A Penny For Your Thoughts, Time Heals What Love And Reason Cannot, writing

The purpose of writing…

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I couldn’t sleep again. I woke up in the middle of the night after having a sleep paralysis, and I wasn’t too comfortable to go back to bed once again, despite being completely comfortable under the sheets with my one and only.

Writing has always been therapeutic to me, and so here I am, writing…or rather, blogging? This will be a yet another short entry, cuz though I am having loads of plot bunnies in my head and feeling truly inspired to write about many things, my fingers seems to feel a bit rebellious and not really taking order from my brain. I have to admit it. I am tired. But I simply could not rest, as I feel restless and unsettled, but nothing is going to change that in the short period of time, so let’s just leave my sleeping problems and disorder out of the discussion. Let us talk about the purpose of writing instead.

Sometimes, I really wonder if I’ve strayed from the real purpose of setting up this blog? Well, I suppose, at some point, I really did stray, because my true intent of blogging is writing from the heart, just like I did with my novels and short stories.

I want to touch people’s heart and change lives and make a difference, and hoping so much at least one person out there become a better person because of my writing. That is my purpose. My mission.

I wanted to inspire others, share one part of my heart that I would never do with people around me. That is what I want. To touch people’s heart, to reach out, to make people think, and to educate people on certain matters and close the generation as well as the geographical gap.

I don’t know how successful I am at achieving it, but for what it’s worth, I’m glad that I did reach out and made friends with some people through my writing.

I have a small body and small voice. Nobody would notice me if I were to talk in public and express my views, as I don’t look intimidating enough, but most would notice me and know me through my writing because I sounded so fiery and spirited in most of my article, and even emails. I may be small, I may not be loud, but I couldn’t thank God for more for giving me a bigger voice in other form.

I write to reach out to all of you out there. To share my point of view and a part of my heart with you that I couldn’t really share with people around me. I wonder… what is the purpose of you writing your blog? I’ve always wanted to write from my heart and touch people’s heart with my thoughts and my views, that’s why there’s never a picture of me in my blog. I want everyone to ‘see’ me through my writing. Not my pictures.

How about you? What is your purpose of writing?


Cleffairy: If writing short stories and novels and publishing them online is a form of ‘blogging’, I could have been a blogger since 1998.

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Giveaways/freebies, IT/ Computing, writing

Coupon Heaven: Coupon Chief

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I’m not quite a fan of buying things online. Seriously. I’ll be very honest with you on that. I thought that sometimes, items are somewhat expensive, and I often wonder if buying from online stores is reliable. I don’t quite like the feeling of buying things and waiting for them to arrive at my doorsteps via courier as well. I’m never good at waiting, and somehow, anticipation kills! 🙁

But as of late, after being involved in NaNoWriMo and Script Frenzy, I have been exposed to online book publishing as well as ordering online ML kits where I’m required to make some payments in order to get some stuff to work, and I found myself wishing from the bottom of my heart that I have a discount code or some sort to enable me to enjoy lower prices and rates when I desperately need to buy things online. I wish for this especially when I was shopping for royalty free pictures to be used for my book cover design. I felt that it is not worth paying for such an expensive price for just a simple picture. It’s a royal pain in my PayPal account 🙁

I browsed around and found that actually there are loads of websites that offers free coupons for the online consumers to use, though not all of them is suitable for me to use. Among them is Couponchief.com.

Coupon Chief is one of the fastest growing coupon sites, with over 250k visitors/month. They have over 50k coupons for over 15000 stores, and the coupons are free for consumers to use. Talk about frugal online shopping. Honestly, I never really knew that there are such website out there that offers so many coupons for various online shops in just one database, and best part of it that it’s all completely free to use.

Some online stores really goes for the jugular, and I believe, if you’ve been doing online shopping all these while without any discount coupons during the checkout of your shopping cart, you have been wasting quite a decent amount of money. Trust me on this. I’ve been there, and burnt a hole in my pocket.

Next time you shop online, try checking out Coupon Chief, they have loads of coupons giveaways that will entitle you for discounts for various online shops and boutique. One of the many coupons over there might be the right one for you.

Coupon Chief is a website where you can browse and find coupons, discounts and deals for thousands of stores. The site lets you search for coupons and browse them by stores and popular product tags. All listed coupons are up to date and rated by community so that you don’t have to waste your time on expired coupons.

If you are an online entrepreneur, you might want to check their website as well. With Coupon Chief, you can also make money just by uploading coupons and sharing the savings. You can check it out further in their website on how to do it.

If you are a facebook or twitter user, you can consider being their  facebook fan or their twitter follower as well. They post their updates and special offers frequently on their facebook page as well.

People who practices frugal living often take time to do coupon clippings to save on their purchases. I used to do that when I was still studying in college. I tend to collect McD’s coupons… you know… buy one Big Mac free one Fillet O Fish kinda coupons. I’m still doing coupon clippings, though not McD’s.

I’m quite amazed, actually, that now if you shop online, you can also use coupons to save on your online purchase. Trust me… when you use coupons, you can actually save heaps when buying from online stores.

Cleffairy: Every penny counts. Save up, folks.

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writing

Tell me your love story…

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The greatest love story ever told, is always your own. Tell me your love story. Any part of it. Share with me and the most touching and heart moving story would be receiving a little something from me in their mailbox, via snail mail.

Here is how you do it:

1. Write your love story and send it to my email, admin@cleff.bia.garf.us before 15th April 2010.

2. The story must be from your own experience.

3. It should not be more than 5000 words.

Winner will be notified via email and their story would be published here in my blog to be shared with the readers.

In the event you wishes to just share your love story or seek love advice and remain anonymous, feel free to do so in the comment box instead.

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, E-books giveaways, Giveaways/freebies, writing

Dear John

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Dear John is usually a letter is written to a husband or a lover to inform him that a relationship is over, usually because the author has found another lover.

Dear John Letters are often written out of an inability or unwillingness to inform the man in person about the desire to break off certain relationship. In a reverse situation, in which someone writes to his  wife of lover to break off the relationship, is often referred to as a “Dear Jane letter.”

The origin of this phrase is not exactly known, but it’s commonly believed to be started during the World War II by the Americans. You see, back then, there’s large amount of male soldiers who were stationed oversea during the war, and more often than not, it’s always for a long period of time. Not many women could wait for their husband or lover back then. Most decided to move on with their life with another man instead of just waiting for their men to come back from war.

There are a number of theories on why the name John is used rather than any other. John was a common name in America at the time the term was started. John is also the name used in many other terms that refer to an anonymous man or men, such as ‘John Doe’ or ‘John Smith’.

The phrase That’s all she wrote is believed to have originated from Dear John letters. These letters would contain either the words ‘Dear John’ and abruptly terminate, or only contain the words ‘Dear John, Goodbye.’ The phrase ‘That’s all she wrote’ is used to indicate the end of story or an abrupt end of story, especially when the reader has a desire to know more, but the writer does not want to fulfill that desire.

Don’t be alarmed. I am not here today to write a separation note to my husband. I am not the kind who will walk away from a relationship with just leaving the man a note. If I were to break off a relationship and whatnot, I’ll be sure to resolve the issue face to face. And maybe a kick in the crotch or something. I won’t be satisfied with just a letter, a call or even sms.

I’m not the kind of blogger who writes about movies and entertainment really often. I only do so when I think a book or a movie is really worth reviewing, and so here goes nothing. I’d like to talk about a recently released movie known as ‘ Dear John’, an adaptation from my favourite author, Nicholas Sparks. Yup, it’s from the same feller who wrote The Notebook, Message in the Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Lucky One, The Last Song and many more fantastic, tear-jerking and heart moving love stories.

Like his other famous bestselling works, Dear John is adapted into a movie of the same name.


Dear John is about an angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life, until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah during his summer vacation.

Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who has captured his heart. But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else.

“Dear John,” the letter read…and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever. Returning home, John must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still his true love and he face the hardest decision of his life.

Dear John is a good read. For those who wants to read Dear John but couldn’t find it, I have the ebook version of it, and kindly email me at cleffairy@gmail.com to request for it. It would be a pleasure for me to share it with you.

For those who are interested in the movie version of it, however, can watch it  HERE.

Below, is the trailer for Dear John.

On the lighter note…want to break up but don’t know how? Write a Dear John letter. Go HERE and check it out.

Cleffairy: Anyone a believer of a long distance relationship? I am not quite sure I am.

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Event coverage, writing

I’m going crazy, and Screnzy…

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Literally. Going crazy. Insane. A nutcase in the house. That’s Cleffairy the looney fairy for you, folks. January was wild, February was frightful, March is a mayhem, and the upcoming April will send me into a frenzy. Script Frenzy, that is.

Yeah… I’m participating again, though I’m in the midst of something very, very important to me at the moment. A busy life for me is a good life. I like challenges and motivation.

And thank God for Script Frenzy and NaNoWriMo, I’d be thrown into a whirlwind of adventure every April and November for Script Frenzy and NaNoWriMo.

I did it again. I’ve gone and pledge my April for a yet another literary madness that not many would understand. And not only that, this year, I won’t only be participating, but I’ll be hosting literary parties and write ins and online word sprint on weekends.

For those who are a Malaysian Screnzy, kindly check the Malaysian region calendar for updates and infos on upcoming events.

And for those who is not a Screnzy, and had no idea on what I’m talking about, check it out HERE. And if you’re mad enough do ditch your mundane life and join me in this temporary insanity, you’re welcome to do so.

What is Script Frenzy?Good question. Script Frenzy is NaNoWriMo sister program.

It’s an international writing event in which participants take on the challenge of writing 100 pages of scripted material in the month of April. As part of a donation-funded nonprofit, Script Frenzy charges no fee to participate; there are also no valuable prizes awarded or “best” scripts singled out. Every writer who completes the goal of 100 pages is victorious and awe-inspiring and will receive a handsome Script Frenzy Winner’s Certificate and web icon proclaiming this fact.

Even those who fall short of the word goal will be applauded for making a heroic attempt. Really, you have nothing to lose—except that nagging feeling that there’s a script inside you that may never get out.

THE INFO

Who: You and everyone you know. No experience required.

What: 100 pages of original scripted material in 30 days. (Screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, and graphic novels are all welcome.)

When: April 1 – 30. Every year. Mark your calendars.

Where: Online and in person (if you want!). Hang out in the forums, join your fellow participants at write-ins, and make friends by adding writing buddies online.

Why: Because you have a story to tell. Because you want a creative challenge. Because you’ll be disappointed if you missed out on the adventure. Because you need to make time for you.

How: Sign up. Tell everyone that you are in the Frenzy. Clear your calendar. Start some wrist exercises.  Have a word sprint. Have fun and poison yourself with caffeine.

THE RULES

1) To be crowned an official Script Frenzy winner, you must write a script (or multiple scripts) of at least 100 total pages and verify this tally on ScriptFrenzy.org.

2) You may write individually or with a partner. Writing teams will have a 100-page total goal for their co-written script or scripts.

3) Script writing may begin no earlier than 12:00:01 AM on April 1 and must cease no later than 11:59:59 PM on April 30, local time.

4) You may write screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, comic book and graphic novel scripts, adaptations of novels, or any other type of script your heart desires.

Still unclear? Check out their Frequently Asked Questions.

Malaysian Screnzies, kindly contact me at admin@cleff.bia.garf.us or cleffairy@gmail.com. I am your ML for this year, and there will be the goodies giveaways at the kick off party/write ins.

So, what are you waiting for, folks? Join me in this literary madness.

Cleffairy: Nothing beats a little bit of madness and a dash of adventure in this mundane life. And noooooo… this is not an advertorial!

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Current Issue, Giveaways/freebies, IT/ Computing, writing

Ubuntu Linux: Malaysians are so Buntu!

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Bloody hell, sometimes, people are just so goddamn brilliant that I feel like slapping and kicking their ass to oblivion. I am not in my best mood lately, and I don’t appreciate being treated like a fool of a bimbo who knows nothing about computing stuff at all.

Malaysians…especially some Malaysian men are completely obnoxious and I can’t stand their stinking and cocky mouth. Just because I am a woman, that does not mean I am not well versed in IT stuff. This country is full of stereotyping bastards.

I remembered that once, I was walking in Low Yat Plaza on my on, and I was approached a salesman who is trying hard to convince me to buy a laptop. I told him off that I wasn’t interested.

Well, why should I be interested? My husband is doing the same bloody business. He’s selling PC and offering IT Solution services from A-Z to the consumers, and if I wanted to buy a new laptop or a desktop, I would have just seduce my husband to get me one, and if I’m lucky enough and he’s feeling generous to indulge me, I might just get it for free.

Anyway, I’m straying. As I said, my husband is in IT servicing line, and therefore I don’t need to buy stuff from outsiders. So, naturally I declined to buy from this obnoxious feller who pestered me non-stop, in hopes that he will stop bothering me and I can continue browsing for those stuff in the display rack. Obviously, this feller doesn’t seems to have a clue that I’m practically boiling inside, and he persistently pestered me to buy a laptop.

He told me that the bloody laptop in question is equipped with the latest crap from Microsoft, Windows 7, complete with it’s Office application and whatnot and it’s free of charge. Free of charge? Windows license is free? It comes with the bloody laptop? You got to be kidding me. Since when Microsoft is doing charity? Microsoft products is never free. They are up to world domination and intends to monopoly the IT industry.

Maybe many of you don’t know this, but it is no secret that most companies are forced to sign with them, and therefore, if they are selling desktop and laptops, the machine price is included with the Windows license. Windows are not free!

You are paying to use the damn thing, and if people are telling you that it’s free, they are all lies. Microsoft Office is also not free. You pay big bucks for it too. Even if I want to buy a laptop outside, I’ll tell them that I don’t want the bloody Windows, and I just want the machine itself. If I’m lucky enough, I’ll probably get an empty machine and I’ll save my money by hundreds as I didn’t take the Windows license. But if I’m not, I’ll be forced to pay for what I won’t even use. If Windows is truly free, the cost of each machine, PC, Laptop and whatnot would be cheaper at least by Rm300. Check the quotation and the cost of each PC specs, duh! Windows is never free. It’s pre-installed and you had to pay for it, whether you like it or not!

I was gritting my teeth then. I told this feller that I am not using Windows products at the moment and not interested in Windows 7. Instead of just leaving me alone, he assumed that I was IT illiterate, and don’t even know how to use a PC and proceeds to try to ‘educate’ me on how I can use the the laptop with Windows 7 installed in it. Keep telling me what I can do with a laptop and how fun it can be. What a dense feller. I’ve been using a Desktop ever since I was 7. And I don’t even start with Windows to even begin with. I was a Macintosh user, starts off using an old Apple. I only started using Windows at 10, because my school was using it.

I assume he was thinking that since I am not using Windows Operating System, then I must not be using any PC at all. God help me, I almost whack that asshole to death. What is wrong with his head? I may not be using the bloody Microsoft product, but that does not mean I am completely illiterate in IT department.

I was so pissed, so I told this feller that I know how to use Windows. It’s just that I don’t prefer to use Microsoft products as it seems crappy to me. Well,all sort of Windows, 98, ME, XP, Vista and Windows 7 may be right for others, as it’s not for me.

Windows is full of hidden trojans, and security wise, it’s a virus magnet. The last Windows that I used was Windows XP Professional Edition, and I beta tested Vista and Windows 7. But they ate my RAM, and the memories are never enough, resorting the PC to lag like mad and having blue screen so damn often.

Apparently, Windows products are not suitable to be used for a low spec machine, and so, I started to familiarize myself with another operating system platform, which is Linux. It is great for me, cuz I simply hate updating Antivirus and stuff.

Using Ubuntu, I have no fear for virus and trojans, as it’s a completely different platform, and does not execute exe. files without permission.And since Ubuntu is designed with security in mind. I get free security updates for at least 18 months on the desktop.

So why should I bother use Windows and gives myself headache to update antivirus every one or two weeks? Some antivirus is not free either. We have to pay for it too, especially if we’re using a professional or a corporate edition.

Unlike Windows, Linux are never vulnerable to trojan, viruses and spywares. I like Ubuntu, and I use it completely on my free will, as I believe that access knowledge and Internet should be free. Besides having an interface that’s user friendly, Ubuntu is open source and free. Yes, free. One never had to pay for using Ubuntu.

I am more than sure that almost 90% of my blog visitor is using Windows, and perhaps, you don’t quite understand what I’m rambling about. So allow me to explain a little bit about Ubuntu.

Below are the screenshot of my desktop. I’m using Ubuntu Netbook Remix version. Typically,my desktop interface looks like the picture below. See, there’s Open Office and stuff inside.

And for any idiots who thinks that you can’t browse the Internet or use Internet messenger with Ubuntu, the picture below is for you. Don’t be so stupid!


And a typical Open Office would look like this. Similar to Microsoft Office. The functions are all same.



Ubuntu is an operating system built by a worldwide team of expert developers. It contains all the applications you need: a web browser, office suite, media apps, instant messaging and much more. Ubuntu is an open-source alternative to Windows and Office. In Windows, you’ll have Microsoft Office and you’ll be browsing with their default browser, IE. But in Ubuntu, you’ll be using Open Office (that’s similar Microsoft Office) and browsing with open source browsers like Mozilla Firefox.

Ubuntu is and always will be free of charge. nobody needs pay any licensing fees. You can download, use and share Ubuntu with your family and friends, school or business for absolutely nothing. Ubuntu is no pirated stuff, mind you. Some authorities might believe that. But if the authorities catch you using Ubuntu and charged you for software fraud or using pirated/unlicensed software, you can sue them back.

Canonical issue a new desktop and server release every six months. That means you’ll always have the latest and greatest applications that the open source world has to offer.

Everything you need comes on one CD, providing a complete working environment. Additional software is available online for free.

The graphical installer enables you to get up and running quickly and easily. A standard, fresh installation should take less than 25 minutes. Once installed your system, Ubuntu is immediately ready-to-use. On the desktop you’ll have a full set of productivity, Internet, drawing and graphics applications, and games.

Ubuntu is strictly for professional use. It is not for gamer. If you are a gamer and plays online game, Linux platformed Operating System is definitely for you. It is just perfect for those who wants to concentrate doing without getting hooked with online games addiction.

Server-wise, you get just what you need to get up and running and nothing you don’t, unlike Windows. Windows servers sometimes contains things that you do not need at all, and to me, that’s just completely annoying and waste of HD space.

Ubuntu Linux is good, and easy to installed. At least, for me. At the moment, I am using Ubuntu Netbook Remix, and I am definitely not planning to go backwards and shift back to Windows. So butt out will ya? No telling me how to use Windows and how good it is, cuz I know how to use it, and I don’t like it at all! Don’t mess with me or I’ll shoot you like Tux’s going to do to Windows!

The above picture is not my desktop. Notice the difference? This one’s using Enlightment and more command based interface. I have yet to learn to use this.

And no, before anyone of you starts asking me questions, this is not a paid posting.  I don’t receive any money or compensation for this, and it is 100% my own opinion as I think it is about time I spread around about Ubuntu Linux to the community after using such a good stuff for free for quite a long time. It’s time I contribute back and let people know that Windows is not the only Operating System that exists in the world. And if anybody dares to tell you that, it’s all lies.

Cleffairy: Just because Microsoft monopolized the IT industry, that doesn’t mean there are no other OS exists. And just because you pay expensive shits to use the famous and well advertised Windows, it does not mean other OS like Linux or Mac is not good. Security and money wise,  various kind of Linux are better. Graphical and publishing wise, Mac OS is way better than Windows, and before you argue with me, be sure you’ve tried them first. Malaysians, if you reach ‘jalan buntu’ with your Windows, try UBUNTU, and I assure you, you won’t be buntu anymore!

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