Each person is like a jotter, the days of their life penned on the pages within. Some pages are covered in squares, each minute detail, pre-planned and organised is written meticulously in the separate boxes. Others are scribbled onto lined paper. There is some order retained in these days too, but at times when the things don’t go as planned or too well, the flow of the words can be seen to break apart, no longer comfortably hugging the line. There are some pages that are completely blank for the days that cannot be described in coherent sentences, thus abstract words, feelings, pictures or colours do them better justice. Each day our story is recorded. There are some who are able to translate these writings into the words of man. He was never really a writer, but this is his story.
*****
His eyes were bloodshot. Each askew streak of blood represented a tribulation, rarely his, that had kept him awake at night. The redness shrieked STOP, they had seen enough already. Remnants of dark bags sagged under the burdens of what he had witnessed. The French say ‘les yeux sont le miroir de l'âme,’1 but when people looked into his eyes they saw nothing. There was no light behind them that would illuminate the secrets of his soul. It was like a black hole; you could observe things that went in, but if you stepped too close and looked too hard, you too would be sucked into the nothingness.
His skin was really quite soft and smooth, except on the hands and feet. The soles had been roughened by the treacherous paths of his journey through life and the hands hardened by moving the obstacles that were blocking his way. He tried to take good care of his skin, as well as he possibly could. Deep cleansing face wash followed by a healthy layer of a special brand of moisturiser in the morning usually did the trick.
The hair on his head took care of itself. It wasn’t too long and neither was it too short. Somewhere in between; of a length through which he could pass his fingers but not long enough to blinker his vision. Like grass, it would dance to the slightest of songs played by the wind and settle down appropriately without a fuss when the music stopped. He rarely ever used hairsprays, gels or waxes except on special occasions. But even then sometimes he just didn’t bother with the effort. It was lighter than it had once been and hidden among the dark matte black streaks of white could be seen, unwanted like weeds that had invaded.
People said he looked older than he really was, but what is age? And older compared to what? He put Aloe Vera Vaseline on his parched lips to give them some shine and practiced his smile in front of the mirror for the last time. Then he left.
Yes I know I have a really long eye lashes, and no I don’t curl them.
*****
I don’t talk much about myself. It’s just not something I enjoy doing. There are a select few people who I do talk to about everything but sometimes a flicker in their eyes makes we wonder whether some of them really couldn’t care less. Anyway, that’s not the point. Because of my few word attitude, the General has a notion in his head that when I leave the walls of university, I turn into some gangster pimp with three girlfriends; muffin, AK, and I can’t even remember the last one. So to dispel all these mind wanderings of his I have promised to give him an open, no restrictions imposed interview on Sunday. That’s in two days time. Knowing the General and some of the things that go on inside that head of his, I have a really bad feeling I’m going to regret this. But it was a promise and so it shall happen. I owe two other people interviews too but I think one of them has completely forgotten.
Today the guys celebrated Dum’s birthday which was last month on the 27th. I didn’t go. I couldn’t go. I’ve been getting ill quite a LOT recently and finally got an appointment, the only appointment, today. It made me really sad.
In other news, I have made an about.me page the idea of which I found on Gian Faye’s blog, Loading Info. Her blog is really cool and focuses on the internet and all things related. There have been many instances when I have read something on her blog about a website or a program and after having done so, made use of it. You can find the link to my about.me page it on the right hand side. I have also made a twitter because my phone has a twitter app. But I don’t really know how to use it so yeah.
That’s all for today folks. Have a lovely weekend.
________________________________
Title: Writer – Ellie Goulding
All photographs in this post are from my personal photography
1Translation in English reads ‘the eyes are windows into the soul’
Posts
20 May 2011 at 23:18
Hey I cant wait until sunday either. Not preparing questions as I am attempting to be as random as possible. See you soon dude.
G
21 May 2011 at 00:15
Haha nasss, you look like you're wearing a Niqab. Btw 'the general' guy's assumption actually made me LOL. Do blog about that interview after haha. & Yeah I'm following you on twitter now :D Didn't you say you'd never make one? Along with facebook? Can't wait to add you on that someday :P ;D (winking happy face I almost wrote wanking looool)
21 May 2011 at 00:40
It's unfair that guys have long eyelashes so unnecessary on you guys! Do you know you're kinda awzm when it comes to describing? And oh I have this question which I always wanted to ask you - do you come up with your post titles? if so, dude you're good!
goodluck on that interview and haha mr nas being a gangster pimp!
21 May 2011 at 00:41
^ *lol when i wrote mr nas feels like i'm talking about an old guy
21 May 2011 at 11:13
@ G: Lol dude, you've had months notice about this :P. So don't waste the time on asking random questions. Though there's nothing wrong with random ones. Yeah man, will see you tomorrow! Take it easy.
21 May 2011 at 11:18
@ рεяfεcтℓγ▪ιмpзяfзcт: Haha, that was totally unintentional. I will post parts of it if it is appropriate. Haha! I think my words were I have no intention of making one in the foreseeable future... I got a new phone and my brother was like you should make one, so that you can talk to Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney 8-).
I re-activated my FB a little while ago. Just need to copy some mails and stuff, and then it will get de-activated again. looool @ the winking ;).
21 May 2011 at 11:21
@ normal.is.overrated.: Haha I guess so. And thank you very much. All of my titles are lines from songs. I normally provide a YouTube link to the song at the bottom of the post, but I think I forgot to add it this time. The name and artist is there.
I'm not THAT old :P
21 May 2011 at 11:25
LIKED* the about me page.
It's pretty awesome !
21 May 2011 at 11:26
@ Hamza Bin Ladin: Thanks dude!
21 May 2011 at 15:48
Aloe Vera Vaseline, moisturizer, deep cleansing facewash. I thought guys didn't bother with this stuff. You are so cool.
And your eye lashes are better than mine. 0_o What the hell. Strict injustice.
LOVED the gangster pimp thing!
AND you are back! Yay!
21 May 2011 at 16:24
The about.me page is a nice idea. I particularly like that dead center it says "cookies" and "knowledge" (two of my favorite things)!
Being able to open up and answer another person's questions honestly should be a source of pride.
Enjoy your weekend :)
21 May 2011 at 21:16
Thats a brilliant write up mann. And he says he cant write about himself. Bs.
You should give us a live broadcast of the interview with The General. Im sure that shall be interesting.
x
21 May 2011 at 23:12
That was really well written! Kept me hooked throughout!
Good Job.
Yours Truly x
21 May 2011 at 23:59
You right so well, and i thought u were a girl but i'm obviously wrong lol
22 May 2011 at 15:27
great post, very thought-provoking. I hate aloe-vera though :( the smell! Plain Vaseline ftw! :-) Oh and I'm following you on twitter. It isn't hard to get, it just takes a while to get used to
Hope exams are going well.
PS I'm ill too :(
22 May 2011 at 21:21
Wow at this post mister! Hope to catch you online very soon.
A xx
23 May 2011 at 04:02
We missed you on Friday! Hope you're feeling better though :(
Also, sending a very important mass text out tomorrow. Be prepared! :D
x
23 May 2011 at 10:47
@ AcetylCholine: Thanks. And I'm glad to be back :).
23 May 2011 at 10:48
@ Celita: Ah yes! I agree with you. Not many things beat knowledge and cookies. Yes I guess you're right, thanks.
23 May 2011 at 10:49
@ Smiley: The interview shall be on Wednesday. We started it yesterday but didn't get much done. I don't know about live, but you'll see something.
x
23 May 2011 at 10:50
@ Yours Truly: Thanks!
x
23 May 2011 at 10:55
@ Kitkat: lol, don't worry. You're only like the 5th person on blogger to have done so. 8-)
23 May 2011 at 18:20
It's so unfair that long pretty eyelashes are always wasted on guys.
and you're brilliant with description. are you going to continue and make it into a story or just stop there?
I think you should do the story. Thats a really good opening chapter.
Oooh, blog about the interview! what fun.
I am assuming that the general is some college classmate type person?
I made a twitter account as a joke with my friend once, but it's so boring!
23 May 2011 at 20:28
@ hijabi hippie hypo: :P I dislike the smell of 'normal' Vaseline. I hope you get well soon insha'Allah :)
23 May 2011 at 20:29
@ Anonymous A: Thanks. I hope so too! :).
x
23 May 2011 at 20:30
@ Sunshine Bubble: I know. I was so looking forward to Friday. :(. And I have some bad news, which I'll mail you as my phone is dead.
x
23 May 2011 at 20:32
@ Vice Versa: Wasted? Should I be offended? :P Thanks :). I don't know yet. It was written as a one off. I was initially going to stop at the first paragraph, the one about eyes but decided to write a little more.
Yes the General is a good friend from uni.
23 May 2011 at 20:39
LOVE the about me page! The title of this post makes me smile, that's what I'd say to God. =)
It is very late at night, I'll inshaAllah read your post tomorrow.
x
23 May 2011 at 20:44
@ Sana Castellano: That is proper freaky! I was just on your blog when my email started flashing, and you had left a comment :P.
Sleep well! :)
x
23 May 2011 at 21:47
Haha. Nice eyelashes. Are you sure you don't curl them?!? ;)
Hope your weekend was great!
25 May 2011 at 04:40
Nas you are so so charming!
:)
25 May 2011 at 10:39
interesting.
25 May 2011 at 20:38
@ Azra: Yes I am sure :P.
Thanks!
25 May 2011 at 20:39
@ Yogini: Why thank you very much :)
25 May 2011 at 20:39
@ Moonbeat: Thanks for visiting dude!
26 May 2011 at 09:22
I see... I see. Cool!
27 May 2011 at 09:34
I WISH YOU WRITE MORE OFTEN..
Your neighbor
28 May 2011 at 10:02
Loved it and especially the way you described the character in the first part of the post. I feel that good writing can make the most ordinary things and people fascinating. You have a gift :)
28 May 2011 at 14:03
Nas, you're my hero! Thank you for helping me recover my photos!
29 May 2011 at 07:50
Title rhymed. I approve.
30 May 2011 at 08:12
First things first, I love the Ellie Goulding song. Go figure.
Secondly, I'm sorry. Again, I'm a little late on your blog but I suppose it was worth the wait. This post was a good read. :)
Not everybody cares about us, it's true. Some people are not patient enough to listen. Others are talkers and might expect you to be the listener. Each person thinks he or she has greater troubles than you do. What they need to realize is, everybody goes through pain. It is different than the others' but not any lesser.
It's a sad world where nobody really listens. You should look at the joy in a person's eyes when you actually take out some times to listen to them. Immensely gratifying, Nas, and it makes you forget your own troubles for a while. :)
Third, my brother has these long, curly eyelashes too. I'd say that was a little unfair. Heh.
And finally. You're on Twitter. I am too. Might "follow" you after I post this comment. :D
Have a productive week ahead, Nas!
22 August 2011 at 23:21
:) :) :)