Ahmad Al-Mahir Online http://almahir.com Animation. Digital Art. Drawings. Education. Personal Musings. Stuff. Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:53:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 Preparing for a New Start… http://almahir.com/2011/06/24/preparing-for-the-new-school-term/ http://almahir.com/2011/06/24/preparing-for-the-new-school-term/#comments Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:46:01 +0000 Ahmad Al-Mahir http://almahir.com/?p=573 …of the school term that is. That’s what’s been taking up most of my time these past few days. Before that I did take some leave from work and me and a close friend managed to take a 2-family 5-day trip to Selangor, Malaysia. We grabbed the opportunity to get on the 7-hour train ride to KL Sentral Station from Tanjung Pagar Station here (which will be closing at the end of June and likely be converted into a museum :( ). It was a nostalgic event for me and a first – and last- for my kids. From July the train station in Singapore will operate from Woodlands. We rented a car from KL and a house near Morib Beach, visited a couple of homestay kampungs and a gorgeous uncrowded waterfall. The trip was a good break from the office and the fast-paced Singapore lifestyle, but after that it did take me a couple more days to recover from the whole experience. And before you know it vacation has ended and it’s back to work. The second half of the semester starts next week, and I’m as busy as ever.

I did manage to get some sketches done while on the train (uploaded hereabouts), and recently borrowed a few graphic novels from the library which I’ll hopefully get around to reading (and doing quick reviews of). I’m also trying to finish up on a personal project that’s high on my priority list and long overdue. Maybe when it’s finished I can talk about it and show off some promo images.

I just wanted to drop a few lines here to let my reading public know that I’m still around and this site is still alive and kicking! It’s also nice timing I think – new term = new updates. Catcha laters peeps! :)

]]> http://almahir.com/2011/06/24/preparing-for-the-new-school-term/feed/ 0 Zequenz Sketches 02: KL-SG Train Ride http://almahir.com/2011/06/18/kl-sg-trainridesketches/ http://almahir.com/2011/06/18/kl-sg-trainridesketches/#comments Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:22:20 +0000 Ahmad Al-Mahir http://almahir.com/2011/06/18/kl-sg-trainridesketches/ Zequenz Sketches 02: KL-SG Train Ride

On the way back I decided to give sketching another try and spent a little more time on them. The cafeteria carriage was a little trickier because as I was drawing I got interrupted, the sun went down and the seats went from empty to full. Both drawings were done on individual pages and in [...]]]> Zequenz Sketches 02: KL-SG Train Ride

On the way back I decided to give sketching another try and spent a little more time on them. The cafeteria carriage was a little trickier because as I was drawing I got interrupted, the sun went down and the seats went from empty to full. Both drawings were done on individual pages and in ballpoint pen.

]]> http://almahir.com/2011/06/18/kl-sg-trainridesketches/feed/ 0 Zequenz Sketches 01: SG-KL Train Ride http://almahir.com/2011/06/14/sg-kl-trainridesketches/ http://almahir.com/2011/06/14/sg-kl-trainridesketches/#comments Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:43:12 +0000 Ahmad Al-Mahir http://almahir.com/2011/06/14/sg-kl-trainridesketches/ Zequenz Sketches 01: SG-KL Train Ride

I had a grand plan to draw the view outside my window at each train stop as we rode from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur on holiday, but it proved harder than expected. Firstly, the train stopped for only a few minutes each time. Secondly, I struggled to find interesting stuff to draw when it did [...]]]> Zequenz Sketches 01: SG-KL Train Ride

I had a grand plan to draw the view outside my window at each train stop as we rode from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur on holiday, but it proved harder than expected. Firstly, the train stopped for only a few minutes each time. Secondly, I struggled to find interesting stuff to draw when it did stop. These were scribbled quickly in ballpoint pen (the “seat view” one was extremely shaky as the train was moving at the time) in a new sketchbook I used for the trip.

]]> http://almahir.com/2011/06/14/sg-kl-trainridesketches/feed/ 0 Currently Reading – “The Narcissism Epidemic”. http://almahir.com/2011/01/29/currently-reading-the-narcissism-epidemic/ http://almahir.com/2011/01/29/currently-reading-the-narcissism-epidemic/#comments Sat, 29 Jan 2011 07:14:40 +0000 Ahmad Al-Mahir http://almahir.com/?p=489 The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of EntitlementThe Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement by Jean M. Twenge

I am half-way through reading and so far it has been presenting a lot of what I observe occurring or emerging here in Singapore. An interesting read. [UPDATE: I've finished the book and quite enjoyed it although it felt a little padded.]

Btw, I’ve signed up for a Goodreads account. Here’s how it describes itself: ”Goodreads is a free website for book lovers. Imagine it as a large library that you can wander through and see everyone’s bookshelves, their reviews, and their ratings. You can also post your own reviews and catalog what you have read, are currently reading, and plan to read in the future. Don’t stop there – join a discussion group, start a book club, contact an author, and even post your own writing. ” Looks interesting. I’ve always wanted to read more and find good books to enjoy. Let’s see how it goes :)

Fickle me! I found Shelfari while browsing and it looked pretty impressive too so I signed up. Now we’ll just have to see which account gets updated more regularly (i.e. ease of use and value for sign-up) and I’ll eventually stick to that one :D

[UPDATE: I'm sticking with Goodreads for the moment due to imho better layout and organization.]

]]> http://almahir.com/2011/01/29/currently-reading-the-narcissism-epidemic/feed/ 0 First Post for 2011. http://almahir.com/2011/01/22/another-year-another-attempt-at-this/ http://almahir.com/2011/01/22/another-year-another-attempt-at-this/#comments Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:55:55 +0000 Ahmad Al-Mahir http://almahir.com/?p=487 It’s been almost half a year since my last update on this site and I realize the longer I delay posting -partially due to lack of time, the inability to pick the right stuff to blog about nor craft the right way to present it, and/or just plain laziness – the harder it becomes to upload something. Anything. Frustratingly, I believe I’ve blogged about all this before in my last ‘comeback’! And, hopeful as I may be of doing a much better job this time around, I suspect patches of inactivity will still continue to occur in the future.

So why bother, you may ask, my dear faithful reader/s? Why keep this personal blog site going? Why not just shut this site down and hang out over at Facebook?
Well, firstly I believe in maintaining an online presence, not just as a profile on Facebook (which for me is more about catching up on friends and finding out what they’re up to) or LinkedIn (a good but strictly professional network space), but a place of my own where I can ramble about semi-relevant things. And upload stuff I’ve worked on that showcases my interests and capabilities.  Not forgetting the small tweaks, make-overs and occasional overhauls that I am free to subject the website to.

This place pressures me to update my portfolio, create more personal artwork and hopefully gets me some feedback on what connects with people (and what doesn’t) and how I can improve even more. It makes me want to be able to write about matters I’m interested in without getting too bogged down by details; to keep things informative yet concise. It is my motivation. My personal outlet.

So here I am putting some things up as a resumption of my website activity in 2011. Picking up where I pathetically left off. I do have a few Monologue sketches of MRT passengers I did a few months back that I’ll scan and upload [DONE!]. And there’s the Seoul Korea study trip in December 2010 I took with my students that I can write about a little click on the link for my write-up at the school website :)

Until my next post then (I promise it won’t be as long a wait)!
Thank you for dropping by :)

]]> http://almahir.com/2011/01/22/another-year-another-attempt-at-this/feed/ 0