The Reader

Puisi: Sekuntum Mawar Merah

Sekuntum mawar merah,
Mekar kembang didinahari,
Sesyahdu embun pagi.

Sekuntum mawar merah,
Bermandikan cahaya mentari,
Menari-nari ditasik hati.

Sekuntum mawar merah,
Mercu-tanda budi,
Tercari-cari erti.

Sekuntum mawar merah,
Sebuah puisi,
Terlena disanubari.

--Berisman--

Just write..

I write whenever and wherever..The photo on the right shows I was writing my journal in my moleskine notebook on my flight to KB.I write after my lunch at a kopitiam,on the train to JB,on my flight,waiting at the counters etc.You need three things-a desire to write,a notebook and a pen.Not enough time to write?Just get your pen and notebook out  and write during various pockets of free time available between your work/appointments.

I started writing journal way back in October,1995 when one of my officers(Ruslan) gave me a beautiful notebook on my 43rd birthday.It was 17 years ago...and the size was A4.Since 2006,I opted to a pocket notebook -moleskine version.

How do I keep this habit?Just donot go out without your pen and a notebook.Then, write what you see,hear or feel about things you meet along the way.We don't have to be A Samad Said or Jeffrey Archer before we can write.

In the event you feel sad or angry,just download your feelings inside your notebook.It is safer there and it will give you a lot of benefits..No matter how good are iPad or Samsung tabs,nothing can beat the simplicity of pen and papers(I also carry 3x5 cards).

Black and White lamy pen and ballpen

First entry of my 2009 journal

For this year,I have chosen to use a 'monologue' diary which cost about 40% of my previous moleskine diary.The choice was based mainly on the better layout of the daily pages.When it comes paper quality and binding,moleskine is still superior. For my journal,I still prefer the moleskine classic notebook but for this year,I have chosen the blank pages over the lined pages.By so doing,I hope I could be more creative in writing and recording my personal journal.

From my past two years experience in journaling using moleskine notebook,I only used on average about two notebooks in a year-just about 30 sen per day.

Yesterday was my first time using a blank moleskine with some sketches as shown above.

Moleskine users..

PalmX-Flickr
Originally uploaded by Honeytar

When was the last time you wrote a personal letter to someone? Honestly,I can't remember...it must be more than 30 years ago when I was at the university. How about you?

What I meant by writing here is when I get a piece of paper(or a notebook) and start writing using my pen(or nowadays ballpen).Typing on the keyboard is just pressing a button and an alphabet comes out in a size and font which one has selected.The only thing personal is the content. What about writing using pen and paper?When I do write,I am actually drawing an alphabet as well as the words as I go along.No standard size and font to follow.It is all mine all the way...

Which is more meaningful to someone who receives a thank you note  personally hand-written compared to an email or sms(text message)?

By the way, there is a growing group of us Malaysians who still enjoy writing with their pen and paper as reported by a bookshop which sells moleskine notebook.Most of us don't write letters anymore, but some of us  do write journals and draw some sketches..

You are most welcome to join us here.Link to our first meeting.

Photo : Thank Honeytar for allowing to use your photo.

Replacing old Lamy

Two years ago I bought a Lamy Safari.You can see it here.After being used and misused by me, the nib is a bit disoriented.Yesterday,I had the opportunity to enter The Pen Galley at The Weld,Kuala Lumpur.A few months ago,I visited the shop during weekend but it was closed.When I entered the shop yesterday afternoon, I was greeted with a friendly smile by Mr Jamal.The wallet in my pocket was literally shaking in my pants.My eyes began a fast horizontal scan just like the eyes of my wife when she enters Southern Pottery Shop!From the wallet's previous experience, a few blue pieces will fly away because the man has zero resistance to prevent him from buying a good pen if he likes it.By the way,the pen cost me about RM75.It is a really good buy.

Let me give a free advertisement to this shop.If you are looking to buy Nakimi Capless fountain pens, you can get 20% of list prices.I can assure you that these are much cheaper than when I bought  one Pilot Fermo in Singapore recently.By the way,this shop also sells pens that cost thousands of ringgit.I dare not look at them even though they were staring at me.These Lamys are good enough for my level of penmanship in my moleskine notebook and the values of cheques I sign.

Pen maintenance

  Pen maintenance 
  Originally uploaded by Adibi

My old Parker Frontier is having problem.The ink does not flow anymore.So, I took it my friend Nazley,who is a pen collector and he knows how to do some 'mechanic' work.He helped me to clean up my Parker using ultrasonic device and now my old parker is okay.Thanks Nazley.

I share his enthusiasm in collecting good looking and well engineered fountain pen.Today,he showed me the mechanic of how the ink flows properly in the right quantity and explained  a few pen terminologies like GP,CT,GT etc.

After using fountain pen for more than 40 years,I discovered that there is a ball bearing in the fountain pen and its function!

Penulis & Blog

  Penulis & Blog 
  Originally uploaded by Firdaus Ibnu Ariff

Last Saturday morning,Firdaus and me went  to DBP to participate in a seminar with the above title(Writers & Blogs).There,I met Fauzi Shafie,my schoolmate and my friend Jiwarasa who is one of the panel speakers.(My thanks to Firdaus for the photo shown on the right)

First,let me congratulate DBP for taking this initiative.Jiwarasa has articulated very well about his experience in blogging and showed the landscape,terrains and landmarks in the cyberworld and blogsphere.
Puan Nisah Hj Harun also elaborated very well about the roles of blog for writers.For more detailed report on the event,please read this.

I am grateful that I have met new friends and learnt a lot from the two speakers.By the way,I was sitting next to the senior officer of DBP and I managed to whisper to her that this is a good event that needs follow through and action plan to increase more blogs written in Bahasa Melayu.Rightly used, blogs can be utilised to achieve a few objectives of DBP.

By the way, the new minister of Information and Sport/Youth have recently acknowledged the  importance of blogs.

Meeting of Pens

The photo shows my pens and ball pens.I honestly don't know why I buy all of them but their prices are mostly less than RM10 each- a few are RM100 plus,nothing expensive.

May be I just love to have them because they are nice and functional as well.If the pens/ballpens could talk, they may tell each other that I am crazy to need all of them;-)

Talking about pens, are they still mightier than the swords? I believe they do but in different medium and use in specific war zones.

Writing:Any where and any time..

Some people asked me how I got the time to write. Well, I write any where I am and whenever I feel like it. All you need is a pen a piece of paper(preferrably a notebook) - which every one can afford.Now, I write everyday-in my notebook and my computer. By the way, I enjoy both worlds - analogue and digital. Both have their own strenghts and weaknesses.

Just carry a pen and notebook with you all the time.Then, take some time to write every day. After a few months, it became my habit. Just tell yourself that it is cool to write;-)

Note: The photo shown was taken by my son Ahmad Maher when we were going home(balik kampung) during the recent Eidul Adha.