#jeannies_own

SWASHPENTOTTING WRITER AND HIS BETTER HALF – THE CAPE CRUSADER

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

The weekend is upon us. Again. Didn’t we have it last week? Or was it yesterday. One can lose track of time when we are enjoying it. Looking at it, that is “time” in a new perspective or dimension; opens a whole new realm of possibilities for us. Maybe, it is just me as I get older (aren’t we all? Who isn’t?); wade through the distractions of things and the fluff of what social media, advertising and A.I. (known by mostly everyone, though not everyone knows it stands for Artificial Intelligence. See…it’s working. People are beginning to live in fantasy and forget what the real; world is) are smoke-screening our lives with.

Thavam is seizing the moment. With her copy of SPARKS OF JOY – SEIZE THE MOMENT. Starting young, she has dynamic plans for her future.

Jeannie, also known as The Batik Influencer, and I; with my pen, cutting a large letter “W” (not “Z” as another character does); are at Amcorp Mall; where people from around the world converge to look for keepsakes and collectibles they can acquire. They also know it is the place where they can relax and chill without having to jostle with too crowded a place.

We would love for all of you to come visit us at our booth F1.09, where there is soft sometimes loud…er music, flowing out from the Marshall Emberton III speaker. One would be pleasantly surprised at the amazing dynamic range of sound this speaker delivers. The Batik Influencer has come up with a new range of her JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creations, extremely limited in the numbers available, so come quickly and get yours. We enjoy catching up with our old friends, old new friends; and new friends we are about to get acquainted with. There is so much to catch up about.

For instance, Ryan. He was walking past with his young daughter. I commented that his beard was shaped like the Bugatti logo. And we hit it off from there. He acquired a copy of my book. He has been giving me feedback and suggestions on my marketing of this book and possibilities for my next book. I have been busy taking down notes. There have been others too, who have given constructive suggestions – there are many…so many that I decided to get a Plaud to make sure I don’t miss out on any. I can’t put all the suggestions into one book. However, they will be given due consideration.

For now, let’s have fun. The Batik Influencer and I, the Hatted Writer; look forward to meeting you all at our booth over this weekend. Have fun.

And she now has her very own JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creation, the first of many more to come.

Dr. Nazeera, with her copy of my book.

Mr. Bugatti himself, Ryan.

Alveena, a name to watch out for. Put a note in your note book to watch out for her. A flyer, commonly termed that for a person whose favourite is one of the tougher strokes of the four strokes in competitive swimming. Here she is with a copy of my book.

The Queen Jeannie of Borneo, who under disguise is the Batik Influencer; perpetuates peace wherever she goes.

Oozing with confidence, trying on one of the JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creations.

The emphasis on the lovely and colourful aura, the JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creation has.

This one or this one? They are all so beautiful.

Oooooyea, she’s got her copy.

And this is how we have a picture taken. Yasmin, with her copy of SPARKS OF JOY – SEIZE THE MOMENT.

Address:
Amcorp Shopping Mall,
Booth 1.09, 1st Floor, ,
8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Date: June 20th – June 21st, 2026
Time: 10.00am to 6.00pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)

JUDITH, MY TUDOR FRIEND AND NEIGHBOUR

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

Tudor is England, a little enclave in Subang Jaya. It is a little (yes, little; as it is made up of just over 190 houses) in this private section of Subang Jaya. For those of you who have immediately pulled out the map of Subang Jaya, and / or England trying to verify and find the “England” (not English😉😁- you will know by the way they speak. “Like that one oso got mah / meh / lah!) of Subang Jaya; or if Subang Jaya is in England; first of all you are a bit (maybe a lot more) out of date. Today, nobody makes use of maps. It is A.I., ChatGTB (or is it ChatTBC or ChatGBT), CoPilot or Google. No need smart one, oso can. The Queen’s (now the King’s, though not as popular) English has been run over by the English of people in the street, Malaysia. Haha.

Judith and her husband, Rueben; are our good friends from our Tudor neighbourhood. They live a street (though “road” is more commonly used in these parts) away, about 3 minutes walk away from us. Judith and I have found a sort of new common interest, even Rueben is into it – tattoos.

Some years ago, when my daughter, Laura was in early teenage years, she said she was going to get a tattoo one day. So, as a means to deter her or even delay the idea from her getting one; I said, “If you get a tattoo, so will I”. There I said it, with a hint that it might be one that is the same as what she gets. I was quite sure (not very sure, mind you) that it was sure to put her off the idea of tattoos, or put it on the backburner for a long time to come.

Guess what? “Long time” was so long that it snuck right up on me without me even realising it. Fast forward to October 2023: Out of the blue, Laura said, “Dad, I am getting a tattoo this Saturday”. Remember, I am not one of those normal parents who might have retorted, “Over my dead body, young lady!”. I said, “o.k.. Remember the deal I made with you? If you get a tattoo, so will I. Well, so will I”. There, I said it. That otta (supposed to be, “ought to) give her second thoughts.

My advice to parents who want to play the “I dare you” game”: it ain’t gonna work. Laura said, “Ok”. Now, I was stuck in a bind. I didn’t want to get a tattoo, but I had to. 😂🤣🥲😥😓😭😰

It started with my first tattoo:

My first tattoo

Before the guy even started microscopically hammer-drilling the tattoo in, I asked, “Is it over?”. The rest as they (Who are “they?”) say, is history.

Judith and Rueben both have pretty unique, bold tattoos. Impressive, especially Judith’s latest.

From my first tattoo in October 2023, to the latest – my 7th. While Judith and I were discussing through text just after I showed her via WhatsApp, my 6th tattoo; she said she would also like a copy of my newly published book, SPARKS OF JOY – SEIZE THE MOMENT.

I personally delivered her copy to her home. Jeannie was with me at that time. They started talking about Jeannie’s JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Capes. It so happened that Jeannie had her latest creation with her. Judith saw. Judith acquired. 😁

I also took the opportunity to show Judith my 7th. and most painful tattoo. I sort of designed the picture for the tattoo a little bit. The picture shows ideas and sparks of joy coming from reading books (perhaps mine?😉), the galaxy and lightning strikes to seize the moment. I may right an essay on my tattoos…will see.

Judith is now amongst the growing number of Tudorians from our Tudor neighbourhood who owns a copy of SPARKS OF JOY – SEIZE THE MOMENT. Someone today, asked me if there are enough copies of the book to go around. I told her that my publisher is at hand to get more copies out.

Jeannie and I had such fun catching up with Judith, even if it was for a little while. Judith is one of those who is the future of today. Bright. Endless possibilities.

Judith, with her copy of SPARKS OF JOY – SEIZE THE MOMENT.

Judith and her personalised copy.

Sparks of joy and ideas coming from my book (s) – My 7th tattoo. 😊

One of Jeannie’s, JEANNIE’S OWN latest creations.
Another of Jeannie’s JEANNIE’S OWN latest creations.

IT CAME, IT WENT

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

Aren’t we all in a hurry? Everything seems to be in a rush or rushing to catch the tail end of something. Tail end of a moment? Now, that will be a feat to watch. A moment is what I believe to be wa-a-a-y faster than a second. So, can you imaging trying to catch it’s tail end? I think a dog, running in circles, trying to catch its tail is more likely to succeed though the odds are stacked against that from happening. Compared to us trying to catch the tail end of a moment.

We were waiting in anticipation for the weekend to come, because it was the “Merdeka” weekend. Malaysia’s 67th Independence anniversary. Though some purists will tell you that it was to be Peninsula Malaysia’s (Malaya in 1957) Independence. Sarawak and Sabah got theirs a few years later, what is now known as “Malaysia Day”.

Also, it was the first time that we, the Batik Influencer, Jeannie; and I, would be manning a booth at Amcorp Shopping Mall’s Flea Market starting on a Friday and ending on Sunday.

Friday came. We were at our designated booth on the 1st Floor by 11.00am, set up and displayed the things that we hope would have found new owners by this weekend. At first, we only expected the people traffic flow to be from the office crowd since Friday was a working day. The crowd was good, with a good mix of those still working and those who were not.

The first two of JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creations were quickly snapped up by these two ladies.

There was a D.J. / M.C. this weekend. He was good. We weren’t at our booth for too long before the M.C. (let’s call him that for the rest of the article) made his way to out booth and interviewed the Batik Influencer. He promoted her batik capes (Jeannie’s Batik Capes under the lable of JEANNIE’S OWN) over the air. I met him, but we did not recognise each other).

The M.C., Denis; getting to know about the Batik Influencer’s Batik Cape Creations under the JEANNIE’S OWN label.

A while later, I saw my cousin, Darren Atkinson, walk by. When he heard the M.C.s voice over the speakers, he said that was Denis Lim. I said it couldn’t be because we met each other earlier. However, I did not recognise him, and vice versa. No names were exchanged at that point of time.

Darren went looking for the M.C..

Friday was soon over, and Jeannie and I headed for home by about 5.00pm. We wanted to avoid the office crawl (literally). It is the usual time when you can see snails move faster than us. Looks like I’ve been influenced by “Turbo”.

The Batik Influencer demonstrating the multiple ways of using the JEANNIE’S OWN Batik Cape Creations.

One of the first people to visit us on Saturday morning was the M.C., Denis. Now, I knew who he was and vice versa; after Darren. We were all connected through the youth of Assumption Church, Petaling Jaya. (1) We reminisced of the great times we had when we were the youth (we still are…depending on how one looks at it😉😂) of the 1970s and 1980s.

My cousin, Chris; stopped by, too. We had a good chat since our last coffee meet up a few weeks ago.

We had many people come see us during the three days we were at our booth. There was never a time the Mall was quiet. The M.C. did a fantastic job, keeping the crowds entertained and updating them on where there could find great bargains for the bargain hunters. He also advertised the products of all the booths had to offer.

Emir visited us, and so did his sister. They picked up a few things of ours for their use. My Fujimi brand e34 BMW 535 SOHC unbuilt model kit which I bought in 1989 and kept all this while, has now found a new owner, who apparently does not intend to build it, but to keep it like how I kept it. He has a real “Mazda red” (colour) e34, double vanos model, as his daily use. He loves it.

More of my Hotwheels collection have found new owners, leaving me with barely 10% of my original collection left. They all must have new owners.

The Batik Influencer met with more fashion industry people and talked away about batik and how it is a growing powerhouse in the international arena. I met many more people who have become followers of http://www.leatherpotato.com. They have wished me well on the upcoming book and have indicated an interest in getting a copy each when it reaches the book stores in Q1, 2025. For, you, readers; a multiple number have indicated that you want a copy, it is coming real soon. It was supposed to be out for the Christmas holidays. However, due to a slight delay, it will be out in Q1, 2025 (not too long from now). I am excited to see its fruition.

We headed home by about 5.30pm. But first, we stopped by at Kwai Sun for dinner…

NOTES:
1. Petaling Jaya is a city in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.