Skip to main content

Retrospective 07.

2007 was not a bad year for me.

Good stuff that happened in 2007

I Got Married.^_^ Married life has so far gone well and there are no little Teddies on the way, thanks for asking.

I read 48 books. Quite a feat, although my initial target was 54. Oh well. The longest time it took me to read one book was one month, for Mervyn Peake's Titus Groan. Good book, but totally unsuited for reading on a crowded train during the rush hour.

For the first time in the three years I've done NaNoWriMo, I actually won. The novel's still not done so I am still slogging my way through until I get to the end. I had wanted to finish it before the end of December, but that does not appear to be feasible at the moment. *grin*

I had three reviews published in The Star this year. Doesn't sound like a lot, but consider this: the previous year I only had two book reviews published and both times I had to pay for the books myself. This year, the three books I reviewed were donated by Big Name Bookstores. Free books and I get paid! Not bad an arrangement. Am hoping one of them gives me another free Murakami book next year when that comes out. *teehee*

Failures and Disappointments

I had planned to write 12 short stories this year, one for each month, but I totally forgot about it. Well you know how it is. Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans, said John Lennon. And because I didn't write any short stories, I have not submitted any either. I will remedy this in 2008. Somebody remind me if I don't.

I really wish I could've finished that NaNovel before today. That would've been something.

2008 Resolutions
  1. Finish that Novel
  2. Write 12 short stories for each month
  3. Memorise the lyrics to Octopus's Garden
Link: Last year's resolutions
Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous31/12/07 1:59 pm

    Hey, Ted... methinks you're being a tad hard on yourself. Maybe them 12 stories will come in 2008 and all of them will get published? Always believe, bro, always believe.

    Best of all, you got married. That's amazing. Biggest feat of them all. Massive congratulations again! :)

    And now that '07 has been reviewed and done with, time to look forward, no? Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ted Mahsun31/12/07 2:16 pm

    Happy New Year, Kenny! Time to look forward indeed!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REVIEW: Confessions of an Old Boy by Kam Raslan

Kam Raslan's right. In the preface for his new book, Confessions of an Old Boy: The Dato' Hamid Adventures he writes that we've known Dato' Hamid all our lives. Seeing as my own dad is an old boy of MCKK, the people I get to meet when he drags me to an Old Boy function and the people he tells me of, reflect the characters found in Kam's book. It really does feel like I've known Dato' Hamid all my life. Dato' Hamid is a civil servant of the Tunku Abdul Rahman generation. He is the sort of person you rarely see nowadays, a fine example of the anachronistic Malay. This generation, groomed in the ways of the colonial British would be out of place not just in 21st century Malaysia, but in Britain too. And yet, Dato' Hamid, in all his snobbishness and patronising ways, is essentially a Malaysian. Without people like him, our country would probably never exist at all. At least not like we know it now. I'm glad that Kam Raslan decided to capture this ...
5 comments
Read more

Lesson: Commemorative Covers are Lame.

Well, I got the first day cover that commemorates the 35th anniversary of the establishment diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia that I mentioned a couple of posts ago. Except that it's not a first day cover, it's a commemorative cover, which is a slightly different beast. I guess I should read the news article properly next time! The difference between the two is that first day covers are specially-designed envelopes stuck on with specially-designed stamps, and marked with a specially-designed postmark. A commemorative cover is a specially-designed envelope... and that's it. All in all, it's an unremarkable affair, especially if you're used to well-designed first day covers (not that Malaysian first day covers are well-designed... but I digress). Oh sure, a commemorative cover has a stamp printed right on to it but that's just like an overglorified aerogramme. Lame. On the whole, what a disappointment. I haven't been collecting first day cover...
5 comments
Read more

REVIEW: Pinball, 1973 by Haruki Murakami.

UPDATE: My Wind/Pinball review can be found here . ISBN: n/a Publisher: n/a Paperback: 160 pages In Murakami fan circles, simply owning a copy of Pinball, 1973 is a mark of hardcore-ness. Like Hear the Wind Sing before it, Haruki Murakami does not allow English translations of Pinball, 1973 to be published outside of Japan. Back in the 80s, Alfred Birnbaum translated it into English and Kodansha published it as a novel for Japanese students who wanted to improve their English. While the English edition of Hear the Wind Sing continues to be reprinted and sold in Japan (and available for a moderate sum via eBay, see my review ), Kodansha stopped its reprint runs of the English edition of Pinball, 1973 and has now become a collector's item, fetching vast amounts of money on auction sites and reseller stores. Last time I checked, the cheapest copy went for USD$2500. Of course, Murakami addicts or the curious can always download a less than legal PDF of the book, painst...
18 comments
Read more