Intense pain

Most of us have gotten chickenpox when we were little. Some parents even shoved their kids to other kids who have the chickenpox so they'll get it young. Now I more or less understand why.

I had chickenpox when I was little. But a few days ago, the doctor told me I had contracted the herpes zoster virus. Before you jump into all sort of conclusion due to lack of information, chickenpox is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which even though you got them can develop into herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles caused by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus YEAAAAAAARS after having chickenpox.

So no, my herpes (lol it's still funny to say it) is not on my genitals, but it's on my chest to my back. All on the left side. It starts from the middle of my chest, all the way to my spine, following my ribs. The sores are in one straight line.

The sores appear within the course of 4 days. It started Monday when I felt a burning sensation on my skin. But there were no redness or rashes. My chest hurts when I push down on it but my lungs weren't in pain. It hurts my back when I breathe. I thought I had somehow bruised my ribs. Looking back now, I wish I had bruised my ribs instead.

I finally went to the clinic on Thursday, I couldn't take the pain anymore. Doctor said I got herpes zoster but the rashes hadn't surfaced fully yet. He prescribed me some antivirals and cream (the same one for genital herpes says the box). I went to work on Friday not knowing that it's actually contagious.

It didn't go down much on Saturday so I went for a follow up. It's full blow herpes zoster now and more sores creep up. I was told by the doctor to keep myself quarantined over the next few days. I have 3 days worth of medication left and I was told it'll go down by the 4th day of infection. It's the 3rd day since I started taking the medication 5 times a day.

Why am I telling you this? To keep yourself healthy.

But also, remember that the herpes simplex virus isn't only on the genitals, but also on the skin. And I am unlucky enough to get it.

I'll tell you this: I would rather fracture my arm 10 times than go through this again. This has to be the worst thing that has happened to me medically.

Gift of the Written Word

When I was a younger teenager, I used to write a lot. Mainly fiction. I kept a few physical journals, several Livejournal accounts and a few blogs. Up until I was 20, I used to update my blog 8 to 10 times a day. My imagination ran wilder than a masterless horse. I used to have a way of communicating a whole lot more and I used to have a lot more stories to tell.

But as I get older, I began to be a little more reserved, less of a storyteller. I can't figure out why exactly. I don't like to think that I have just exhausted my imagination and gave way to the real adult life and ways of thinking.

For the past 6 weeks, I have taken on an online screenwriting class from UCLA. It is probably the best RM2000+ I've spent so far. But I noticed as I wrote my midterm and especially final year paper, I began to face some difficulties. Mainly in expressing and explaining certain points. I couldn't find the words.

And it makes me sad. My dad always said that I have this gift for words. But I fear I might have lost it as I got older.

After dropping out of MMU, the six months I spent at home was when I did the most of my writing. Fiction mainly. But when I finally went back to school, my writing was restricted to academic writing. In the first semester I had written a 200-page report for Sociology and it made me realize that my professors are never going to read it page to page. So I began to write shorter reports, shorter essays. The reports and essay still delivered my points, but it was in a more... simple language. Simply because I had group members that needed to read it to understand in order to do presentations.

Not to say that they were dumb, not at all. But I realized that some people might just not get to where I was going with the reports.

But in my eyes, I see it as what it is: I got lazy.


I hate to admit that I've gotten lazy. I want to be able to write and create better stories for people to read. I want to be able to pick up a book again and read and expand my imagination in order for me to write my own stories. But it's even harder to pick up a book and finish reading it nowadays because I just get incredibly exhausted.

I want to write again. I want to be able to put together words that will invoke an emotion in a person - make them happy, make them upset, provoke and disturb them in ways that I used to know how.

It's Been A While

Greetings, people from the land of the living.

I've been terrible at updating even when I have absolutely nothing to do. Well, the movie I've been slaving my ass over with the team has safely been debuted at San Diego Comic Con and apparently gotten alright reaction from the crowd. I say apparently because I wasn't there to know for sure (obviously).

After the movie was done we actually had a complete week off, which was much needed. And was I at all productive the whole week? Partially. I had to finish my midterm paper.

My Blackberry finally crapped out. When I say crapped out, I meant so bad I couldn't press any button except the A button. So I got my hands on a brand spanking new Samsung Galaxy S3. Best decision ever (despite being broke afterwards).

The week before the holidays I FINALLY got to see Motion City Soundtrack live in KL. KL! What are the odds? I never knew they had a considerably large fanbase here. The venue was small so it was quite upclose and personal. And Amir wore a Rilakkuma きぐるみ。That's a way to get noticed by the band -- and he was too! Justin Pierre gave him a high five and said they'll come again one day. 10 years waiting paid off.

Now we're back at work during the fasting month. It's pretty slow for now so we're just coming up with random animations and I'm creating the company website (we're pretty new you see lol).

Overall it's been good and decent. I'm looking forward to what the future brings. More opportunities I hope.

Chick Gamer: I sold my soul to the devil

*cleans out the cobwebs*
It's be ages since I wrote anything here. Things have been pretty hectic at work lately -- especially with the fact that we'll be sending our first stereoscopic 3D converted animated feature to San Diego Comic Con next Thursday. Every time I think about it, it gives me all sorts of weird emotions.

Frankly, I have NO IDEA how to feel -- I'm nervous, excited, terrified and perhaps almost relieved.

But this entry isn't entirely about my job because as much as I love my job, I do want to break away from it from time to time.

Most of my colleagues have gotten on to the Diablo 3 bandwagon. I admit that I was never interested in games by Blizzard. But I haven't been playing much video games because I barely have the time to do so. Lately, because of the stresses at work, I needed to take my mind off. So one of my colleagues gave me a Diablo 3 guest pass to try it out.

So I did. And I finished the allocated level in 2 hours. And then I found myself wanting more.

So I caved in and bought myself an actual legit copy of Diablo 3 from Gamer's Hideout.

I find myself playing the game dead into the night and almost falling asleep on my keyboard STILL playing it. I spent almost the whole of Sunday just playing and levelling up while battling period cramps. In 2 days, my wizard character gone up to level 20. Yesterday, she was at level 27. 

I never thought I'd get sucked into PC gaming. I haven't since Left4Dead 2 and that was a first person shooter. That was the closest to PC gaming I've ever gotten. That and The Sims. 

I have an upcoming holiday and I'm pretty sure I know how to spend the one week off of work on :DDDD

Books for Sale!

Back when I was in college, I bought a lot of books. But now, working, I hardly have time to even read the newspaper, let alone a book. So rather than letting them collect dust in the corner, I'd like them to have a new home. I'm letting them go pretty cheap: I wrapped most of my books with plastic cover. But of course, the pages are yellowing and have spots. These books were bought at almost RM100+ and I'm letting them go for less than RM50 simply because the pages are yellowing. But otherwise, they're in very good condition.

PLEASE READ
1. Postage or COD. I can mail the books to you via Pos Laju (please request if you want same day). Book prices are not inclusive of postage. I refer to Amazon for book weight and cross check the shipping price on the Pos Malaysia website, so final prices will be determined by how much postage will be.

COD available in PJ (Jaya One, Section 17) from Mondays to Saturdays during lunch time. Kota Damansara, Mutiara Damansara and Damansara Perdana on Sundays.

2. If you're opting for postage, you can bank in the money to me into my bank accounts (CIMB or Maybank. Citibank account details to be posted soon) and either send me an email alert, screencap of the online transaction or email me the bank in slip.

3. If you're okay with these conditions and want to purchase, please leave a comment on this post with your email address so I can get back to you on the purchase.


4. If you buy more than 3 books, you get free postage or if COD, I can knock down the price for you.

If you think the prices I put up is expensive for second hand books, please bear in mind that I bought these books during my uni days. No, I didn't use my student loan - at the time of purchase, I was not even eligible for loan. I saved up allowances to get these books and I took care of them well (albeit a little dusty).

NOW ONWARDS TO THE BOOKS!