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."

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! :)

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!

Ramadhan 1435H: Day 3

Lepas solat Isyak tadi aku kembali ke meja tulis di ruang tamu untuk menyambung kerja. Tapi seperti biasalah, aku akan membuka laman-laman media sosial seperti Facebook, Twitter dan Blogger terlebih dahulu. (Old bad habits die hard baby!). Scroll punya scroll timeline Facebook tu, ternampak seorang kawan mempost gambar makanan di bazar Ramadhan. I was like, huh? Weren't you the one who said that you would unfriend anyone who uploads food pictures this whole Ramadhan, especially before sungkai (berbuka/break fast) time? Now, now. Like I tweeted the other day, the world of Facebook is filled with irony and hypocrisy.

Fin.

The Napoleon Dynamite Dudes

From left: Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder), Kip Dynamite (Aaron Ruell), Pedro Sánchez (Efren Ramirez), Uncle Rico/Rico Dynamite (Jon Gries)

These dudes are pretty cute, aren't they now? Especially lil Kip over there. I dunno, facial hair has always been a turn-on for me. Ngehehe. Okay Nurul, that's enough. Shut up and go to bed will ya?

Disclaimer: Image is labeled for reuse

Ramadhan 1435H: Day 1

It's Ramadhan again! :D I spent the first day of this year's Ramadhan with my granma. I got back here from KK on Saturday evening. Both my aunts aren't home, so I have to keep my granma company. Good that I'm here, because... My granma couldn't even remember that today we should be fasting, despite the fact that we had sahur together and that she had been reminded about it a few times. She even drank water while I was preparing sungkai meal this evening. I only realised when I saw her washing a glass at the sink. Sigh. So yep, I'm glad to be here with her and I know she is too.

I cooked ayam masak kurma! I can say that it tasted pretty good, considering that it was my first time cooking this dish and the fact that I couldn't taste the taste during the cooking process. Granma seemed to enjoy it. So yeah, congrats for not screwing up dinner Nurul! Hahaha.

What else did I do today? I watched some TV, did my laundry, took naps, and yep, that was it. By the way, I'm watching Napoleon Dynamite. Again. For the 500th time. Or something like that. Ally never returned the DVD to me. Along with some other movie DVDs. But it's okay. Cause I didn't return his DVDs too. Astro has been replaying Napoleon Dynamite lately. I recorded it. So I can watch it anytime I want now. Okay, that's all I think. Vote for Pedro! And uh yeah, happy fasting!

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Bintukeduaismail: Random sharing ( hadith 6)

Bintukeduaismail: Random sharing ( hadith 6): Assalamualaikum, macam nak kongsi sikit lah mengenai hadis 6. so, basically hadis 6 ni pasal syubhat. Apa itu syubhat? Syubhat itu ialah be...

It's Just Another Random Rant Post

Sorang kawan aku pernah cakap, kebanyakan orang bertanya bukan sebab dorang betul2 kisah (care), tapi sebab sifat ingin tahu yg kadang2 aku rasa tidak kena tempat dan kadang2 lebih menjurus kepada sikap biadap. Dalam 10 orang yg baru aku jumpa, cuma satu orang atau TIADA yg akan tanya perihal nama aku. Dalam 10 orang yg baru aku jumpa, 9 orang atau SEMUA akan tanya tentang kerja, gaji, dan umur aku.

Bila orang tengok aku, kebanyakannya mesti ingat aku ni masih sekolah atau belajar. Dorang akan tanya, "Berapa umur kau?" dan bila aku kasi jawapannya, dorang akan cakap, "Eh, macam masih muda." atau "Eh, ya ka? Nda nampak oh." dan lepas tu dorang akan tanya pulak, "Suda kawin?" dan bila aku kasi jawapannya, dorang akan tanya, "Kenapa belum kawin? Mesti ko memilih ni kan?" atau "Ada boyfriend?" dan bila aku kasi jawapannya "Iya ka ni?" Bila aku kasi jawapannya, tanya lagi, "Ko kerja apa?", bila aku kasi jawapannya, dorang akan tanya "Bidang apa tu?", bila dikasi jawapannya, tanya lagi "Kerja di rumah? Online business kah?" Bila aku kasi jawapannya, "Ohh... jadi ko buat apa lah?" pastu tanya lagi "Berapa la gaji?" Dan bila dikasi jawapannya, tanya pulak "Gaji tetap ka? Bulan2 memang kena bayar?" dan bla bla bla bla bla bla bla. Dan dalam banyak2 soalan yg dorang tanya tu, macam aku cakap tadi, selalunya tiada pun yg akan bertanya "Siapa nama kau?"

Kenapa orang susah sangat mo tanya pasal nama kita? Benda tu nda penting kah? Kalau nda penting, kenapa kita dikasi nama? Kenapa ibu bapa kita mau penat2 fikir apa nama yg mau dikasi sama anak dorang? Kenapa kita mau penat2 fikir apa nama yg mau dikasi sama anak kita? Kenapa? Segan? Kekok? Janggal? Kalau itu jawapannya (BACA: alasannya), kenapa nda rasa segan, kekok dan janggal pula bila tanya pasal gaji orang lah, pasal status perkahwinan lah, kenapa masih belum ada boyfriend lah apa lah? KENAPA? Ndakah lebih elok dan sopan bila kita mulakan perbualan dengan bertanya nama dulu sebelum tanya benda2 yg lain? Nama panggilan pun cukup lah. Serius aku cakap, aku memang nda suka berbicara soal gaji dan kerja aku terutama sama orang2 yg baru aku jumpa (nama dia pun aku nda tau, tapi macam2 pulak dia tanya pasal aku). Kadang2 memang aku akan sampuk pertanyaan2 dorang tu dengan bertanya nama dorang. "Ratna", "Nas", "Syerina", dan beberapa orang lagi lah yg aku pun nda ingat namanya. Walaupun aku nda ingat, sekurang2nya, aku tanya. Dan banyak2 orang yg aku tanya nama dorang tu, tiada satu orang pun yg aku tanya pasal GAJI. Ada apa dengan gaji? Kenapa mesti orang mau tau? Aku memang nda akan tanya kecuali kalau aku mau apply kerja tu. Ada sekali tu, sorang cashier Giant, di sanalah orang mo bayar barang2 yg dibeli, sanalah juga tanya segala soalan pasal kerja DAN gaji aku. Bukan aku kenal pun! Serius, aku nda selesa dengan soalan2 macam tu dan aku memang terus akan label manusia spesis ini sebagai RUDE, INAPPROPRIATE dan INSENSITIVE.

Rasanya boleh la aku simpulkan apa yg kawan aku cakap tu memang betul. Most people ask questions not because they really care, but because they are curious. Iya. Memang. Semua cuma mau feed dorang punya curiosity atau ego jak. Ataupun mungkin dorang ni adalah pengidap "penyakit" inferiority/superiority complex. Bukan pasal betul2 mau ambil tau atau peduli pun. Iya. Sedih kan bila fikir? People don't care about people. They are curious, but they couldn't care less.

Nah, lain kali, bila ada orang tanya kamu, "Kenapa masih belum kawin?" kamu jawab jak, "Tanyalah Tuhan."

News Flash: I PASSED MY JPJ TEST!!!! YAHOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Yo peopleeee!!! I passed my JPJ retest!!! Alhamdulillah.... I was so happyyyyy I AM happyyyyy :D :D :D Kepada Encik Pegawai JPJ yg test aku semalam tu, kaulah yg paling hensem di dunia ni!! Hahahahaha thank youuuuuuu :) :) :) I can't wait to get my hands on my P licence!!! :D :D :D

Randomly Ranting

It's 9.13 PM. I just finished another can of the Verve energy drink my Aunt Tipah brought. Maybe I shouldn't have. I'm at my granma's. I was home alone the whole day. My Aunt Inah and her husband arrived at Maghrib. My Aunt Tipah, Ucu and their kids have flown back to KL yesterday. I went back to Sipitang with my Aunt Tam after sending them to the airport. Finally, some peace and quiet in this house. I did write that I hate feeling lonely especially in this house before, but... I've had enough of my nuisance cousins. So, yeah, I'm glad they're gone. Fuh. I don't really have anything to write, but I feel like writing. I know I'd better use the time I have to continue translating E***a's thesis abstract, but..... I simply don't feel like doing that. She asked me to e-mail it back to her by the beginning of this week, but I dunno, I just don't feel the sense of urgency to do it. Actually, I have done the translation for the same abstract like I dunno, so long ago, and E***a mentioned it too. But she said she lost it and that there are some changes anyway. Urgh. Why did I agree to it? It's actually not much, just a few paragraphs, but I dunno, I guess I'm just lazy. Really? If I'm really lazy then why the heck am I doing what I am doing right now? Why am I not in bed? Maybe I'm just being a bad friend. Or maybe I'm just sick of having people expecting or wanting something from me. Whenever someone texts me it's because they want something from me. Money. Time. Energy. I didn't mean to "mengungkit", but I'm just a human being with limited resources even for myself. Is it a sin for me to feel sick and tired of it all?

To add to that, J*n recently assigned me another DARS task. So I have 2 DARSes and 1 WARS to write now. Both DARSes have the same deadline. Stupid, I know. But I agreed to it. I don't know why. B*********y people have always sucked at delegating tasks anyway. So perhaps, I'm used to it. So far, I'm doing pretty good. A*qa even told me that my writing is good and that they hope I could be promoted as a SMRA soon. How do I feel about it? Honestly, I think it's great! I'm fine with the writing tasks because it makes me feel like I could be counted on, dependable, able. It somehow boosts my confidence and whenever I produced a good report I felt good, satisfied. At least I know that my team is happy with what I'm doing. Plus, I'm sick of ticket clearing. A*na, however, was concerned if they're just taking advantage of me because I never said no. Whenever people ask for my help, I will always say yes. Most of the time, not because I really want to or like to do it, but  because nobody else could. I really need to learn how to say no. No, that doesn't sound right. I really need to practice saying NO once in a while. Yes, that sounds more accurate.

Do I sound like I'm contradicting myself? Or confused? I meant to rant and complain about my work and people, but it ended up very differently. Whatever. Now I better end this entry, finish my laundry and go to bed. Tomorrow is going to be another busy Monday (I will be fasting tomorrow. Puasa ganti) and Tuesday will be my JPJ retest. I really hope I'll pass this time. Insha Allah.