Give A Little More, Take A Little Less

"It may look bad, but I don't see it that way. I see a lot of hope in the words you don't say that you won't tell me, shows me you care."

It's The Thought That Counts - Lobo

This is way later than overdue, but I'm gonna post it up anyway.

In the cloud city of Care-A-Lot, roughly 50,000 feet above sea level, they call it the Giving Festival. There isn't any Santa Claus or reindeer, only the spirit of giving and a visit from Princess Starglo. Starglo is the boss who basically handles all the paperwork and is the higher management for all the wishing stars in the sky. So when all the Care Bears gather in Care Square and it's all lit up, they're having a party that involves a lot of giving and fun. 

A little lower down is a hillside metropolis called Canterlot. Though the names sound the same, this is where ponies from all over the nation of Equestria gather to celebrate their beginnings as a united land. The celebration was given the name of Hearthwarming. Carols are sung and gifts are exchanged in a fiesta of friendship and harmony. Gifts as simple as little favours and hugs count towards the love and friendship that (literally) burns and lights up the night with a lovely pink heart-shaped flame.

Closer to home, in the United States of America, giant balloons and floats parade down the streets in November for Macy's Day Parade. Also known as Thanksgiving, families get together from all around the country, exchange gifts and give thanks for everything they have.

Here, we call it Christmas. It's basically the birthday of Jesus Christ. Religion aside, Christmas was never a celebration that was restricted to Christians. It's commercial, it's intercultural and it's fun.

So the shopping malls put up decorations and everything to usher in the holiday season. In the United Kingdom, it usually snows during this time, rendering it a holiday for many students and anyone who is unable to access the road.

People don't discriminate on whether you're Jewish, Muslim or Christian when it comes to Christmas sales in malls. This is because there's a sense of togetherness in this festive season - a sense of giving.

There are many tales that lead up to why we give during Christmas, but do we really need to hear any of them? While some of us are looking for an excuse to give, some of us need to learn how to give.

I grew up in a Catholic family where giving during Christmas and birthdays became so routine that these times of the year seemed more like a season of receiving. It took me a long time to learn that it's time to give back to the karmic scale.

So this year, let's all celebrate December, the month of Giving. It's never too late to give, so you don't really need an excuse like Christmas to wrap something up for a friend or anyone. Just remember these three things:

1. IT'S NEVER TOO LATE

Shut up and give. Seriously. So what if it's too late? Are you gonna send your gift back to the shop?

2. IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS

So maybe someone else got your friend something worth 10 times more than what you have up your sleeve. Don't let that discourage you. No matter how big the gift, it is always the heartwarming intent that is behind it that makes the difference. Sometimes, it's best to ignore all that notions of a cheapskate present because really, not all of us have money to throw around.

3. LOVE AND BE LOVED

If you've been receiving all your life, it's time to balance it out. Give a little more, take a little less. Where have you heard that before? Ok, maybe you haven't. It's from the credits song from movie "Care Bears: Oopsy Does It!".

It's been a really awesome year of 2011 that was more wild and crazy than ever. It's one of those years that I would love to relive just to enjoy making all the same mistakes again.

So if I fail to update again by tonight, I'll sign off now to be safe. Have a wonderful new year everybody, and stick around because I'm not going anywhere!

Love,

D.A.niel

The Fire of Friendship

"From Sweden to UK, we will bring our song. Australia, USA, and you people at Hong Kong They have heard, This made it all around the world."

Caramelldancing - Caramell

When you try something new, it's not always the easiest thing to do it in public. Part of the reason is because you're dead scared you'll screw up. I always thought it would be worse when you wanna do it in front of experienced people who have done it a million times.

It's like that dancing/parapara game in the arcade. You know, the one that you have to step or wave your hands to the beat and score points? It looks easy and people are queuing up like nobody's business to get their shot at the game.

So what are you gonna do if you're a new player? Pretty much humiliate yourself if your hand-eye coordination is shitty, or if you need time to adjust like me.

But sometimes, when you're not going to fight to see who has the most awesome skill but rather cheer each other on and laugh with one another and of course, just tease without intent of destroying other's feelings.

If you have not heard of ComicFiesta, it's basically the Malaysian equivalent to the world famous Comic Con in USA. And I'm not gonna be covering the event since I was stuck outside for half the time, but I surely had the time of my life.

Meet the me at CF 2011. I went as Surprise from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. If you haven't seen her in the show, you'll see that her cutie mark is very close to that of Pinkie Pie. Surprise was the original drawing made by Lauren Faust for the character that is now Pinkie Pie.

Ok. From that angle it's hard to see my full costume. Here's a better pic:

Meet the Marelaysian Bronies' Society. They're a bunch of awesome people :)

Being in costume was something different for me. Through out all them plays, dramas, sketches, concerts where I played some weird role on stage that never suited my character, this was totally different.

Shakespeare said that all the world is a stage. When you're in costume and walking around, you'll feel the same. It feels amazing to break free from a scripted life and be in character not because your grades or your salary depends on it, but because you want to do it with all your heart.

I always thought costume playing (or cosplaying) was something light and just for fun, and that there was no good reason to do it. Somehow, it was all different once I got into that outfit and got out there among everyone else at ComicFiesta.

You may be someone from totally different shows and series but nothing is going to stop you from interacting. It felt like jumping right out of a TV into some other show and having fun. it's like that feeling you get when you are hating on your computer screen because it's that fourth wall that prevents you from mingling and playing with all those characters in the shows you watch just disappears.

If only my wings were operational, it would be totally compete. The whole journey of over 3 months preparing to become a pony was damn well worth it. Every cent spent on my costume and all the time I took to work on it was not wasted at all. I blew a lot of cash on that one weekend but it was freaking worth it.

The irony of this is that I always had something against fashion and modelling partially for what it does to you. The thing is, cosplaying is a whole new adventure. You're not graded for your own beauty but for how well you take on someone elses character. In true spirit, heck you're not even graded at all of you're not competing! You're just being the closest existent charater to who you are inside or who you want to be. It's like playing dreams in real lifee.

Being Surprise was the most awesome feeling I had. It's along the lines of having the spotlight on myself during my solos when I sing, but this time the sun is my giant spotlight and the world is my audience. I still can feel as if I'm wearing my wings, that my balloons are still tied to my wrist and that my tail is still trailing behind me wherever i go.

Not only was being out there in costume fun, but doing it with friends made it 20% cooler. Jimmy and Tash came dressed up as well and it was all really fun. (Waiting on sources for pictures). I honestly thought more people would do this but hey, it was still one helluva fun. Being able to wave and mix around with characters like Mario, Naruto, Domokun and so many more that I didn't know was priceless. Absolutely priceless. Even those who trolled on us were silly and all in good fun.

Now if I went as myself I would have fried in a few minutes. The management of CF was pretty badly done in terms of traffic handling. I left the hall to answer my phone at 11:30 and due to overload I could only wriggle back in at 5:30. That stuff was worthy of my ranting for hours about how shitty things were and you would hear my rant flow from management to Malaysian attitude to the government. Somehow, i only had it for a split second and as if it was automatic, I responded just like how Surprise would have: smile and have fun wherever possible.

I owe a lot to Zach Morris (a.k.a. WillDrawForFood1). He's an amazing talented guy who sparked my love for Surprise and is completely responsible for me choosing Surprise to be the pony I was gonna cosplay. Her personality is one that i am in love with and I would marry her with half a chance. Such a simple and adorable webcomic reached out and touched me so much. Thank you Zach, for this blessing. You're my hero. Go check out his awesome blog here: http://asksurprise.tumblr.com

I never was the same again after CF this year. A whole new world opened up to me. What I thought was just a simple way to have fun was more than just putting on a costume and jestering around a hall. It had so much more to offer. Being a brony, it was hard to reach out to the rest dressed in full army wear or brandishing swords taller than they are being a party pony whose name already inspires fun. Better yet, Surprise isn't in the show, but she is very much a part of the community. It was totally priceless to hear people identify and just ask me "Are you Surprise?" or even shout out "Look! It's Surprise!" and hear me squeal like a little girl.

Ponies, in general, have turned my life upside-down this year, and meeting bronies from all over the world gave me a little something more to talk about. There's just so much love and friendship that when I left the convention I didn't take off the costume. I was in it all the way to the LRT (Light Rail Transit) station that I disembarked at.

I miss being Surprise. Real bad.

Love,

D.A.niel

P.S. More pics may come soon as they surface! :)

I Used To Wonder What Friendship Could Be

"Why is everybody so obsessed? Money can't buy us happiness. Can we all slow down and enjoy right now?"
Price Tag - Jessie J

Jeez. I thought Monday being a pubic holiday would lighten things up a bit. Turns out I need Sweetie Belle a dictionary to tell me what the word "holiday" means.

I used to think that my friends love me very much. But as the days have gone by I realized something. Being friends could have been a hindrance. Why? Friends, especially fresh ones, are scared of being blunt with one another. I tend to be quiet about this because of three reasons. The first is because I'm paranoid of losing friends. As I've mentioned before, my 885 friends on Facebook aren't all friends. I don't know a fraction of them, I've met more than half of them only once and the rest are well, acquaintances. Nothing more. The people who matter to me are just a little number that I always remember in my heart.

My second reason would be because I have this notion where I feel hurt when I hurt others. Sounds familiar? If you've read this blog before, you would see that it's part and parcel of who I am. It's something I cannot shake off. It's my soft spot. I can talk cock all day about beating the shit out of some folks, but I never do it.

What's the third reason? It's also something that isn't new. In fact, it was the whole reason why this blog still exists even after my URL got snatched. I believe in acceptance. I believe in accepting people for who they are and who they want to be. We all say the same thing. In fact, we even know what we should do, but we just don't put it into practice.

I have been offended before and most of the time I just shut up. I only have something to lose if I put up a fuss about it so why bother? I may bitch about it a little but that's kinda where it ends. We all need to let off steam.

We tend to fail to see how much tolerance we put into our daily life and that is where the problems begin. When something is bothering you, don't walk away. Instead, confront it. Tell people to the face what you don't like, but don't do that and then plug your ears to what that person says about it. Maybe there is a good reason for your friends is doing that bothers you so much. Once you state your point, it's time to be the listening party.

Yes, you read that word again. Tolerance. Tolerance is a bitch that destroys us. Tolerance is a test of patience and faith that isn't necessary. The difference is almost worlds apart because acceptance and tolerance are opposites of one another. If you are tolerating someone, like I said, your balloon is going to pop soon. There is a limit to both, but acceptance doesn't bottle anything up.

If you've seen me around with the shirt that has this blog's URL printed on it, read what it says and follow it. Trust me, it'll do you a world of good.

If you haven't seen it, it says STOP TOLERATING.

And on the back, it says

START ACCEPTING

Love,
D.A.niel