I’m rad, mavrad! (read style 'Bond, James Bond')

This is what I like about reading..you always learn something. Take yesterday, I was reading a novel by Sidney Sheldon, (yeah I know, kids material but I run out books to read from the library’s Sudut Bacaan Ringan – they really need to expand their selections but hey, aren't you supposed to be busy writing your thesis? Ah-ha…) The Sky is Falling & came across this stuff;

“..part of the arcane idiom spoken by the young. ‘Word’ meant ‘yes’. ‘Phat’ describes members of the opposite sex: Pretty Hot And Tempting. Everything was cool or sweet or tight or rad. If there were something they didn’t like, it sucked.”
E.g.
“Hi. How are you doing, pal?”
“Cool”
“How was school?”
“It was okay.”
“And are you getting along all right with Mrs…?”
“Yes, she’s rad.”
She’s more than rad, Dana thought. She’s a miracle.

“It sounds rad.”

“Do you like her?”
“Yeah, she’s phat.”

In the interest of further enlightening my mind, I crosschecked with my trusty & ever ready dictionary (just a click away), and look out at what I found!
rad
· adj. informal, chiefly N. Amer. excellent.
– ORIGIN 1980s: prob. an abbrev. of radical.
radical
· adj.
1 of, relating to, or affecting the fundamental nature of something. Ø innovative or progressive.

Perhaps I shall continue with the explanation of my URL –

I love the word maverick:
maverick
· n.
1 [often as modifier] an unorthodox or independent-minded person: a maverick politician.

But sad to say it’s taken. So I had to do some creative thinking and came up with mavrock. The ‘rock’ refer to my background, where I come from, the music I grew up with..and ‘mav’ is also on my no. plate. After much try and error, I end up with mavrock9999.

If you ever wonder why ‘A page a day’ when I didn’t seem to fulfill the expectation granted? Well, it refers to my serious-&-long-overdue writing on dissertation la …

What I read since last raya:
1. Diana – the last word, 2005, Simone Simmons, Orion Books.
Assorted chapters.
Conspiracy theory again? Landmines & the British defence industry?

2. Falling Leaves, 1999, Adeline Yen Mah, Broadway Books.
The true story of an unwanted Chinese daughter
Previously published under the title ‘Chinese Cinderella’ I think.

3. Written in blood – a brief history of civilization (with all the gory bits left in), 2003, Beverley MacDonald, Allen & Unwin.
From Titanic sinking to who invent dual-flush toilet, from Plato & Socrates to
‘The King is dead’ & how to make his fave fried-peanut-butter-banana-toasted
sandwich, what went wrong with China in the earlier century, how long a head
(decapitated) live for etc.

4. Success is never ending, Failure is never final, 2001, Robert H. Schuller, Orient Paperbacks.
Motivation, motivation, motivation! Why ah, only few motivation books with
reference to the Quran?

5. Charlie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
For the kid in me - What an imagination! Limitless.