my muse patterns

it's been a crazy crazy couple of days; between being ill, working ridiculous hours and trying to get everything done in time; my muse has been around real often and i have this long list of ideas i need to get down. i cannot wait...why is it that when i have a couple of hours to spare, my muse is always on vacation?

Post Earthquake Pakistan: An Insider's Perspective

A lot of us abroad have tried, in our best capacity, to participate in helping our country and its people move on after the earthquake. We have collected funds, both in cash and in kind, written articles, made the world aware of our country's loss and the lives destroyed. Whatever we do, I don't think we'll ever have done enough.

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy held a vigil in downtown Toronto for our Pakistani kinsmen: everyone in the city talked about the devastation. They tried to understand our pain. She took it a step further; she is currently volunteering as a translator in the earthquake affected areas and is keeping a day-to-day journal on her take of events. It's a definite must-read.

the fabric of life

yesterday, a strange thing happened. for the first time in my life, i was very close to giving up; giving up on something that was most important to me. at the time, i didn't think much about it; i just felt like walking out, like letting go, like moving on.
i don't know why i didnt, but i didn't give up. i decided to hang on to the very last thread and giving it another shot. they say life is a fabric composed of different threads we sew together. well, if i said i, as a person was a fabric, then this was the needle i had chosen to help sew my life. i'm glad i didn't discard the needle, even though it was close to being blunt. perhaps, you need the needle to become blunt to shake your life into perspective. maybe it's god's way of jolting you back into reality, of re-examining your decisions and yourself. it's really hard to come to the realisation that one of the threads in the fabric called you, needs to be pulled out, or, sewn in a different colour. sometimes, it's not even about the threads, but about allowing the fabric to be draped on differently.

today, i realised, it's not about my threads; the colours are great and the design, in its absurd fashion, works just the way it is. ..sometimes it doesn't have to be about my fabric, or my threads... it's just about not giving up...just for now...

dubai - i miss:

- the sun, sand, sea, shawarmahs & shopping
- the white sand beaches
- the hatta caves
- sitting on the rocks beyond the pier at the jumeirah beach and bonding with my best friends (s, a & z)
- celebrating birthdays at johnny rockets
- spending nyeve on the beach reflecting on our year's ups and downs
- walking in the heat to get a shawarmah
- the spice souq in deira
- taking a dhow ride on the dubai creek
- walking home from school on sunday after math
- a saturday morning spent at the dubai arts centre
- a book reading at the british council
- a cup of chai, turkey sandwich and a relaxing evening spent with the doc at shakespeare cafe
- exercising my car's need for speed on sh. zayed road
- our annual beach camp on jebel ali beach (even when i got stung by a jelly fish)
- sharing those 10 mins with my dad on my way to school
- my organ
- the dubai ballet centre
- the cheesecake factory
- creative-storming with a & s
- being understood
- missisippi mud at baskins
- mango, riverisland & assecorize at the deira city centre
- our annual trips to the hatta resort
- biking with s
- the sun, the sun, did i mention, the sun?

happy birthday muppet

thanks you..

you have been:
- my pillar of strength
- my anchor of support
- my shoulder to cry on
- my partner in crime
- my alarm clock
- my plan B, C, D, E and F
- my migraine-curer
- my shopoholic pill
- my 'all men are ********' companion (that was soooooo long ago!)
- my econ-nut: our life can be coherently explained by looking at the J-curve effect
- the crazzeee person who encouraged our walks to get coffee cake when it was pouring
- my earl-grey chai partner (i really really miss our 5-min chai breaks)
- my critic
- my jolt into harsh reality
- my food-testing partner (remember the cheese jalapenos at xananas? and the 27th spoon?)

you have made my life:
- finger-lickin' fun
- exziting
- crazzzeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
- a tad bit scary (think about marx, jeffy, aristotle)
- exhilirating
but most importantly, you've made it 'real'...and for that i thanks you

as you celebrate on the 'wrong' side of the atlantic, and i'm stuck giving exams on the right side, i hope you enjoy a birthday full of *twinkle-sparkle-glitter*. love ya lots.

ps: i do have better pics of us but this is the only one on my laptop (yes i formatted my laptop yet again and my backup files are...hmmm...oh gosh ;)

you know

you love your work when you get lost in it, only to find yourself again...rejuvenated and full of new ideas..

what is love?

is it:

- camping out together under the stars?
- waiting up until he/she comes home?
- staying up with him/her and holding her hand while he/she is sick?
- a smile lighting up your face at the thought of him/her?
- making him/her a candle-light dinner after a long day's work?
- saving the best part of the roast (even though it's your favourite) for him/her, because he/she loves it too?
- tolerating a pet peeve you have, just because he/she forgets occasionally that it bothers you to death?
- keeping a smile on your face, just because you have to publicly, even though the other is breaking inside?
- crying with the shower on (because something's upset you) but you don't want it to worry the other person? (from The Raincoat)
- not nagging?
- staying up with the person when he/she has to work late?
- snuggling up with the person on a cold winter day/night?
- having faith in your relationship even when you don't understand why things are shaping out the way they are?
- loving the person even when you don't understand them?
- when he/she murmurs your name?
- giving the umbrella to him/her on a rainy day?
- 'the' indescribable spark that gives you butterflies in your stomach?
- what makes you feel like a kid again?
- rediscovering the world through his/her eyes?
- loving someone because they make you a better person?
- loving someone because they will keep the last piece of chocolate just for you, even if they're tempted to eat it themselves? (*my favourite*)
- about making difficult choices?
- about sacrifice & compromise, but what's the limit then?
- about losing yourself in the eyes of another person?

a copy editor's worst nightmare

and normally i would cringe, but today a smile broke out :) especially since the last phrase is something i've already 'cringed-laughed' at while we were in Acapulco this summer.
--------------------
A Japanese hotel: 'It is forbidden to steal towels please. If you are not person to do such thing please not read notes. You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid'.

A Moscow hotel: 'You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists and writers are buried daily except Thursday.'

A Rome doctor's office: 'Specialists in women and other diseases.'

A Swiss restaurant menu: 'Our wines leave nothing to hope for.'

A Bangkok dry cleaner's: 'Drop your trousers here for best results.'

A Rhodes tailor shop: 'Order your summer suits. Because of very big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation.'

Inside Germany's Black Forest: 'It is strictly forbidden on our camping site that people of different sex, for instance men and women, live together in the tent unless they are married to each other for that purpose.'

A Hong Kong dentist: 'Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists.'

A Czech tourist agency: 'Take one of our horse-driven city tours, we guarantee no miscarriages.'

A Swedish furrier: 'Fur coats made for ladies from their skins.'

A detour sign in Kyushu, Japan: 'Stop. Drive sideways.'

A Copenhagen airline office: 'We take your bags and send them in all directions.'

A Budapest zoo: 'Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.'

A Japanese booklet: 'If you want just condition of warm in your room, please control yourself.'

And finally a hotel in Acapulco: 'The manager has personally passed all water served here.'

frozen beauty

a nowhere-to-be sunday evening

today is the first sunday in weeks where a and i are not committed to be someplace, and it feels good... after a long day of trying to brainstorm for an article and finishing off my final assignment, i can lounge with my husband in our cozy living space and just do-nothing, which at the moment is watching a good movie, catching up on some reading and munching on yummy greek spanakopitas...

the only thing that's making it less than perfect is the thought of a monday morning..reminds me of the blog jammie wrote last weekend *sigh* how true.