Life In The Scrab Lane

Since joining Facebook some time ago, I have been addicted to Scrabulous, the online Scrabble game. I play with my friends and I play with strangers from all over the world. It’s fun. Especially when you win.

So, I play again and again. I play in Cafes, I play at home, I play at the office. I play everywhere. I just can’t stop! My work suffers, my sleep suffers, and oh, my kitties scream for food, but I just continue playing.

Usually I play a Regular game - this is where the built-in wordlist will screen every word you put on the board, so there’s no room for non-existing words to make its way onto it. The Challenge game is where the word list is disabled, so that you can put any word you like, but if your opponent challenges you and the word is found to be invalid, you lose the word, and you lose a turn.

Any which game you choose, it’s bound to be fun, even if your vocabulary consists of strictly 3 and 4 letter words which more often than not gets repeated from one game to the other.

Of course, it’s definitely no fun when an opponent come up with a word like “CLAQUES” and scored 113 leaving me trailing pathetically behind, but as much as that one single move obviously defeated me, I continued playing because that’s the right thing to do.

Even when I encounter a stupid player like this one Stephanie O who hosted a Challenge game, but do not like being challenged, I simply played along, challenging one ridiculous word of hers after another while having an small argument over at the chat box.

Day 1

Stephanie: Why did you delete my word? A hound is a type of dog.

Me: HOUND is ok, but the resulting word LOPOW is not.

---
Day 3
Me: again, the resulting words QID and UHO is (are) invalid.

Stephanie: if you are going to keep deleting my words, please at least passa turn so that the game will be fair again.

Me: what is unfair is when I have to pass a turn in order to correct your wrong.

Day 4
Stephanie: my words were valid. I provide you with definitions.

Me: no definitions? I did not delete your words, I simply challenged it. The application found it invalid and deleted it.

Stephanie: There is no reason to be rude or nasty in this game. I have done nothing negative to you. Why do you insult me?

Day 6
Me: which part of that was an insult? Was it the part when YOU suggested that I was being unfair to you??

Me: for all its worth, I apologise if you think I was being nasty. I really was just defending myself. The validity of the word is determined by the application, NOT ME. I cannot simply delete my opponent’s words.

Stephanie: thank you for the apology but what I said about the game is true and what I said about other player deleting every entry of mine.

Day 7
Me: nobody can delete your words. The validity of the words are determined by the Scrabulous application using the TWL wordlist. If your words are challenged, the application will check it against the wordlist and delete it if necessary. Perhaps you should play a Regular game and not a Challenge game- that way, the words on the board will be validated automatically when played, and there’ll be no dispute.

Stephanie: are you not listening to me? This really isn’t worth fighting over. If you want the game, then fine, I can play another

Day 9
Me: No. YOU are not listening to me. The last thing I said was said in good faith. Why don’t you stop being so accusatory?

Me: why don’t you check the TWL wordlist and see if your words are valid. Your last word, DURO was ok, but the resulting word UR?

Me: I just challenged it and guess what? The fabulous Scrabulous application just accepted it.

UPDATED 1-4-2008 - Day 10

Stephanie: You owe me three turns. If you win this game without giving me those turns, then know that you cheated to win, and it was dishonest of you and you should be ashamed of yourself.

Me: Bodoh nak mampus.

Me: I owe you nothing.

Stephanie: you are a liar and a cheat

Me: and you are a dumbass

-----
I’m waiting for her reply. I doubt that it’s forthcoming. Hehe.

Arguing with an idiot stranger over non-existent words - Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous?

But I must admit, it is a lot of fun, and I wonder if there’s many more Stephanie O for me to fight with?

That’s the *Fabulosity of Scrabulous!

* Fabulosity is a word used excessively by Kimora Lee Simmons. It’s an invalid word, yes I know!

A Post About Growing Old, Dying, Life Issues, Wrinkles and All Those Things That Come With Being Another Year Older

I’m posting this today as I’m not gonna be around tomorrow. It’s my birthday. At 7.15 am tomorrow, I’m going to turn another year older.

*sigh*

It’s not a fun thought y’know, growing old. Everytime I see an old saggy granny, I shudder to think if I’m gonna look like that one day. Granted, it’s a long way to go, and given the kind of medical advancement and beauty care regime available these days, that old crinkly granny look may be a thing of the past even for a 70, 80 year old.

I know I’m not yet at that age where I can be categorized as old, but that era is looming, so yeah, it is a disturbing thought.

People have always said that age is just a number, that aging is a natural process, that we must embrace it not fear it. Bleergh!!!

Sure, I’ve said that many times before too. But the truth is, and I’m not ashamed to admit it, I am scared of growing old. A lot of us do. We fear aging because it is something that is inevitable. It will come no matter what, and to some, it comes in more brutal ways than others. Rheumatism, osteoporosis, arthritis, and all sorts of ailments, and then you die.

The fear of aging is there because the fear of dying is inherent in everyone.

We just rationalize it in order to comfort ourselves that everything is fine, because if we dwell on these fears, it will cripple us and we can’t get on with living our lives to the fullest.

And so we try not to worry our poor little head about any of this. And we assure ourselves that it is mind over matter, that if we don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.

As hypocritical as it sounds, it is an accepted human behaviour in these day and age to discuss these life issues so that we can feel secure about our very existence. This is an era of Oprah Winfrey and Dr.Phil, so asking questions about life is a must. Looking for answers is mandatory. If you are an American (or if you are Americanised), leaving your loved ones behind to go ‘find ourselves’ is expected.

I’m not gonna do any of it. At least not at this time. I'm postponing that thought for now. Next year I may think differently. Next year I may worship the ground Dr. Phil walks on. Next year I may even go away to the desert to find myself like the Americans do. Who knows? The more you age, the more weird things you do.

But as at this moment, while I still don’t have wrinkles on my forehead, I’m just gonna chuck away whatever fear I have about growing old and console myself with the thought that I’m still in my child-bearing years, although child-bearing is sooooooo not on the agenda ever!

No need to rationalize anything. No need to find answers. No need to go anywhere. I’m just going to take it one day at a time.

I'm wishing myself a very Happy Birthday and I hope I don’t see those wrinkles anytime soon.

RIP

I have complained about The Toad before. She is one slick woman who manages to get away with skipping work and causing all sorts of mess every so often. How she gets away with it all is beyond me as she appears to be quite dumb really, as in, very very dumb.

But then again, she’s quite good at playing politics and pitting the partners against each other. So, that could be her greatest asset, and that could be why she can do whatever the hell she wants in this firm without any repercussion whatsoever.

Recently I complained to The Sheep that the partners’ lack of action on The Toad’s shenanigans is causing the entire office some major discomfort (…and by ‘the entire office’, I meant me). The impression given is that she is given special and preferential treatment over and above everybody else and thus, the others are left feeling demoralized and feeling as if they don’t matter in this place (again, ‘the others’, me). I wasn’t playing politics and I wasn’t complaining about something The Sheep didn’t already know. I was just telling him how we (‘I’) feel about seeing a colleague getting away with such blatant disregard of office rules.

Sadly, The Sheep who is in a cold war with The Toad, appeared not to be able to do anything about it eventhough he seemed to have been a bit comforted by the fact that I am behind him in this instead of her.

Of course, my complaints about The Toad came right after my complaint about The Sheep himself to his face. So, I’m sure he was more than glad to get the criticism deflected away from him and onto The Toad. That could be why he appeared glad when I was criticizing her.

But I’m pretty certain that he wanted to do the right thing about her but the other partners put handcuffs on him, as I have already expected.

Politics suck.

In a later discussion (or rather The Toad bashing session) with a friend over the phone last weekend, I likened The Toad to Dato Zakaria Deros, the man who got away with building his palatial residence illegally, operating a satay restaurant illegally and not paying assessments on his property(ies) for years and years.

We may have nothing to do with Dato Zakaria and whatever he did or didn’t do have no effect on us physically, but as citizens of this country, we expect a fellow citizen like him to be given the same treatment as we would receive had we done the same offences he did. I’m sure if I even build an illegal extension to my tiny little kitchen, the authorities would steamroll everything down in 2 seconds flat.

But not him apparently. He got away with a mere slap on the wrist. So, of course we are all mad. And I told my friend that I wish someone would just shoot this guy dead.

Today, I found out he died this morning of a heart attack. Read here.

I don’t really feel bad, but the man died, so I’ll stop bashing him.

Rest In Peace.

I’m just wondering though, if I wish someone would shoot The Toad, would she end up ‘splat’ in a few days? Mati katak, so to speak?

Why am I having this image of a disemboweled frog in my head?

And why am I smiling gleefully at that image?

Don’t say it! I’m so bad, I know.

A Wake-Up Call

Wow! That's all I can say.

It's been a pretty hectic day on Saturday, and an amazing day on Sunday. I half expected to see people dancing in the streets, but hey, we don't need those FRUs to shower us with their love again do we? No thank you. We're fine just dancing in our own kitchens.

It's amazing how even with the worst nightmare coming true, some people can continue sleeping in and overstaying their welcome.

It's mind-boggling to say the least.

To the sleeping one,

WAKEY, WAKEY!!!!!!!

Selamat Mengundi!

Marilah mari
pergi mengundi
jangan lupa kewajipan
pada negara

lalalalalalala

TIRU MACAM SAYA!

Last edited 6/3/2008, pic added. See at the bottom.

Thank you soooooo very da much Pi Bani for alerting me.

Now, WHO IS THIS ABSOLUTELAYLA & WHAT IS SHE DOING PLAGIARIZING MY WRITING????

Pi Bani alerted me today on a blog posting she found similar to mine. So I checked out the blog, and my of my, several of my postings are there. The plagiarist (I won’t call her/him a blogger because she/he is severely lacking in originality) posted my blog entries verbatim, except for some names and situation which she/he changed to suit her/his situation.

Check this out:

1.
My post:
Here Comes The Smear Campaign – 15/2/2008
The Plagiarized post:
Here Comes The Smear Campaign -18/2/2008

2.
My post:
Traffic Jam Up Ahead, Please Go Right In – 31/1/2008
The Plagiarized post:
Traffic Jam Up Ahead, Please Go Right In – 26/2/2008

3.
My post
Let’s Have A Baby! – 11/2007
The Plagiarized Post
Let’s Have A Baby! –1/2008

4.
My post
My 3rd Blog – 1/4/2006
The Plagiarized Post
My 2nd Blog – 3/1/2008


APA TIRU-TIRU ORANG NIH? TAK MALU KE WEY??

Going a step further, I actually made a search on all the postings and I found that all her/his postings are copied, other than me, from Princesswaffzonkle’s blog.

1.
Princesswaffzonkle’s
At the work place -24/3/2006
Absolutelayla’s
At the work place -24/2/2008

2.
Princesswaffzonkle’s
I’m still at it - 6/6/2006
Absolutelayla’s
I’m still at it…- 20/2/2008

3.
Princesswaffzonkle’s
*rubbing eyes* - 14/3/2006
Absolutelayla’s
*rubbing eyes* - 11/2/2008

4.
Princesswaffzonkle’s
Saya the despatch- 18/6/2007
Absolutelayla’s
Saya the despatch mama – 10/2/2008

5.
Princesswaffzonkle’s
Dooped- 9/3/2006
Absolutelayla’s
Dooped- 28/1/2008

There’s nothing original in this blog at all. Everything is copied. Heck, even the tagline I use "I am somebody. I like being me. I need nobody to make me somebody” is copied. (That, by the way, is a quote by Louise L’Amour)

People say, imitation is the best form of flattery. Some people may tell me to be flattered that this person, whoever she or he is, find my writing worthy to be plagiarized. But really, I don’t quite know how to make of it. On the one hand, yes, I am somewhat amazed that someone would copy me. But on the other hand,…

OY! SAYA PENAT-PENAT TULIS TAWWWW!

*flashing middle finger*

Edited. Pics added.

As at 5.14pm on 4/3/2008, the blog absolutelayla.blogspot.com has been removed.

Guess i scared her off....... MUAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Edited again on 6/3/2008

Screen capture pic enlarged so that you can read the copycat version.
Pic added, one I nicked from her profile (without her permission of course, but who needs it when she has conveniently curik what is mine? An eye for an eye baby!):-

Email : absolutelayla@gmail.com