Rains in Kuwait 2009

So for those of you who haven't been to Kuwait yet, thought I'd give you a glimpse of when it rains. Video recording while driving definitely falls under the ambiguous law here of not doing anything else while driving, so the shaky video above and below is attributed to the fact that I was nervous a cop would speed up along me. As you can see, which I failed to notice earlier, the wiper on the right is already acting funny.

The one time I need to use the wiper in Kuwait, this is what happens to it.

Låt den rätte komma in

So since I'm apparently getting old and had no party scheduled for this weekend, I decided to go check out cinemagic again, their second showing since they begun playing their terrace top movie nights. Last week it was a dreary two hour twenty minutes Russian movie called The Banishment. Beautiful scenes and all that, but the lack of monologue and the plot moving slower than a newborn snail, left many of us pulling our hair out through the movie, one follicle at a time.

Yesterday, they played this swedish movie, inexplicably the Swedish version too even though there was an english audio version just pleading to be clicked. The movie was about the young boy who falls in love with a vampire girl. A few cool scenes in it, but definitely nothing for those of you who like glorified Hollywood vamps. Winter slipped in while we watched the movie it seems, with sudden gusts that were quiet enough but unsuccessful as it dropped down empty paper coffee cups that swirled around noisily. Shivers while we watch our protagonists in the snow. An apt ambience for a vampire movie, and it was a good thing I wasn't at home watching television as I would have changed the channel and missed a movie of a changed and relaxed pace instead of a packed Hollywood roller coaster.

To Quit or not to Quit

a) You have:
-A chilled out boss
-A laissez faire manager
-Flexible Timing
-A decent pay
-Great benefits like, car, phone, fuel

- No harsh deadlines


b) But you don't have:
-Opportunities to grow
-Team spirit
-A hierarchy that encourages you to grow
-Job opportunities with all of a) AND all of b)

Get yourself inspired.

Now if there was something that could be bottled, patented and made a million dollars off of, it would be some guaranteed solution to providing inspiration. Or motivation. Or anything that makes you bloody get up and go!

If there's a lack of anything right now, what with the dormant lethargic market; it's interest. Also, a good time to get up and go do that something that you pretended you didnt have time to do before.

It could be a cardinal sin to underestimate how one person's motivation could influence others, and in a full fledged cycle go around to inspire the first person back again when their energy would be at burn out point.

But that's what support groups are about, ain't they? And there is indeed truth in the phrase; Birds of a feather do flock together! But some of us can't leave the choices we have made in friends and loved ones; family is not a choice and may not share the same "feather" even though have the same blood type. If you can't change the kind of people you hang out with, at least make sure you spend alot of time with the kind of people you want to be like. Invest in figuring out better time management. They're not far away, and they can influence you, inspire you. Just start by sending out those vibes first so they come back to you.

sometimes....

...... the right thing to do isn't the best thing to do.

The Truth of Man

A woman should never say yes to a man or give him the opportunity to have cable television.

Chasing Change

A new car. A new apartment. The same receding lifestyle. I'm not sure if its the days or the nights that make my brain haemmorrhage. We return to the former with our practiced facades, and to the latter with our indifferent existences; all lying horizontally above or beneath each other, alternating with every other day as power struggles surge and fall with each persons horoscope perhaps. The television/ the internet has been like a parasite eating the inside of my brain. It doesn't matter if it's informative or not, I feel the audio/visuals boring holes in my head. Conversation and communication is as dead as a rotten cow in May. Change. How does one inject a shot of change into your bloodstream to cure this listlessness?

How to get more blog comments!

It's not easy.

I hate telling you that especially when you don't want to hear it but it's better you start reading this post of with the truth than some blog thats feeding you a bunch of baloney. It's obviously going to take alot of time because the more you time you send publicizing your blog, the more people will notice it.
1. Join all the group related to blog and put yourself out there. Here's a new one that will close after having 100 members so it's a smaller aggregator only meant for comments. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=233819112286#/group.php?gid=233819112286

2. Follow up on what you have commented on. Try to find bloggers with common interests so you can be genuine in your comments. ubscribe to a notification for follow up comments so you let people know that you have read the replies to your comments.

3. Invite people to comment. Not everybody is facebook savvy. Sometimes they're more inclined to hide in the shadows unless you call them out. Triple dare them to post a comment.

If you really are in the mood to read I have accumulated data from various sites and put them on here:

Ask! – Ask for people to comment, you are more likely to get comments if you ask for them. Sometimes people do not know it is ok to comment. Just because there is a comment form does not mean people automatically feel worthy to post a comment. The higher the profile of the blog or the less the person feels they “know” the blogger the less likely they are to comment. By “giving permission” they will feel more entitled to comment.

This is by http://performancing.com/10-tips-for-attracting-more-comments/
Seed - Like a tip jar, people sometimes need a hint, get friends to comment to start the ball rolling and you might open the floodgates. On some blogs people like to be first, on others there is a hesitation period where they do not want to expose their opinion to early.

Ego - People like to talk about themselves, provide the opportunity. They might not be experts in the topic but we are all experts in our own experience and we all know what we like. You know the famous phrase about everyone having an opinion. Sometimes it is nice just to give people the opportunity to brag.

Links - Bloggers and webmasters are always on the lookout for link opportunities. They might not be your ideal kind of comment but they might encourage others that it is ok to feedback. Allow link drops in your blog comment settings and do not use nofollow so the link visibly has value.

Hint - Open questions are the best to get great quality answers, ie. “What do you think?”, but they can be intimidating. If you struggle to get comments it might be easier to give simple leading ideas for what people should say, eg. “Do you agree?”, “Are you for or against?”. “Yes, no, me too” are not great responses but at least they are a sign of life!

Restraint - Resist the urge to make your posts too complete if you want to receive community input. That’s one of the great things about top ten lists, you have to stop at 10! Don’t put everything into the post, especially if you know your audience has certain expertise they are bursting to share!

Usability - Sometimes people don’t comment just because they can’t! Make sure the comment form is obvious and easy to use. Also do not take the visitor to a different site in order to comment. The very worst culprits for this are the hosted services that not only take you to another site, they use a popup to do it. Why not inflict actual pain while you are at it?

Open - While a blog with a true membership is more valuable, if you are having difficulty getting comments open up your comment settings to allow comments with out registration. We can get away with requiring registration because we knew we would get the comments, consider carefully if your blog can get away with it too, many can’t.

Topic - If you want to attract comments then you have to pick your subjects. Some subjects people just do not have an opinion on, others you can’t stop people talking about. Current affairs are good but it needn’t be contraversial, politics and religion get people talking but can also send your blog down a path you might not want to go down. Press peoples buttons. You can endlessly recycle some topics, others are shortlived.

Observe - Note the topics people often comment on, there might be a trend. Just be observant. Be on the lookout for topics people comment on and write about them.

Getting a Schengen Visa in Kuwait

Yes, it does require a blog post.

Whoever invented Murphy's law is a bitch. Because I betcha it wasn't really around until somebody named it into existence. Now we know it exists and we go about anticipating it. Did you know there was a Finnagles law? "Anything that can go wrong, will—at the worst possible moment" He just had to add the last bit to it, didn't he?

Its like all those psychological disorders that exist out there, at any one given time we are bound to have at least one of them aren't we? With their generic characteristics, it is an easy excuse for the lazy and a nightmare for hypochondriacs I would assume? With all the discoveries of illnesses they can take their pick of what to freak out about really.

I Smell heaploads of Procrastination

You know what the recession is actually doing? It's making you lazier. Okay, not you, per se, but all of my friends who don't really read my blog. It's that attitude that nobody else is working, why should we work?

I think working used to be inherent in our bones. Now, we won't directly associate starving with working like the cavemen did, so we don't feel that need innately anymore. I can't imagine an ancient caveman, lets call him Fred, who would sit around pretending to work while he got weaker and weaker. What would Fred do to pass his time instead of hunting? Would he observe ants? Sit at a mountain top and daydream? Imitate Tarzan and swing from Banyan trees? I don't knwo why I needed to give Fred a name, but I do often wonder how much procrastination has increased in the modern world. And what it could get too. Somethings been on my mind alot lately, and it's applying to every aspect of life- People only change in times of utter desperation, when they are on the brink of collapse..............

Glossary of Last Moment Gifts in Kuwait

Every year, just before my birthday I pretend to not care about who is going to get me what. I don't think my act is very convincing at all, because I try to subtly hurl little suggestions about how I need to be surprised with something I never knew I needed. Then, I'll leave them stupefied of course without the slightest clue of what could possibly make me happy, and my inner smirk will still expect a gift. It's not that I don't, I'm a mighty gift giver myself. I actually put aside money for gifts for each month, so that when I need to go get it, my jaw doesn't drop and anchor itself to the ground in protest. So, here are great bets that would work for not so great a sum of moolah.

I just received the most beautiful Swarovski pendant on a leather string from a dear friend yesterday. It's the most simple yet the most elegant gift, and I'm loving it. The first gift of the year, and the best. Cost: Around 17 KD. Location: Swarovski at Marina or Avenues

An IPOD shuffle was what my bro in law gave me two birthdays ago. It was a fantastic present to clip on my pocket when I want for a walk, and it was simple yet elegant, technology in moderation is what I've always wanted. And this little baby is perfect. 1 GB, which is honestly not bad and will give you at least 2 days battery depending on how much you use it. Cost: About 30 KD. Location: Alghanim X-cite in Marina or Salmiya.

If you happen to know whether the person has a Wii or a PS3, you can pick up a game or two. I recently picked up a Call of Duty game for the PS3 . Cost 25 KD

Another quick yet thoughtful gift is a photoframe with a thoughtful picture you can up. Slip it onto a USB and beg the guys at Boushairi, Salmiya to print it for you super fast. If you're lucky they'll do it in 10 minutes like they did for me, otherwise getting it in an hour isnt that bad either. Cost 1.100 KD

My brother in law is amazing with gifts. They are always carefully thought of, all about the utility and once you receive it you wonder how you lived without it. He gave me a 320 GB hard drive for last Christmas loaded with a couple of seasons of Lost, all of House, some of Chuck and a bunch load of movies! It's fantastic because it's one of those that you connect directly to the TV to play it. Cost: I'm not sure about this one but Alghanim does have some fab hard drive's that double up and do more than the usual, check 'em out yourself until I figure this out better and update this post heh!

Women aren't that difficult usually as there's always perfumes, chocolates or even flowers. But if you are in a relationship and want to be a step above your game, you'll get those on days that are no occasion at all. Also remember that quantity is everything. We have this random superficial need that makes us want to belt out the amount of gifts you have given us in more than one breath no matter how insignificant it is. Yea. Well, my birthday is in about 20 days. I'll update you with what I get. If you have any ideas, just share it already!

21 days in Europe

So two months of not posting! Don't ostracize me! I have lots of funny stories about my boss, and I'll trade inside stories about my family for your attention! I'll spruce up my love life just for the sake of content! I'll think in blog title format!!!!!!! Come back! Ha. Did that work? I didn't mean it.

Anyway, our Eurotrip plans had a journey of their own. Last year, we impulsively decided we would drive from Kuwait to Europe. Four people were on then. The plan faded and backed into a shadowy corner and life went on and the excitement waned. About a month ago, 5 of us booked tickets. We'd fly to Germany and then prance about in Amsterdam before going to France to recuperate. Now with the swine flu and job situations, it seems like its boiled down to two of us actually going through with it. I'm still hoping the other three change their mind or I'll have no one to drink with.

So right now, I'm thinking Germany from the 11th to the 21st and then France. The only thing we know is that we will land in Frankfurt and have accomodation there. The rest is my oyster! Any advice? Also, anyone have any advice for some cheap paying-guest-house or anything?

Adobe Illustration: Some Effects on a Sketch

I know I've disappeared for a while, but it was because I had an MBA exam I needed to study. I didn't even finish that because I was researching alot of online games for a good blog post. Unfortunately, I got very addicted and very lost with those games. I might just be back, but I'm not sure yet.
By the way, would you believe there isn't a single freaking proper Yoga instructor here? Everyone who practices it here seems to have forgotten it isn't only about the body but also about the mind. Spastics! I wish I knew earlier to pursue a career in it!

A Shopaholics Solution

We just found out this morning that the price of redbull has increased from .500 fils to .750 fils. Pangs of guilt immediately shot up from my feet that were precariously perched on the new 17KD stilettos I picked up yesterday. I was definitely the only one at Marina mall yesterday who owned more bags than I could carry. I spent 101.500 K.D (350$) at H&M on 3 pairs of shoes, three blouses, two brightly coloured chillax (so chilled out + relaxed bottoms that they are) pants, a gorgeous A-Line skirt, 10 pairs of socks, two belts and some bangles. (More pictures coming up later) It felt really good until I received the sms alert I subscribed for that tells me if there's any action on my debit card. Ouch, when I realized my balance. It's not bad, but I still need to do a Euro Trip and I'm trying to work my way into getting some more days off by catching up with a client in Egypt.

I know that I cant go cold turkey off shopping for long, but I haven't yet discovered anything else that gives me the satisfaction like the materliastic superficiality of new clothes! So, I'm going to act on an impulse. Actually it's not an impulse as I've been sitting on this idea for a very long time. I'm going to send a fashionista friend I once modelled with a bunch of pictures from my wardrobe from shoes to belts to accessories so she knows what I have/like, my measurements and some money. She lives in Mumbai, India and I know that for 101.500 KD, I would get double the amount of stuff and twice as interesting as well. I know a better solution would be to just shut it and stop spending, but hey, you can't stay so depressed and deprive your self of new things in these glum times. Sometimes its novelty that keeps us buoyant and distracted and encouraged, you know? God forbid I loose my job, but hoping that doesn't happen I think it's just time to cut down and slash the budget than cease and desist altogether.

The perfect Gift for a Woman

Some people buy you what they want for themselves as a gift for you. Projected wants and needs, I guess. A few people painstakingly rummage through your emails and desks or drawers and wardrobe to figure out what you don't have but really need. A few others actually pay attention to the small details about you, and remember what you say and don't forget for that silly wish you made for something really cheap that one time. Some buy you nothing. I have to buy gifts for three women, two birthdays and one goodbye, and I didn't have the faintest clue. I just came across this page and I think I can no longer be categorized in any of the above.

Please note that my title is completely and utterly sarcastic and if you do actually buy this, you're just plain stupid. What the .....!

I used to write like she did. My thoughts would twist and turn, and come forth in beautiful tangles of threads, each of different colours. Colours that are hard to find on Microsoft Paint. Maybe on Adobe Illustrator, you'll find them. My mind would stray to the stars, skip through galaxies, plummet back to earth and bounce across continents. It would plop into an ocean and sink deep, complacently watching every movement in the dark depths for eons. Simultaneously it would be in another dimension, the dimension of everyday that spews up a gurgling lava flow of observations. Each with their own stories and jigsaw puzzle shaped situations. I'd play with words, and eat them, and sleep with them, and rape them, and put them on a pedestal, and inject them with each other, and that would leave me high.

What changed?

Maybe if I use this font it'll come back to me? Maybe if I have a different canvas instead of this computer screen to transmit my thought s to? Maybe my synapses are connected to my fingers which don't feel the same way about the keyboard as they did about my pencils. Maybe this corporate world has fizzled out my soul.

I used to blog before. Jitterbug, I used to call myself. It meant nothing. I wrote my heart out and showed it to someone I trusted. Your sentences are too long and winding. Your tone is so sad, you lament, unlike the happy person you are otherwise. What you read won't make google like you any more, you never even title your posts sometimes.

But friend, I think now, that was more me than I'll ever be. Writing for me was a bridge from my heart to the world, and you put some nasty stink bombs on it. I didn't care if the world saw me, I didn't care if I made money out of it, I didn't care what I came across. It was the one place that I could be me, in this world where we need to have a facebook account to stay a part of the clan; or have the smallest cellphone so it gives the right image to the job title scribbled on our visiting card, where we precariously balance our lives on stilletos and drive SUVs to look down from our high horses. It was home.

I used to write like she did. My words contoured around corners, and tapered at the end. They lingered and they weighed you down. They danced sometimes, and paragraphs looked like pictures. They were my words, all mine, with their little dots and corners and slants.

The Consequences of Boredom.

I like Adobe Illustrator. Now lets see what word is killing the cartoon people!

LazY BunnY

Since I'm a lazy bunny, I thought I'd write a post that had nothing to do with what the title implied it would be. What I am going to do instead is upload a video from my recent gallavant to Jordan. We rented a car, and since I would only ride shotgun, I was designated as the navigator/ map reader as well. I maintain till my second last breath that that map was jacked. We did manage to find the places we wanted to get to eventually, though I do believe its much more adventurous getting lost and seeing the real bits of the country. Yes, even if it means reaching a suspicious looking dead end with strange looking men in uniforms brandishing swords over a bonfire with evil grins on their faces. Good thing that didnt happen to us of course, but it would've taught 'em to do the navigation, aye? This video does not consist of anything marvellous- no ruins, no landscape, no me, no car chase, no bird falling from the sky onto the windscreen. It's just a drive. Enjoy the music. :-D

Virtual Doppelganger

Curious people that we are, we have all googled our names once in a while. two years ago or so, I was looking for something, some ember of the shadow of my past even. Something to savour and a memory to snuggle into. The webs ability to transport me into the warmth of yesteryear was comforting at that point.

I put my name on and saw a few links that were relevant. Not enough. Not enough by six and a half dozen yards. I investigated all the links, every hyperlink and every picture, relishing every flashback. At the bottom of the page, I saw a link with my name, and a blog domain. What? The summary sounded like me, though I had no memory of writing it at all!

I clicked onto it, and saw the picture, it wasn't me but a young woman of about my age. I read her description and the rage surged volcanically through my bloodstream as I found that everything that was put in there, were excerpts from my resume. Word for word, from the about me to education, languages known, interests, where I lived, the other certificates I had. I was stumped and wanted to wrong off someone's head. I didn't care who. I proceeded to read the blog which had half a dozen posts which seemed to have abruptly stopped a year ago. The stories were not mine, neither did the impersonator mimick my style well. But they didn't have to, they had a flair for capturing what could have been my life very easily. The stories sounded like they would've fit my personality, except for the taste in some songs and phrases. Those were just plain blech. I can't remember how I forgot about it that day. I was paranoid enough at a point to wonder if the gemini in me evolved a split personality to live another life. But that was not true. I had no idea who it was and don't think I'll ever know.

I left some nasty comments cussing the bitch/ asshole and eventually forgot about it as it was abandoned long before I discovered it, and I doubted I'd get a response. A few months later when someone admitted they'd found it when they searched my name some time ago, I went back to the site. There was just the profile, bu the blog was gone. The reason I'm bringing it up today, was because I was over at my sisters. I used to have an Orkut account and forgot the email address I signed up with and wanted to check if I had any new scraps since the last century. I hadn't added her as a friend, so I had to search me. Wanna guess who I find? Now once again, I'm livid and curious about who had the audacity and what were their reasons. My sister marvelled at the profile, some of which had the same details on that website and some which they had casually filled up on their own with general answers. The profile is still there on the blog domain. The wannabe me I'll never know.

Elevator

My office is on the top most floor of a one storey building. Yes, it's not that high up. Yet, the elevator; which is slower than rigor mortis; is surprisingly used more frequently than a hot yet cheap hooker. The car park and bathrooms are in the basement, though people use it to go one storey lower as well. I have, for the fun of it, raced it to find that I am thrice as fast in my sneakers and one and a half times as fast in my heels.

So today as I get out of my office to go to the bathroom, after prolonging the need to for very long on account of reading all of your blogs, I curse my luck to see that the chick from the neighbouring office is also heading towards the elevator. Shit, I think, no chicken dance in the elevator to control my bladder. The chicken dance is an intricately concocted dance of marching within the elevator in a circle while lifting my feet high with each step. I hope to God there isnt a camera in the elevator. No there isn't. I looked carefully when I was striking poses in the giant mirror they have in it. Yellow elevator light and Giant mirrors just make you look amazing.

I survive, despite the fact that she stands right in front of the button thinking she's pressed it, but hadn't. I resist socking her face while reaching for it but politely gesture. It was funny though, as we hit the bottom floor, she tried to hop off to the bathroom as gracefully as one can muster a hop! I burst out laughing much to the poor chics discomfort, and she refused to look me in the eye for a whole week. Funny shit, you know?

P.S I iz off to the neighbouring city of Amman tomorrow for a weekend of bliss! I will see you bloggers and bloggerettes Saturday! :-)

Lexulous Blitz

I actually found a youtube video online for you all. For those of you who like lexulous, you will love the Blitzy version of it.



Here's the lowdown on it .
The Blitz version takes Lexulous to an all new level! Blitz is exactly the same as regular Lexulous, except that you have the entire board to yourself. You compete with up to 150 people in rounds lasting 4 minutes each.
All players start the round with the same 7 tiles, and then it is up to them to make full use of the 4 minutes to get the maximum number of points. Whoever scores most before the time / tiles run out, wins the round. Results for all the players in the round are shown instantly and the next round begins after a 1 minute break.
If you play Blitz it is highly recommended that you use the keyboard to place the tiles rather than drag them one by one using the mouse. Simple (sic) click on the board and a black arrow will appear. Then type the tiles you have in your rack to place them on the board. Clicking twice will make the arrow point vertically.
I know people been using it since late last year, but I just discovered it. This is meant for any of you, who are the last to find out about everything just like me. Let's see if you can finish all your tiles in 4 minutes!

Pekingese Power

The one thing I like about living in this desert is that I have the keys to three different houses. I pay rent to just one, of course. The one I'm plonked at tonight has got the cutest pekingese you have ever seen. It looks very daft actually, but you know how some daft things look cute. Like how something really ugly just nullifies its own repulsiveness.
So Flatface and me had a stand off earlier. I think its the only stand off that ever happened with one contender trying desperately to suppress a volley of laughter. He wouldn't finish up his dinner and I wouldn't let him budge from there to where he desperately wanted to go. Don't ask me where he desperately wanted to go. I mean, we humans move with direction in our houses to a few particular places- the couch, the fridge and the bathroom. Other places we kind of roll towards. Well, so I just stood in front of his tiny staunchness and he glared angrily at my feet. Its the cutest thing when an animal musters up all of his emotion into his little face. He looks up at me with this angry little sulk, sees me with my most hilarious grin on and his entire demeanour changes I tell you! He kind of smiles (a smile looks weirder on a pekingnese than on any other dog, I tell you) and then sits right there and keeps looking at me... probably trying to say 'lets see who can do this longer'. I gave up obviously, as I heard one of Discovery's Evolution programs coming on and wanted to figure out where little pekingnese smarty pants came from. I know he's plotting his vengeance for the fact that I'm making him finish his dinner, it's going to be a rude sloppy pekingese breath awakening tomorrow morning.

I know you all know this song, but it's worth reminding you of.

Vertical Scrabble

Or should I say vertical Lexulous? Some random stranger seemed to be up for my impulsive madness, and allowed his grey cells to challenge wordly gravity

For Braja

I went to blognuts page to play catch up, only to find out that one of our well-loved bloggers Braja met with an accident with her husband a few days ago. I'm not the prayer type, but I do believe in positive energies doing their job. Her last post has been receiving loads of love from all of her readers, where she had written about her impending trip to Bangkok though she did not make it to the airport. She is getting better and updates about her are here http://www.prabhupada.org/rama/?p=4422.

Get well soon Braja and hubby!

Break from Reality

You know that feeling when you partied too hard after too long, and your body aches as if you had tried climbing up Mount K2 the day before?

It's a little worse than that for me this morning, because the dust storm (see previous post) left me with a loud sniffling cold. Kuwait is like that, everyone's allergies and sinuses act up after a dust storm and the change of seasons has everyone sneezing at each other or each others keyboards as means of communication. I was convinced I would stumble upon the cure for cold while I experimented with various spirits, but mixing 'em all up was not the best idea. (In retrospect I think it's brandy, which I had none of at all). I'm also sure I had one red bull too many because I seem to have used up a whole weeks ration of energy and my bones have now decided they feel senile.

Then there's that feeling like I did something wrong, like I made out with someone or I lost something expensive or I told someone how I really feel about them. I know I did something, but I seem to have blurred that out for the moment. All I remember is the dancing. The bass resonating between the LED curtains. The glow sticks flying through the air. Come to think of it, parties are always worth the aftermaths even if you don't remember half the night. Cheers peeplez.

More Dust Storm Pictures.

So it was one of those beautiful sunny days when I stepped out of our building singing "a whole new world", take six steps towards my car, pause and go back up. Two minutes later I re-emerge, it's deja vu except that i'm carrying my MBA notes that I hope I can sneak-read between browsing of all your blogs. "A whole new world" on my lips and a maniacal grin on my face, and I'm ready for the day.

It's beautiful weather all the way through my rose tinted sunglasses. I don't even flip off those two cars who cut me off in their attempt to race each other. Anyway, the rose tinted glasses suddenly weird out on me, or so I thought as the world suddenly looked duller. I took them off, and presto, there's a dust storm just waiting there for me to drive into... It was crazy to be in completely clear weather and drive into this which hovered some few meters away! I gurgled with glee at the thought of those two drivers who cut me off, they'd have to slow down...

Have you seen the movie The Mist? Most of the dust storms I compare to that, but tis one was seriously close to it. I was waiting for something weird to pop into visibility. Slid over from the fast lane and clicked you a few pictures....

I also shot a video, but unfortunately "whats love got to do with it" started playing on the radio and I absent-mindedly sang along the whole time, and didnt realize it until I got to my office. No you ain't getting it. Anyway, wish you fun weather where ever you are!

Coldplay at Abu Dhabi!

I don't believe this! Tickets to Dubai are 30 KD to AND fro for the 28th they play. It's their first Middle Eastern tour at the Emirates Palace, and we all know they'll never come back!!!! Okay, I shouldnt be so melodramatic, I'm sure they'll be back when I'm old and shrivelled and gray!!!!!!!!

Why can't I leave, you ask in utter bewilderment? Because our stoopid company only gives us 14 days off in a year which I'm trying to save carefully for a trip to Europe, or Asia around June. AND while the rest of Kuwait has Saturday off, once again I crib about it because I work Saturday! Arrrrrrrrgh! Arrrrrgh indeed.

I ain't giving up as long as those Jazeera tickets are still available. Or until I find a good ploy as to why I need to go there. Lets hope a client is headed that way, and that loophole would be bullseye, baby!

Things to do in Kuwait

Volunteer every Friday at AFL and give those homeless puppies and kitties some love and money.

Pursue your hobbies since there aint too many distractions here.

Try out new cuisines- Japanese, SriLankan, Moroccan and Korean are interesting and not too common.

Learn Arabic from your Arab neighbour. Teach his kids english or math or art.

Capoeira.

Have a Barbeque at Matla Ridge.

Hatha Yoga

Swim out in the sea on a weekday after work.

Scout the Friday flea market for hidden treasures. If you have no use for them, sell them on Amazon.

Write a blog. Don't write about Kuwait, there's too many of those! Write about family gossip anonymously!

Studio C's Friday painting class for adults.

Horseriding.

Watch a foreign film on the weekly rooftop screening by Cinemagic.

Make paper planes and throw 'em out your window.

Sewing Classes.

Artistic Yoga.

Go to the Mirror House

Another way to learn German.

I did a post some time ago about a site called busuu.com. It's a great way to learn languages with an interactive format and little newsletters that pop into your inbox and guilt you into learning. But honestly all things loose their novelty, as did this site. My other options were learning it by listening to alot of German music, but with my inconsiderate sources, all I managed to get was a handful of Rammstein. Which is great music, but there's only so much of it you can listen to without hitting somebody. So scratch that. At least until I stop pms-ing.
So yesterday I came across this other site http://www.german-flashcards.com/. It's pretty simple, a lot more simpler than Busuu, unfortunately it's only German, yep, like the domain name suggests. I'm not sure how long it's going to keep my attention, but as long as that window is kept open on my pc I know I won't forget it.
If nothign else works, I'm gonna have to date a professor who teaches German. Until I decide I don't need to know German, but its Arabic I need to invest my time in. Until then, auf wiedersehn.

Whats your score??????????

If you can't read throught he hole post here's the essence of it:- Thats what my facebook status says right now. It says: Tell me how many seconds YOU can do this for!http://euxus.eu/spapo.de/multitaskingtest.html.

I've been pummeled at work, by work of all things and it has caught by the hair and shaken me like a rag doll. This was the best escape I found that took just about a few seconds at a time. Anyway the highest was a chic who got 13.23 and I havent put my down though I've got 8.766. Lets see if a guy beats that, muahahah

GPS Maps in Kuwait: Directions to a Headache.

Since I started driving some raw 3 and a half months ago, I have perfected my route to exactly 5 destinations. Everything else I need is either on the way to these places or conveniently just around it. If I need to drive anywhere else, radars go on red alert between my friends. I'm sure they twitter it, and change their facebook status to warn each other that its time to switch off their phones.

So today, in my quest to find the Jordanian embassy,I decided I wouldn't use anything from a cell phone to a ouija board for directions. I wasn't going to disturb a soul, and try and revert the damage I caused to the collective womens reputations as bad navigators. I had to resort to something, and technology decided to amuse itself at my expense for the day.

When your GPS Nokia Maps dont have voice commands, they are nothing but a pretty distraction! Or a good way to have fun if someone is sitting beside you and screaming "5 mtrs, 4 mtrs, 3 mtrs, 2 mtrs, 1 mtr, turn! Turn! TURN!!!!!" But holding it in your hand while driving alone is no fun. What sounds like fun right now is plopping my phone into this here glass of water - GPS and all. Though we all know I wont do it. Either way, even if its my fault for not embarking on the arduous process of installing voice commands, these things have an outdated mind of their own- telling me to take a left smack in the middle of a divider and take a U-turn into oncoming traffic. So in the end, I decided I was better than technology and decided to follow my intuition. I grinned a cheshire smile when I found the right road, only to have that grin completely upturned to realize I had gone in the utterly wrong direction. It sucked at highways, and it sucked at showing exits but it found the block 5 in Jabriya I'm sure I would've spent an hour looking for. Maybe if I had a bigger screen, or if technology found its way to displaying navigation on my windshield I might give it a chance again.
I didn't say it wouldnt give you directions, I just said it would give you a headache along with the service.

99 Village Theme Park: Comical Indeed.

The 99 Village theme park at the end of 6th ring road has a very comical theme. Thats the fact that its not a park but one big not-so-gigantic safety hazard with superheroes that won't jump off the walls to save the day. The giant super heroes of the comic book 99 don the walls and makes for some fun photo ops, but it's meant to lure you to the boredom within.

We went for the opening on the 25th. The crowd had some 98% kids and fully covered women, and the sight of super hero walls surrounding this audience was amusing. We sat on two things of which the names I obviously don't remember, but one looked like this:

Which we went on despite seeing this:-

It tumbled upside down and was pretty cool, save for a big groan when we were suspended at the top. I'll pretend that was intentional on their part, and it was meant to aid us with the adrenaline rush they assumed we craved since we lived in Kuwait. (Not my opinion there, but just my assumption of theirs).

We also sat on the Viking, which was an oscillating boat where some other kids decided to stand on instead of sit on while it swung. I couldnt help imagine what made the local kids immune to fright, because when I sat on that ride I had to hold on tight to convince myself I wasn't going to fall off. And I'm not that bad at doing these rides, I swear.

Other than that, the bumper carts were fun though some poor kid had her hand dangling out of her car and hurt it while she drove it into another car, there were some plastic balls they'd fill with air, tuck you in and throw it into a small pond, some trampolines with women fastening the kids up which means none of my guy friends could go on it. Good thing too as they wanted to go propel the kids who were there with their hearty jumps.
The pond of water in front of the very abused stage was a gross concoction of foam, cans and other unidentified objects. I won't mention anything about the horse drawn carriages that the kids tried to clamber on from the back instead of sitting up front, and thankfully no limbs were off while I watched in horror.

I also wont mentioned malnourished looking horses that seemed unhappy and overworked. Though I can't say the mascots were having a better time, with an army of deprived kids tugging at his hand, and the taller ones pulling his nose and taking off his little unblinking mascot head. I wish I could say they at least didnt pinch his butt. No actually I wish I could say I had a picture of that happening.

P.S: BBC Radio witnessed it too. In other news, here is another account of the theme park inaugration.

The only reason I am come to work today is for a big mug of coffee. For some reason I just can never make coffee like the guy at the office does it. There's something about it, its creamy richness, the right amount of sweetness, I am so accustomed to having a coffee here at my desk while checking your blog, yes, yours; that I can't fathom having a coffee anywhere else in the morning. Braved the wind, and the hint of a dust storm that makes Kuwait look like it was sieged by "the Mist". There is also the fact that I am here because I had to report to work while everyone else twists and turns in their beds. I will never stop complaining about not having two days off. But its okay, I have coffee I guess.

Another song from Oscar Winner for Best Soundtrack or Something.

Since the Oscar Fever is going around, I just couldnt resist spending half my day googling the winners and the non winners like my life and salary depended on it. So there I was busy hunting for Oscar 09 youtube videos that dont even exist yet. I was hoping someone at the Oscars was holding up their phone and taking a hand held video of the whole thing so they would get extra fans on youube. Guess not. It got really annoying so I started checking Golden Globe winners instead to simply justify my spite for lack of Oscar footage. Slumdog Millionaire (like I even need to hyperlink it, huh?) seems to have played the monster truck at every ceremony there is, but unfortunately it is hyped to a celestial (and thus non existential) level that it definitely did not reach to. It's not like the Internet Movie Data Bible gave it a 10 out of 10 ?

I began checking out youtube for the Oscar winner/musical composer A.R.Rahman, and liked this other song of his. In fact, I was going to post a french video with translation at the end of this post that I had fallen in love with and was listenign on loop, but since my love is fickle here's this instead. Unfortunately, all of the embeddings by request has been disabled..... so here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5lflQjrlP0
The translation below was seriously not easy to find, nor was it great but you will survive without turning green or feeling dizzy. In fact if anyone wants to step up and heal below mentioned translation, feel free because I dont think the translator did too good a job, considering all the english grammar I rectified (not too well too but I wanna leave the office and scamper home now) :-D

Yahan vahan saara jahan dekh liya
Been everywhere, I've seen the whole world
kahin bhi tere jaisa koi nahin
Anywhere at all, there is none like you

assi nahin, sau din duniya ghooma hai
not 80 , I toured the world for 100 days
Naahi kaahe tere jaisa koi nahin
no, there is none like you anywhere
Main gaya jahan bhi, bas teri yaad thi
wherever I went, it was just you I remembered...
Jo mere saath thi mujhko tadpaati rulaati
who was with me, was tormenting me, troubling me
Sab se pyaari teri soorat
the most lovely, is your face

Pyaar he bas tera, pyaar hi
Its love, just love for you, its love
Maa tujhe salaam, maa tujhe salaam
salute to thee mother...
Amma tujhe salaam
Vande maataram, vande maataram ( a phrase that means We are paying respects to you, Mother)
Vande maataram, vande maataram
Vande maataram, vande maataram
Janam janam tera hoon deewana main
I've been in love with you since birth

Jhoomoon naachoon gaaoon tere pyaar ka taraana
I sing, dance, enjoy the music of your love
chanda nahin suraj nahin duniya ki daulat nahin
I don't desire sun or moon, neither the wealth of the worlds
Bas lootunga tere pyaar ka khazaana
I just want treasure of your love
Ek nazar jab teri hoti hai pyaar ki
Your glance is filled with love
Duniya tab to meri chamke damke maheke re
my world shines and glitters and become fragrant
Tera chehra sooraj jaisa chaand si thand hai pyaar mein
your beauty is like the sun and love is as calming as the moonlight
Vande maataram, vande maataram
Vande maataram, vande maataram
Vande maataram, vande maataram
Tere paas hi main aa raha hoon
I am coming to you
Apni baahein khol de
open your arms
Zor se mujhko gale laga le
hug me close

Mujhko phir voh pyaar de
give me that love again
Tu hi zindagi hai, tu hi meri mohabbat hai
you are my life, you are my love
Tere hi pairon mein jannat hai
heaven is at your feet
Tu hi dil, tu jaan, amma
you are my heart, my life, o mother
Maa tujhe salaam, maa tujhe salaam
Amma tujhe salaam, maa tujhe salaam
Vande maataram, vande maataram
Vande maataram, vande maataram
Vande maataram, vande maataram
Vande maataram, vande maataram

Succumbed to Education

I seem to have swiped my way into an MBA course. Damn credit cards and impulsiveness. For a moment it seemed like it would redeem my choice to graduate in English. I had feigned aspirations of becoming a famous novelist then, and hid away my perpetual writers block under a pillow so no one would see. I loved the benefits; there was no need to study, and I could escape into all the books of fiction I wanted. So this MBA course felt like penance for not being able to use my degree to pursue a career.
Feels like a pain in the left butt cheek right now, I swear. I was sitting in a funny position while I was reading yesterday, it seemed to enhance my ability to concentrate. Also came with the price of a sore bottom apparently. Okay I'm kidding, I am excited at the prospect and I am looking forward to experimenting with the dormant company I work in.
I'm required to spend 1 hour every day to each of the 3 units I enrolled in. I've managed t stretch myself to 2 already, but I can't help wondering if they're just imposing that rule for a giggle. "Hah look, we have made these dorks spend 3 hours of their time everyday on these summaries we have slapped together from famous books availableall over the internet. If they only knew that they could just read these books and implement the philosophy into their work, they would learn through trial and error anyway!"

Instead, what would employers deduce if they just saw this in a CV:
" Perused all the text, material, and reference books suggested in top MBA courses and implemented such strategies in previous jobs successfully attaining calculated results."
Would showing that ability to utter sneakiness work better than having an MBA certificate, I wonder?

Should I hire my Clients girlfriend?

Ah the sun shines bright, the clouds swirl in the sky making funny faces at us on earth, the trees dance- or rather the sand dunes ride the breeze, and things of that nature are happening when suddenly THWACK! You are faced with this question. No, it's not that simple to answer it, because no matter how easy the question is; it always has its own little circumstances, tangled enough to complicate the situation in an entirely different way from before. But I exaggerate. The equation is simple. Great client. Done me huge favours. I am in the position of hiring his chic. She's ok, from what I gathered from our phone conversation, not spectacular, but ok. I can't figure out if I should. Would you?

Cookies and Unexpected Cash

I Want Cookies!
I just got a 1500 $ check from my accounts department and want to spend it on Cookies. Not all of it, but a nice chunnk of it. There's alot of people I can think of who would like Cookies right now as well. It's always nice when money unexpectedly bounces along to you with its cute little money face. Or cheque face. You get the point. Incoming cash personified is always adorable. In my case they were reimbursing me for something, but it's been 2 months and I had forgotten I had it. Its like finding money in the pockets of your jeans unexpectedly; or in your bag in a very unused pocket within a pocket. Great place to hide stuff from yourself to discover on a later day, methinks.

Wardrobe Crisis.

Okay, at the risk of sounding utterly superficial I need to dedicate an entire, yes an entire post to my wardrobe crisis. If you think I am a pessimistic person you have guessed wrong, but if you think I am taking the full advantage of using this blog as an imperfectly shaped virtual punching bag, then bullseye.

I went to the Avenues, Kuwaits most famous mall that had its end of season sale recently that seemed to last forever. Alot of people thought it was due to the recession, and thought that it would last until yahoo's Finance section would stop dramatically spelling "monetary apocaypse" and despair into everyones hearts. But no, two days ago I went there, and the word "sale" was not in the malls dictionary. The prices induced the usual semi-jaw-drop once again. I gathered up my jaw and checked out the new collections, only to discover that they seemed more pricy that the previous averages. Even more not worth it, is when the not-so expensive brands have too many outfits of the same style. There's nothing more unfunny than bumping into someone wearing the same thing. The media may clone our thoughts, but they shall never robotize our bodies! (said in a Mel Gibson way) Excuse my melodrama.

So now my recession induced reaction has me scouting the internet for stores from the countries clothes are usually manufactured in. You'd think it would be easy. Whoever takes over the third world will have ALOT to capitalize on.

Caught in the Act.

More on the N78

You know sometimes you need to really click with your phone? Understand it? Feel it? Want to share your pillow with it? Have your palm reshape itself to contour better to its fit?

Well, I'm not giving my N78 a Valentiny gift for sure. It's a good phone, but I'm not earlobes over it.

I really like its standby theme with 15 shortcuts (when the vertical icon bar is used)- especially the notes and audio message features. The latter is useful for when you have noteworthy stuff deliberately cross your mind when in the shower or on the road. They are the same thoughts that disappears the moment you whip out a pencil. The only problem is that now that I got this audio message function working, I just don't seem to have many interesting thoughts passing me by. And the ones I do record don't seem all that funky when I play them back.

Anyways, lets focus on the phone right? Yep if you can't live without the delete duplicate contacts function on your phone then you would be screwed. I have 800 numbers on my phone, and no patience to sift through 'em. In fact I'd pay anyone 10 K.D to freaking do it for me. Maybe at Starbucks over the coffee and cupcake you buy me.

Another annoying thing is what happens when I receive a message saying I've missed these calls. I'm already ticked off as my phone hasn't been switched off to miss any calls. It's been lazing right here next to me, bored to death due to its own lack of utility, yearning to vibrate on my table. So I browse through the message and realize this phone cannot grab the # through the regular Use Details> Use Number feature. 8 digits! Thats a mouthful if you can't write it down. Anyways, I hope I don't have to review it anymore as it is already almost as ancient as amber. Minus the Value.

Dust Cloak

This isn't clicked in sepia for your amusement, nope. Kuwaits been feeling all Yellow lately. I've been humming Coldplay on account of it for sure.

Dust clads every inch of the air, clogs every window sill, seeps indoors and leaves a film of itself everywhere. It's not bad except when you realize you're literally another one who bites the dust. Crunchy. Blech.

Hazard lights on while they still race through the fast lane. Wataniya, one of Kuwaits telecom provider, sent a message to all its users telling them not to use their hazards. I hope no one gets stuck or stalls in the middle of the road, because their hazards being on aint gonna distinguish them from the morons on the road who've put it on so they can be seen.

I'll take your snow anyday! Give me your snow!!!!! Does anyone have snow anymore anyway?

And if you're really bored, you can read this. I apparently was.

Kuwait was blinded yesterday by a sand and dust storm and buffeted by winds reaching speeds of up to 85 km per hour. The dusty weather came as a surprise at this time of the year as it is not common for Kuwait to have such weather in February. Sandstorms, which usually occur during the summer, caught many off guard. A number of schools and public departments closed early because of the weather.

Northwesterly winds were blamed for the sandstorm. "Wind speeds reached more than 50 km per hour in some areas. This caused sand tornados that reduced visibility to less than 100 km in desert areas. The red color of the dust was noticeable across the country and the dust was said to come from the Iraqi desert. The weather also caused high sea waves," meteorologist Adel Al-Sadoun told Kuwait Times

Effin Facebook Flirtations.

I know that alot of my posts have facebook in the topic. Thats because its more than a social community, it's a tool that I use a lot less than its full capabilities. It works great for advertising to a targetted crowd, to learn alot through more mature applications and initiate discussions on the more important topics of life. Its another topic entirely that I use it for the same reason you use it for; to check out what other people are doing, browse through their pics with as judgementality your curious mind can muster and to over use lexulous and text twirl. Texas hold 'em is forgivable for being over used but one inch out of my darned firewall.

Anyway, all of that is beyond the point. Here is where my post actually starts. So two days ago, this guy sends me one of those random messages on facebook. I embarassingly admit I did allow the "Are you Interested" application after I received some notification from it. But it wound up one of those that lie forgotten like the Astronomy application, the Dilbert/ Garfield comics, the daily horoscope and the visual bookshelf and others you initially think are brilliant but later ignore as much as you would that mouse on your desk. What mouse? See, you don't even realize it's there!

Did you notice I'm in a digress-y mood today? :-D Anyways, so the message goes something like: "I found you in are you interested which made my mind go crazy seeing you looking all hot and sexy, sugar, so would you party sometimes on the weekend sugar...? Let me know more about you when approved me to be one of your friends though."

I usually delete these with one of those disgusted I-just-ate-something-too-healthy look smeared on my face, but the fact that he called me sugar just pissed me off some enough extra notches. Guys randomly calling me baby or sugar or honey makes me wanna stick a fork up their arse. You get the same feeling? If you are a guy reading this, I'm almost sure you do, heh.

Anyways my conspiring mind clicked on his profile- which you can see for sometime after someone sends you a message. And right there, very obvious and apparent- his relationship status said he was in one with so & so. Now these kind of men have to be tied up to the thorniest cactus in this Kuwaiti desert, stripped so he'll dehydrate, given some LSD to induce hallucinations, and have a few people put on the most horrenduous evil masks you can find and interrogate them on how exactly is that appropriate. Am I being harsh? Really? I just don't want that girl to be me. Or you. Or any of us. It's the first step to the next step, to something worse. Now, I'm oscillating on whether I should send the message to his chic. Yep, I'm quite a feministic biatch when that side of me is provoked.



I hate long posts, and I don't do them, but this blog is my punching bag for the day.

Office Ringtones

Yesterday it was the sound of water trickling somewhere in the office. Loud enough to trigger my bladder to incite another bathroom run. The day before that, a pitiful mewing of what seemed like a dying cat from the pantry. Before that, it was an uncouth kid shouting out obscenities that echoed through our corridors.

Initially I noticed my boss's lips moved in a silent "what-the-f~ck", but lately it has evolved into more of a resigned sigh. It's not very motivating to know my boss is trying to claim the hopelessness card, mainly because I have called dibs on that dispositi0n. So I had our secretary draft a circular saying the next time we hear a ringtone that is inappropriate for the office the person would be fined half a KD. I guess she told the others I was behind it, because two got themselves a Viva La Vida ringtone as well, and I noticed smirks at my initial confusion. The only difference is that mine rings in a barely audible decibel. There's a seriously raunchy hip hop track from one of the guys who gets the most phone calls, alternated with a cheesy lady Ga-ga track which rings out on what I swear is full volume. The offices at the other end are bound to agree with me.

I see my boss mouthing those three words again. I think it's progress from the resigned nod, but I'm still hoping that these guys phones fall into mucky puddles from the recent rains.

Salwa, by the beach.

I took a detour on my way to work today. No hurry to get to the blogosphere, or my morning dose of caffeine, or yes, work. Parked my ass in front of the morning sea, and smoked me a cigarette with VOA on the radio. The music wasn't repetitive 99.7 Kuwait radio bullsh*t, but I need to look for my little IPOD shuffle in all of my bags and pockets of random pairs of my jeans. I'm just hoping it hasn't been laundered. Anyways, by the sea. Wondering how all these people over there made money if they could come chill on this promenade early in the morning. Probably made redundant recently, I think. Looking to the sea for escape.
I steadied my mind, and let my thoughts shut the hell up. It was nice for some few minutes before I got bored. My mind drifted to one of my current lexulous games and that moment of freedom was gone, baby, gone. Left the beach, hit the 6th ring road to work and became a drone again.

Okay, I stopped being a drone somewhere around half an hour ago, and decided to go through one of my cabinets for forgotten jewels. I found a set of jinga (do you call them a set or a box?), a shockingly ugly bag as a gift from one of my tasteless yet thoughtful coleagues and a book my ex gave me about a year ago. I think it ranks as one of the best gifts I ever received. Its just nice to bump into it again, a flood of memories and another reason to go stalk a beach and reminisce.



Anyways, its the weekend. So I'm going to go off and tra la la.

That Time of The Month Again.

Actually it's that time of the week again. Time for our cherished DVD guy who usually sneaks in on a Thursday as we work half the day then. Unlike the rest of Kuwait who work the entire day ha. Also unlike the rest of Kuwait who thus have Saturdays entirely off unlike us. Turdballs.

Anyways, after we slyly call our Boss and locate his whereabouts, we roll in our little DVD guy, plonk him down on a chair and have some very hot tea served to him. Hot enough to give us ample time to browse through the movies he has, IMDB 'em, then Rotten Tomato 'em; and if the reviews are writ well we watch a minute or two of each to make sure it is actually the same movie as the cover claims. It can get embarassing if you don't check it, and I may or may not be relating that from my own personal experience.
Since our asses have recently been firewalled lately we can neither download movies, nor watch them online. Alot of what is not commercial never reaches us anymore and we live our lives in mainstream blindness. Actually we did so before too when we took our downloadable privileges for granted. But now that I don't have it, I'm actively looking for stuff that won't play in the cinemas. Either way these are what I picked up, some of which you may have heard of, others I'll post a review of if I don't fall asleep through it.

An Ari Folman Film- Waltz With Bashir. An animated documentary into the darkness of western Beirut during the Sabra and Shatila massacre, September 1982.

Yeah, I know you know enough about The Reader.

A suspense by some Shelli Ryan chic. Great reviews from suspiciously unknown names.

A partially BBC produced British single drama about Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, his relationship with British scientist Sir Arthur Eddington, and the introduction of this theory to the world, against the backdrop of the Great War.

Set during World War II, a story seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences

Too many Visualizors, Too few Executors.

Bottom Drawers of Office Desks.

Don't you often wonder whats in the bottom drawer of peoples desks at work? Well, I'll tell you what recently inhabited mine, hopefully not for too long. A packet of Twix. And Snickers. And the Snickers packet was on special offer, which made you buy some 6 large snicker bars for a discounted price. I don't think it really was discounted, but my senses chose to go with the illusion.

That's what's in my bottom drawer now, though it until recently used to have all these little chits and letters and tiny gifts given by my ex who I kinda worked with. I even found a shrivelled rose (not even a rose petal kept between the pages of a book) but a whole darn dry withered rose. Cheesy.

Speaking of cheesy, the reason my bottom drawer has a new personality is my new need to gain weight. I like experimenting, and also decided that people need to find a new name to call me behind my back at work. Make 'em rack their brains to come up with something a little less cliched than "That skinny bitch". I don't mind them retaining the bitch part of it, it makes me happy to think I'm successfully foisting off that demeanor. So I've marked a cereal box and carton of milk with my name and stacked it at the back of the office fridge so I don't skip breakfast anymore. Mission 5 more pounds is on, baby, on! After that, I think my bottom drawers gonna be monopolized by bootlegged DVDs that I need to swap for something new.

Das Leben Der Anderen/ The Lives of Others

An excellent movie that is political on a human and emotional level. I wanted to click a pic of the set as it felt like a 90 minute escape from Kuwait. Nothing censored. A canopy of threatheningly heavy clouds above us. Salmiya's blinking city lights. I forgot to click the pic of course, but there is always next Thursday.

The Lives of Others (German: Das Leben der Anderen) is a 2006 German drama film, marking the feature film debut of writer and director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. The film involves the monitoring of the cultural scene of East Berlin by agents of the Stasi, the GDR's secret police. The film was released in Germany on March 23, 2006. At the same time, the screenplay was published by Suhrkamp Verlag. Donnersmarck and Ulrich Mühe were successfully sued for libel for an interview in which Mühe asserted that his former wife informed on him while they were East German citizens through the six years of their marriage. In the film's publicity material, Donnersmarck says that Mühe's former wife denied the claims, although 254 pages' worth of government records detailed her activities. The film succeeded in Germany despite a widespread contemporary reluctance in the country, particularly in its films,[1] to confront the totalitarian excesses of the East German state.

Baraka: Behind the Scenes/ Excerpt

You can watch it on youtube if you are interested, it's broken up into 10 videos. Its not the same as watching it on the big screen, but at least you could see it. Absolutely worth it.





Balinese Monkey Chant:



Kecak (pronounced: /'ke.tʃak/, roughly "KEH-chahk", alternate spellings: Ketjak and Ketjack), a form of Balinese music drama, originated in the 1930s and is performed primarily by men. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 100 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from the Ramayana where the monkey-like Vanara helped Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. However, Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance.[1]