Last post 2007

"Watch your thoughts, they become words/ Watch your words, they become actions/ Watch your actions, they become habits/ Watch your habits, they become character/ Watch your character, they become destiny."/ by unknown writer.

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The new year will set in two day's time. I've just came back from grocery shopping and the shops are like crazy. The Japanese shoppers went running around, snapping things that are needed to prepare for their new year delicacies. Hubby and I helped to buy for FIL his household things and we are caught in the shopping frenzy as well.

I felt satisfied with the things I've successfully done when reflecting at 2007.
First, at this ripe age, I've managed to climbed Mt. Fuji with a small set-back but still I did it.
The memory was good and I've lots to tell my grand children (assuming I live long enough).
I should buy those little machine that can print my own digital photo and make it into my own album collections.

Then, my first haiku collections have been successfully printed into a book and are selling in Japan, Spore and Msia. My collections in that book are in Japanese with the English and Malay translation, so everybody from the three countries can read.
My Japanese friends here are reading it because they are interested in the english version.
My Malaysian friends are getting the first hand printing of some example of contemporary haiku works all in one go.

So there, I am happy with 2007.

About plans for 2008, I have several schdule out but first it will be in the literary world.

As the haiku work in Malaysia is sparsely printed, my intention is to work on this. By bringing out the best-written haiku from some handful of interested haiku enthusiast.
So, anyone interested in this...click the link of the haiku forum that I've set up.
http://pondokbasho.4.forumer.com/

Also, I am collecting another genre of Japanese peotry called tanka. The tanka in my collections are written in English and Malay by some prolific people now.
Tanka is entirely new in the Malaysian literary world, especially those written in the Bahasa Melayu.
That will be next in line to the printers, targetting the tanka collections for year 2008, insyaAllah.
Those interested to join in, just click on the same forum link here.
http://pondokbasho.4.forumer.com/

I intend to make a trip to Malaysia in 2008 around the second term school holiday, insyaAllah.
I want very much to meet two book writers but I have not told them yet. They are AL and DM but I don't know whether they want to meet me, have to remind myself to write an official email to meet them.
That is on my have-to-do list.

I have some workshops to run with the haiku book. I think the workshop will be in Ipoh and I might end up staying longer in Ipoh for the trip this year in Malaysia.
Set, that's another project coming for 2008.

At same time, I am building a private collection of Haiku in Japanese from all the sessions I attend here. My target is 300 pieces, it might take another one or two years to get this done, so insyaAllah that will keep me busy.

With that, for the next 365 sun-counting days, I wish all my good friends, my silent readers, my faithful blog followers and my lost-link cyberlookers...lets work hard to bring the best of our beautiful selves.

ps: People intending to be member of haiku/tanka forum, best to give your self-introduction first, mail me here jahrera@gmail.com