Livin' The Vida Life

The night wind blew and whistles into the night. No clouds were in sight, only the twinkling stars and the bright moon that illuminates the night.

Charlotte was in her bedroom, alone just as she likes it. Her room was messy, but not messy in terms of clothes on the floor and the sorts of rubbish; instead her room was messy of books. Books on the floor, books on the bed, books in boxes, well she can’t help it to keep her room from being flooded with books. Her cabinet was full of it and not one more book could fit in. She asked her parents if she could have bookshelves. She was still waiting for the answer and so to cooperate with the books that she already has, not to mention the books she wanted to buy; Charlotte keeps her other books in stacks on the floor, on her study table, underneath furniture and at the corner of her bed. Books are Charlotte’s one way ticket to get away from the chaos in her house.

“Do you know what time it is now?!” a man exclaimed. The voice could be heard inside Charlotte’s room, the voice was muffled but still audible. The man’s voice belonged to Charlotte’s father.

“Looks like Mum’s home late. They’re going to fight again.” Charlotte mumbled under her breath, letting out a heavy sigh.

Charlotte was not new to the quarreling that seems to echo through the whole house. Although the house looked so friendly and happy from outside. It must have been the paint, because inside the house was far from being called happy. Charlotte would come home from school everyday having her smile turned upside down by the time she reaches home. She knows the routine and she knows she won’t like it one bit.

“I had work okay!” a woman exclaimed. The woman’s voice belonged to Charlotte’s mother

“Working hours stops at 5 in the afternoon and you’re back at 9?!” replied Dad.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and stuck in a pair of earphones from her iPod with some of her favorite country rock songs playing. She rest on her bed, turned her position towards her window and stared at the night sky with the moon in its fullest. While her parents were still arguing outside her bedroom, she begins to reminisce of how all of this had started.

3 years ago

The house was quiet; there was not a sound of laughter or a conversation. Dad was always in the extra bedroom, not in the bedroom with Mum. He looked miserable every time Charlotte sees him. Charlotte could hear sobbing from Dad when she was getting ready for tuition. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but she didn’t dare, yet she was still curious.


One afternoon, Dad picked her up from school which was shocking for Charlotte as this opportunity was seldom. In the car it was deadly quiet, only the revving of the engines was heard and nothing else. Soon, Dad broke the silence.


“Charlotte dear, you know I love you right?” Dad asked.


“Of course Dad, I know. What’s going on Dad?” Charlotte answered


“Charlotte, I want you to know, whatever happens, me and your Mum loves you.”


Charlotte’s head swam. Her mind was filled with the worse scenarios she could think of. Death? Illness? Adopted? Her heart was thumping against her chest. She was waiting for the answer for the whole week but yet she was afraid to hear it.


“Your Mum is…with another man” Dad said.


The world suddenly stopped for Charlotte. Dad was still talking, she listens but kept quiet. Her heart begins to beat slower. Her head throbs as she takes in everything that she heard from Dad. Their whole journey home, Charlotte sat still and kept quiet and in her head the word DIVORCE kept showing in bold letters. When they reached home, Charlotte walked straight into her bedroom and finally cried. A kind of news like that was a shock and the journey from school to back home was long enough for Charlotte to hold in. She cried into her pillow, thinking that such a thing couldn’t be true. But then she looked back at the events that happened the whole week, it was all coming together to point out one answer, scandal and to think to what it leads which is divorce, Charlotte would cry again. After a few minutes, Charlotte sat up and tried to stop crying. She kept telling herself that everything would be alright, but it was silly and impossible. As she reached for a tissue, a flashback of the past  she had, her childhood life when her parents were always happy, always smiling and never fought and to think it won't happen again. That was it, her weakness. Charlotte cried even more.


Then, there was a knock on the door. Charlotte was sure not to make her sobbing audible. She sat up, went to a mirror and wiped her tears away, rubbing her face to make sure her face was not tear-stained. She calmed down and opened the door. Dad was there.


“Are you okay?” Dad asked calmly, knowing that she had been crying as he could see her eyes and nose were red, although no tears were visible.


“Yes...” her voice choked. Charlotte couldn’t hold it much longer, tears started to roll down her cheeks. Dad opens his arm and gave a hug. She cried in Dad’s arms. Dad explained to her that she needed to know the truth earlier before things get worse as he comfort her. Charlotte understood but she just couldn’t believe it.


Present day

Charlotte opened her eyes. Still gazing at the night sky and her list of country rock songs were about to end, a tear rolled on the side of her cheeks. It was half past ten and the quarreling had stopped with a slam of a door. She let out a sigh knowing, that day when she knew what was the cause of all that was happening was when things had never been the same again. It was also from that day on, Dad was more suspicious of Mum where ever she goes or what ever she does and the relationship between father and daughter became stronger from then on.

I'm sure you readers have watched Narnia before. First movie was extraordinary! All the action, the fantasy. But what i experience for Narnia's sequel and the 3rd movie...that it was getting rather boring. Maybe the movie is not fully my type, maybe it's because i never read the books. I don't know, maybe it's one of those reasons.

I recently watched the 3rd Narnia movie, through out the whole movie it reminds me of The Lion King, because of Aslan i guess. *sigh* Lion King, LOVE THAT  MOVIE!

Yes Star Trek, you might think this blog have been hacked by some Trekkie. But no. Yes it's me, Yasmin here and yes this blog is dedicated to Star Trek. The one i'm starting to develop an interest to.


Some people labeled people who watch or a fan of Star Trek a "geek", but no readers. We have a term for people who watch or a fan of the Enterprise. It's called "TREKKIE"


Though Star Trek enthusiasts preferred Trekker, other preferred Trekkie. The original Spock, Leonard Nimoy once attempt to set things right with the different terms and that the correct term was Trekker. 


A documentary i watched on TV about the terms Trekkie and Trekker, what do they mean for the fans. Some stated that Trekker are the ones "walking with us", while Trekkies are the ones that simply sits and watch Star Trek.


Gene Roddenberry (R.I.P) the creator of the Star Trek went to a convention and used the term "Trekkies", a fan then stood up from the crowd and shouted to correct him that it was " Trekker". Gene replied "No, it's Trekkies. I should know - i invented the thing" Well, that's so true, he is the creator of Star Trek and who was that fan that stood up had to go against him, the fan is just a fan not Gene. Oh well..in that case i would rather choose the term Trekkie.





I've been planning to get the episode series and watch it during my free time. Problem is, i can't find the full series. I don't want to download it from the internet, it'll just cause problems with the computer so it's a no fun. I want to watch it so bad! Maybe i can learn to speak Klingon....


I knew the new Spock seems so familiar and..ehem..cute =P And then i Googled...and that's him in real life with the Vulcan greeting!!

I can't do the Vulcan hand sign..YET! i want to do it so bad! It's like everyone i know can do it and i CAN'T!!! i taped my finger over night and i still can't get it =(

 I promised myself that if i can make it with the Vulcan hand sign i would watch Star Trek and become a Trekkie. Trekkie wouldn't be complete without the Vulcan hand sign!! (still taping my fingers together HAHA)

Oh and look what i found that is simply illogical for Spock to do.....or maybe not


And thought you might want to know, some celebs and few famous people that is a Trekkie. And few in the list are:
Megan Fox. Daniel Craig. Whoopi Goldberg. Angelina Jolie. Tom Hanks. Eddie Murphy. Ben Stiller. Robin Williams. Frank Sinatra. Brad Paisley. Pharrell Williams. Al Gore. Barack Obama. Ronald Regan. Arnold Schwarzenegger ("i'll be back"). Stephen Hawking. Dwayne Johnson (The Rock). Sir Richard Branson ( founder of the Virgin brand). and more.

Afternoon came and it was time for lunch. The smell of food filled the atmosphere. A queue of students moved slowly as they got their food on their trays, moving up to pay at the cafeteria cashier. The tables were almost full with students eating their meal, either that or more of them were chatting away with their friends.

Charlotte squint her eyes hoping that there would be a vacant table in the distance. Scanning over the crowd of the cafeteria she finally found one, a nice setting at the corner with an outdoor view. Charlotte grabbed the hand of Nikki with her free hand while the other hand was balancing the cafeteria tray. She dragged Nikki through the crowd, passing by greetings and showing her smile that says “Hello”, pleading to walk quickly before someone takes the table. They were quick but unfortunately not quick enough. At the same time as they reached the table, a group of three boys reached the table as well.

“**Letty...” said he boy in the middle.

“Joe...” Charlotte said as she looked at him eye to eye.

“You know this is a big table just for the two of you.” Joe said raising an eyebrow. He was wearing the school’s varsity jacket, all royal blue and yellow. He has dirty blonde hair which is always messy, with a few strands hanging over his blue eyes.

“Well duh! I was going to ask you if you and your guys want to sit with us. What were you thinking anyway?” Charlotte questioned him.

“Oh, Uhh.. Nothing nothing. Yeah okay, sure. There no other place left in this cafeteria anyways.” said Joe, leaving an awkward laugh at the end of his sentence.

“Smile Charlotte!” said Adam again, who suddenly took out his camera.

“Do you have to take that out every time Adam? It’s seriously getting annoying.” complained the other boy. He wore a simple grey t-shirt and black cargo pants. His short black hair didn't block his view through his pair of spectacles . He had a pair of headsets around his neck, the wire of the headsets led into his pocket where one of his many iPod(s) would be connected to it. He was carrying his usual Mac laptop under his arms. Need any help with computers? Searching for the latest songs? It’s wise to go to him. He is Ian Lucas

“True that. Hey Ian!” Nikki greeted him. Nikki, a girl of her age she was rather short. But small things come with big surprises. She has long wavy brown hair tied up into a ponytail which reveals her mesmerizing green eyes Her personality seems too much to ask for, with the tons of sarcasm, has the best wits in the class, a party girl, quite a shopaholic, very random at times and absolutely 100% awesome. Awesome was her game and she wished it would be in her name.

“Okay, can we just get a seat?” Charlotte muttered than smiled.

They all sat down at the table, finally eating their lunch. Nikki’s lunch looked more like a dessert menu. Charlotte had the peas and potato wedges. Ian had the sandwich and his regular apple juice. Joe had the day’s special soup, chunks of different vegetables bobbled up and down in the red soup. It looked hideous but smelled tempting. Adam had the waffles and a can of coke. He took a picture of his lunch before he started eating it.

“Alright Adam, hand it in. That camera of yours, come on” Charlotte put out her hand at Adam who was busy drinking the last drop of coke in the can.

“Here”

The whole group finished their food and gathered around Charlotte looking through the pictures Adam took. Joe made jokes that made everybody laughed. Ian wanted to copy the picture into his Mac. Nikki kept being random with her comments on the pictures. Adam laughed along with them as Joe pointed out a picture of Ian with his nose being just centimeters from his Mac laptop screen.

These people are Charlotte’s best friends; her group basically holds almost all the different types of student in the school. She felt so lucky to have them and in a moment like this she wish it would go on and never end. Just like a picture that doesn’t move after it’s been taken, it just stays the way it is. If she were to take a picture of this moment, Charlotte would frame and hang it up on her wall in her bedroom. To wake up and see it as a first sight, see a girl in the middle of the picture with dark brown wavy hair, blue eyes and a smile that was true to the heart, a picture that would make her smile even  in a house full of gloom.



** Letty - a nickname of Charlotte used by Joe and Ian only. =)

Going through YouTube, you'll eventually find something that amuses you. Look what i found!

“Smile~!” said a voice behind a camera. A click and a flash captured a portrait of a young girl with flawless skin and a smile that would brighten any person’s day. The picture in the camera would still look perfect, even though it was actually a candid shot.

“Adam! I told you I don’t like candid pictures, I wasn't even ready!” whined the girl carrying a stack of thick Biology textbooks in her arms.

“My bad Charlotte, my bad hahaha. Trust me you don’t need to get ready, you were always ready” said Adam, raising his arms up to show surrender with a smirk upon his face.

“Ugh... Alright, you better not delete it, I want to see it later” said Charlotte with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

BRIIIIIIIING!! Saved by the school bell, Adam was able to escape before Charlotte gets a hold of him with her attitude. He turned back and started walking away from Charlotte, gripping his camera in his hand ready for another shot of photography. Just few steps walking away, “Adam…… wipe off that smirk of yours” giggled Charlotte. Adam stop dead in his tracks, Ah! She did it again. How did she know that? he thought. He looked back and saw Charlotte showing her tongue out and stride away.

“She’s one…weird girl.” Adam said under his breath, as he scratched his head and watched Charlotte walking to her next class in the distance.

The whole year is coming to an end and as you can realize that my blog hasn't been much active this year but that is all coming to an end well for now. School work has made it's way to the teacher's desk, the exam papers are flown to Cambridge and soon to be burn down in a furnace after 3 months to leave space for the next batch ( i really wish the authorities would just give back the paper after they marked it. The purpose to learn from our mistakes is my reasoning).


Now taking out the Relax Card that I've been saving the whole year as a reward for a good job in finally passing through the exams phase. Recently I have been thinking and i am willing to trade in 1/3 of my Relax Card opportunities for the next stepping platform in life. The next stepping platform that basically having the grip upon the occupation for me in the later life. Yes, the trade in is for stepping on to the world and experiences of college from the world of high school. Though all would be dearly missed, the juniors, the teachers, the principal, the staffs, the facilities and of course the memories that we have engraved in our previous school (SM YSHHB ). This new chapter in life is what the exam was worth doing.


College. Wow...i just realized that HAHA . So Yup, college. Actually there isn't much for me to say about it. I'm nervous and the term have not even begun. Well, I kinda got accepted before the end of the year to Meragang  College ( Pusat Tingkatan Enam Meragang/ Meragang Sixth Form )....please readers i am clearly not trying to be vain here (if that's what you're thinking, well..i'm not). I'm just very thankful i could get into college.


Though i got through the registration phase, the subjects are what holding back my dream..well,  i guess my dream was crushed on the day i was given the "wake-up call"  for choosing the subject and where in the real world i would end up with. Being in the medical stream was my dream since i was young ( well i'm still young, come on 16 coming on to 17. That's not old. Back to when i was young-ER ), doctors, nurses, pharmacist. That dream is now crushed to fragments but those fragments what will become my hope to achieve. The thought of ending up in the medical stream is now out of my head and i seem lost. Maths was the one i'm lacking of. And it was Maths that hold me back from the walking down my dream. A career counselor from the college gave me an advice and an option to choose what subjects that i would be capable of. Maths, the one subject that he mention to almost all subjects, namely Chemistry, Physics and to careers, Doctors, Pharmacist, Nurse, Engineers. Maths. I love it, but IT hates me. During exams, i stumble onto mistakes but for revisions it seems an average can-do subject. Maybe Maths is not in my blood, but as so i wish it would.


Over all i would like to thank the career counsellor for showing me the truth of how maths is so important, the advice he gives changed my so to speak attitude towards subjects =)


Despite the Maths problem, the subject that i will be taking by starting for the new term is. Biology, Geography, Psychology, Business and English (which is a compulsory, which i will surely enjoy =) ). These subjects are for the start-off term. And after i receive my Oct/Nov O'level results and accepted into the college again, teachers recommend to drop off one of the subjects that seems not to my capabilities. So, at the end, only 4 subjects are to go on for the exams of A'levels. Hopefully  it will all go well. Especially for Biology, Psychology and English those must be my favourite subjects and i'm willing to excel in it.


Allah the Almighty please be with me!


So, long story short. I'm trading in 1/3 of my O'level holidays for start-off college year. Some students may think it's crazy to start school in January when it's supposed to be a holiday..(Oh No, my birthday's in January..school..aww mahn=/ ) and some may say " relax relax". I think i have done a lot of relaxing time already. 3 days relaxation is enough for me, let alone 3 months??  My fingers won't know how to write in that time period! Starting college early has it's advantages, early start and by the time March enters with new students that subject will be scanned through again. But to every advantage there's a disadvantage. The catch to going into college in January, that when the results are out in Feb the staffs will look through the results and if you made the requirements, no change is needed. But when it is not made with the requirements, it's down back to high school even if you entered the college in January *GULP* i know.



*sigh* I  CAN'T WAIT FOR STATIONERY SHOPPING!!!!!!!

Finally! I'm back!. Okay, I know it's really off due and i was supposed to blog out right after the O'Level exam is..dare i say it...OVER! Woot Woot! and that was...exactly 2 weeks ago. I've been meaning to blog out since the last day but..blame it on Blogger or maybe the internet connection, they didn't allow me to blog. When i logged in, they logged me out. It feels like i've been exile from the site...oh that better NOT happen. I will kill em'.

The last exam experience was full of anxiety yet...the fear was not there for me..well at least it was there for Maths. But that fear that supposed to be hanging on to you in examination was not there with me. The fear that makes you study more and more and more. Instead, i seemed to treat it like a normal End Of Year exam, which in this case bad. As some people prepare for the exams by reading ahead a month before the exams begin, but the way i do it, if having the last minute touch ups.


I'll be honest with you readers, i'm not such of a bright student nor the top in the class, just the average willing to learn student. And revising ahead of time, doesn't do good for me. I mean it's like you revise the first day and you remember it for the whole week but when it comes to the last minute exams revisions you forget things and you have to start over again and the attempt may cause a skip in one of the topics. So the way i do it is to revise 2 days before or the night before on the hour before the exam. It's bad, i know. Though it pretty much helped me in the exams and went through it quite the way i want it to be (except Maths.. the struggle, it hurts), but i have to change the way i study to make sure that does NOT become a bad habit.


I tried many revision methods, eg. m-i-n-d-m-a-p-p-i-n-g (too much of a treasure hunt, the further i go in the further i get lost in the topic), flash cards ( i forget the previous after 5 cards), bright colours & illustrations to understand the topic ( it helped me but it depends on what subject) and P.N.U.M.O.N.I.C.S (That hardly works for me, trust me i've been trying to get it but with my Chemistry teacher..impossible..well not impossible just difficult).


I think it's best for me to stop right here about the past exams. As some people say,


"When you reminisce what was done, you will tend to regret it"-some people