Monday, February 27, 2012

Maids of honor

Life has been going extremely well for me the past few days, alhamdh-lillah. If you don't know already, one of my best friends in class, N got married, and I was one of her bridesmaids. This is my third time being a bridesmaid, the last two times for two cousins but this time was special because I was actively involved in a lot of things. For instance, the bridesmaids made the favors - pretty red flowers from wire and stockings - were on guestbook duty and basically helped the bride and groom on their big day. The two of them were so nervous throughout the ceremony and the reception. It was also my first time witnessing a real Maldivian wedding. The last time there was one on my place, I was fast asleep. Not cool! Too bad even this time, we didn't here the "I do" part because we were too busy taking pictures. #epicfail 
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The whole wedding makes me think of a wedding for myself. For those of you who know me well, you must already know that I have been planning my wedding since I was almost 10 - I am a LOT like Monica from Friends. Yes, we girls sometimes do crazy things like that. I personally feel that every girl is a wedding planner from birth! ha.  In my list of things to do for my wedding includes
  • Have a fun photo-booth thing
  • Take lots of candid pictures rather than the cliche' with bride and groom ones
  • Do a more creative guestbook, like the fingerprint one, or chalk-board, or typewriter.
  • Have a S'mores station! 
  • Ask the bridesmaids, and groomsmen to give speeches.
Well, I wouldn't want to spoil my whole I-donno-when-or-even-if-it-would-happen wedding so let's see what else I've been up to.

OH YES, I AM GOING TO THE LAND OF HARRY POTTER NEXT MONTH. Super excited. I have started compiling a list of things to do in UK, which so far includes finding as much HP stuff as I can, and eating fish and chips (recommended by Kellie), so if you have any recommendation of stuff (no matter how tourist-y) I am all ears! I will be going with eight more people, and we would shadow a parliamentarian and study about English politics or whatever. 
On less exciting notes, I have an assignment due today which I should be doing rather than looking at Oscars red carpet. >.< 

Monday, February 20, 2012

Twenties girl.

Being in my twenties is not a bad thing, now that I think about it. WHO AM I KIDDING? IT'S HORRIBLE. EVERYTHING'S SERIOUS, BORING AND COMPLETELY NORMAL! IT'S LIKE I AM STUCK ON A BUBBLE THAT IS NOT MY BUBBLE!
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Other than the emotional roller-coaster, everything else is pretty fine. Classes are OK, when they are there. My friends are awesome. Life is good. On my birthday, I went out with my YLP pals, and celebrated and at night, some of my classmates and I went to see Jhonny English Reborn at FMC which was better than I expected. The setting, not the movie. The movie was OK though. Yesterday there was a class, and last night I gave the classmates and few close friends the birthday treat. Overall, great weekend. 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

No, you shut up!

I have been saying that to people a lit these days, especially when they haven't even asked me to shut up. But I still haven't perfected it, since I tend to ALWAYS break into laughter right after saying that. Not cool! On the list of things to perfect, I also have "the chronic bitch-face". 
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Last week was hectic, with all the commotion and cancelled classes and feeling all scared. This week is probably worse. I have so far spent nearly 7 hours (not continuous, of course) looking at photos from NY Fashion Week, which is SO MEGA FREAKING AWESOME! I'm not a huge fan of Fall, but this Fall season is just, simply beautiful. I still have lots of shows to watch and trends to analyze and what not. -__- Still, it's enjoyable work!
Classes are going OK with me trying to be too sarcastic, and failing miserably A LOT! Well, it's a good thing since I learned in class today that entrepreneurs must always make new mistakes, and never repeat the same. Not that I suddenly turn into an entrepreneur when I'm being sarcastic, but you get my point eh? I am trying not to think about my upcoming birthday, but that's not happening either. SUPER EMO about hitting the big two oh! On the bright side, N's wedding is getting nearer and I am so excited about having to cancel two classes since I'm her maid of honor. *whee* Oh, wait I am also excited and happy for her marriage and all too.
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Dear God, please bless this nation and the people. Please show us the right path and help us become one again. Ameen.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Two good books

Since last year, I've been trying to read these two books, but because I was preoccupied with YLP and couldn't keep the library books since it would get overdue, I had to return them without finishing which is a first.
The "brain" book that I have been tweeting about is called "My stroke of insight" by Jill Bolte Taylor who is a brain scientist who survived a stroke to the left hemisphere of her brain. Talk about irony!
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When I first started this book, it was partly because the title was very intriguing, and I didn't really know what it was about. I am not an aficionado of science, even though I do admire people who does the "scientific stuff"; so at the start it was pretty boring. However, as I read more and more about her stroke, I realized that my Thitha, mother of my favorite relative Thutha went through one two years ago and still is suffering from it. The past two years, I have been under the assumption that she was just sick, and I feel ashamed that I didn't even try to find out what was going on. Reading this was a paradigm shift, and I feel miserable that I didn't try to help her in the one year that she lived with us, and treated her like sick person with fear when I should have been more understanding and compassionate. I am now more aware of my brain, its functions and Jill's insight to life and her methods of making our self better by focusing on the right hemisphere of our brain which creatives the positive feelings and compassion and treats everyone as wonderful beings makes me appreciate the neurons in my brain and the circuits and the brain itself which is a miracle. I am fascinated by the abilities of the brain and the wonders of it, and my faith in god has become stronger and I feel that this book has helped me come closer to god by appreciating the brain that was given to us. Never did I ever think that a book about brains would make my faith grow stronger. I highly recommend this book to everyone, whether you know anyone who has gone through a stroke or not. I now know why my lecturer was so fascinated with this book. I am still however saddened that he hates Harry Potter even though he hasn't read any book in the series. -__-
The nest book, Unravelled by Maria Housden is also a very interesting book about the life of a mother who lost her daughter to cancer, who got a divorce, and who became the women she had dreamt to be.
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I have seen some bad reviews of this book, calling it a justification of a woman's affair with another man but reading it I realized that Maria's life was not easy. I would never know how it feels so see someone I love die, but Maria was strong, and she became what she wanted to become. She made me realize that despite some wrong decisions in life, there is always the chance of going after our dreams and how important it was to live life on my own terms rather than on someone else's terms. Sure, I didn't relate to her on a personal level, nevertheless this book is pretty interesting and written in a very light way. Perfect read on a cold day with a cup of hot chocolate.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Sarcasm and nineteen

Now that Uni has started, all I do is go to classes, and sleep. I have never done those things together, maybe one of these days I will. I gotta remember to take my pillow and eye mask to class next time.
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I have also become fluent in sarcasm, and I sense that it hardly works because most people I frequent with doesn’t usually get it, so I come out as a rude and heartless bitch. Story of my life! Between the too many classes, and trips to library, and calling the birthday boys asking them to treat us *whee*, and the too much sleeping, I hardly have time for anything else. I so need to bring my sleeping routine back together, or I am getting into trouble again, which seems to follow me. Also this semester, I’m doing this thing of working with different people, so I’m never in the same group with the same people. My classmates might have a bit of a problem with this, (YES I AM TALKING ABOUT YOU, THE POWERPUFF BOYS!) but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
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I’m also getting sad about the fact that I’m no longer going to be a teenager. >.< I can’t rebel anymore, I can’t blame changing my mind too often as a teenage thing, and I can’t do the whole teenage dream thing that Katy speaks of. The thought of becoming a twenties girl is making me nervous, and scared. Why can’t I be nineteen forever? Nineteen is a perfect age. You should totally hear my speech about how nineteen is the best age ever! *sigh* On other news, I have five books that I’ve started reading, but not finished, and one that I haven’t even started. The bookworm in me is slightly irritated at myself. MUST FIND TIME SOON!
Have a great day lovely people who are so kind enough to read my whining about getting old.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

The Proposal

Note: this is the first chapter of a story I started writing last year. Most of the characters are fictional, and any resemblance to anyone I know is purely coincidental or not.
Heather has never been happier. She had someone she trusted, someone she could tell everything to, and someone who would listen to her wholeheartedly. It has only been three months since Edmond and Heather started dating, or what was popularly known as a relationship in Maldivian terms. Heather was the kind of girl who needed a guy, and Edmond was the kind that wanted a girl, so it only took a few days chatting up at the library stalls for them to know each other completely. Heather had told him everything about her life, from her parents who stayed back at their island to her first love, Adler. Edmond had won over her by his boyish charms and though all the texts and flirty messages. Heather was not exactly the hard to get type. In fact, she was easy. Perhaps a little too easy. They met on a function at University earlier that year.
It was March, and the Student Association (SA) of Faculty of Management and Computing of the Maldives National University was hosting a Dinner Night to raise funds for a Volley Ball match. Heather was doing second year of her Marketing degree and Edmond just joined that very semester. She was part of the SA along with her classmates Hazel and Ryan and they were decorating the auditorium with blue balloons and crepe paper that day. Edmond had volunteered to help with the “Dinner Night” sign. Heather was cutting out the “I” using foam paper when Edmond came over and asked her if he could cut the other “I”. She made a joke saying that she would like to keep her eye. They both laughed and then she introduced herself. Edmond was fair, and tall with straight black hair that fell into his eyes when he laughed. He wore a black shirt and black pants. He was muscular, different from the skinny guys that flocked all over FMC. She was attracted to him the minute she saw him.
So was he. Of course Heather was pretty. Actually she was more than just pretty. She was gorgeous. She had a fair complexion, and brown eyes. Her long, black wavy hair was always kept in a ponytail. She had a very conservative, and mature style. She was sophisticated. She always wore shirts that reached below her waist, which made her look even taller than her 5”8 frame. He liked girls who were almost the same height as him. In a country like Maldives, which is packed with short girls, finding a tall girl is like finding a needle in a haystack.
He asked for her number that very day, and she gave it to him. He went back home, and the first thing he did was to text her. It went something along the lines of “Can you guess the best thing that I did today? To not cut your eye”. She was in her room that she shared with her cousin Holly, playing UNO when she got the text. She laughed to herself and replied. “That is the best thing”. Since then, they have been texting, and meeting in the library during their breaks from classes.
He proposed to her on a Saturday night, on April 16th. Heather was at home logged into Facebook, chatting with her classmates when she got a text from Edmond saying he’s driving by her place and if she’s free for a chat. Heather felt all nervous and excited. He’s never been to her place before. Not like this. He would drive her home, but he never came in, not for a chat so this was completely new. She wondered how to tell her family that he’s here. She wanted to look her best so she texted him “see you in five” and went to her closet to find something to wear. As it happens, she couldn’t decide what to wear. After nearly four minutes of changing from one top to another she decided to wear just a simple T-shirt and jeans, to make it look like she was chilling at home in them just now. But since he was special, she put on some make-up and got out.
Heather was in for a shock. More like a positive shock, if that even exists. There was Edmond, on his two knees, with a red rose. He had decorated the area outside her door with red balloons. The joalifathi (traditional Maldivian chair set) was moved to the side, and where it stood previously, was a round table with a red spread, a vase with a single rose in it. Three candles were lit on a candlestick on the table, which was the only source of light, as he had switched off the front light. Edmond was wearing a red shirt, her favorite color. He then started singing;
You’re tall and fun and pretty
You’re really really skinny
Heather!
I’m the Mickey to your Minnie
You’re the piglet to my Winnie,
Heather!
You’re cuter than a Guinea pig
I wanna take you up to Winnipeg, that’s in Canada
Heather, Heather, Heather!
Will you be my girlfriend?
She was speechless. For a normal person, this song would not really mean anything, but for them, it was special. It was their song. Heather’s friend Hazel, who was a huge fan of Harry Potter, had once seen this fan made musical called “A Very Potter Musical” and kept the song Cho Chang as her ringtone. Heather has first heard it when they were in Marketing class last year, and Hazel’s phone started to ring really loudly. Everybody had started laughing, and Hazel was trying to find it in her bag and turn it off. After class, Heather asked Hazel what song it was and she sent a copy of it to Heather’s phone. Since then Heather has been obsessed about it. It was unlike her, because she mostly listened to mellow, sad love songs. And after she met Edmond he had heard it, and he knew it as well. He had also watched this musical on YouTube, it seemed and knew the lyrics, word to word. Since then, they’ve kind of made it their song and they replace the Cho Chang with either Heather or Edmond’s name whenever they sang it.
She could barely hold her breath. She said yes as fast as she could because she did not want to waste even a millisecond without being his girlfriend. She took the rose, and smelled it. He had taken the time to spray some of her favorite perfume “Secret” on it. These little details had made Heather fall in love with him. He took her hand and ushered her to her chair. Then he took two glasses and a pizza box from underneath the table and placed it on the table. He poured her coke from the can that came with the pizza. She was loving every moment of this and didn’t want it to end. They spent almost two hours that night - talking, eating, laughing and getting lost in each other.