My apologizes to wordpress

What do my car, my pda, my mobile, my camera, my laptop and wordpress have in common?

1. Things I spend more time with than my family

2. Names I have picked for my future kids

3. Things a certain dude thinks are possessed by the devil

4. Things that my 9 month old niece knows how to use better than me

5. The only words in English I know how to spell

6. Things I have hurt their feeling and are no longer speaking to me



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1. Nope: It’s more or less the same

2. Nope: Are u kidding me!!! No way I’ll have 6 kids!!!

3. Nope: He thinks these objects are the devil himself

4. Nope: Give her a couple more months and yes she would

5. Nope: I know 1 or 2 more words

6. Aha…yep, I have some how managed to offend these inanimate objects over the past 2 years and 6 have taken their revenge The latest inanimate object I owe an apology to is Wordpress. Ever since this post, my comments have been spammed. So here’s my letter to Wordpress:





Dear Wordpress,

Dude, me so sorry. I never meant to compare you to Blogger. You both have your own positive points. You are both special in your own way. Please accept my sincere apology :D

Mirror Polisher

Drops of Tears

This little drop of tear fell coz your gorgeous baby smile won’t brighten up my day anymore,

This little drop of tear fell coz your cute laughter won’t fill our house anymore,

This little drop of tear fell coz I won’t have the joy of seeing you dance by jumping up and down,

This little drop of tear fell coz I won’t laugh every time you shake your head side to side refusing to eat baby food, but would take delight in eating grown up soup

This little drop of tear fell coz I won’t rejoice in seeing your little chubby hands clap every time you are happy

This little drop of tear fell coz my cheeks won’t get wet every time you try to kiss me

This little drop of tear fell coz your dark black eyes won’t penetrate deep into my soul every time you stare at me

This little drop of tear fell coz you won’t fall asleep on my chest anymore

My little angel left yesterday :(

UPDATE: The above tears fell coz my 10 month old niece went back to the States after a two-week visit to Kuwait.

Divine feeling

Is there any feeling more divine than when a baby falls asleep on your chest?





...especially if that baby is your 8 month old niece








PS. Net is slow so would be adding pic later

UPDATE: Apparently there's a feeling more divine...having your own kid :(
*goes to find the father of her child*

My journey on this foggy day

This pic is temporary; till i get off my (beep) and go out and take a pic of the fog)

When I left the house this morning and was greeted by the light morning breeze and the magical foggy weather, I knew that something uplifting will happen today.

On the car drive over to work, I heard a spiritual Hayedeh song I haven't heard in a long time; and when I came to work I took a trip into Hamad's World.

His world is beautiful, his world is enlightening, his world is sincere. His world is the message the morning breeze was sending me this morning.

His world is here

Week in review and the week ahead

Week in review

1. Sis b-day and a free yoga video

Yesterday was my sister’s birthday. She’s the kind that makes a list. One of the items on her list was a yoga DVD, so I gave her this link: http://yoga.org.nz/yoga_vidoes_download1.htm

Happy birthday sis :D

PS. Oh, and in case you are wondering, yes she did make me get off my ass and go out and buy her and actual gift. But wouldn’t it be nice if we could just give people links as gifts :D

2. Getting signs to start taking pix again

I got this personal belief that either do something with a passion or don’t do it all. So that’s why I haven’t picked up my camera in such along time. So when I got an email from some dude who is writing a book and wanted to use one of my pix; I’m like…hey maybe I could establish a relationship with that little thingy again. But this DSLR thing is too complicated so I went shopping for a good point-and-shoot camera. So far found nothing I like. Waiting for exhibition on feb 4^th to buy a camera and a laptop. Oh and thanks hamid for that email a couple of weeks ago also pushing me to start picking up that camy.

3. Thought of trying to develop a passion for cooking

Since a lot of people I meet these days seem to love cooking—even guys—I thought maybe I need to see if I can find the joy of slaving over a hot stove as well. So I thought of checking out you tube videos. Love this one :D

Week ahead

1. Gonna see my niece

My bro who (I don’t like using whom) I haven’t seen in over 15 years is coming this Tuesday :D :D :D…with his wife aaaaaannnnnddddddddd my niece :D :D :D This little angel has her own website!!! Damn times have changed, when I was born all I got was a bunch of pictures taken with a regular camera :(

PS.

FREE DVDS Yoga Online

Visit the Yoga.org.nz Online yoga website
heaps of cool yoga stuff including a free downloadable Videos and DVDs.

Blogger or Wordpress

I’m bored stiff, so I’m gonna try something new. Every time I post sth on blogspot, I’ll also copy it here. Let me see which one of these hosts I would grow to love more .

So far I like blogger more coz:

1. It allows you to change the html code (on wordpress you can change it but can't save the new template unless you upgrade)
   
2. It allows you to add any widget (including all the widgets on wordpress)

I like the following features on wordpress:

1. The tag surfer
2. it comes with recent comment widget (though you can add that on blogger easily)

UPDATE:

1. I'm having trouble embedding YouTube videos on wordpress.
2. Wordpress had much better templates
   
3. Wordpress has recently allowed some widgets to be added
   

This little bear has just come out of hibernating :D

Thank youuuuuuuuuuuu Frieda for your kind concern. All is well, and I am working on making it even better. So what have I been up to? Well, this cozy cold weather had put me into a deep soothing sleep…an awakening sleep.

What have I woken up to? That I want to set sail on a vagabond voyage…ok maybe not in the true sense of the word, but I want to step onto that open-ended road…the road with many forks…the unknown.

"One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."

…and so she resigns…she quits her well paying job, her great colleagues, the position she focused all her positive energy on getting, and all for what? All for the unknown.

Well not exactly the unknown…my plan is to travel around Iran to as many places as possible. Hopefully the trips would grant me the thing I lost some time back in 2006…my passion.

Happy Eid, Christmas and Yalda Night

Ouch my poor tummy. Yesterday (21st of December) I ate so much nuts (especially tomato toasted cashew), pomegranate, grapes and melon that I...hold on a sec...[censored]

Ok, now I am feeling better. I can go...so where was I? Oh why did I ate so much you ask..well coz last night was Shab-e-Yalda :D :D :D....Translation==Yalda Nigh

Instead of me explaning what Yalda night is, let me take the lazy (aka immoral) way out and copy the explanation from other sites ;p

From Payvand (including the pix)


Tehran, Dec 21, IRNA - Iranians throughout the world will celebrate the longest night of the Iranian calendar year, Yalda, in a tradition welcoming the birthday of the Goddess of Love, Mitra.

Yalda, the last night of autumn and the beginning of winter, is observed in every Iranian family here or abroad with ethnic roots to Iran. On Yalda night, which this year falls on December 21, members of the family stay together, narrate old stories told by ancestors, play traditional games and eat dried and fresh fruits symbolizing various things.

Pomegranates, placed on top of a fruit basket, are reminders of the cycle of life -- the rebirth and revival of generations. The purple outer covering of a pomegranate symbolizes "birth" or "dawn" and their bright red seeds the "glow of life." Watermelons, apples, grapes, sweet melons and persimmon are other special fruits served on Yalda night and all are symbols of freshness, warmth, love, kindness and happiness.

The Syranic word "yalda," meaning "birth," has its origins in ancient Persia and has come to symbolize a tradition observed since a thousand years ago in any Iranian family. Ancient Iranians believed that the dawning of each year is marked with the re-emergence or rebirth of the sun, an event which falls on the first day of the month of Dey in the Iranian calendar (December 21). On this day, the sun was salvaged from the claws of the devil, which is represented by darkness, and gradually spread its rays all over the world to symbolize the triumph of good over evil.

Since Yalda night is the longest and darkest night of the year, it has come to symbolize many things in Persian poetry -- separation from a loved one, loneliness and waiting. After the night is over a transformation takes place -- the waiting is over, a new life begins and good triumphs over evil. Reading poems of the Iranian poet, Hafez, is one of the most familiar activities on Yalda night.

Is it time?

Pic taken on Sheweikh Beach

The dream was cartoon-like, images too flowery, colors too vivid, animation too vibrant…emotions it provoked too child-like.

Eyes smiled open, body floated off the bed, window slid aside, sweet morning breeze found its way into my lungs. The breeze dragged me onto the beach.

The fine sand grains massaged my whole existence. Too lost in my own entity to notice another figure floating beside me.

Moments had to pass for the mental fog to settle before I could make out the words being directed at me.

“Beautiful morning”

I wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement, so my smile was the only reply I gave. A weird feeling took over then. A certain energy was present. I felt she was the answer…only I wasn’t sure what the question was.

Not wanting to fail the energy I blurted out:

“Have we met before?

“Why do you ask? Do I look familiar?

“No”…and I wanted to add...but you feel familiar...but I didn't.

She stood there staring into the horizon.

“You come here often?

“No, never actually…not at this time of the day anyway. I’m never out of bed before the sun is way up in the sky”

“So how come you are here today?”

“The morning breeze pulled me here”

Then there was silence…but not tortuous.

Then a thought locked in my head. A post I had once read on Cancerian’s blog. The thought that she could very well be the future me made my knees weak. Now the silence was unbearable. I had to know, I wanted to know. I had so many questions to ask, there were so many things I wanted to know. So I asked:

“Are you happy?”

That’s it, that was the only question that mattered. That was the only answer I wanted.

TO BE CONTINUED

Liberating Tears

Today I shed a couple of tears, silent tears, light tears, liberating tears.

Sometimes the traffic light takes longer than usual to turn green, you mind wonders, again the same old question is posed, again the long sought answer is not found.

You sigh, your head tilts slightly to the left; then all of a sudden your eyes become entrapped by what it sees.

This pic was not taken on the same day.

The side mirror reflects an image: A vast canvas of soothing blueness with strokes of whiteness brushed across the sky in message-like patterns. It talks to you. You listen. You feel the message. That feeling throws you into a whirlpool of answers.

The honking pulls you out of the whirlpool, the light has turned green. Unwilling you are torn away from that moment, the dialogue is lost, your soul was snatched back by reality.

Your are lost, your are numb, you are dangling in between…in between what you don’t know? Where was your soul heading? What was it leaving behind? You don’t know. All you know is that it is ‘in-between’ and this half-way world is peaceful.

Mehrbano's Musical Ensemble in Kuwait

Pic from 'The Daily Star'

So in the 9 years I lived in Tehran how many times did I go a traditional Iranian concert—> Zilch

How many traditional music Cd did I buy?->Zilch

How many traditional singles did I listen to?-> Zilch

How many times did I switch channels and radio stations when a traditional music came on?-> Billions

How excited did I become when I found out that Dar AlـAthar AlـIslamiyah would be hosting a traditional Iranian concert?-> Jumped up so high doing the dance of joy that my head damaged the ceiling.

And what a night it was. A rejuvenating night for my soul for it was my soul not body that danced to the melody of the music. Now I know why people close their eyes, smile and wave their head side to side when listening to music…I was doing that!!!!!

The best part of the evening was the encore. Once their performance was over, the crowd drew them back on stage with their cheers. They played the Iranians version of a Kurdish song they had previously played earlier. Then when the clapping of the crowd died down, the vocalist sang: Ey Iran, ey marzeh por ghohar.

This was when my mom’s soul was revived. She started to sing along with them and the Iranians in the audience (which incidentally weren’t too many) clapped all through the song. I must confess that their version of “Ey Iran” was the best I have ever seen or heard.

Unfortunately, my phone camera didn’t have enough space to record, the quality is not that good anyway, and I was too busy enjoying the show to shoot anything anyway, but here’s a couple of videos:

VIDEO 1

VIDEO 2

VIDEO 3 (Kurdish Song)

More info from the Daily Star

Baraka: A Spritual Film

What a magical night it was last night! The soothing breeze didn’t let go of its embrace all night. With my mind clear, my heart light, my soul at ease it was the perfect night to watch “Baraka”.

Baraka is the first film of a “3 Evening Events” that ‘The Culture Sector Office’ of The Grand Mosque of Kuwait is hosting to promote inter cultural understanding.

And Baraka did exactly that. With no narration, no dialogue, no words, mere images choreographed with an enchanting music, it took your mind on a sensual journey in and out of people’s beliefs, rituals, and vices. Unlike other films where one passively takes in the storyline as it is dictated to them, with Baraka one has to connect to their personal soul, cultural knowledge, and openness to interpret the mélange of the audiovisual messages.

I’m still lost in my interpretation; still mesmerized by the beauty and the “Baraka” of our world, still at awe at our lost souls dwelling in coffin-like “homes”; still perplexed by the skull-museum of genocide victims, still at awe by the connectedness of world rituals-of our collective conscious; still trying to figure out the messages in the eyes of the snow monkey in the hot springs of Japan, in the eyes of the aborigine in Australia, , in eyes of the 3 kids of Yanomami Tribe, in the eyes of the girl from Iran, in the eyes of the monk…and in my eyes.

Still have 1 question in mind: Are we losing God’s Baraka?

More Info about the film:

Baraka was shot in the following countries: Alaska, Arizona, Australia, Brazil, California, Cambodia, Colorado, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Hawaii, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kina, Kuwait, Mexico, Nepal, New Mexico, Peru, Poland, Thailand, Turkey & USA.

PLOT SYNOPSIS (taken from ALLMovie)

Named after a Sufi word that translates roughly as "breath of life" or "blessing," Baraka is Ron Fricke's impressive follow-up to Godfrey Reggio's non-verbal documentary film Koyaanisqatsi. Fricke was cinematographer and collaborator on Reggio's film, and for Baraka he struck out on his own to polish and expand the photographic techniques used on Koyaanisqatsi. The result is a tour-de-force in 70mm: a cinematic "guided meditation" (Fricke's own description) shot in 24 countries on six continents over a 14-month period that unites religious ritual, the phenomena of nature, and man's own destructive powers into a web of moving images. Fricke's camera ranges, in meditative slow motion or bewildering time-lapse, over the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Ryoan-Ji temple in Kyoto, Lake Natron in Tanzania, burning oil fields in Kuwait, the smoldering precipice of an active volcano, a busy subway terminal, tribal celebrations of the Masai in Kenya, chanting monks in the Dip Tse Chok Ling monastery...and on and on, through locales across the globe. To execute the film's time-lapse sequences, Fricke had a special camera built that combined time-lapse photography with perfectly controlled movements of the camera. In one evening sequence a desert sky turns black, and the stars roll by, as the camera moves slowly forward under the trees. The feeling is like that of viewing the universe through a powerful telescope: that we are indeed on a tiny orb hurtling through a star-filled void. The film is complemented by the hybrid world-music of Michael Stearns.

Images from the film (taken from Spirit of Baraka)


Video Clips from the film (From YouTube)


1. The Kecak Dance of Bali Indonesia



2. A snow monkey (at peace)



3. Modern life (maybe why we aren't at peace)

I am thankful for

The day is looming, the eye spots the pen, the hand picks up the pen, the heart writes:

Thank you for bringing down my wall

I’m no longer a prisoner of my own

Thank you for glorifying the magic of life

I now savor the divinity of it all

Thank you for injecting the zest for living in me

Reality is now more welcoming than my dreams

Thank you for rekindling the bond with my dear ones

My soul has reached the haven it so longed for

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Yalla go home

It wasn’t planned or anything, and it hadn’t nothing to do with the ‘letting go’ philosophy I have recently subscribed to; it was only coz it was ok to do so. Yesterday, I let me class go a whole FIVE minutes early.

I asked a question, I received my correct answer, I smiled and uttered, “Have a nice day.”

Nobody moved!!!! They all looked at each other. Then all eyes were on me.

We had just been watching ‘Shrek’ so the phrase “put a spell on sb’ was still on the board. Abdullatif looked at the board then looked at me and said,

“Have you somebody put spell on? Before you no allow 1 second go home early!!!”

I laughed:

“Good usage of the phrase Abdullatif. Thank you. Now, yallah go home before I change my mind!!”

Idiot no more

To Maman and Baba,



I'm sorry for:

Not realizing why you got so upset with me last night for preferring to stay home rather than joining you guys out. I now realize if you hadn't missed me so much you wouldn't have got so angry. I now realize your anger was the translation of your love.

I'm such an idiot