2nd Week of 2nd Sem.

Mercu tanda INTEC, Uitm, Shah Alam - Library.

I just got back from Ain's house to consult some mathematical 'difficulties' hehe. Practically her whole family gave it a shot and helped me out ;P In the end, it was her dad who's the Math genius that got it right. Her second brother (who's also called Arief, like my elder bro, Arif) also helped out.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I'm different this sem. I mean I feel TOTALLY okay with college now. Yeap. I no longer brood in my dark moods or succumb to my anxieties in respond to the uncertainities of academic-related stuff. I also no longer count the days to the second waiting for Fridays (to go back home for the weekends). I've also stopped obsessing over my fixation to 'mingle' no, to 'TRY to mingle'. I do my own thing nowadays and don't feel guilty about it at all. Haha. Now THAT is a break through. I think. *shrugs*

I'm set on doing my best for that TER96. I aim for 97 just to be safe. I've been setting my mind to this since the sem break but what really gave me an extra push was this thing that a lecturer mentioned during our briefing in the first week of my 2nd sem. She said:

"If you want something you've never gotten,

you must do something you've never done."

After she said this, it was all I could think of. I kinda closed into myself and pondered it for the rest of the dull briefing.

These words went right through me like an arrow. With it, my second thoughts of "can I actually make this happen? Can I really stop being a slacker-perfectionist-wannabe self that is, ME?" are gone.

NO, I am not the kind of person who believes/easily influenced by what motivators/speech givers say like most people. I've always had this belief that whatever this person-on-the-stage is saying, all of it has truths and fallacies like everything else in this world. But I do believe in the power of 'words', the unyielding simplicity of it. Which is another contradictory character of mine. To put it simply, I am resistant to being susceptible to words but only because I BELIEVE in being susceptible to words. Get it? No? Nevermind.

That aside, I'm happy. :) I am now a wannabe 'go getter'. Haha.

Yes, I still am a loner. A happy one who no longer obsess over trying to 'mingle' to 'fit in'.

To quote a friend of mine:

"kau harus teruskan hidup, dan jangan leka dengan semua hal-hal orang-orang kebanyakan. biarkan mereka dengan mereka. bukannya kau sombong, bukannya kau arrogant, bukannya kau berfikir kau lebih hebat daripada mereka, tapi sebab kau tahu, yang kau berbeza."

And thus, I hope I shall strive for greatness with a new zeal for the rest of this year.

KAMIKAZE WRITER

1st Of November!!!

The National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) STARTS today!

I've ONLY discovered the existence of NaNoWriMo just now through a facebook wall post by Tim. AM EXCITED AS HECK. Oh yeah even though it has 'National' in the campaign title, it is actually an international thing. Just imagine, world over, people will write an average of 1,666 words per day. AGhhhhh! This is not working. I am trying to explain this but as you can see, AM FAILINg miserably. Too freaking excited to think, so, I'm going to copy paste the description. HAH.

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

In 2008, we had over 120,000 participants. More than 20,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

So, to recap:

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.

Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

Done reading? Are you spazzing? If you are, then we're soulmates. If you're not, go eat your own hand or something. Hmph. THIS IS EPIC. LIKE AGHHHHH! To write with ABSOLUTE abandon. Just imagine how liberating that is. This is something I swear I WILL do every year from now on. Oh yes, not to forget this:

"In October 2008, the self-publishing company CreateSpace teamed up with NaNoWriMo to begin offering winners a single free, paperback proof copy of their manuscripts, with the option to sell them on Amazon.com"

Told you this is of EPIC proportions. My blood is boiling, my hands are twitching, my head is spinning, muse is out of control, what are you people waiting for? LET'S GET CRACKING!

WRITE OR DIE WRITING