seize.the.day

When we do something impromptu

let there be books

/ livingseri / Leave a comment

I am on a borrowing spree from my local library, which surprisingly are stocked up with new books and writers, so that is how I chanced upon Ben Aaronovitch’s because I had been contemplating for so long on whether to purchase his books or skip them altogether, or perhaps buy them as eBooks.

so when I suddenly found myself walking into the library for after so long, I went out with close to 16 books (two library cards:mine and my sister’s) within two days. if I had a book binge at the bookstore, I am currently on a binge now from the library.

Managed to borrow Ministry of Moral Panic which I have been seeing instagrams and reviews from local blogs, a Singaporean writer’s collection of short stories. I thought, why not try out reading local. so I took three of the seemingly latest collections. I guess I am still trying to ‘love’ local writers but I don’t do short stories. especially stories which are left hanging and you are ‘supposed’ to kind of imagine how the ending should be. and they are usually dark and disturbing stories, with many homo loves themes, and except for the momentary delights of seeing local words, and places mentioned in the stories, I have yet to appreciate short stories. although Ministry of moral panic seems to be catching on. so far, im just on the third story anyway.

I was also pleasantly surprised that there’s 2 of Aaronovitch’s books (Broken Homes & Foxglove Summer, which are pretty much new titles) and finally took up ‘courage’ to read Jhumpa Lahiri’s Namesake. and proud to say they are all borrowed :))

so looks like I am staying true to my 2015 resolution to borrow more rather than buy, but I also need to know that there are about 50 books on the shelves which are on the reading list. that…you gotta deal with, Seri.

and oh yeah, I am so elated to find out Mercedes Lackey’s fantasy novels are available as eBooks! both at amazon and kobo! perhaps not all, but I hope all of hers soon! perhaps, these are old news but having just found out about them, is exciting for me! just that it is not easy to find her physical books nowadays. there used to be those Sunny bookshops which had them in all of their glorious series and yes the libraries had them but it will be rare amazing moments to have the series all in nicely at the same time. and I have this ocd thing of wanting to read her valdemar series accordingly following her timeline so I have not had that chance since, well, forever. and now! because they are eBooks, I could finally, finally own them and read them one era at a time. i cannot wait to start on them already! but patience, patience. finish up whatevers on the book plate first yea. 😉

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addendum:
i also found out david eddings’ series in eBooks!!! yey! can own them and reread them!!
so crazy ocd-ied me who just had to read serial novels chronologically realised Peter Grant series are of 5 books and the two i borrowed were actually the latest five. so went to nlb catalogue online, bingoed the first three available at serangoon library, so why not, i return my mercedes lackey’s books and borrowed these three then? and once i got my heart and mind on something, i search high and low for it and i did just those in less than an hour.
-go home, took the mercedes lackey’s borrowed books
-go library at Nex, return the books
-entered the library and straight on go to A of the fiction section and saw them three aaronovitch’s books grab them and walla, i was smiling all the way back home….

gila.

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please take note:
the valdemar series – mercedes lackey (and the whole timeline)
the belgariad series – david eddings (and there are other series)
regina’s song – david eddings

finally, a resolution

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i am not a person who do resolutions for a new year. but 2015 calls for one, ok , just two.

1. borrow more instead of buying books.
which is pretty obvious. i spent big on books and i have close to 300 books without realising it. it could have been more if i had not been giving away books to students, and two charities. yes, it could have been more. well, it doesnt hurt to save up a bit more for the time being. after paying my way for a diploma, i need to replenish the savings.

2. be less serious.
i need to be less angry and less serious. i want to be able to see the humorous side of things. not to frown so much and not worry so much.

nlp tools have been very helpful. i did two last night, collapsing anchor and hynotise the unconscious mind.
i wanted to be able to pick up the phone and not feel annoyed everytime it rings. because i dont know why, i hated phonecalls and it always annoys me. so i did collapsing anchor on that one. i guess it worked today.

and the hypnotic tool to train my self to be less serious and be more positive.

i have so many things to achieve this year. i need to be strong and positive. and maybe finally let go?

best of reading 2014

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I was checking out my goodreads challenge in which I aimed to read 30 books by the end of the year. I managed to read only 24 books. although, I have to be honest, there are at least 3 books which I stopped halfway and couldn’t carry on reading them because they don’t capture my interest.

my best reads of 2014 have to be these:

1. Susan Cain’s Quiet.

It is the bible for the introverts. i understood myself better and kind of found enlightenment of my behaviour through those painful teenage years. and in a sense, found a more confident person in me.  just by embracing who i really am gives me a sense of faith and strength and…well..just be me.

2. Jeannette Walls’ The Silver Star

i had waited for her for so long. enough said. i love the book.

3. Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84

i know. i bought the books much much earlier but i only got to read them during my trip to Greece and Rome and i never regretted that they were my travelling companion throughout. reading this book reignites my love to murakami’s writings.

4. Jodi Picoult’s Leaving Time

The only book i read ‘on time’, heh, because it was published this year and bought it the first thing without hesitation when they became available at the local bookstores. i knew i loved it just from reading the synopsis. the terms ‘elephants’ and ‘psychic’ grabbed my attention without a doubt.

i am looking forward to a great reading year in 2015. and perhaps, maybe this time, i could read 30 books… with a reading room and a nice armchair.. swoons… ❤

pre post 2014

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no. i am not going to blog about how my 2014 had been. not yet anyway. how is spend my new year’s eve? well at home. timecheck now is 9.00pm and i am practically ready to sleep because the week had been such crazy and rush. a break tomorrow only means i do not have to go out to work but i will be working from home. ok ok i know boring.

despite this festive seasons and sales going on everywhere, i am surprised at myself for not actually shopping. say this: no desire to shop. you know for like bags or shoes or clothes. i went crazy for books though, as always. i think i have had three purchases from book depository and a package from amazon. i did splurge, if you can put it that way, on three jubahs online, only because i have waited so long for those dresses and was fortunate that it was on a discounted price.

call me nerd or geek but my ‘priced’ item for the month has go to be the Kikki K minimalist organizer folder. although it is going to be my travel journal, which i have been trying to find one that suits me and what i have in mind. finally found it! finally can start doing my travel journal notes.
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and my 2015 is going to be a purple year, looking from my notebooks. three at that. i foresee a hectic year. when is there ever a ‘less’ hectic year. but if it starts on the right ‘footing’ i hope it will turn out to be a good year. In Sya Allah but i am crazy over planning and lists right now. can never have enough monologue notebooks though. and still a paper and pen person. i tried few apps on my iPad/iPhone, but i just cannot bring myself to always check my iPad/iPhone for my plans. still cant. list out certain things, yes sometimes but not major stuffs you know.

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i just want to be present every day next year. another day for that.

good night.
good night 2014.

halfweek

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oh dear lovely week. please do not end so fast. I am really enjoying my homacation (home + vacation, heh). I could really get used to this!!

I love that I get to spend some productive 2-4 hours of work (yes, I still check my email and complete some pending tasks). I love it that I get to watch Charmed and movies, listen to favourite songs without a care that it disturbs anyone. I also get to do housechores without rushing to complete them. I get to clear my stuffs and enjoy its spick and span.

I get to sew, do scrapbooking, do bookmarks! but mostly, I love that I get to read to my heart’s out. and yes, spending a bit of time with my parents. I miss that. I had the best nap sleeping on my mother’s lap.

I have four more days and I don’t want this to end!!

madbook.

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So wow. i have breezed through the week totally focused at work and i have not shopped (retail nor online) for a whole five days! although i have been receiving packages(!!!) by the days! haha.

i went crazy over books because i found out about book depository and books actually online and having heartbreaks at wardah online because i need to stop or i will go hell over the budget. so patience seri. patience. and then there’s bookfest! ok ok sabar seri sabar. 😛 so, you can be pretty sure my packages are all books. and my bookshelves are heaving heavy with them. just last year we bought two bookshelves, and its just filled up about half, but today, its full to the brim (and that!! after i gave away some books already quite recent!!).

have i mentioned before, i have many ‘kegilaan’ but kegilaan on books is just stupendous! i think i need to improve my books phototaking. thus far, they have been ugly amateur photos. erkk.

i braved the work load and go ahead and took a week’s leave. because i think i needed to step back from moving too fast and i know i will probably still be working from home because the adrenaline is still there, the mind is just actively energetic with ideas and accomplishments to, well, accomplished. despite everything, i am actually excited. haha.

but i am also taking this week’s leave because i want to train myself and my body clock because i am trying to make some positive change here. and probably, finally, having some proper time to do a bit of research. and most importantly, i look forward to spending time with my parents. the big idea is to go, say, KL for some jalan2, but hubby was not able to take leave (because they are all crazy at work, such as mine) so, i have to make do with Singapore although, im thinking going JB would be nice too, what’s with the ringgit worth going on at this time. and yea, im having thoughts of ‘i could buy more books from Badan!’ tsk.

ok, back to what i was saying. i hope i can make my week’s leave well worth it.

overspent

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oh God.

i am terribly sleepy now. and it is very rare nowadays for me to actually feel sleepy. i just sleep because i had to. and it was always a ‘disturbed’ kind of sleep, where i woke up in the middle of the night and then had difficulty sleeping again.

i have just spent two evenings sorting out my clothes and bags. there’s a community service centre going to collect them. so it was definitely a good opportunity for me to give away, some unused clothes, shoes, bags and watches that i bought and didnt even wore them.

i finally had one large bag for clothes, one large ikea bag of books, some bags, and another bag filled with watches never worn and bracelets of all colours. i really hope they could give them to those who would actually wear them. and i have got to stop spending. but i was happy packing them away, putting the small items into plastic packages. the stuff all looks brand new, of course, i hadnt had the chance to wear them. the idea was to re-sell them but im really not cut out for business. giving them away makes more sense to me. i honestly love giving gifts!

this spending is really a chronic disease. i think it has something to do with insecurity? some pent up spending energy that i did not get to fulfill? maybe something i really need or wanted which i didnt or couldnt get perhaps?

in any case, the busy-ness i am having the whole of this month will perhaps control me.

i still, by the way, love giving gifts.

unlearnt and relearn

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it took me approximately 15 hours, spread out between two days, to type out two assignments.

and this is considered i am really giving my full attention to the assignment at hand. of course with the occasional facebooking and instagramming and even online shopping!

i am in the midst of my very last assignment from my counseling special diploma course and then i can truly say i have completed my studies for this year. the thing is i dont seem to have the urge to be the number one in this course. being an adult, so to speak, old, my concern is to, really, just breeze through the classes, learnt the concepts and theories and skills and no exams so much the better. there is definitely no sense of competition, everyone just wants to learn from one another. they don’t even mind if i happen to be an extreme introvert on certain days. i dont like to be forced to speak up or forced to present or being put in the position where i have to be the one doing the presentation, as it always happen back in degree days.

i have to say taking up this course is one of the better choices i made. albeit i am paying the fees purely from my own salary and depleting my savings terribly but i guess, the skills i learnt are very useful in my line of work. although, learning is always easy, putting them into practice is another whole different story. but i guess i like the challenge. and being the pseudo advisor to so many people is not an easy feat to uphold. i put such high expectations on myself i guess. i have to stop that.

anyway, i have many challenges coming up soon. much soon. i pray for health, strength and wisdom in these hard times.

today is the last day of 1435 hijrah year. i would like to have a bit of reflection on that. next post soon. got to get back to my few hundred words left on this last assignment. but i am on a writing mode i guess. i even have a blank word doc ready with a title for a short story. another time.

Your God’s Love III

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I was at the edge of the world. off a cliff. overlooking the sea and its mysterious misty mountains.

I was waiting for a glimpse of the sun. it gave me whole. but no matter how much I tried to capture it. I could not see it through human creation. still. through this eyes His gift can I see the sun at its whole majestic roundness. SubhanAllah.