EA meeting -Extremist Anonymous

“Hello.. I am a Saudi Liberal!!!

I believe in women's rights

I am all for equality

I demand freedom of speech

Please express yourselves….”

(A man with a beard gets up to talk)

“Please shut him up, he is an ignorant fool who probably supports terrorism!!”

“Hello.. I am a Saudi Conservative!!!

I believe women exist to become good wives and mothers

I am all for religious hierarchy

I demand you hear MY voice

Please do as you are told…”

(Nobody gets up to talk)

“I knew the majority of the people supported me!!”

Will we ever be able to push ourselves away from the extremes?!!

WOW it's been a while!!!

what's up people? yes, i know, i haven't been blogging!! most of u probably don't give a rat's behind!! but I am still going to say, i'm sorry!! been busy u know..

with what?! well.. most importantly my sister has given birth prematurely to the most precious little girl <3 she's in hospital till about mid December (so it's been hectic). Thankfully, she is stronger than she was when she was born.. she's beautiful.. and we love her!


what else? well,, the exhibition I have been working on for the past year and a half has finally come to life.. if ur in London, plz visit The Edge of Arabia exhibition at the Brunei Gallery in Russel square. If not, then plz visit our website www.edgeofarabia.com where u can see the exhibition and also, WE HAVE A BLOG!!!! plz check it out.. the online shop is pretty cool too *hint hint*


CONGRATS ON OBAMA WINNING PEOPLE!!!! i swear i kept crying every time i heard his speech (even the 175th time!!!!) finally, a man with a brain to rule the world!! we can respect the Americans again.. they proved the world wrong!!


hmmm.. what else?!! well.. I went to a Robin Williams stand up tonight.. i tried not to fall off my seat! the man is Wicked!!!!! my friend was able to get back stage passes.. and we were able to talk to him and take a pic with him too!! he was nice and sweaty!!


That's about it for now.. but I won't bee long this time..

Take care xx

i miss the summer already

Happy Eid

I hope you all have a great Eid.. tomorrow we are having our traditional Eid lunch in a non traditional setting since we are all away from home this Eid. We are going to have lunch at a nice garden restaurant here in London. My little nephew has decided he wants to wear a thobe for the occasion. And he asked his mum, aunts and grandmother all to wear hats (i'm not sure why) but i'm a big fan of hats so it'll be fun :)

What are your plans for Eid?!

what's in a photo

It was a photo I saw at a friends house AGES ago.. it was black and white and simply beautiful.. I could look at it for hours and it just made me happy..

The two faces in the photo were hidden, it seemed to me like they were laughing so hard that they hid their faces unintentionally as the camera snapped that gorgeous moment! I loved it...

I had so many questions about the two in the photo which my friend simply answered with a smile.. I didn't pay much attention I was too involved in the moment..

6 months later.. I get a package.. there was a note on the top saying:
'I remember how it made you smile, I want you to have it'

I was so happy that she gave it to me.. I found the perfect place to put it up in my room.. a hidden spot just like the faces in the photo..

something was off.. I changed the position more than once.. But there was something different about it when I looked at it this time..

Day by day, the hidden faces just kept bothering me more and more.. I could almost see the tears on them rather than the laughs I thought I saw..

Today, I took it down.. It's just too sad for me to look at! I couldn't bare it anymore..

When you be One Hundred...

This was a conversation between my 5 and a half year old nephew and his Mum

Child: Mummy, when you be one hundred will you still have your telephone with you?

Mum: ummmm, yes, I'm sure I will

Child: will Baba have his phone with him?!

Mum: yes yes, I'm sure he will, why do you ask?

Child: because I want you to ask God if you can call me when your in heaven


Children say the strangest things...

i vote for ANARCHY!!

I am not for your revolution
nor can I stand aside
and let the world pass me by
and watch it from behind

I am not for your NOISE pollution
your murmurs and your cries
you speak of vice and fraud as well
and many many lies

I CANnot throw it all away
I cannot let it be
nor do I want to follow you
I want to follow ME

You speak of change no you DEMAND
yet all you do is talk
who is it then that you believe
will have to walk the walk?!

I am not FOR your revolution
I cannot STAND your noise pollution
the change that you demand

Wake up my friends and face the world
just do it hand in hand

Or better yet go back to BED
and dream of better days
change may come, one day, that is
long after you've been dead



*someone is in a good mood today.....

Happy Ramadan

Hope you all have a great Ramadan wa kol 3aam wa antom b5air :)

Me, Myself and I

I dream of a day yet to come where i will be truly me.. the way i see myself deep down inside.. the way i truly am..

I dream of a day yet to come where i will be wisely sanguine.. not naive nore pesimistic.. the way i truly should be..

I dream of a day yet to come where i will be finally brave.. to face the truth to face myself.. the way i was taught to be..




I am very confused, i don't have time to be confused, the world is passing me by and I am still having second thoughts about EVERYTHING...



I still have faith in tomorrow

what determins the division of happiness?

so i was at a coffee shop today with some friends and we were laughing really hard at a joke one of them said.. u know when u laugh so much u cry?!! it was actually exhausting.. anyhow, we were enjoying ourselves when one of my friends suddenly said "allah yikfeena shar i'6i7k" as in -may God prevent the evils after laughter- well not literally, but that's the best i can do!!

basically, this is some sort of superstition we have in Saudi (not quite sure of it's presence anywhere else). but many people believe that if you laugh too much in the day u will end up in tears by the fall of night, so they pray to God to keep them safe from the evils that come after laughter

note: this superstition is not religious in any way

so i thought about this for a moment and asked my friend why she would actually believe she wasn't allowed to laugh too much or else she would be punished?!! i personally feel that if you believe u deserve to be happy, i mean truly believe, u will be!! i think we should try to adopt a very positive attitude towards life..


another one of our friends had an interesting point of view.. he was saying that he believes that everyone gets their fair share of happiness and misery.. eventually all the sadness u felt in your life will be balanced out by the happiness..

it's funny how all of a sudden, everything went serious and u got a pessimistic, positive and realistic attitude towards happiness..

after that discussion, i decided that i shall not fear happiness, i shall not expect it, nor shall i believe in the equilibrium.. i have decided not to take life too seriously and stop discussing gifts from God such as happiness and just be thankful for them..

The End

:)

the day was perfect

she felt great

she looked great

the song on her ipod was exactly right for the mood

it never happened.....

today was not the day

she didn't really care

she was tired and hungry

no expectations

it happened :)

When were you born?!!

YAWARAKAI
Born 6th August 1984

You were born on a Monday.
Your star sign is Leo.
Your birthstone is Peridot.
The season was Summer.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Rat.
The US President was Ronald Reagan (Republican).
The UK Prime Minister was Margaret Thatcher (Conservative).
Monday's child is fair of face.
You are 23 years 10 months 24 days old.
It is 37 days until your next birthday.
In dog years you are 3 years old.
You are 8,729 days old.
You are approximately 209,515 hours old.
You are approximately 754,252,827 seconds old.

www.dayofbirth.co.uk

I haven't blogged in ages!

hello

So my summer holidays have begun, my family are here in London.. very hectic, very noisy but fun nonetheless.. i have begun running.. i can barely move half the time because my muscles hurt!! when do u get over than again?!!


Other than that, i have joined Second life.. I'm really enjoying it!! I've made a few friends and also met a lot of weirdos.. but it's cool that u get to be who ever the hell u want to be!! i still haven't learned how to be someone I'm not yet haha.. despite the fact that i look Japanese in the game!


One of my babies is sick.. i gave her some new cat food and now she's throwing up all over the place.. it's sad,, and disgusting :(


My friends birthday is coming up in a few days, were planning a birthday weekend for her.. her birthday is on a Sunday.. there is a hotel here in London which offers a package for a "girls' night in" basically, u stay at the hotel for a night, u get pampered, watch chick-flicks and have full use of the spa and the swimming pool.. we booked that for Saturday.. (we r 5 girls by the way.. how we r going to fit, i have NO idea!!).. and on Sunday, we r having a BBQ in the park.. with a HUGE chocolate cupcake for her birthday cake :D


I will try to blog more often!! have a great summer everyone!!

Random

-I just finished my exams!!! i'm relieved.. yet i can't help but feel that i just studied too hard for nothing!! i didn't do so great on 3 of them!! or maybe i just didn't study in the way ur supposed to.. whatever way that is.. on one of them,, i wasn't sure if the answer i was writing was the answer to question 1 or 3!! i usually know more or less how i did on the exam when i'm done.. this time,, i have noo idea.. i guess i'll have to wait till July and c


-on another note, i just got my first ever pay-check.. since this is my first ever real job!! it's a good feeling!! the thing is,, i'm not quite sure what to do with the money.. i don't just want to go shopping.. or spend it on something stupid.. i kind of want to frame the check!! how stupid does that sound?!!


-i wanted to thank everyone for their supportive comments on my last post.. and give u a bit of an update on my progress.. i have a counter to show how long it's been since i quit.. but it's not that accurate because i cheated!! i had three cigarettes over the past 12 days.. not bad compared to what i used to smoke.. but i joined the NHS "together" programme which is this support for people who want to quit smoking thingi.. and they told me that i should give myself some time to process the thought of quitting and set a date when i REALLLY won't ever have a ciggi again.. so i did.. i chose the last day of exams which was yesterday.. maybe i should change the counter on my page.. they r really helpful and they send u all these supportive text messages and e-mails and stuff.. it's cool..


-my brother and sister are all back in Saudi, i haven't been alone in the house for over a year.. well i'm not exactly alone, i have my cats :) (the most beautiful creatures in the world).. it was strange in the beginning because i kept hearing noises and doors being opened and i was getting all paranoid.. now i'm just reeeaaallly enjoying the peace.. i forgot how much i like living alone!!


-i just realised that my family are probably reading this.. so this is just a clarification.. that doesn't mean i don't miss u guys!!! i'll probably get bored of the quiet in a few days.. haha


i'm off to do... ummm.. something.... i'm not sure what yet.. but something that is not study related (FINALLLLY)

ciao

an opinion anyone?!..

i was reading this post (To you, women of arabia..) by trevelyana on (http://trevelyana.wordpress.com/) and it got me thinking.. although what i have to say has'nt much to do with what she was saying.. i realised that the problem lies mostly within our society.. if the majority do this, then u must do the same..


since i was a little girl at school. i have never been asked for my opinion, if you take a look at the Saudi educational system, it is mostly based on memorising texts, and reciting what you have learned (word for word) at an exam. ur opinion is not of any interest to your markers. when i went abroad to study, i found that analytical skills were of the essence. in order to pass an exam, you must show understanding of the topic, and have AN OPINION, rather than reciting the author's opinion from the book you used to study.

Thankfully, my thoughts were not completely neglected growing up. as my opinion would be taken into consideration in the house were i grew up.

However, on the larger scale, as a society i am sorry to say that the majority of people need guidance before taking any steps. more distressing, people need to be guided on how to think. examples of this may be seen socially; what is socially accepted and what is not, does not necessarily make sense, but it is what u have been taught to think. even when it comes to religion, people will not take any actions (even minor ones) until they get the approval of a scholar (despite how dodgy his/her background may be)

as an Arab, u also learn to blame ur problems on other people or factors,, so today,, i have decided to blame the educational system in Saudi..

p.s. on the educational note, froggy ur right, exam time is the best time to blog!!!

p.p.s. sorry i don't know how to link the post

speaking up for Lebanon

a strong speech by Sahar ALKhatib




very true.....

Numbers.....

The Cyclone that hit Myanmar today has killed over 22.000 people

(update: death toll has risen to 100.000)

There are THOUSANDS still missing

The death toll is rising.. the numbers are rising

It's strange how human beings with their own lives, family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, work places, hobbies, stories, pictures, houses, pets etc etc.. become NUMBERS..

May God be with them..

To him at least, they will not be just NUMBERS..

i would like to know

-i would like to know where in my brain did i hide the books i have read in my life?! i remember the times i was reading them,, but i don't remember what they were about or even what they were called!!!


-i would like to know if moments that embarrassed me in the past were to happen all over again now, would i still be embarrassed?!!


-i would like to know if i have ever seen the lady sitting next to me on the bus anywhere before and just don't remember because i just don't care???


-i would like to know what it would be like to live in Japan..


-i would like to know how some people can just leave without saying good-bye?


-i would like to know why i am so scared of spiders when others think they r tiny harmless creatures??


-i would like to know why is it that when i'm angry at someone i can never remember why i was angry in the first place and i end up apologizing for something i don't know!!!


-i would like to know why i don't write poetry as much as i used to!!


-i would like to know how it would feel to know everything!!!


-i would really like to know what the hell i am going on about?!!!!!

An artist today. Maybe a legend tomorrow!

He was a young boy when he made his first portrait. It just came naturally to him.. With tiny fingers wrapped around a brush which seemed just too big for a hand that small, he had it, the world!!

He was barely 17 when one of his scribbles was called a master-piece and people from all over the country came to see it. And the ones that didn't, surely wished they could..He was given a crown, a throne to sit on. They waited anxiously for anything he would create..

As he grew older, he had many shoulders to help him lift the world.. Friends, family, loved ones, and even strangers who loved him for being him.. They were all there..

As time passed everyone by, he decided to face time. He did not want to be passed by. He challenged time and decided to live in different times at once, to have his own world where he could create many worlds. He needed to stand out!

Bit by bit, the shoulders began to fall.. They could not carry his burdens anymore, they needed more space for their own weights.. The human being is only as kind as he can get.. Here comes humanity!!

He told me once that in order for him to absorb reality, he needed to make some space within him.. At first, he dropped playing cards with his friends.. When there was still much more to take in, he dropped even seeing his friends.. Gradually, he dropped running, he dropped reading, he dropped laughter until one day, he dropped painting!

At first, his subjects still had hope, they clung to whatever they could find of him.. But none of them was strong enough to knock on his door and lend him a shoulder..

He was empty inside, trying to absorb life.. His lack of being him made his world go still.. The dust was settling, he did not care to push it off.. What was the point? He thought.. The people have left me to my solitude and no one would be there to see what lies under the dust.. I am still here, he said.. But no one listened..


A funny creature, the human being is..




Don’t let the dust cover beauty.. Why do we need to wait for ages until we are appreciated?!! The painter will have his day! He will become a legend! There will be people who would have wished to see him.. Tomorrow, that is.. Today, people will just let time pass them by..

Edge of Arabia

Hello people

I just got back from a great weekend in Paris. It was a business trip but it was very very interesting.. I am volunteering at an educational company called The Offscreen Education Programme (http://offscreened.com/). It is based in London and it basically offers a new kind of arts education for kids in school. basically what they do is educate through real life experiences rather than studying the arts solely from books and trips to museums. They fly kids out from the West to the East and vice versa in order for the kids to experience their counter-parts education first hand. It is a great way to create lasting ties between the cultures and broaden the younger generation's horizon.

At the moment, we are organising an exhibition for contemporary Saudi artists to be held in the UK in October 2008. The exhibition is called 'Edge of Arabia: Art and Identity in The Land of The Prophet'. To all the people out there who don't really know much about Saudi Arabia other than the stereotypes of oppressed women and terrorism; you will be amazed with the talent we have found in the different corners of this massive country. And for the Saudis who are going to see this, you will be very very proud!

The artists include both male and female ones. We have sculptists, painters, photographers and everything you could imagine. From the different parts of Saudi, not restricted to one social class, gender, religious, or even professional back ground; we have come to create a ground breaking exhibition which is the first of its kind in London!!

These artists include regular people like you and me. We have a Police-man from Khamees Mushait who is really into the environment and works with that to create his art. There is also a doctor from Abha who uses X-Rays as art. Also, we have a female photographer who is the creative director at ARAMCO. As you can see, these are samples of the diversity within the artists we have chosen for this exhibition.

The exhibition will also include a book which is unlike any other exhibition book. It will not only look at the work of these artists but it will go further in looking into the lives of these people who created the art. What inspired them? Where they are most inspired? and their day to day routines. It is nothing like you have ever seen before coming from Saudi Arabia and i hope you will all be able to visit when the exhibition is on between October and December 2008.

I will leave you with some pictures of the art

chitchat with the taxi man

so i was in a cab today and the taxi man and i were chatting (as one usually does when they're alone in a cab) he asked all the usual questions: where are you from? are you here on vacation or do you live here?

so i told him i was from Saudi Arabia, and that i came here to study..

taxi man: what are you studying?

me: politics

taxi man: why?!!! there ARE no politics in Saudi Arabia

me: why would you say that?!!

taxi man: you have a King don't you?

me: yeah, so?

taxi man: what the king says everyone does. for example: if he asked everyone to wear red shoes every Sunday, that is what everyone would have to do!

i tried to explain to him that we do have a monarch, and yes, we are not a democracy, but that doesn't mean politics does not exist. he then went on and on about how HE knew the solution to all Middle Eastern problems.. and that was.. yes ladies and gentlemen, you guessed it,, the ideology that is the essence of peace, happiness, equality, freedom etc etc.. DEMOCRACY :)

Democracy: government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

in theory, this system is Utopian. an ideal dream created by the West working for the West. i say this because for some odd reason, when these Western post-modern missionaries come to spread the joys of democracy in third world countries, they use bombs and fighter planes to spread the peace. they force people into new political systems to promote their freedom to choose. they kill young and old in "friendly fires" to ensure happiness for the rest.. and they will do that to anyone who stands in their way to confirm equality.

i tried to explain to the cab driver that there was no such thing as absolute rule, as there is no such thing as absolute democracy. and that i study politics, in order to understand this horrific phenomenon that conducts the world and try to find a way around it!

i personally think it is very narrow-minded to assume that just because a King reigns over Saudi Arabia, he is in charge of everything within the borders of this massive country.

I mean think about it, if you are the head of a household, you cannot control the every aspect of the lives of the people living under your roof.. let alone an entire 1,960,582 sq km of land and 27,000,000 people!!!

but lets say, hypothetically.. what if an actual absolute dictatorship existed. and i, one of the citizens of this country decided i would like to know how the leader of the country ran his country.. would i not have the right to?!! just because somewhere, someone out there disagreed with my country's system of rule.. would that make me unworthy of the knowledge i would like to gain?!!


When it comes to politics, why is it easy for people to dismiss all views other than theirs even though the ideologies and assumptions are endless?!!

Mika, put your money where your mic is!!

there are times when you need your alone time.. and others when alone time makes you claustrophobic! does that make any sense?

i mean, don't you sometimes just want to run away from the noise?! and at other times silence just becomes too noisy?

i don't mean any of this literally of course! but i guess what im trying to say is that when your alone for too long.. your thoughts turn into screams.. too much is going on in ur head.. ur feelings are all over the place.. you have a million things to do.. and another million things you wish you had already done!! it's just too stressful!!

Mika.. I'm sorry but it's too difficult to relax and take it eeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaasyyyy..

maybe they'll invent a button to put your brain on snooze for a while!!

you know what, it's times like these that i regret not being a crack-head!!!

one-way ticket please!!!!

Don't you just dream of a world where social responsibility ceases to exist?!!

Why not?!

sometimes i wake up and i'm just not in the mood to face the world. well, my world at least! i feel like facing a different world. where i don't have an essay due tomorrow, there is no one i have to explain myself to, no unpaid bills i need to get around to settling, or even no where i just have to go to lunch!!

sometimes i wake up and i just want to run! (metaphorically speaking ofcourse, i'm not exactly the fittest gal on the block!)

my mother always reminds me that in order for me to succeed i actually need to have a goal. and more importantly a plan.

personally, sometimes i wake up and just feel like writing. i don't have a plot, or a particular mood i would like to portray, i just want to write! so i do. like now for instance!

i was weighing the pros and cons of this habit of mine. turns out, statistically speaking, the cons outweigh the pros in terms of success in life.

but don't you sometimes just want to feel free?!

What's so great about happy endings?

The thing about happy endings is that they're still endings!!


When were reading, listening or even living a story, we can deal with all the drama, the trauma and the nerve wrecking second tries; just for that marvelous happy ending!! When Cinderella finally marries Prince charming after having to put up with her horrific step sisters and step-mother, the story ends there! What's the point? When she finally reaches her highest point of happiness, it ENDS!!


Why is it that we work hard, sacrifice a lot, get lost on the way and find our way back just to have that fairy-tale ending?! Why can't we have a fairy-tale beginning? Why can't we just be happy from the start?


You may be thinking that all this is just unrealistic, you may even be one of those who think people don't deserve to be happy from the start, and that they need to work hard to achieve happiness.. I can agree to some extent with both these theories, BUT I would at least like to know what comes after the happy endings? What are Cinderella and Prince charming up to now? Are they still happy?


Unless someone can answer my question, I think I will start skipping the last chapter in a book! I'd rather use my imagination to create tens of chapters where happiness never ends!


Having said that, this is my blog! This is my happy beginning, with no endings.. I don't promise to blog forever, but I won't end this blog ever!