Had a day off from work today. Forced by my employers but I was very willing participant. So, I managed to kill off one more credit card today. I even made a list. Woke up really early too:
The year is almost over and interestingly I am still alive though everyday I am slowly losing my mind. Oh there it is. After the bank thing I did something crazy: I went to Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. It was damn embarrassing to go there and not really knowing why I was there. Okay, I knew why I was there but it was kind of hard to articulate to Security what I wanted without sounding pretentious and stupid all at the same time.
Thank god I was in a good mood. Because trying to do the thing I wanted to do seemed to be hindered every step of the way. Or it could be perceived so to the untrained and demotivated. Which by the way I qualify almost every other day. Firstly, the road to KL is jammed. But we all knew that. Secondly, I was cutting it a bit close with the lunch hour. Any later and I could have missed my appointment with a very important but unknown entity at DBP. Thirdly, I could not get to the place because the roads were closed. I had to park all the way across the street near that spooky grave yard behind the ugliest building ever: Menara MAA. Next hurdle, I had to explain to the Security at Menara DBP, which by the way is even uglier and rather big, why I was there. As usual, they are not sure where I should go. So they sent me to the 13th floor. In retrospect, it did sound ominous. No one was there. I wonder what is their business model. Then at last someone showed up who directed me to the 19th floor. There again I was told to go to the 22nd floor and eventually 11th Floor.
By that time I had the hang of explaining what I wanted to do: Publish my novel. Sigh. See? It is so pretentious. They asked me a question: Is my novel complete? No. I want to know how do I get it published, sounding more stupid every minute. Plus I sound alien when I speak Malay. Sheesh. Finally, a lady came over to assist me.
Alright, here is what I must do: Finish my manuscript and submit to DBP. They will assess whether my work is publishable. If yes then they will help with editing. If not then they will return the manuscript to me. All this apparently takes up to a year. Sounds simple enough. She then gave me a pamphlet and contact details of an officer who organizes workshops for writers. I need help. In more ways than one. After that little adventure my walk back to the car seemed anticlimatic.
After, I tried to find a place to eat lunch which had wifi. Failed. So, I ended up at home and went to sleep. I feel like I wasted this whole day. Maybe I should continue writing that book…
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