. I swear I didn't mean to type that. DRUM AND VIOLIN???? What's got into you Nurul??? Argh, I am obviously very, very sleepy now. So I'm gonna call it a night. I'll continue tomorrow.

Good night!