FOCUS ON WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY.
REAL PEACE IS NOT HAVING THE URGE TO EXPLAIN OR DEFEND YOURSELF.
THE MORE YOU LIKE YOURSELF,
THE LESS YOU’LL NEED OTHERS TO.
HOWEVER, BE HUMBLE ALWAYS.
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
I am overly tired, I think.. What a day today was. It is not over…yet. The time is only 11.30pm. I am yawning all the time, so much so that when I yawn , it does not seem to be in sequence. Before I can finish one yawn, another one comes.
I was working on 5 new articles for my upcoming book over the past few days and I was falling behind. This was on top of my usual daily tasks to do…one of them is an article everyday. So far, I have had an article published each day, every day; over the last 488 days. Whose keeping count? Not me. WordPress is.
WordPress keeps tally and has been sending me notifications each time I publish an article consecutively, each day.
The Batik Influencer (My wife, Jeannie) and I, the Hatted Writer; set up a booth at first floor (F1.08) in Amcorp Mall this weekend. I could not get an article out in time to inform our friends, families, customers, readers and followers that we would be in Amcorp Shopping Mall. The details of our booth are below.
It was a good day at our booth. We met many people who came over for different interests. I met with a lot of people who were giving me advice for the book. I will definitely try to take everyone’s suggestions into consideration. Many fantastic ideas. A close friend suggested that I write an article about him. I’m not sure if he meant it.
I took a short break from manning our booth, to go visit a good friend, Mahmud and his wife; and see their new hats on sale. Mahmud is the guy I buy all my hats from.

I came across a green and red flat cap. It really looked stunning. The colours of the cap “called out to me”, “Take me, take me”😁. I was trying not to hear the “take me” pleas. Hahaha.😂

My short break time ran out rather quickly. I told Mahmud that I will come back and see him tomorrow. I like this flat cap.
Funny thing happened a couple of times while I was trying on this red and green racer flat cap. I was wearing my tweed newsboy cap when I went to see Mahmud. I removed my newsboy cap and put it on top of the other caps on display as there was no where else to put it while I tried on the new hats. Twice, people came up and straight away went for my tweed newsboy cap. I told them that that it was my cap. Both the guys said that my newsboy cap was very nice.
A bit of new information. The newsboy cap is also known as a baker’s cap. I will inform Sarah and Joanne of Good Ground Bakery the next time I go there, wearing this cap.




JEANNIE’S OWN label Batik Cape Creations had the “wow!” factor that drew many people to our booth. Most of the pieces were sold, with only a couple remaining, which will be sold by tomorrow.
It was a fun day today. Looking forward to meeting more people tomorrow. You may want to suggest what subjects I should write about for the 3 articles I have outstanding to include in the upcoming book. It will be fun to meet with you all. See you there.
Amcorp Shopping Mall,
Booth 1.08, 1st Floor, ,
8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Date: October 26th & 27th 2024:
Time: , 10.00am to 5.30pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)
While I am working on my latest article, REO Speedwagon is entertaining me with what I consider one of their best songs that they have ever produced. “KEEP ON LOVING YOU” Iconic! The music is coming from our little Google Home Mini.
I was reading an article I wrote, “Side-Tracked An Essay” (1) which coincidentally was written on a Sunday, too; as today is a Sunday. It was also written around the same time of the day. Written in days approaching middle of November last year, it talked about “colourful Christmas tree lights blinking chirpily”. I was referring to the lights on our Christmas trees at home. Yes, our Christmas trees (not one, but two) were already up in the near middle of November.
The article went on to describe one of the trees which was decorated with some of our keepsakes from our travels to countries near and far. You can go to the link below and read more about it. (1)
From the pictures of then and now, you will notice that the shirts I have on are different in colour, with the brand “Funkita” on both. Funkikta is a brand linked to swimsuits and accessories. It was during the time when Laura, my daughter; was a state swimmer swim athlete, representing the state of Selangor (2) and then, when she went abroad to U.S.A for her tertiary education; represented her university as a swim athlete, too.
I think you may compare, consider or link writers to “messy” sopranos (3). In the pictures below, you may think that I have too many “tools of the trade”; what with four monitor screens, notebooks, paper, at my workstation. I believe that I have most of the stuff I have to make it as easy as possible without having to scramble for something when I need it. The thing is, I don’t know if I will need whatever I think I may need. Haha. 😂
Here, when I talk about messy sopranos, I am talking about sopranos in music. I have no idea why some, not all; sopranos are referred to as “messy” sopranos. Does anyone know? Do tell. My mother sang descant (4) and my father sang bass, at the many choirs they participated in.
Now back to working on my article. Oh, I do hope that the young gentleman and his wife, who I met on the street near my neighbourhood last night while I was on an additional 5km walk for the day, finds his wallet. He put his wallet on the top of his car, drove off a while later forgetting that his wallet was on top of his car, only to remember about it after that. They came back twenty minutes later to look for his wallet around the area. I helped them with the search, but the wallet was gone. He said he would call the banks to block his credit cards, and, make a police report, too. Let’s hope that the person that found his wallet will hand it over to the nearest police station.
Happy Sunday evening everyone and a great week ahead.



NOTES:
1. https://leatherpotato.com/2023/11/12/sidetrackded-an-essay/
2. Selangor is a thriving and bustling state of Peninsula Malaysia, Malaysia.
3. What is a soprano? The soprano is the highest female voice type. There are many types of sopranos such as coloratura soprano, lyric soprano and the soubrette, which differ in vocal agility, vocal weight, timbre, and voice quality. All sopranos have the ability to sing higher notes with ease.
4. Is descant higher than soprano? https://www.rochdale.gov.uk/rochdale-music-service
There is also descant soprano line, often used in choral pieces, that is an higher extension of the soprano range, showcasing notes above the treble stave. It’s tone colour can be described as: piercing, ringing, airy, bright and strong. tracemusicwork
EACH AND EVERY JOURNEY TO THE SUMMIT OF SUCCESS BEGINS WITH A DECISION.
YOUR DECISION.
COMMIT TO YOUR VISION, YOUR GOALS.
YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE COURAGE TO CLIMB.
IT IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY.
LIFE NEVER PROMISED THAT IT WOULD.
CONQUERING THE SUMMIT…WHAT AN ADVENTURE!
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
IT IS EASY TO GET SIDE-TRACKED AND DISTRACTED EVERYTIME SOMEONE SAYS SOMETHING NEGATIVE. YOU CAN’T BASE YOUR LIFE ON OTHER PEOPLES’ EXPECTATIONS. LET WHOEVER THINK WHATEVER. IT IS NOT YOUR BUSINESS.
FOCUS ON YOUR GOALS, YOUR DESTINATION. THAT IS ALL THAT SHOULD BE IMPORTANT TO YOU. DON’T FORGET TO ENJOY THE JOURNEY. IT IS NOT THE DESTINATION, BUT THE JOURNEY GETTING THERE, THAT STORIES BE TOLD.
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller