Love's Perjuries

ON a day, alack the day!
Love, whose month is ever May,
Spied a blossom passing fair
Playing in the wanton air:
Through the velvet leaves the wind,
All unseen, 'gan passage find;
That the lover, sick to death,
Wish'd himself the heaven's breath.
Air, quoth he, thy cheeks may blow;
Air, would I might triumph so!
But, alack, my hand is sworn
Ne'er to pluck thee from thy thorn:
Vow, alack, for youth unmeet;
Youth so apt to pluck a sweet.
Do not call it sin in me
That I am forsworn for thee:
Thou for whom Jove would swear
Juno but an Ethiope were,
And deny himself for Jove,
Turning mortal for thy love.

Francis T. Palgrave, ed. (1824–1897)

(Zed's Note: Boys and girls we are going deep. Fasten your seatbelts, hang tight and try to keep up!)

Salvador Dali
The Persistence of Memory
1931, Oil on Canvas

We sometimes ask ourselves why we are here. What this charade is all about. The dance people do, the dance we do everyday - sidestepping mines of lies and treachery amongst whom we think of as our friends and family. Every time we think we have an answer... Wham!! The rules change on us. Every time we think we have got it all figured out... Wham!! The questions changed.

I was sharing some calamari with Kiki when we started chatting about this. Kiki is one of my good friend. Her views of life while brutally honest and painfully selfish, brings out the truth in most instances. Perhaps a bit like yours truly, which probably explains why we get along so well. We speak of life and friends like something we watch on the tube. Commenting on the comical and childish tricks people do to make a living, and often to save their own ass. So one day we asked each other how we see life. My views?

Well life is not one measured like the history lessons we learned in school. It doesn't have the timeline well defined complete with the chronological order of events. What happened in 1994, I ask you? Do you even remember the year? The events that took place? How about something more recent? 2003 perhaps? Can you tell me how 2003 was for you?

(Zed's Note: As I am writing this a hot babe just sat at the table next to me! Sorry need to do my smile and hi thing for a while - SIARAN TERGENDALA SEBENTAR)

Okay, I am back...

So as I was saying, often we don’t remember the years as they are but by what happened within it, some event that struck us deep and either made us very happy or may have hurt us. The time we spent in college, the year we graduated, the first job, the first love, someone passing away, a painful job experience, getting laid-off, or winning your first mega-project. All these moments are what life is all about. We often forget the journey we took, but the results of what we have achieved sticks on us for years on end. This is what life is all about.

Building memorable moments.

Life is just a string of moments tied together against an artificial line we call time. We build moments for us, and also for all of those around us. As a child growing up do we remember every single detail like files on a hard disk nicely tucked away for us to retrieve whenever we please? Of course not, we remember trips we took, we remember the fighting that sometimes erupt, we remember the times when mom hugged you tight and told you that everything will be okay. These memories are what we bring with us into adulthood.

So if that is all we remember, then to me that is all there is to life. We either create moments which we could remember by, or we wake up in the morning and repeat exactly what we did yesterday and all of these will just become a cesspool of memories indistinguishable from one another, and then one day we wake up and realize a decade has gone by; and our hair have turned a lighter shade of grey and the belt is on the last notch but all you can remember was a lifetime of nothingness. Drawing an absolute blank.

Some may suggest that creating a moment is about spending money they can't afford. I say that this necessity to tie everything we do to material goods is just superficial crap. It doesn't cost a lot of money to take a drive up to KLIA and watch the plane land, but hey it is definitely a moment to remember. How about taking your family out for a nice dinner after you've just got your bonus or raise? Not to show off, but just to be together. Be happy and laugh the moment off and to remember by. One of them may no longer be around next year, and everyone will remember the time when the family came together and had some fun. You have just created a moment!

(Zed's Note: I read about the KLIA trip on Seeking Solace's site and find it very cool indeed! Definitely a good tip for a date next time. Anyone interested to see planes land with me? LOL)

How about that moment with your platonic girl-friend which evolved into something physical and then both of you agreed that it was just that. A momentary lust that was to remember by, and to remain just a memorable moment. It didn't cost money, just doing things different and making someone else happy for a change.

Kiki looked at me and smiled. She said "Are you trying to get me into bed again Zed?".

(Zed’s Note: ROTFLMAO)

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On another side of things, one of the post in MiNdBloG made it to BlogsMalaysia thanks to Lainie. I have been a reader of her blog for awhile now, and this girl can just write, and write and write! Kudos Lainie! As for BlogsMalaysia, follow the link and drop by the site if you have some time. Also you might want to join. It is a pretty good idea, and I find it a good place to recruit new blogs into what I read from time to time.

__________________________________________

Finally, the Crush Calculator attracted quite a fair bit of entries, and the only comment I wanted to make is this. There was a few entries where both the boy and girl named each other! So if you have a crush on someone, and you keyed in the person’s name, chances are he or she did the same too! Go ahead boys and girls confess already, stop the friendly curtsies - go on a date and knock yourself out!

Cheers.

Zed-HXM4000 System Check

XO this is the Captain, I am not sure why but Mouth does not seem to be following my orders and there is a loud buzzing noise on the left hemisphere of the brain. It also stinks in here! I want a damage report immediately. Sir, yes Sir! Two-MC, Two-MC attention all personnel, this is the XO on the Bridge. All parts call-in for immediate damage report on my command.

Ears to Bridge, hearing loud and clear Sir!
Eyes to Bridge, visual at 100% Sir!
Hands to Bridge, we are all systems go Sir!
Legs to Bridge, we are up and running Sir!
Heart to Bridge, we are green on the dashboard Sir!
Lungs to Bridge, we are good to go Sir!
Stomach to Bridge, we are all clear Sir!

Bridge to Ass, come in Ass.
Bridge to Ass, come in!

Ass to bridge, we need a minute sir!
Bridge to Ass, what is your stats?
Ass to bridge, we have good news and bad news Sir!
Bridge to Ass, please explain!

Sir, we have a situation Sir! Apparently we didn't realize you were joking yesterday, so we took your order to make "shit for brains" quite literally and we sent some upstairs Sir!

So what the hell is the good news Ass?

Sir, now we don't have to worry about running Mouth anymore Sir. We have it full of crap just like everyone else we meet Sir!

(Zed's Note: For a full read of the Zed-HXM4000 User Manual please click here)

______________________________________________________

On another Minblogling Note:

I noticed in my blog-hopping reads that a lot of people are always asking if they are with the right person in their relationship. I found this Crush Calculator over at Hani's site. I also know that we bloggers have a big penchant for taking these on-line quizzes so go ahead take this test, and you will find the results a big surprise! At least I did. To take the test, click the following link.

CRUSH CALCULATOR - IS HE OR SHE THE ONE?

Cheers, and have a great week ahead blogaholics.

One evening not too long ago...

Remember my young friend there are three things that will bring you down, and only one that will bring you up.

I looked at my old friend and thought oh crap here we go again. No he is not an old friend as in he has been my friend for a long time, he is old; literally. I have friends of all ages where some are wise, while others perhaps a bit too full of vice. However I have learned not to judge as it really isn’t up to me to be all knowing and one that decides upon others. Anyway I looked at him and said fine I shall give you this one old man, go ahead take the next half hour of my life and lets see if it’s worth it. I lighted my dying cigar and waited.

So he went on.

First Zed, never trust a person that compliments you all the time. There is something they wish from you that you may not want to part with. A man (or even a women perhaps) full of compliments has more to them then just words. Compliments should be far apart and sincere. Watch out my friend as this person will bring you down. You shall forget your weaknesses as you float in the cushion of praises and you will be vulnerable one day. This is when you will never know what hit you.

This kinda makes sense to me so I nodded my agreement and he continued.

Also, only let someone betray you once and only once. The rights to your friendship must be unconditional, but never let that change the fact that betrayal no matter how small or how insignificant - is betrayal nonetheless. This means that once they betrayed you, they must no longer be within your inner circle. Keep them as a friend but don’t trust them. Of course in return you must never betray a friend. Irregardless of how tempting it can be, never betray a friend. The world is far too small and life too short for a man to be living watching his back, and miss out on the joys of looking forward.

On this I had to ask why does one have to be so harsh? Why not a second chance? He looked at me and said. A second chance? A second chance only means that they get to betray you again and this time it might not be insignificant anymore. Loyalty is neither bought nor sold my friend - it is bred.

I am not sure if I could agree but he looked at me as he drew in his Cohiba Singlo and said by the way never trust anyone that says “Trust me”. If they have to say it, then they don’t really mean it. I asked him if that is his third philosophy and he laughed. No that was just a sidebar. So I smiled and said then it’s not three things my brother, it is three and a half! We both laughed a bit and fell silent almost at the same time.

We watched a crowd of beautiful ladies walk in with a noisy chatter as they took the table not far away from us. They gave us a quick look and I felt very un-cool. It’s like hanging out with my dad, but hey they might think that he is a rich Datuk and I am his protégé! I might be able to use this as I thought to myself and smiled. One of the girls must have thought I was smiling at her and she smiled back. Ahh… a prospectful evening it might be after all. My friend and I exchanged knowing glances.

I was still quite curious about his third point so I just kept quiet and waited. And then he asked me. Have you loved a women that you will do anything for her and no man will stand in the way of your feeling? I nodded. What happened he asked? Well she left me.

That is the point my friend. That wasn’t love, it was lust and you were thinking using your pride and your little brother (Zed’s Note: LOL we all know who this is!). A good women is a friend and a partner; not an object of desire. If you let your senses overwhelm you I promise you that you will enjoy the ride but you may not enjoy the ending as much. I looked at him and said well if you have never been on the ride then you will never know now will ya’.

He suddenly realized that age and wisdom has a difference. What he realized from his lifetime of making mistakes sometimes could not be taught and learned, one simply has to go through life and repeat the same mistakes to realize the truth behind it. We chat about the need to make mistakes and besides who wouldn’t want to make the mistake of shagging a hot bodacious babe just because it was lust? I wouldn’t miss it for the world and would jump right back in the saddle to do it all over again in a heartbeat! Here we compromised. You shall see what I mean my friend was all he said. I admit I don't really disagree, but to deprive my loins from the joys of women? Hey come on, there will be time enough to learn from that.

We chatted about irrelevant things which I shall not bore you with here and after a few more drinks and as the crowd begin to get loud I asked him. So what was the one thing that would make me successful?

He was obviously enjoying the attention and was basking in the fact that I asked. As with any old men they love the sound of their own voice and most of the time they relive their youth through you. So I gave him that out of respect, and the fact that he does help me a lot in what I do anyway. Selfish bastard that I am.

He looked at me and said well Zed you must learn to choose.

That’s it? Are you sure? Choose? That is your secret elixir to success? He smiled at my impatience and said do you want to let me explain or would you like to continue babbling away like a housewife whose husband just came home drunk with lipsticks on his collar? Okay, okay I said… so I settled down in my cozy chair and decided to shut up.

He has this to say.

All your life Zed you will be asked to choose. The difference between a man and a child is that a man chooses and lives the life that he chose. He then has to learn from the mistakes of his choice; and grow. A child? He looks at choices and expects others to either choose for him or choose only when he absolutely has to. You either decide for yourself or someone else will decide on your behalf. If you choose for yourself then you have the luxury of learning from your own choice, but if you let someone else choose for you then all you have is the pain of regret for not having chosen what you really wanted. Choosing and learning will teach you a lesson, but regret? All you will get out of regret is remorse and a heart full of hatred simply because you let others rule your life. So making your own choice will be the first step in growing up, else you will always be a child at the mercy of others around you.

Life is a series of choices Zed. Everyday you need to choose. What to wear, to work or perhaps even to play, what food you like, which direction to take in the course of your work, which women is better, they all come is a series of choices that you have to make. Yes, you may make some bad decisions or even some decisions too late, but only when you choose you will know whether you have made the right decision of not. This is the foundation of learning.

Wow… I felt that he was being a bit dramatic but I could see the truth behind what he just said. So I leaned forward and asked him, so my friend what have you chosen today? More out of jest then anything else.

He too leaned forward and said “Zed, I chose to save a friend from a lifetime of regret”.

So. What kind of blogger are you?

The Nosy Bloodhound
You spend all your time nosing around the blog and poop comments like a dog with a bad case of diarrhea. Very much like the bloodhound, you are eager to please. Almost any blogger would know who you are as your comments appears almost on every blog they drop by. You are too lazy to blog so you make some inconsequential entries and are very happy being superficial. Sometimes something good do strike and your post is left standing longer then an ostrich’s head hidden in the sand. Only when you hit about sixty or seventy comments on your blog then you plug your head out, take a deep breath, and post a new entry. However, as work sometimes get in the way, your comments get shorter with a quick “hello” and “nice entry” posted in blogs that you mark as your territory. However you are a very necessary part of the blog eco-system else most of the blogs out there will be left unvisited and uncommented. Most bloggers welcome you and will notice you missing if you stop blogging for a few days.


The Timid Mouse
You blog but you are very afraid of making any remarks that disclose who you are that your entries becomes more cryptic then the heliography left behind by the ancient Egyptians. Often you ramble about how pissed you are and such entries are abound in your blog. You seek attention yet give none. However when you do wander around the blog you leave caring comments and often provide solutions to problems that didn’t even exist. Your blogs are updated sparingly and is completely up to your whim and fancy. Sometimes when people leave a criticizing comment you get upset, yet you publish your thoughts on the internet right out in the open and expect everyone to agree?


The Rowdy Frog
You write and you comment A LOT! You are a classic case of a blogaholic. You put tabloids to shame with your stories and constant chatter. People look forward to your entries and wish for your comments, often writing and hoping that you will drop by and craft some witty anecdotes. However as the extreme-mania tend to fizzle away so does your enthusiasm and your fire often is short lived by the fact that you can’t sustain new ideas and your blogs get lame and you feel that you no longer are able to provide groundbreaking new entries. You then die a slow excruciating death as you lose the will to blog and one day you will be left in blog-land as just another has been. You fear this day and continue to churn entries wringing every ounce of brain matter left.


The Lost Hippo
You are neither here nor there. Usually you are a blogging new-bee and have not figured out the ropes. You may end up a as a Rowdy Frog or a Nosy Bloodhound but for now you are enjoying the pleasure of just blog hoping once in a while and sometimes when something really interest you, you post a short and quick little note. Your friends are bloggers and you want to fit in. However you are unsure if you have what it takes to post entries after entries and seventy percent of you just give up and will become a casualty of the blog-war. However, once you have figured out the way-of-the-blog it will be very difficult to stop you and you shall be a blogger to reckon with!

Joy, Shipmate, Joy!

JOY! shipmate—joy!
(Pleas’d to my Soul at death I cry;)
Our life is closed—our life begins;
The long, long anchorage we leave,
The ship is clear at last—she leaps!
She swiftly courses from the shore;
Joy! shipmate—joy!

Walt Whitman (1819–1892). Leaves of Grass.

BACKHUYSEN, Ludolf
Ships in Distress off a Rocky Coast
1667

Don't we all sometimes feel like we are just a bottle tossed around in a vast ocean. A day ends and we reflect on what we think we have achieved and what we think we have to do tomorrow. Yet closer inspection makes me realize that I am merely a grain of sand pushing through an endless desert looking for solace yet always reaching the beginning of what I thought was the end of a journey. Such is life.

Every step makes me think that I am nearing a destination but only to realize that what I have started is a brand new journey. Humility sinks in and while I shall not equate this awakening to a word as grand as an epiphany, I do realize that unconsciously I have harbored the notion that I am aware of such tribulations. The end of a journey merely is a milestone upon a new sight and a new quest.

We lament that our lives are mundane and blame this existential voyage on our lackluster luck or even fate. Well a voyage need not have to be one of the being but also of the mind. A journey from arrogant to humility is one that not many may ever be able to embark on, or even from timid to courageous perhaps. I protest my boredom but upon realization of my predicament I realized it wasn’t what I was doing that was the problem, but it was what I was thinking.

The mind’s journey is measured not in miles nor in what we see, but by the humble fact of what we realize and what we feel. What was once a challenging debate of right and wrong today turns into a mere discussion on your point of view against mine. No need for escalated voices nor heightened emotions, just a matured conversation. Some ask what happened to you Zed? Why the lost of the fire in the belly? Where is your hunger? Have you turned soft? Such skepticism brought upon by what one needs to see rather then what really is important – the respect for another and the joy of living a journey rather then pursuing a destination.

Some reading this may say, Zed you are just being too cryptic. I beg to differ. Such description of life could not be more clear to me nor to you my mates in this vast sea of words over the internet. We all share one thing in common and always will. We seek self actualization because that was what we were taught to search for, and upon actualizing ourselves we realize the grand hoax of it all. Actualization really is only the awakening to realize that we need only to accept who we are against what we really are. A lonely soul that seeks solace in the lord and felicity amongst fellow mankind.

A 61 year old man may go to jail. At the end of his time here on earth he may spend it in a cell contemplating his pursuits for life and what it meant to him. While another man is dead for what he thought was the right path to righteousness. Yet another 64 year old man seeks new beginnings with his new bride and may his last days be as promising as it seems. These men in the publics eye is a mere drop in the ocean of souls that seeks their daily grind and puts forth hope for a better tomorrow. I wish I could share the feeling of realizing that today is all you have and what you do today inevitably is a single step in the thousands that may or may not come. Live life as it is meant to be looking forward to being the best we can to god, and to our fellow travelers in this mass of dirt hurling through the universe and perhaps we will all realize that this puzzle wasn’t one to solve by but instead just one to live by.

Such is life.

(Zed's Note: Or maybe it is just me growing old! ROTFL)

One afternoon at the United Bloggers Association License Office (UBALO) Petaling Jaya in a meeting with the license officer.

Thank you Encik Zed for coming in. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble. I am very sorry to have to call you over on such short notice, but it is a rather urgent matter that I hope we could both solve this as soon as possible. Very sorry lah Encik Zed.
o
You makan already Encik Zed?

o
Oh? Really? I agree sir the nasi daun pisang over at Kanna Curry House is the best, I go there a lot myself. Duduklah Encik Zed, sila sila. Would you like some coffee or tea?

o
Ok, just a moment Encik Zed. (goes out to order coffee from secretary)

o
I hope you don’t mind if I go straight to the point Encik Zed, I understand you are a very busy man and things like this just gets in your way. You see the reason we had to meet in person is that it has come to our attention that you have been blogging without a license for a while now and this seems to pose a problem as it is not only an issue of the “right thing to do” (using hand gesture to make brackets in the air) but also lost of revenue for the country. We are also concerned that without the proper controls nanti people post very controversial issues susah Encik Zed.

o
Oh, I can call you Zed? Okay, okay thank you. By the way minumlah Zed. Just kopi O only.

o
Anyway, as I was saying we also don’t really like the idea of being these virtual police as some have called us tapi we all cari makan lah Zed. It is very difficult to implement these new Blogging Censorship Law but the government has passed the law so we are just doing our job lah.

o

Hmmm… Is it? But according to our records your site is quite popular lah Zed, but in any case it doesn’t matter how popular a site is Zed, if you can say things in public even if one person see pun already enough to start a fire right?

o
No no we are not putting you under arrest heh heh sorry, I think you watch too many movies lah Zed, but there is a small fine. It’s only 100 ringgit and it also makes you eligible to apply for the Blogging Rights License that we issue.

o
Oh if you don’t pay the fine then we have to suspend your site and close it down lah. Anyway we still have to do that because it takes about two weeks to process your forms.

o
Huh? Blogaholic? And you have a doctor’s certification you say? Wow! This is the first time I heard of this. Hmmm… I have to ask my boss lah Zed. I never heard of an exemption before.

o
So anyway as for now it looks like I have to suspend your site lah Zed, unless you know, if you just want to settle it faster and then we maybe can work something out lah.
o
Err… if you want the forms to go through faster maybe I can help lah Zed, but it will cost you a bit more. You know laaa we all here makan gaji, very small so maybe some extra fee would be win win right?

o
Okay, so you just want to go through the whole process is it? No problem Zed no problem but I hope we could just forget the discussion just now lah ya?

o
Sure sure no problem, I will ask my boss if Blogaholic got exemption or not.

o
Maybe you can call me tomorrow? I will tell you what he says lah.

o
Yes yes that is all, again very sorry to drag you here Zed, and I do hope that your site can stay up. I ada baca sikit-sikit and I know people like you that don’t kacau orang suffer because of laws like this, but what to do. We have our law and the world have theirs so sometimes in a virtual world like the internet it does have problems for everyone.

o
Anyway, thank you Zed, and here’s my card and the standard Blogging Rights License Application Forms. You just need to fill it up and send it to one of our counters outside. Also as I said you can call me tomorrow to see what my boss says about the exemption lah.

o
Yes we suspended your site already this morning so you won’t have access to your blog until we issue you the Blogging Rights License. Very sorry Encik Zed, but like I said lah I cari makan only, what to do?

o
Heh heh that is very funny Zed but again sorry the Blogging Rights License don’t have P lah… heh heh P License macam kereta is it? So new bloggers get learners license lah he he he maybe that is a good idea lah Zed.

o
Okay okay thank you Zed for being very cooperative. Usually people get very upset over this things, I always kena marah one hmmm. Anyway like I said so many times this kind of things very difficult for everyone but since the our government decided that enough is enough so here we are having this conversation lah. Well anyway have a nice day Zed and hopefully I have some good news for you tomorrow ya.

Change the damn channel will ya!

Have you ever been so bored that you are bored of feeling bored?

Well that is pretty much where I am right now. I am tired of feeling bored and yet am too bored to be doing anything but feel bored. Basically a continuous loop of boredom. So here is an entry purely dedicated to boring feelings that one inevitably has and things one does to kill boredom. Was minding my own business in a little corner of KLCC glued to free WIFI surfing the net when it struck me. I told myself Zed there is definitely more to life then this. Really? I ask myself. Sure really. What?

Well I was playing golf with this fella and he was telling me about his flight training to get his flying license. That’s pretty cool. Flying. It cost about RM 25,000 to join a club, and that would get you started with the flying lessons. But then he said it was fun only for about five months and then he realized that he doesn’t really have the time anymore. So it has been almost a year and he still have not secured his license.

Okay.

How about diving? Well I do have a lot of friends who dive. But I can’t swim.

Okay.

Golf? Well I am pretty good at this, at least good enough to hold my own and play a bet off my handicap. But it has been a few years, and sometimes the excitement of getting a birdie is shrugged off by the fact that it is often a fluke that I couldn’t repeat if my life depended on it and to top it all off my putting kinda sucks right now. Shot almost a hundred at Hyatt over the weekend, so am back to the range.

Okay.

Getting fit? How about building an Adonis-like body sculptured with six-pack abs and biceps to go? Well, frankly this is something that I would love to do. However my Fitness First membership is rotting away and all I am doing is paying my fees every month to make me feel better about myself. Someday perhaps. Maybe tomorrow. That is what I tell myself every day, maybe tomorrow.

Okay.

Futsal? Getting old and running around in shorts is unbecoming.

Okay.

Chicks? I am definitely not bored of this, but am taking a break. Too needy and too much work. This time it is about me and me only. I have decided to take a turn for the worst and be a selfish bastard. So am keeping an eye out but inadvertently this will be a good fall-back plan.

Okay.

How about working harder? You gotta be kidding! Next!

Okay.

Friends? Actually I am tired of people. It used to be one of my great interest to get to know people and understand what makes them tick. It still is to some extend but more on a manipulative manner. People are selfish. It’s always about what’s in it for them. Every step consciously or otherwise is always about their selfish needs and wants. I have spent a lifetime fulfilling this and it has reach a point where I have turned it around and use it to my advantage. Sad? Well we all do it to ourselves and far be it from me to go out and change the world. We are all suckers and it is only a question of when our guards will fail us one day and we will have that “Oh my god! What have I done!!” moment. So friends are just people waiting for that moment and I’ll be the one ending up saying “I told you so”. We never learn, and that is what makes the world go round. Like they say, a sucker is born every minute.

Okay.

How about a night out for drinks? I am actually trying to get on the wagon and the last few outings without alco feels stupid. Babysitting a bunch of drunkards isn’t what I would consider a night out. Also feel very much left out. Besides if you are not drinking have you noticed that non-alcoholic drinks are really not very high on many clubs list? It’s not like you can get “teh-tarik” in the middle of La Bodega. So after three bottles of Perrier a man does wonder if its time to call it quits.

Okay.

Anything else?

How about reading? Well I just got myself a copy of Narnia and am into the first few chapters. Will wait for the movie.

Okay.

Blogging? In the short span of my blogging days I have seen some blogs start and some bloggers quit. So I shall pace myself with this and see how long it’ll last. The initial gusto is beginning to wear off and I am beginning to feel that perhaps being The Lord of the Blog may not be a part of my not so distant future.

Some bloggers have been blogging away for the last two years and are still going strong while others have wilted away right in front of my very eyes. Looking at some of the impressive sites out there I have resigned to the fact that I shall not want the attention anyway. If my life is all about waking up in the morning wondering what the heck I am going to write about today I might as well get paid for it.

Okay.

How about being the couch potato that I am so good at? Staring mindlessly at a tube that tells you what to think and when to think? Thanks to the recent holidays I did have an overload of TV-rays and am also taking a break from this mindless activity. In fact thanks also to cheap pirated DVD’s most of the movies have not gone unnoticed and while I could almost hear the voices from the sacrilegious few that dares say that I propagate the sale of pirated stuff I blame it squarely on the pirates. I am merely a victim of kiasu-ness and our infamous “tidak apa” attitude that I have grown so fond of.

Okay.

While I light up my next ciggy and thank all the tobacco companies for their valiant fight against the pits of selling these addictive cancer sticks I ponder. Maybe what I need is a change. This predictable days have become exactly that – predictable. Should I be thankful for all that I have? Of course! But being human and bored maybe it is time I unfold the sails and chart the waters beyond. I know what I know and that is perhaps the problem.

It is time to take that plunge and for once not know what to expect.

Okay.

Bye-bye banal days for I shall leave you to seek the unknown and let my fate be in God’s hands while I swim in his cesspool of beings trying to understand the why’s and the how and hope that one day when I die I can tell myself that I have done all I can and changed all I can and I have left this world slightly better then when I came into it.

Don’t wish me luck for I believe not in it, but wish me Bon Voyage for I intend to enjoy this passage of mind and shall seek not enlightenment but comprehension.

(Zed’s Note: Bloody drama-king!)

Oh blog already!

Woe is me woe is me
When went into blogs and there is nothing to see
So let it be
So let it be
It is either blogs or pornography
I shall hunt the sea
The ocean and up in the tree
As words escape me

I stand by me
Alone maybe
Perhaps it is Aidifitri
Or you are just a busy bee
But blogs are empty
And I am hungry
Not for food nor chow
As I wonder some rather how

When will the bloggers allow
Some crazy cats on the prowl
And mad people lah how
Even cute little cows
Bitch about their now
And then comment on how’s
Like they know the answers to
A riddle that never came to

So let’s all blow, toot and crow
As we wait for bloggers to grow
Wake up and start to throw
Their rants, babble and show
So I get to see some skin
And make belief I am akin
To matters of next of kin
Lets all wait for some blogs to see

As you come and blog with me

This ode is for you and me
Bloggers that come out at night
Wishing always for a good fright
Rather then having a fight

This ode is for you and me
We that shuts their mouth
While the fingers wield a couth
That hopefully doesn’t go south

This ode is for you and me
And I think its enough already
So get your pencils ready
As I wait eager and steady

Zed Ezekiel M.i.N.d.B.l.o.G. 2005

So how was Raya?

Too much food, movies I won't watch, and Siti Nurhaliza. Hey don't get me wrong, I love the girl to bits but when she is on every channel something's gotta give. Anyway I am still alive and Ops Sikap netted 209 deaths this year. I am passionate about this issue because except for a few accidents most of them are senseless and unnecessary. Driving is an everyday event for most of us and when sitting in your car is a game of Russian roulette something is very wrong. We could do better yet we beckon insanity by repeating the same Ops Sikap year after year hoping that we yield different results. When will the authorities get it? It doesn’t work. More is needed; much more education, enforcement, and elimination of errant drivers is required before we can feel safe on our roads again.

Lets spend some time on this issue. I have this to say.

Educate

Or re-educate as the case may be. Not the fundamentals of how to drive like parking the car and understanding traffic signs but the etiquette and defensive driving skills necessary to keep our drivers alive. In U.S. they teach driving in high-school. We should do this. As for us that have been driving for a while a nationwide re-skilling is necessary. To much hassle you say? Wait until that bike beats the traffic light and run straight into you and you hit the back of a petrol truck as you brake and explode in flames. Hassle? Maybe not.

So the next time we renew our license about three months before it expires we are all required to attend a half-day class on defensive driving and pass a written test at the end of it to secure our license renewal slip. If we fail, we re-sit until we pass.

The nationwide re-skilling would at least ensure the EVERYONE is inculcated with the necessary basics of defensive driving – no more excuses. Once the whole nation is recertified we know for certain that the fundamentals of safe driving on the road is a skill we all have and basic driving courtesy is expected and not an exception.

I don’t need studies to prove this but I know that the longer you drive the better you get. It is a skill just like everything else we learn. I also do not need to check the statistics to know for certain that most of the deaths on the road involving cars are usually younger drivers between the age of 19 to 25. Why? The lack of experience. That’s why. We need to ensure that we penalize the younger drivers and ensure we drive the point home when they commit a driving offence. We need to value our ability to hold a license and also be made to understand that driving is a privilege not a right. This brings me to my next point.

Enforce

Way too many underpaid policemen taking bribes. Seriously our cops will settle for twenty bucks. That is an insult! At least make it look worthwhile. And to make it worst the maximum fine for speeding? RM 300. That is what I pay for a round of golf. Get real RM 300 is not going to cause a dent in most of the drivers out there. To some it is even worth it just so they could take their Beamers or Mercs for a spin. Furthermore, what does it take for you to spend the night in jail for a traffic offence? In California anyone caught speeding over 100mph spends the night in jail. No questions asked. And they patrol with helicopters to catch these offenders. The fine? Upwards to a few thousand dollars. The summons pays for the choppers - talk about return on investment!

Lets get real.

We are not enforcing our laws and we are all at fault. Yes all of us. From the cops that takes the bribe all the way to the errant driver that slips that RM 50 note between his license. Ask yourself this question. Do you have a summon? Almost all of us have at least two or three. Are we worried? No? Why? Because we know it is just money. Pay the fine and off we go on our merry way until one day we end up between a lorry and the divider cursing the “other” driver.

Yes, we are never at fault are we?

Eliminate

It is time we get rid of some of the drivers out there. A major traffic infraction today results in an accident tomorrow. I guarantee it. All speeders will hit something and so do drunk drivers. Today it's just statistics in the news - tomorrow it may be your son, husband, or parents.

So for the following traffic offences I recommend a year’s license suspension with renewal of license only upon successfully passing the driving test again.

- Speeding over 150 kph
- Accidents involving death
- Drunk driving

Anyone caught with the following infractions during Ops Sikap should also take a year's break from driving.

- Speeding over designated speed limits
- Usage of emergency lanes
- Reckless driving (caught on camera via helicopter)
- Drunk Driving

Get these people off the streets.

The maximum fine for traffic offences should also be raised to RM 2,500 or a month in jail. The first few months we should publicize the offenders and create a punitive effect for the rest of the nation. Once everyone realize that the authorities are serious they will listen and only then will accidents be really what it is - an accident.

What do you think? I think the relevant Datuk should just get off his butt and do something.