Walimatul Urus

Encik/Cik/Tuan/Puan/Dato'/Datin/Tan Sri/Mak Sri/Tun/Tin,

This is weird. This coming Friday, I will have been married to a rich, pompous man with a frightening belly for many years now. Complementing him, I will be a pretentious, stuck up, middle-aged woman (perhaps approaching premature menopause) who is devastatingly silly in her speech and quirks. Laugh at me silly as I blow some poor man's ass off with a tiny (but loud) cap gun!

I Will Marry When I Want, by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o and Ngugi Wa Mirii. You are cordially invited.


(This isn't the official flyer)

A sneak peek of my favorite song in the play:

The Complete Crappopolis

In the visual arts, my weaknesses are many. Unable to draw straight lines, and perfectly incapable of producing dimensions and realistic sketches, I never once considered a vocation in the arts. Of recent times, however, I feel an odd, compelling attraction towards graphic design and illustration.

It is like finding a niche beyond the silver screen of this cyberworld, this act of poring over graphic designs produced by so many talented individuals1. It isn't merely their art, per se, that I am mesmerized by; it is the way they combine elements of type, pictures, and minimal words that ultimately ensnares me. It is one thing to be able to draw, but it is another to complete an illustration (either a book cover, poster, cards) that beckons people to it.

At the expense of sounding like a braggart, I must say that I have an eye for all things aesthetically pleasing. I, for example, take delight in driving around Kuala Lumpur with my dear Pok Chu and passing judgments on buildings upon buildings--new and old, contemporary or conventional, modern or not. This acumen I carry with me as I take in different forms of interior decorations and bag awesome finds in the fashion department. (Note that although I do not pride myself as a fashionista of some sort, I do maintain a certain level of acceptable fashion sense, I hope).

The same applies to the neo-art I take interest in now. My eyes--like a hawk's--quickly find works that work; my heart leaps with awe over the splendor; but my non-existent skills simply can't emulate. Yes, I will never be quite the artist, neither with my bare hands nor the help of softwares. As such, The Complete Crappopolis2 is a testament to my sans talent.

But we can all dream, can't we? In the meantime, let me continue my sojourn into the world of graphic novels3 and my established habit of stalking illustration blogs.

1 See Perempuan Jomblo, Emilia's Illustrated Blog and Saharil Conteng.

2 My ugly (but fun) spin-off from Marjane Satrapi's The Complete Persepolis (Completed Winter 2008, for HUMA 141, Reading Cultures).

3 For those who, like me, wish to delve into graphic novels, I highly recommend Palestine by Joe Sacco, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic and Satrapi's other works.

Fourth Wall

"Leave me alone,
You'll keep on singing the same old song
Till the day you people wake up.
A fool's walking stick supports the clever.
But why do you sit idle
While this bedframe
Also needs a nail or two?"

"You have eyes and you can't see?
Or has language of the eyes
Become as hard as the language of the ears"

"Promises do not mean delivery.
Clouds may be in the sky
But it does not mean it will rain"

- I Will Marry When I Want, a play by Ngugi Wa Thiong'O & Ngugu Wa Mirii

The lines scream poetry, profundity and weight.

Thrilled and honored, aptly how I feel about participating in the impending African & Carribean Students Association's play. I face the challenge of fooling reality, sure thy skin is not black.

But I am already falling in love with the beauty of its language, and the wisdom it delivers. And love; it is strong, it can move mountains, it can cross the seas, it transcends time.

Meanwhile some lines; some lines just speak to me, reprimanding me, reminding me of things wanting of me.

Take me on board, now.