The time has come.....

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

~Lewis Carroll, The Walrus and the Carpenter (a very cool thing to read)

So, the time has come i think, to talk about everything.. basically talk with myself about everything in my life... it's the end of the year, time for employee performance appraisals :) so i thought what the hell, i might as well have an appraisal session for myself... contrary to what some might think, i am actually a harsh judge on myself.. I might not appear to you, the reader, as someone who has a clear view of where her life is going and a clear plan on how to get there.... but i do... yes, i may take the longer route, but come on, at least i enjoy the scenery :) and when am old and wrinkled, it's memories of the scenery that remain.. but i always keep my ultimate plans to myself... why? i dont know, i just like it better this way.. you dont get to discuss your plans with people and maybe need to defend them.. and you dont let ppl down when u make a change of plans.. plus, i dont like talk talk talk and no action.. i tell people about dreams, aspirations, sometimes.. but not about plans, unless it involves them.. but i do have some clear destinations in this cloudy head of mine :)

* What I'm reading
These days am still reading Terry Pratchett's Night Watch that i borrowed from Duke (btw, Duke and Da Wife and Ta77an and another friend are in Turkey now for new year's :)) ... i've been very slow on reading the past few weeks, thats why i didnt finish this book till now... When i finish it, my next read is ready: when Karim came he got me The Book of Dreams edited by Neil Gaiman.. its a collection of short stories by different writers about The Sandman and other Endless siblings (who were originally created by NG)

* A-HA, Travis, Oasis, Queen, and the rest..
These are all bands i learned to like from Du my friend... i just remembered because i listened to one song lately that reminded me.. Velvet for A-HA ("her skin is like velvet") a very very sweet song.. try it..

* Song of the post ;)
many many..... the one thats going thru my mind since i heard on the radio yday is Hunter for Dido... i luv her lyrics in general, and this one in particular is sooo cool...
I want to be a hunter again
I want to see the world alone again
To take a chance on life again
So let me go
Let me leave
(am pasting it so that it plays thru your head too :))

* ITWorx is now a CMMI Level 3 certified organization! :)
We just got certified today (well, technically yday since its 1 am).. for anyone who is interested, the CMMI-L3 model consists of 17 process areas.. Organizational Training is one of them, and it was my thing... apparently the indian appraisal guy was really impressed by the efforts of the training function (a.k.a ME!) and by how the measurements are collected effectively and used innovatively for improving the quality of training.. blablabla...

* Smells I like
Fresh rain
freshly brewed good coffee in open air
Good fresh bakery
libraries -more than bookstores- (there is this distinct smell to books...)
Baby powder
the "smell" of the air in a clean place (mountain/sea)

* I now noticed that my blog space is one year old.. From my last days in IBM :D
So much has happened since then, its like i'm going back in history when i read this..

Sliding Doors

I've always thought
that I would love to live by the sea
To travel the world alone
and live my life more simply
I have no idea what's happened to that dream
Cos there's really nothing left here to stop me

~ Dido, "Life for Rent"

So, it all starts at "I have no idea what's happened to that dream".. and i keep thinking what happened to a lot of dreams i had... i always wanted to travel abroad (to Europe) for work or study for a year or two.. i wanted to take up the academic career path (still not late for that).. hmmmm i wanted to maintain a healthy lifestyle (sleep early, wake up early, walk a lot, eat healthy, see a lot of fresh air.. i do all these but the eat healthy one, its not that i dont like healthy food but its that i eat healthy _and_ unhealthy :))
so, the title of this post refers to this.. to aaaaallllll the what if's in our lives.. all the other options and how our lives would've been similar/different...
Anyway, more about that later.. about broken dreams and unfulfilled promises...

* Bounce
a Bon Jovi song.. i wont paste the lyrics here, u can check them out yourselves (way to go Nag!).. Duke reminded me of that song yday because he said it suits my mood, or actually that my mood calls for it to lift me up :) It's all about "bouncing back again".. listen to it, it actually makes me smile instantly.....

* New Year's Resolutions (again!)
New Year is coming.. must add this year's unfulfilled resolutions and add new ones.. i decided to put a lot of small acheivable goals so that i feel some sense of accomplishment...

* Things I confuse :)
by this i mean stuff that get confused by me :) hmmmmm, i confuse the elevators of our Falaki bldg in university where our labs used to be in our last year.. they have the "double click on the button to cancel floor selection" option so i always pressed and cancelled many floors until the elevator (which is also equipped with voice message for special needs people) used to just open the doors and say some message like "please make up your mind" or something keda :)
I also confuse mobile phones and calculators by just doing many things at once...
And, i like to confuse my computer and overload it :D Right now i have 14 Outlook windows, 7 IEs, 2 folders, 2 Excel sheets, 3 Word docs, calculator and 1 MSN window... AND its still not 9:30 in the morning yet!! :)

* Favorite things
Caramel cappuccino @ Harris Cafe (they put this indulgent cream and caramel on top that makes it heavenly)
fresh orange juice (it has to be a bit sour)
lemon juice/ice cream.. in fact, lemon anything :)
cats
curly haired babies.. i just adore the gypsy bohemian look in a kid.. unlike my appearance now, i was a _very_ groomed kid, but i wont do that to my children.. clean doesnt have to mean groomed :)
salsa dancing.. i also like flamingo..
Cartoons
witty children books (and Diwan's children section)

Addendum to the prev post :)

yes i know, 2 "written" posts in one day.. but this one is REALLY worth blogging because an event that should be noted has happened:

Nag switched off her phone! :) Seriously.. a once in a lifetime occurence that took a _lot_ of will.... well, actually it was done in a split second so that i dont change my mind :) :)

cheers,
N.

knicks and knacks

* Coldplay
I'm re-discovering Coldplay these days.. the start was the song called "Warning Sign" or something of the sort that goes like "and the truth is that i miss you".. and i found out i like many of their stuff...... I also discovered www.pandora.com which is a cool Gnome music project that introduces you to music similar to the one you like.. blablabla... try it out..

* Taola
I taught Kareem how to play taola and now we try to play whenever we get the chance... aaaaaand, i always beat him :) He always claims otherwise, but i do, i really do..

* Work
nah.... dont feel like talking about it... the weather seems amazimg and am stuck in a cage-like room :'(

* Say nighty-night and kiss me
Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me
While I’m alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me

i like this song.... :) and i was recently thinking of the certain phenomenon of having to have someone to say good night to.. this someone could be a parent, a sister, a friend, a partner, whatever.. and i was thinking of how you sometimes pick someone just to fill that "someone to say goodnight to" syndrome.. hence, mismatched relations and friendships.. anyway am babbling :)

* Karim-bo
Karim is coming tonight... right now he is Amsterdam waiting for his flight.. he is online and bored... when karim comes there will be a lot of going out, movies, cooking :) and everything.. we will arrange something at Duke's place and will rebuild our past glories :)

* Am boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooored.... do something about it!

Snip-it ;) (not Snippet)

(Been in my drafts for a while now.. time to see the light :))

* The Merchant of Venice
(I watched the Al Pacino movie with Mai and Sherif a while ago.. it is highly recommended.. this a piece of Shylock monologue in the trial when asked why he wants Antonio's flesh.. Read it deeply and think.. Aren't we all the same (wo)man after all?)
To bait fish withal: if it feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge! If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge! The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

* Sister
My sister now knows the way to my blog.. It is scary :) Weirdly enough tho, it made her know a lot about me, stuff that never came up.. what i like and dont like blablabla...

* Pre-appraisal
it went fine... one time i will tell you all about it :):) now we're preparing for the formal appraisal in 2 weeks time.. wish us (and me) luck..

* Nermeena..
http://nermeena.blogspot.com This girl is a sweetheart really... very very sweet... thumbs up to her.. only met her like a couple of times but we talk a lot.. she is one good girl :D

i was planning to talk a lot but i dont feel like it :D

I like it when its cold.. when am walking in the cold.. I came in a while ago..
Weird thing is, i was in a totally totally black mood.. Here's a thing about me, i really let myself down when am depressed.. the thing is, i am almost always cheerful, so its like i think of myself as the glue that keeps it all together.. if i collapse, what/who will keep this together... Dont get me wrong, its not like i carry the weight of the world on my shoulders.. but i just take it as my responsibility to feel good.. anyway, by seem weird act of fate, i ended up strolling the streets alone and all of a sudden Queen's "Love of my life" start playing in my head and i start thinking this will really be perfect if it starts to rain.. Somehow when i am in a gloomy mood and it starts raining, it instantly picks me up.. maybe the fact that the sky is crying as well makes me feel a little better :)

Anyway, i had a lot to say but somehow i cant say it now...

A real post is in store... in fact, i didnt mean to blog this post, i wanted to continue the other and post it... bass never mind....

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

(I've always liked this guy.... i cant claim i know a lot about him, but i read enough about him to admire him.. try to read the whole thing thru.. go here for a commentary on the speech)

This is the text of the Commencement address delivered to the graduating class in Stanford University by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Blogging it out..

(Scenes from my life during the past period)

* Give me the smiley
the msn emoticon that goes like a normal smiley ":)" It just bugs me... it makes me feel like "i have nothing to say so i gave you a semi-smile" (for a person like me who's faintest smile is a grin, a smile without showing teeth is a "whatever" smiley).. so i came up with Kareem with this thing of calling it "dont give me the smiley" or "you gave me the smiley"

* What am reading
Terry Pratchett's "A Hat full of Sky"... a nice read.. not as good as Mort.. but its nice enough to read a bit everyday.. i dont know why i rarely read anything that "moves" me recently..

* Unnamed/Untamed feelings
Sometimes, i feel the slightest hints of the weirdest feelings.. you know.. like when something can just make you gloomy.. or you can feel your heart contract for a split second from the weirdest of events.. I thought i grew out of this phase.. apparently not.. I am very stressed out because of work.. i feel like my world is foggy.... but that shouldnt be it... i dont know.. maybe i shouldnt have written that down when am in this state.. i'd rather blog some lyrics that say it all... (but i wont :))

* A quote
"We're women. We have a double standard to live up to. " ~ Ally McBeal

* I'm feeling blocked again..

.... I have spoken

* int
the other day i was telling Kareem eno i used to work in Java and i like Java and miss it blablabla (i am into Java as core programming not web programming).. fa he was like "ah so u claim you know java? whats the value of int?" so, without thinking i said "65536".. anyway, he said he never heard this number before and anyway he wasnt serious in his question, he was picking on me because he didnt know i would know it aslan... anyway, i looked it up, short int is the one i said.. Actually its the unsigned java short.. 0 to 65535.. (2^16).. the regular int is 2^32.. Anyway, am more of a nerd than one would think bardo :)

* An Iftar to Remember
I had the most beautiful iftar the other day... (its a day other than the "other day" thats in the previous point).. It was purely spontaneous and it was purely great... As a spur of the moment plan, I went with Kareem to Zamalek.. on the way there, we called Pizza Hut to prepare our order... We went to Zamalek, Kareem went in PH to get our pizzas and i went to Metro to get cokes and wet wipes aaaaaaand we went to a quiet area of Abul Fida Corniche to eat.... It was sooooooooo cool... the weather was simply amazing.. there were almost no people except for very few of those who decided to do the same, and they were scattered.. we had our pizzas then we sat on a "ahwa baladi" in 26th July Street for some tea with mint (and sheesha for Kareem).. then we went to the ultimate Diwan (got a Terry Pratchett book :)) and then we went to Cilantro and took hot chocolate with whipped cream... It was the best :) A great idea! :)

* Sinusitis
i woke up this morning with a severe case of runny/blocked nose.. its giving me a headache because i cannot breathe.. hope it gets better after a little sleep and soup.. (probably Maggi's asparagus soup)

* Babel Fish (no, not the altavista translator)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel_fish

"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves that you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. Q.E.D."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.
"Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.

~Douglas Adams, H2G2 (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

* Have a nice vacation everyone :)

Cheers,
N.

p.s. I just noticed that 2 entries are about Kareem... hmmmm i will make it up to everyone else around here :)

These are a few of my favorite things...

(a real post yaaaaaaaaaay!)

So, as it happens, am in a bloggy mood today :) In case you havent noticed (and you probably havent, i mean most of you have but some havent).. I've blogged lyrics yesterday... Today, the real thing :) I remembered now a Friends episode where Chandler goes like "This is the Real Thing. Capital R, Capital T" :)

Anyhow, on with the post...

* Charm Bracelets
i luv them... i just do.. you know this tradition when you get a charm bracelet and every occassion (every anniversary, every birthday, whatever), you add one small toy that means something or refers to something? I always wanted to do that :) And maybe one day i'll do that.. but i'll have to buy a new charm every month or something, to make up for the lost time :)
this seems to be something like i have in mind.. (esp that the purple stone is Amethyst, my birthstone)

* What am reading
hmmmm... I finished "The Rule of Four" almost a week or more ago.. I liked it.. not LIKED it, just liked it.. i dont regret reading it, but it didnt knock me of my feet at all.. not reading anything else at the moment.. just some women magazines.. waiting for the Diwan trip..

* R.E.M. (pronounced "rem" by me :))
I discovered i actually like REM.. dont know many of their songs honestly, but I luv Imitation of Life.. And i luv Losing My Religion (its one of the few songs that i actually like when someone sings it on his guitar).. Been singing (no.. humming :)) it for a couple of days now....
you can download it from here (that was so cool to find it! illegal but cool :))
The tune is so catchy but its mainly the words that i like so much :)

Life is bigger
It’s bigger than you
And you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes
Oh no, I’ve said too much
I set it up

(chorus)
That’s me in the corner
That’s me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don’t know if I can do it
Oh no, I’ve said too much
I haven’t said enough
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

Every whisper
Of every waking hour i’m
Choosing my confessions
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt lost and blinded fool, fool
Oh no, I’ve said too much
I set it up
Consider this
Consider this
The hint of the century
Consider this
The slip that brought me
To my knees failed
What if all these fantasies
Come flailing around
Now I’ve said too much
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

But that was just a dream
That was just a dream

Casablanca

a beautiful classic movie i hope one day to watch............... It has some of the most memorable quotes like "We'll always have Paris"
Also Humphrey Bogart's famous phrase to Ingrid Bergman "Here's looking at you, kid."
and what Bogart says to the pianist "You played it for her, you can play it for me! . . . If she can stand it, I can! Play it!"

anyway, i just wanted to blog this song, "As Time Goes By"

You must remember this
A kiss is still a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by
And when two lovers woo
They still say, "I love you"
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by
Moonlight and love songs
Never out of date
Hearts full of passion
Jealousy and hate
Woman needs man
And man must have his mate
That no one can deny
it's still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by

(i know i shouldnt blog lyrics but i love this song :) )

Dear Murphy

(not necessarily in response to Duke's old post about Murphy's law)

Dear Murphy-
With all due respect, you are wrong. Things can (and do) work out sometimes for people.. Sometimes things are going off cliff when miraculously, they actually do work out. You need to understand and believe in it, or it never will come your way.. Of course sometimes things tend to have a mind of their own and just screw themselves up, but you never know when they're going to get better!

Murphy, you need to do your work keeping in mind that things can go terribly wrong, yet believe that they can work out.......

Dear Murphy, give me a call sometime and i'll either bring sunshine into your dark side or give you a heart-attack... Both ways, you'll deserve it..

Cheers,
N.

interesting google links...

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/10/guess-what-just-turned-34.html

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/10/we-get-letters-3.html

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/10/point-of-google-print.html


AND, everyone.......... check this out:
http://www.google.com/codejam/

Cross your fingers..

Kareem (not Karim, but you probably know the difference by now *yawn*) is starting a new job today...

Everyone, keep your fingers crossed for him and wish him luck!

Say a little prayer for him.. If everyone who reads this said a little prayer in their own language and faith, chances are, something is going to get him :)

There is this Swatch ad, where everyone in all parts of the world jumps in the same moment in slow motion, then when they touch the ground a Japanese old man sweeping leaves find that all leaves on a tree are falling for no reason. So its a bit like that...


Real blog later isA :)

Cheers,
N.

Pretty Baby

(Lyrics but forgive me for that... luv this song, its for Vanessa Carlton and its so sweet.... read it thru and try to listen to it)

You light me up and then I fall for you
You lay me down and then I call for you
Stumbling on reasons that are far and few
I'd let it all come down and then some for you

Pretty baby don't you leave me
I have been saving smiles for you
Pretty baby why can't you see
You're the one that I belong to
I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm
For you're the sun that breaks the storm
I'll be alright and I'll sleep sound
As long as you keep comin' around, oh pretty baby

And I know things can't last forever
But there are lessons that you'll never learn
Oh just the scent of you it makes me hurt
So how's it you that makes me better

[Chorus]

Why can't you hold me and never let go
When you touch me it is me that you own
Pretty baby oh the place that you hold in my heart
Would you break it apart again... oh pretty baby

[Chorus]

Pretty baby, why can't you see
Pretty baby, don't you leave me
Pretty baby, why can't you see
Pretty baby, don't you leave me,
Pretty Baby
My Pretty Baby
My Pretty Baby
Don't you leave me

a "blog"

(as opposed to lyrics or quotes or whatever :))

As i started to do recently, i've been writing over the span of 2 weeks in the sort of points (some of which i forgot what they refer to :))

*Missing what i dont have
I dont know.. i just promised to start my blog with this.... missing what i dont have refers to a different nostalgia.. a nostalgia for something that could've happened.. i dont want my words to be interpreted in a thousand meanings.. am not referring to something in particular.... its just that i believe that the possibilities are always so immense :) enough on this point, but i fulfilled my promise..

* Winter
I luv winter... i simply adore it.. i like chilly weather... i luv rain, i luv walking in the rain.. i like walking in fog (but not riding in cars).. am looking forward to winter because it just cheers me up... the morning chill i feel when i go down to work is an instant pick-me-up

* Lithuanian Elephant
when Chris was in Lithuania, he got me this tiny smiling elephant that is made from clay (we have an elephant thing, i picked it from karembu and apparently its an ITWorx thing as well)... it looks so nice and u can clearly see fingerprints on it, so its lovely.. i have it on my desk.. generally i dont like decorating my desk or workplace because it would make me like the place and thus feel torn if i had to move.. (a trait i have like cats, getting attached to a place more than to the people in the place )

* 90 pages away (Or what am reading these days)
hmmmm.... i wrote that right before last weekend when i was 90 pages away from finishing American Gods.. i loooooooooooooooooooooved it... (Thanks, Duke!) i finished it by Thursday then Friday i started AND finished The 5 people you meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom.. a lovely easy read that is full of sentiments.. Now i started The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason.. a book quoted to be "the Da Vinci Code for people with brains".. I'm a little more than 1/3 way thru, and i like it.. i dont have enough time or energy to read these days tho..

* "Ignorance is a bliss" Vs. "The truth shall set you free"
hmmm... this referred to an old argument.. I am from the believers of the 2nd phrase... i.e. acknowledge it, admit it, lock it up, and move on.. as opposed to the "what you dont know wont hurt you" attitude....

*Losing my Religion (or in this case inspiration)
Suffering from a severe case of demotivation.. i dont wanna talk about it.. i just feel like i'm slowly losing my lustre and becoming dull and "lukewarm" if you know what i mean.. thats all about that.. even in my blogging, i feel its boring.. in my work, i feel am not productive altho i work my head off sometimes... am not the me that i thought for myself..

*Delirium "coats"
"She was no longer Delight, and the blossoms had already begun to fall in her domain, becoming smudged and formless colours, and she had no one to talk to..."
Delight becomes Delirium, in SANDMAN #42: "Brief Lives:2"

This is one of my favorites ever:
"What's the name of the word for the precise moment when you realize that you've actually forgotten how it felt to make love to somebody you really liked a long time ago." "There isn't one." "Oh. I thought maybe there was."
Delirium and Dream, in SANDMAN #43: "Brief Lives:3"

Kareem (not Karim) got me the whole sandman comics collection on a CD :) I am still to read it tho (dont like e-books..) but it also has this software that makes you browse it blablabla

*Eleven Minutes
"In love, no one can harm anyone else; we are each of us responsible for our own feelings and cannot blame someone else for what we feel.
It hurt when I lost each of the various men I fell in love with. Now, though, I am convinced that no one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone.
That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it."

"Life is too short, or too long, for me to allow myself the luxury of living it so badly."

(i read the book when it was still new and it really touched me in parts.. I would recommend it to anyone who will be able to overlook its directness and read between the lines)

a quote..

"When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it." ~Winnie the Pooh

(very true :))

top of the world

I was walking home tonight.. the weather was very nice and i started thinking this song (no implications ;)):


Such a feeling's coming over me,
There is wonder in most everything I see.
Not a cloud in the sky,
Got the sun in my eyes
And I won't be surprised if it's a dream..

Everything I want the world to be
Is now coming true especially for me.
And the reason is clear,
It's because you are here
You're the nearest thing to heaven that I've seen..

I'm on the top of the world
Looking down on creation
And the only explanation I can find
Is the love that I've found
Ever since you've been around
You have put me at the top of the world.

Something in the wind has learned my name
And it's telling me that things are not the same
In the leaves on the trees
And the touch of the breeze
There's a pleasing sense of happiness for me
There is only one wish on my mind
When the day is through I hope that I will find
That tomorrow will be
Just the same for you and me
All I need will be mine if you are here..

I'm on the top of the world
Looking down on creation
And the only explanation I can find
Is the love that I've found
Ever since you've been around
You have put me at the top of the world.

a bloggable thought

a thought occurred to me.. in the following minute, two concurrent thoughts occurred.. the first was "this is soooo much like something Kareem (not Karim) would say" and the 2nd being "This is sooo much like something Seinfeld would say" (and btw it was Karim -not Kareem- who introduced me to Seinfeld in the first place.. it was about the time he introduced me to "el mashroob el holami" as well, 7-up or Sprite with mint syrup)

Anyway so i shared this thought (the very 1st thought that occurred to me) yesterday with Kareem (not Karim) and he went like “I CANT BELIEVE IT!! I HAD THE EXACT SAME THOUGHT AND I THOUGHT THIS WAS SUCH A BLOGGABLE THOUGHT” so I shared with him the other 2 thoughts….

Since we both wanted to blog that thought, we agreed that we will see who gets there first….

The thought in question is, “why the $#%#$^ do they name hurricanes after women?” ;)

Wikipedia said:

In keeping with the common English language practice of referring to inanimate objects such as boats, trains, etc., using the female pronoun "she," names used were exclusively feminine. The first storm of the year was assigned a name beginning with the letter "A", the second with the letter "B", etc. However, since tropical storms and hurricanes are primarily destructive, some considered this practice sexist.

Read more at this wikipedia link

A long post is in store… wait for it… and happy Ramadan everyone!

I believe..

(a good home-made just-like-the-old-days blog is in store.. For now, read this "speech" from American Gods then go to here and read its interpretation... It is really something, so enjoy it -and its interpretation- and let me know what you think... To me, it is one of the most meaningful things i read, and in my current indecisive state i relate to it..)


"I can believe things that are true and I can believe things that aren't true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they're true or not. I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and Marilyn Monroe and the Beatles and Elvis and Mister Ed. Listen-- I believe that people are perfectible, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones that look like wrinkledy lemurs and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women. I believe that the future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone's ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems communicating and that the decline in good sex in America is coincident with the decline in drive-in movie theaters from state to state. I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that California is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Florida is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste. I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we'll all be wiped out by the common cold like the Martians in War of the Worlds. I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were Edith Sitwell and Don Marquis, that jade is dried dragon sperm, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a one-armed Siberian shaman. I believe that mankind's destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that it's aerodynamically impossible for a bumblebee to fly, that light is a wave and a particle, that there's a cat in a box somewhere who's alive and dead at the same time (although if they don't ever open the box to feed it it'll eventually just be two different kinds of dead), and that there are stars in the universe billions of years older than the universe itself. I believe in a personal god who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with her girlfriends and doesn't even know that I'm alive. I believe in an empty and godless universe of causal chaos, background noise, and sheer blind luck. I believe that anyone who says that sex is overrated just hasn't done it properly. I believe that anyone who claims to know what's going on will lie about the little things too. I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies. I believe in a woman's right to choose, a baby's right to live, that while all human life is sacred there's nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system. I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it."

.................

Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper "i love you"
Birds singin’ in the sycamore tree
Dream a little dream of me

Say nighty-night and kiss me
Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me
While I’m alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me


Check this site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moogle
i dont know how i came to it, but i like it a lot! kupo! :)

hmmmmmmmmm.... what else.... dont feel like blogging..... i miss what i dont have..

Mystery Train

(a lovely song by Bon Jovi.. i only blog pure lyrics in moments of pure happiness or pure depression.... and btw, how come no one commented on my previous post! )

There are days when she's a whisper
Nights when she's a scream
A reason to wake up in the morning
To close your eyes and dream
She'll curse you like a sailor
She'll wound you with her eyes
She always makes it better
But she won't apologize
I know everything about her but don't know her at all

Chorus:
She's a ride on a mystery train
To a place you've never been before
Better hold on tight to that mystery train
You're not in Kansas anymore
She's a ride
Mystery train

She cries because she's happy
She sings songs when she's mad
Like a stiff drink when you need it
She's good at being bad
And long before you knew her, you knew she was the one

Chorus:
She's a ride on a mystery train
To a place you've never been before
Better hold on tight to that mystery train
You're not in Kansas anymore
She's a ride
Mystery train

Solo

I know everything about her but don't know her at all

Chorus:
She's a ride on a mystery train
To a place I've never been before
Better hold on tight to that mystery train
I'm not in Kansas anymore
She's a ride
On a mystery train
She's a ride
On a mystery train

pieces of my mind..

been writing this blog in points over the past 2-3 days.... now am filling it up :)

* Shikapores
Zewwish (a.k.a Yasmine, a.k.a. Zeww) started this story series, called "Tea Cup Wars" when she was feverish one time.. i can paste parts of it sometime. anyway so "Shikapores".... hmmm we were talking one time and her nose is all blocked and she says "i will continue tea cup wars" so i go like "what shikapores?!" :)
Shikapores also features a character that was "inspired" by me.. A squirrel! :) this squirrel was very friendly.. it was really really a nice interesting creature (and no, am not writing that just because i know *YOU* are reading it, but its one of the reasons ;)) So Squirrel was nice and all, but he/she/it kept knowing the wrong creatures all the time.. no wonder he (or she or it.. probably she) was getting beaten/bitten/pushed/shoved/or hurt :) Squirrel befriended a snake once, a camel (altho she thought it looked more like a fish), a gorilla, a horse, and a phoenix (yes yes, that legendary bird DOES actually exist! Squirrel saw it).. (Note to the reader: Zewwish probably does know as much details as I do about her own creation ;))
She kept looking for a creature that matched the Squirrelship Highness of her dream. Meanwhile, Sq. met White Rabbit (the protagonist of the story, being Zewwish herself ;))
Anyway, Z thinks Sq oughts to meet another squirrel sometime and stick to it... However, truth is that Sq -being the "nut-lover"that she is- never liked to stick to her own kind.. she liked to explore the world out there.... who knows, maybe next time its a frog she befriends!

* The Island
saw the movie.. liked it... will probably review it in the upcoming ITWorx newsletter (i was supposed to submit the articles 3 days ago!)

* Intuition
no.. i wont talk about that... i had a reason to talk about it when i put that point, but not now..

* Deus Ex Machina and Karembu
weirdly enough, Karembu talks about Deus Ex Machina in his last blog.. "weirdly enough" because i'd written about it recently to a cultural e-group keda (PTP).. check the definition in Karim's blog... wikipedia also mentioned the Stephen King uses it a lot (yes ya Kareem -not Karim-, King himself uses it!)

* My cellular phone
it's very very sick.. it had a nasty fall and now its signal is very very weak... if you know me, you'd know how accidents really do happen with this phone and me.. i had it covered with honey once, with orange juice another time.. it fell in a bath tub, on hard floor, i thew it instead of throwing a kleenex.. in short, its not really having the time of its life.. its not even having a life!

* What am reading these days
American Gods by Neil Gaiman... Mai & Sherif (sorry Duke, i mean you only, Sherif) brought it to me :) i LUV it... it is very very very interesting.. A fantasy that searches into the soul of America in a really really nice way, the most interesting and surprsing ways of all..

* Barcelona
i dont remember what i wanted to say here... i went to Barcelona when i was graduating to attend a smartcard workshop and i loved it (the workshop and Barcelona :)).. more on that later...

* The Unbloggable
i was at Diwan yesterday... got this "thing" hmmm i dont know what to call it.. its one of these notebooks with blank (not lined) pages and leather binding.. they have a special "Tribute to Salah Jaheen" Collection.. i dont personally like him at all... but i wanted to get one of them notebooks so i thought might as well get an interesting one... i got a nice one.. will write the verse on its cover here soon (but not now because i dont feel like arabic typing now).. i decided to write there as well all the "unbloggable" thoughts, feelings, ideas, and just put it down on paper.. it will be for personal use only...

* http://print.google.com
Check this one out!!! Just found it out by pure chance...
actually i came to it while searching for a joke i read a long ago that went like:

How many IBM tech writers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
100. Ten to do it, and 90 to write document number GC7500439-0001, Multitasking Incandescent Source System Facility, of which 10% of the pages state only "This page intentionally left blank", and 20% of the definitions are of the form "A ...... consists of sequences of non-blank characters separated by blanks".

(I worked at IBM for 2 years, so believe me i know what am talking about here ;))

* A bunch of nerdy lightbulb jokes

How many Unix Support staff does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Read the man page!

How many developers does it take to change a light bulb?
The light bulb works fine on the system in my office . . . (LOL)

How many MS tech supports does it take to change a light bulb?
"The light bulb doesn't work? You must be using a non-standard socket." (wicked!)

"If she makes it till spring, she'll live"

you know this phrase they use it in every conceivable movie from Faten Hamama (who happens to be one of Karembu's favorite girls) to maybe Mel Gibson.. anyway, i seem to think its very true.. i mean one just have to fight their battles one day at a time..

If we make it till september, maybe we'll make it till october, then maybe november... who knows...

more on that later... i just wanted to blog the thought..

after midnight post...

2:30 a.m. (my brother's computer ya Karembu ;) remember?)

weird weird weird mood.. i can almost smell/see my confusion and fear.... i dont know why.... nostalgia for "could have been"s?? i had planned for this post to be about the weekend but lets make that next post...... for now, if u want something cool to read then check my last post and the comments (if u didnt do so yet).....

Otherwise, share with me Suzanne Vega's "Gypsy"........ a lovely tune :)

You come from far away
With pictures in your eyes
Of coffeeshops and morning streets
In the blue and silent sunrise
But night is the cathedral
Where we recognized the sign
We strangers know each other now
As part of the whole design

Oh, hold me like a baby
That will not fall asleep
Curl me up inside you
And let me hear you through the heat

You are the jester of this courtyard
With a smile like a girl's
Distracted by the women
With the dimples and the curls
By the pretty and the mischievous
By the timid and the blessed
By the blowing skirts of ladies
Who promise to gather you to their breast

Oh, hold me like a baby...

You have hands of raining water
And that earring in your ear
The wisdom on your face
Denies the number of your years
With the fingers of the potter
And the laughing tale of the fool
The arranger of disorder
With your strange and simple rules
Yes now I've met me another spinner
Of strange and gauzy threads
With a long and slender body
And a bump upon the head

Oh, hold me like a baby...

With a long and slender body
And the sweetest softest hands
And we'll blow away forever soon
And go on to different lands
And please do not ever look for me
But with me you will stay
And you will hear yourself in song
Blowing by one day

Oh, hold me like a baby...

my life in points....

*Alexandria
The weather was cool... the hotel was not! it was simply a $#%#$%#$^ seriously!! very poor furnishing and very narrow passages (i cant handle it because i like spaces).. but it was okay tho...

ITWorx Alex is a babe! really.. very well done.. the building is really really nice, its an excutive building keda and ITWorx has a part of the 3rd floor.. good space AND they have a boxing bag and gloves (soooooo cool!).. The people of Alex are laid back but they're friendly and nice..
i went to the Bibliotheca with sister.. its the 2nd time i go there and her first.. really impressive as always but lacks maps and instructions... i went to the ancient scripts sections this time.. saw the Gutenberg Bible, some really really ancient prints of the Quraan and some ancient originals...
Stanley Bridge... hmmm... a masterpiece.. when i used to go to Agami in previous summers with friends, it was a must to go from Agami to Alexandria after midnight to have ice-cream and check out Stanley at around 3 a.m. Amazing.. aside from the fact that the view is great, u also find the beach loaded with people ("bashar" ya3ni)!!! the explanation was that most of these people come from nearby governorates and usually spend the night here keda in the beach and go back before morning.. gives you a taste of how some people can really try to enjoy the most of their time... as a matter of fact, Yehia Ghannam (one of my favorite musicians who has a cool band) has a piece called "Kobri Stanley el sa3a talata w noss saba7an"!

anyway so we went to a big seafood lunch (in a "fishy" restaurant called 3arooset el ba7r) with Heba AbdRabou, Mohammed Ismail, Sherif Hussein and Afaf (work people) where Afaf really took care of Heba and i regarding ordering fish and all :) and we go afterwards to a stroll on the Stanley Bridge in that time in the afternoon where its close to sunset but not quite.. we comment on the romance of the moment blablabla, they take a taxi to the train station and i walk back to the hotel...

i started a cold on Thursday (my 2nd day in Alex) and it continued with me till late Saturday..


*Honeymoon ;)
no need to panic, YET! but check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeymoon
you will find a paragraph in olde Englishe :) the way it used to be written, it makes me laugh... i thought Terry Pratchett is making fun of it when he writes it this way! :)


Hony mone, a terme proverbially applied to such as be newe maried, whiche wyll not fall out at the fyrste, but thone loveth the other at the beginnynge excedyngly, the likelyhode of theyr exceadynge love appearing to aswage, ye which time the vulgar people cal the hony mone

("Honeymoon, a term proverbially applied to the newly-married, who will not fall out (quarrel) at first, but they love the other at the beginning exceedingly, the likelihood of their exceeding love appearing to assuage [any quarrels]; this time is commonly called the honeymoon").

(note: not to panic, i was checking honeymoon to see something.. dont worry!)

*Breakfast @ Harris (& walk in korba)
And I said what about "Breakfast at Tiffany's?
She said, "I think I remember the film,
And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it."
And I said, "Well, that's the one thing we've got." (Deep Blue Something "Breakfast @ Tiffany's")

I went for breakfast yesterday @ Harris Korba.. They make a good omelet there.. then i had a walk in Korba, went to Everyman's and went to Cairo Design Center.. I luuuuuuuuuv this place.. its a furniture place keda that is sooo cool.. everything there is so unique.. not the ultra modern kind of thing but the modern relaxed look... you have to see it to know it.. :)

* Truffles
hmmmm Sherif (a.k.a. Duke) was going to Brussels last week (for more details and entertaining facts check his blog).. so he asks me if i want somsin.. of course, Belgium is known for its diamonds.. so i tell him to get me a rock (a request that he eloquently puts aside as a "joke") and he says they have nice chocolate fa i ask him for truffles... he gets me this meeeeeeeeega nicely wrapped box of dark green and gold (i luv it when the wrappers are dark green and gold).. inside it is the most succulent, delicious, extravagant, scrumptious chocolate (i read a blog somewhere by someone i dont remember who made fun of such words, but i simply luv them)... Anyway Duke & Duchess, thank you both... it is mega mega nice.... it's my little secret with mama....

*What am reading now
a while ago, i got my mom this novel called "Maryam al 7akaya" (Mariam of The Stories' ) by 3olweya Sob7. She is a lebanese writer who is writing this story about the Lebanese society and how the wars affected it.. she mainly targets a certain age group; the people who were young at the 70's.. the generation of riots and all.... it was a really interesting read.. a big book (like 400+) that i started in Alex, read most of it in the weekend and have a couple of pages left.... too lazy to finish it now that i finished the peak of the story...
when am done with it (hopefully tonight) i will start American Gods by Neil Gaiman.. Duke & Duchess got it to me :) its a big book as well and it seems mega interesting... lets see how that goes....

i have a lot more to tell but i think thats as long as i'll get.....

cheers...

Maybe a long one, maybe not..

So, i decided to blog :) and so i decided to write whatever points/keywords that come on my mind throughout the day in order to find something to blog about... so here goes my points and what i decided to write... (if this turns out to be a long blog, you dont have to read it all at one time.. it might be a loooooooong time before i blog again, so just savor it ;))

* My alarm clock:
I "acquired" a new alarm clock :) I had seen it in Everyman's and in Nuts @ Nuts and now i have one :) its one of these old-style metal ones with the external alarm bell thing.. except that this one has a background of a biiiiig pink-red heart.. it also has a couple of bckgrnd led lights to see the time when its dark :) i havent actually tried it yet.. everyday i wake up on my phone alarm before it rings.. but i think it will wake up the whole house..... a lovely possession..

* Alexandria:
I am going to ITWorx Alex tomorrow and after.. i will take the 8 a.m. train tom morning, and come back in the 7 p.m. train thursday afternoon.. i will be at work but planning to leave early (3:30-4:00 max) in order to get the maximum of my day :) my sister is coming along and we do hope it turns out to be a good idea :) i need the change of venue and i luv downtown Alexandria.. except that i luv it more when its less occupied with people... but its cool...

My favorite spots in Alex include:
Breakfast in Trianon.. forget the ones here, the original one over there oozes with antiquity.. a childhood favorite that grew with me.. also linked with a christmas / new year vacation i spent there..
Chocolat Glace' (Iced chocolate) in Brazilia.. a couple of blocks from Trianon.. the best "stand up" cafe' i've ever seen.. you'd expect Abd El Wahhab maybe to walk in while sipping your cafe'/cafe' au lait, chocolat glace' or even ice-cold milk... again a childhood favorite..
a hidden syrian/lebanese restaurant that i will never be able to find.. i used to go there with my family, sometimes aunts and uncles who in turn went with grampa.. but i havent been there in like 13-15 years anyway..

Last year, Duke was on yet another business trip, so Mai (Duke's wife) and i decided to go on a one-day to Alex... It was just sooooooooooooo perfect.. it also included my first (and last) visit to the Bibliotheca.. and we almost walked over all downtown :) but thats also a story for another day...


* Smoke gets in your eyes
I remembered this song a while ago, sung by Frank Sinatra (among others).. i dont know why.. and its been playing over in my mind ever since:

They said someday you'll find
All who love are blind
When your heart's on fire
You don't realise
Smoke gets in your eyes

(i like the metaphor.. that one gets tearful so its like smoke got in your eyes)

* Resolutions
i have this mini micro notebook that is divided into many sections.. in one of them, i had some resolutions i put at the start of this year (i dont usually put resolutions).. too bad to discover i didnt stick to any of them... hmmmm... maybe just a couple, one of them was a "depend on ME" kind of thing.. (trying to eliminate emotional dependance blablabla)... i liked one that said "Give up any one item of craving every day" :) when you come to think of it, if you give up just a teeny meeny thing each day, you'll be a little bit less needy and more self-sufficient.. sometimes one might not even notice these cravings..

*Until

another song by Sting.. however, i didnt want to put it in a separate blog because people are bugged when i blog lyrics :) i always thought it would make a good wedding dance.. which reminds me that i wanted to make a blog about my best wedding dances :) i luuuuuuuuuv Until's lyrics.. unfortunately it was released in any of his albums; its in Kate & Leopold soundtrack..

If I caught the world in a bottle
And everything was still beneath the moon
Without your love would it shine for me?
If I was smart as Aristotle
And understood the rings around the moon
What would it all matter if you loved me?

Here in your arms where the world is impossibly still
With a million dreams to fulfill
And a matter of moments until the dancing ends
Here in your arms when everything seems to be clear
Not a solitary thing would I fear
Except when this moment comes near the dancing's end

If I caught the world in an hourglass
Saddled up the moon so we could ride
Until the stars grew dim, Until...

One day you’ll meet a stranger
And all the noise is silenced in the room
You’ll feel that you're close to some mystery
In the moonlight and everything shatters
You feel as if you’ve known her all your life
The world’s oldest lesson in history

Here in your arms where the world is impossibly still
With a million dreams to fulfill
And a matter of moments until the dancing ends
Here in your arms when everything seems to be clear
Not a solitary thing do I fear
Except when this moment comes near the dancing’s end

Oh, if I caught the world in an hourglass
Saddled up the moon and we would ride
Until the stars grew dim
Until the time that time stands still, Until...

short one..

"I think I need to believe that it works - love, couplehood, partnerships. The idea that when people come together they stay together...I have to take that with me to bed every night, even if I'm going to bed alone." ~Ally McBeal


i luv the previous quote.. maybe it stems from my obsession with happy endings and all.. it's just something i want to believe in.

at work on a Saturday.. and not very productive either, but i need to feel that i did what i had to.. even if i did 2 items on my infinitely long To-Do list, i will feel some progress...


i wanted to write a cute blog.. but somehow i think i just lost the skill for that... maybe am too pre-occupied..

piece of wikinews

while checking the wikipedia homepage i noticed in the news section this news flash:
President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya of Mauritania is overthrown while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia. Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall is named as his successor by the Military Council for Justice and Democracy.

i found it quite interesting :) he was only paying tribute after all... anyway, so by looking him up (on wikipedia too) i found that he was "former president of Mauritania, gained power by deposing Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla in a coup in December 1984. He won an election in 1992, which was said by the opposition to be fraudulent. In June 2003 he survived a coup attempt. On November 7, 2003 new elections were held, which were won by Ould Taya with 67.02% of the vote. The opposition again denounced the result as fraudulent. Taya quelled another coup attempt on the eve of a planned trip to France in August 2004."

i mention this because i liked the 67.02% thing... sounds very realistic...

am sorry.. no political talk.. just a piece of my mind :)

a different kind of blog :)

("Why, oh why" is Karembu.. "N" is me.. "Sea Breeze" is an undisclosed part of me.. This is part of a conversation that took place minutes ago.. italics is me explaining to the reader)

Why, oh why.. says:
still woiking?
N - Sea Breeze [tired & grumpy] ® says:
not really
N - Sea Breeze [tired & grumpy] ® says:
waiting for m & s to pass (m & s is Mai & Sherif)
N - Sea Breeze [tired & grumpy] ® says:
we go WotW (War of The Worlds)
Why, oh why.. says:
cool :)
Why, oh why.. says:
i liked it a lot.
N - Sea Breeze [tired & grumpy] ® says:
begad?
Why, oh why.. says:
yup.
N - Sea Breeze [tired & grumpy] ® says:
everyone else didnt
N - Sea Breeze [tired & grumpy] ® says:
tayeb is it funny?
Why, oh why.. says:
really?
N - Sea Breeze [tired & grumpy] ® says:
i want to laugh
Why, oh why.. says:
(he made a doubtful face)
Why, oh why.. says:
interesting..
Why, oh why.. says:
so you want to laugh..
N - Sea Breeze [tired & grumpy] ® says:
yace
Why, oh why.. says:
but instead of going to a comedy you go to a sci fi and hope that it's funny :D
Why, oh why.. says:
i think you need a logic fix.
Why, oh why.. says:
you are buggy.
Why, oh why.. says:
well not necessarily buggy...but you have bugs.
Why, oh why.. says:
buggy implies having a lot of bugs.

Tomorrow we'll see

(a song i knew from Karembu.. it's by Sting and i luuuuuv its depth and meaning.. Sting is also a luv of mine i learned from Du, but that's another story.. sorry for no real post.. but i am really loaded.. soon soon :) don't be confused by the lyrics, he talks from _her_ point)


The streets are wet
The lights have yet
To shed their tawdry luster on the scene
My skirt's too short
My tights have run
These new heels are killing me

My second pack of cigarettes
It's a slow night, but there's time yet
Here comes john from his other life
He may be driving to his wife
But he'll slow down take a look
I've learned to read them just like books
And it's already half past ten
But they'll be back again

Headlights in the rainy street
I check, make sure it's not the heat
I wink, I smile, I wave my hand
He stops and seems to understand
The small transaction we must make
I tell him that my heart will break
If he's not a generous man
I step into his van

They say the first is the hardest trick
And after that it's just a matter of logic
They have the money I have the time
Being pretty's my only crime
You ask what future do I see
I say it's really up to me
I don't need forgiving
I'm just making a living

Don't judge me
You could be me in another life
In another set of circumstances
Don't judge me
One more night I'll just have to take my chances
And tomorrow we'll see

A friend of mine, he wound up dead
His dress is stained the color red
The next of kin, no fixed abode
Another victim on this road
The police just carted him away
But someone took his place next day
He was home by Thanksgiving
But not with the living

Don't judge me
You could be me in another life
In another set of circumstances
Don't judge me
One more night I'll just have to take my chances

I know it's just not in my plan
For someone to care who I am

I'm walking the streets for money
It's the business of love, "hey honey,"
C'mon, don't leave me lonely, don't leave me sad
It'll be the sweetest five minutes you ever had

Don't judge me
You could be me in another life
In another set of circumstances
Don't judge me
One more night I'll just have to take my chances
And tomorrow we'll see

Let's Call the Whole Thing Off

(Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.. just to get what they're talking about.. for instance in "You say either and I say either", the 1st is "Eether" & the 2nd is "Aither" ;) ~Enjoy!)

Things have come to a pretty pass
Our romance is growing flat,
For you like this and the other
While I go for this and that,

Goodness knows what the end will be
Oh I don't know where I'm at
It looks as if we two will never be one
Something must be done:

You say either and I say either,
You say neither and I say neither
Either, either Neither, neither
Let's call the whole thing off.

You like potato and I like potahto
You like tomato and I like tomahto
Potato, potahto, Tomato, tomahto.
Let's call the whole thing off

But oh, if we call the whole thing off
Then we must part
And oh, if we ever part, then that might break my heart

So if you like pyjamas and I like pyjahmas,
I'll wear pyjamas and give up pyajahmas
For we know we need each other so we
Better call the whole thing off
Let's call the whole thing off.

You say laughter and I say larfter
You say after and I say arfter
Laughter, larfter after arfter
Let's call the whole thing off,

You like vanilla and I like vanella
You saspiralla, and I saspirella
Vanilla vanella chocolate strawberry
Let's call the whole thing off

But oh if we call the whole thing of then we must part
And oh, if we ever part, then that might break my heart

So if you go for oysters and I go for ersters
I'll order oysters and cancel the ersters
For we know we need each other so we
Better call the calling off off,
Let's call the whole thing off.

I say father, and you say pater,
I saw mother and you say mater
Pater, mater Uncle, auntie let's call the whole thing off.


I like bananas and you like banahnahs
I say Havana and I get Havahnah
Bananas, banahnahs Havana, Havahnah
Go your way, I'll go mine

So if I go for scallops and you go for lobsters,
So all right no contest we'll order lobseter
For we know we need each other so we
Better call the calling off off,
Let's call the whole thing off.

I dont like Mondays!

(but no, this is not some lyrics.. altho speaking about Pink Floyd and Bob Geldoff and all, i must say i luv this song :) i like it by Bon Jovi as well :))

anyway.... i was supposed to do a week "in a glance".. but that keeps getting delayed so i guess maybe not now as well....

so, until the next post.. bbye..

cheers! :)

Scenes from a Memory

(note: if you're too lazy to read, just skim it and scroll down to the lyrics.. i particularly like the meaningfulness of the last one :))

Dream Theater is an American progressive metal/rock band formed by three students at the Berklee College of Music in the mid-1980s. In the twenty years since their inception, they have become the most commercially successful progressive band since the height of progressive rock in the mid-1970s, despite being relatively unknown in mainstream pop and rock circles.

they have this crazy crazy guitarist, John Petrucci and a drummer from another universe, Mike Portnoy (check the link above for further details..)

Anyway, so i learned about Dream Theater, progressive metal & prog rock, off-beats and all that, all at one time, and i kept practicing this knowledge on what i heard for DT.. my 1st experience was the album Scenes from a Memory..
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory, released in 1999, is Dream Theater's fifth studio album. It is a concept album that deals with the story of Nicholas and the discovery of his past life, which involves love, murder and infidelity as Victoria Page.

As its name might imply, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory is a sequel; it follows "Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle And The Sleeper", a song from the band's second album, Images and Words. However, when naming Metropolis Pt. 1 the band's intention was not to write a two part epic - it was intended as a joke. Only after continuous pleas from fans did the band begin working on "Part 2".

In general, what i loved about it was that its mainly a guy at his psychiatrist going through hypnosis and remembering his story, so u hear the "tic-toc" of the hypnotising thing quite often, and in "Regression" you it's almost all the hypnosis procedure.... It's mainly a hypnostist and our protagonist, Nicholas.. telling the story of his love to Victoria, her infidelity with his brother, and his revenge.

For anyone who's interested, here is the track listing...

Scene One: Regression (2:06) (music and lyrics by Petrucci)
Scene Two: I. Overture 1928 (3:37) (Dream Theater, instrumental)
Scene Two: II. Strange Deja Vu (5:12) (Dream Theater, Portnoy)
Scene Three: I. Through My Words (1:02) (Petrucci)
Scene Three: II. Fatal Tragedy (6:49) (Dream Theater, Myung)
Scene Four: Beyond This Life (11:22) (Dream Theater, Petrucci)
Scene Five: Through Her Eyes (5:29) (Dream Theater, Petrucci)
Scene Six: Home (12:53) (Dream Theater, Portnoy)
Scene Seven: I. The Dance of Eternity (6:13) (Dream Theater, instrumental)
Scene Seven: II. One Last Time (3:46) (Dream Theater, LaBrie)
Scene Eight: The Spirit Carries On (6:38) (Dream Theater, Petrucci)
Scene Nine: Finally Free (11:59) (Dream Theater, Portnoy)


i loved Scenes 1, 5, 7 (part II), 8, 9. i cant recall the rest, but its possible i liked some of them too..

1. Scene One: Regression

[H:]
"Close your eyes and begin to relax. Take a deep breath, and let it out
slowly. Concentrate on your breathing. With each breath you become more
relaxed. Imagine a brilliant white light above you, focusing on this light as
it flows through your body. Allow yourself to drift off as you fall deeper and
deeper into a more relaxed state of mind. Now as I count backward from ten to
one, you will fill more peaceful, and calm. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. You
will enter a safe place where nothing can harm you. Five. Four. Three. Two. If
at any time you need to came back, all you must do is open your eyes. One."

[N:]
Safe in the light that surrounds me
Free of the fear and the pain
My subconscious mind
Starts spinning through time
To rejoin the past once again

Nothing seems real
I`m starting to feel
Lost in the haze of a dream

And as I draw near
The scene becomes clear
Like watching my life on a screen

Hello Victoria so glad to see you
My friend



Scene Seven: The Spirit Carries On

[N:]
Where did we come from?
Why are we here?
Where do we go when we die?
What lies beyond
And what lay before?
Is anything certain in life?

They say " Life is too short"
"The here and the now"
And " You`re only given one shot"
But could there be more
Have I lived before
Or could this be all that we`ve got?

If I die tomorrow
I`d be allright
Because I believe
That after we`re gone
The spirit carries on

I used to be frightened of dying
I used to think death was the end
But that was before
I`m not scared anymore
I know that my soul will transcend

I may never find all the answers
I may never understand why
I may never prove
What I know to be true
But I know that I still have to try

If I die tomorrow
I`d be allright
Because I believe
That after we`re gone
The spirit carries on

[V:]
"Move on, be brave
Don`t weep at my grave
Because I`m no longer here
But please never let
Your memories of me disappear"

[N:]
Safe in the light that surrounds me
Free of the fear and the pain
My questioning mind
Has help me to find
The meaning in my life again
Victoria`s real
I finally feel
At peace with the girl in my dreams
And now that I`m here
It`s perfectly clear
I found out what all of this means

If I die tomorrow
I`d be allright
Because I believe
That after we`re gone
The spirit carries on

Fly me to the moon.....

am in such a Frank Sinatra-ish mood.. Frank Sinatra, Souad Massi, Norah Jones... just chill out music..

G Mag, the baby mag thats also a hangout guide and a funny month-and-half-ly companion had this list of chill out music.. discovered i liked it all..... "hot chocolate for the soul"... like "Dream a little dream of me" for Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald......

it's a real tough rough week... really really silly....... yesterday i was actually _upset_ its coming to an end 3ashan i had so so so much to finish... i hope i finished it! i am not sure aslan! :) :)

what else, there are ideas.. stuff i want to talk about... but am too tired... plus am late for something (cant disclose it now but in an hour maybe ;))

i have sooooooo much to say... am coming here on Saturday @ 8 a.m.!!!!!! ya3ni not only no weekend, i also need to be here eariler than usual... aint it wicked?

my stomach is killing me... didnt eat anything today so dunno whats wrong.... really strong cramps.. and i didnt eat junk yday...

anyway................... so, meet you here on Saturday with a week's wrap-up... .till then, chill!

ah, and inspite of everything getting berzerk at work, i'm actually "content".. not the usual cheerfulness, but an inner glow keda :)

Cheers!

The truth about cats and dogs..

hmmm... first of all, if you check the pic in the previous blog, the stupid white things on our tops/shirts are stupid big name tags (duh! "and you were hmmmmm... *looks at name tag* ah.. Nagya".. "no its pronounced Nageyya not Nagya but thanks for reading" ~fictional situation)

anyhow.. about the title, forget it.. just defending cats..

Miaow!

now that i decided to blog, i dont feel like writing... i wrote a lot in Kareem Mostafa's blog today, an interesting topic he had :)

i dont feel like writing at all!!! please everyone, wish me luck.. wish me patience.. and pray for me that i dont have the physics effect in a current task i should be working on.. (the physics effect is a reaction i developed to studying physics, whereby i slept whenever i held the physics book)... i try to evade things i dont like.. i should confront them, face my fears.. am a survivor (or at least thats what my name says!)

salut..

Us in the IT Alumni reception last month (in June 2 blog), from left to right: Kailash (Kashman), Natalie (Nana), Rami (Lucas), Peter, Youssef Assabgy (Jaw, Sub-G), Nag (me!), Suzy..  

1602

I was hesitant between a number of titles for my blog today:
* 1602
* Office Space
* (something else that i forgot!)


Let me elaborate.. since i chose 1602 for the title, i will explain "Office Space" first :)

Office Space is a very cool movie that everyone who works in the corporate world (esp. the IT one) will relate to one way or the other.. i wont proceed to talk about the movie.. but there is this character, Milton, who is hilarious.. they were downsizing, so they fire him, but they pity him sooo much that no one bothers to tell him and they just let him at his desk... Milton (who has a fishy infatuation with his stapler) keeps doing nothing like always.. at one point they need his space so they move him to another crammed space, then this keeps going on until they move him to the store, turn off the light and just leave him there.. and all throughout, he really doesnt sense any danger :)

Why am I mentioning this now? Because Monday i was moved to my 345435th place since i came here :) when i first came, i sat at a desk of someone who was in Hijj.. then i went to a place between two places (imagine two L-shaped cubicles, i was in the shared area), then i moved to a place in a nice cubicle but 2 floors above my dept, then i move back again with my dept, then now i moved back 2 floors up but at the very far end.. and next week i will move back to the right floor :) AND i still havent been here 6 months!! the thing is, they have this idea here that ppl from the same project should sit together... i actually think its really smart.. but i lose because i dont actually work closely with someone else... so am the lightest move :)

1602 ba'a............................. Karim-Bo sent me a msg a couple of days ago when we were in Hurghada saying that he sent me something but he regrets it because he thinks am not going to like it.. i go like "no no i'll like anything from you" and i think to myself its too early to wonder now.. lets wait a week or so.. Anyhow, so yesterday (Monday) i come back from the trip to find loooooooooads of stuff... my machine is disconnected, i dont know where my new place is, some stuff i arranged was about to be cancelled without my knowledge blablabla.... So, in the middle of a hectic rough tough day, a colleague here comes up to me, hands me something and says "Dia Helmy sent you this".. i tell her "Dia? sent me? (then i understand) eshta thank you".... soooooo, i look at it AND it is......................... A MARVEL COMIC BY NEIL GAIMAN!!!!

i luv luv luv it!

all Marvel characters (The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, and X-Men) who initiated in 60's America are set in the 17-century England the Neil Gaiman way!! :) it is MEGA cool...

i luv the book... Karim you are _da_ man!

and Adam's Mom, i luuuuuuuuuv Adam's Dad... he is sooooooooooo very nice and friendly to everyone (i went to introduce myself, he warmly greated me before he knew who i was :))

Enough for now, but Karim, Thou Hast Mine Gratefulness Forever!

Pie Pie

The Discworld: a distorted alternative world..

(Note: i didnt write this today.. i had written it a couple of months ago and posted it on an egroup.. so dont go thinking i didnt do any work :))

"Ankh-Morpork! Pearl of cities! This is not a completely accurate description, of course — it was not round and shiny — but even its worst enemies would agree that if you had to liken Ankh-Morpork to anything, then it might as well be a piece of rubbish covered with the diseased secretions of a dying mollusc."

This is one of many descriptions of Ankh-Morpork, a fictional city-state which features in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. As cities go, it is on the far side of corrupt and
polluted, and is subject to outbreaks of comedic violence and brou-ha-ha on a fairly regular basis. It is home to the Unseen University, a centre of magical learning. Pratchett explains that the city is similar to Tallinn and central Prague, but adds that it has elements of 18th century London, 19th century Seattle and modern New York.

Terence David John Pratchett OBE (known as Terry Pratchett) is an English fantasy author (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Bucks) best known for his Discworld series, a series that takes place in a disc-shaped world that rotates on the backs of four giant elephants supported by the enormous turtle Great A'Tuin swimming its way through space :)

Prachett has this sense of witty British humor.. the kind that doesnt make you laugh on the "pie hits the clown" kind of situation, but on normal conversations and the irony of everyday life. The series now contains over 30 novels, and tackles topics from rock & roll to religion, philosophy, monarchy and politics... His Discworld characters mostly revolve around wizards, witches, watchmen, and DEATH :) (actually he shows Death in a very funny way... makes you even
sympathize with him!! check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_%28Discworld%29 , it's really good!)

I will attach at the end a list of nice TP quotes.. if you're into that kind of humor, you may be interested in checking out www.hexoogle.com, a google site that features a new quote by him each time you refresh :)

I recommend the Discworld series. And there is another book for him i highly recommend; Good Omens, co-authored with Neil Gaiman (the Coraline guy)..

by the way, i discovered TP thru Karim as well, but long before he travels.. he got me "The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents" for my bday.. Speaking of which, i forgot whom i had lent it to!

Some quotes by TP:
"After that one thing sort of led to another and pretty soon everyone was fighting to get something - either away, out or even."

"It wasn't blood in general he couldn't stand the sight of, it was just his blood in particular that was so upsetting."

"This is Art holding a Mirror up to Life. That's why everything is exactly the wrong way round."

Tortoise: "How many talking tortoises have you met?"
Brutha: "I don't know."
Tortoise: "What d'you mean, you don't know?"
Brutha: "Well, they might all talk. They just might not say anything when I'm there."

and a favorite of mine:
"'I'm not going to ride on a magic carpet!' he hissed. 'I'm afraid of grounds!'
'You mean heights,' said Conina. 'And stop being silly.'
'I know what I mean! It's the grounds that kill you!'"


Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankh-Morpork
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld#Published_work

a list of quotes is available on:
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Discworld

not quite a Blog!

i knew this song from Karembu.. it's by Cat Stevens (a.k.a. Yusuf Islam, Oh Baby it's a Wild World singer), it's called God is the Light.. and it really fits any faith.. Enjoy :)

How great the wonders of the heavens
And the timeless beauty of the night
How great – then how great the Creator?
And its stars like priceless jewels
Far beyond the reach of kings
Bow down for the shepherd guiding him home.

But how many eyes are closed
To the wonder of this night?
Like pearls, hidden, deep beneath a dark
Stream of desires.
But like dreams vanish with the call to prayer
And the dawn extinguishes night – here too are signs.
God is the Light - God is the Light

How great the beauty of the Earth and the creatures
Who dwell on her.
How great – then how great the Creator?
As it’s mountains pierce the clouds
High about the lives of men
Weeping rivers for thousands of years.

But how many hearts are closed
To the wonders of this sight?
Like birds on a cage, asleep with closed wings
But as work stops with the call to prayer
And the birds recite – here too are signs
God is the Light – God is the Light

How great the works of man and the things he makes
How great – then how great the Creator?
Though he strives to reach the heavens
He can barely survive
The wars of the world he lives in.

Yet, how many times he’s tried,
Himself to immortalise?
Like his parents before him in the Garden of Eden
But like the sun sets with the call to prayer
And surrenders to the night here too are signs
God is the Light Everlasting
God is the Light Everlasting

~ Cat Stevens

Coraline :)

Fairy tales are more than true -
not because they tell us dragons exist,
but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.
~G. K. Chesterton

Neil Gaiman uses the above quote to start Coraline (2002), the horror children (and adults) story that is often compared to Alice in Wonderland..

Let me tell you about my experience with Coraline.. One time i was at Diwan, i sms'ed Karim Sobhi (aka Karembu) to recommend a book and he replied saying "Coraline".. i searched for it but with no use.. i checked out on B&N (i like B&N more than i like Amazon)... aaaaaaaaanyway, i decide to order the book and the next day, with no preamble, the door bell rings.. a messenger with a small package... mama goes like "that's definitely something from Karim" (dont get me wrong here, its not that i dont get stuff from other people.. and its not like Karim gets me a _lot_ of stuff or anything.. it was just pure chance that she guessed right.. oh, but you dont know she guessed right yet, i ruined it for you).. soooo, its Coraline from Karim :)

"It is the story of a young girl, daughter of loving but terminally distracted parents, who finds a door in the family apartment which previously opened onto a concrete wall but now opens onto a corridor, down which she finds another apartment, seemingly an exact copy of her own, inhabited by her Other Mother. The novel deals with concerns about identity, familial love and self-belief." (from en.wikipedia.org)

The story is more of a comic story actually than a horror one.. it has many of these sentences that make you go "hmmmm" like this one:
"Coraline wondered why so few of the adults she had met made any sense. She sometimes wondered who they thought they were talking to."

Coraline (pronounced Cora-line not Cora-leen) illustrates to us how, in the process of becoming adults, we can overlook the basic things in life.. Gaiman has a dark sense of humor; sort of like the one in black comedies.. He is fond of vampires and creatures with long nails and fangs and all.. but he also puts them through in a twisted way..

Here is another favorite quote from Coraline for cat-lovers :)
"The cat yawned slowly, carefully, revealing a mouth and tongue of astounding pinkness. "Cats don't have names," it said.

"No?" said Coraline.

"No," said the cat. "Now, you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names."


Gaiman is also the author of the Sandman graphic novels series, a comic-like series that talks about the Endless family: Destiny, Death, Destruction, Dream, Desire, Despair, and Delirium who was once Delight.. a real witty reading!

If you actually want to get a feel of what Gaiman is like here is a link to a *very* interesting article he wrote...
"Books have sexes; or to be more precise, books have genders"
http://www.powells.com/features/gaiman.html

Enjoy!

Things I'll never say..

(thats a title to an Avril song.. but its not related)

Soooo... my 2nd blog for the day... i decided to "adopt" (not steal, adopt) Duke's method of listing what he doesnt like.. but i will list things that i both like or dont like....

• i dont like lying.. i dont like knowing that someone is lying to me _while_ they are lying.. it's "ok" to know it later, but not while they're actually lying.. i dont like justifications; either me giving them or receiving them.
• i dont like people placing assumptions on what i will or wont do.. If i said i wont do something and ended up doing it, i dont like people saying "i knew you'd do it" because i dont like the "i know you better than yourself" assumption.
• i dont like people emotionally blackmailing me.. Chances are, am not good enough to submit to blackmail but not bad enough to ignore it.. So more often than not, i wont do whats asked and i wont feel good about it, resulting in the blackmailer feeling bad and me feeling bad..
• on the other hand, i dont like it when people dont have faith in me.. when they dont ask me for help where i could be of help.. so too many expectations won't do, too little expectations won't do.. yes, am a bit silly about that..
• hmmmm... what else.. i like walking around in zamalek till i get lost :) well, not actually "lost".. If am alone then i usually try to walk perpendicular or parallel to 26th July Street so that i dont end up lost.. if am with someone, then its no big deal because just about _anyone_ has a better sense of direction than mine :)
• I just discovered that "My Alternative Reality" is such a common phrase, it bugged me..
• I like Alice in Wonderland.. i really do.. i relate to her a teeny meeny little bit..
• I used to luv Paradise Pie at Chilis until i tried Molten Chocolate Cake :) now its a tough call! the best ice-cream/hot cake mix i ever had was at La Mamma at Gezira Sheraton.. a hot chocolate cake that is empty from inside (imagine a chocolate cupcake that is hollow), with vanilla ice-cream on the side.. it was out of this world! the cake was soooooooooooo hot, soooo paper thin and soooo moist..
• i am soooo hungry and i really feel like ending this post...

ta ta..