Puma Ocean

When you spend a while thinking what title to give a photo, you think should it be something funny, deep, romantic... Most of the time, photos can be beautiful on their own, but when they have a title, the photographer is able to translate something, something hidden to her audience. And other times, you look at a photo and you say, what beautiful scenery, what a large ocean, what a vast sky... limitless... but what are Puma shoes doing there? Why do I always include my sneakers inside those photos, what am I trying to prove? That I was there? Are my feet my identity now? Why don't I put a photo of my portrait with that landscape ...

I will tell you why.

This is how I saw it. The photo, of the landscape, is how I saw it.

So need I give a title to this photo? Or should I just tell you, that I was cold, the sky was beautiful, and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore but most importantly, that my phone cam is not bad during daylight. No title is needed. After all, I just babbled almost 200 words.

Know yourself first. Can it get any harder?

Life constantly makes you become someone you don't recognize at times where you need yourself the most. Surival First

You can run away from people, from places, from family, from work... But where do you run away from yourself? You suddenly find yourself stalking you, you no longer want that newly acquired habit, or newly reached way of thinking to be anywhere near you. You don't want to know what's going on, you just want it to go away. 

When you get to a point where you rely on a coin to make important decisions for you, this is when you know something went wrong. But what is right or wrong really? How confused can someone get? How hard can things be?

Lesson I finally learned and have now engraved in my brains, is never ever to judge anyone else, or wonder "why" they're thinking that way or "why" they behaved that way. When amateur you think you know a lot, when pro, you realize you know nothing.

This comes down to what Socrates said, the simplest thing I've heard, a sentence you think you understand, but completely and utterly miss out on realizing every moment of every day during your entire life.

Know Thyself

Phone Weirdo

I have been getting this a lot lately, from friends and colleagues and people I work with. It's about the way I communicate on the phone, something very close to someone shocked and just held a phone in their hands for the first time.

I swear I don't do this on purpose, something possesses me when I pick up the phone. Actually someone pointed it out recently to me, and made fun of me, thank YOU (you know yourself).

I am gonna do this T-Shirt:

Don't like talkin' on phone. 

Tweet.me.instead.

Perfectionism sucks sometimes

What do you think about when some "perfectionist" people, tend to "perfect" a project they're working on, and take all the time they need, and while they're "perfecting" their work, someone else comes and does it before them; and then end up gaining THE momentum, money, fame, reactions, whatever the case may be... 

So "to perfect"? Or just get by? Or does it depend on the project?

To my mom

It's been several years mom would be away on Mother's day.

I am guilty of not treating mom as much as she deserves, one of my biggest flaws is my attachment to my laptop, internet and writing. She'd be sitting right there beside me, but I'd be living in my own binary world. If not that, I'd be out and about. In a nutshell, I appear as a lousy daughter.

But what mom doesn't know or maybe it's because I don't show it much, is how much I love her, admire her and respect her.

Mom taught me to be honest, to respect, to dream, to change the course of my life if needed, not to be afraid to speak my mind, and all that without offending people.

Mom taught me an important lesson. So many times I'd get back home angry from something, and instead of blindly supporting me, she would actually point out if it was my fault, but in a cute manner. Of course I'd get mad at her, go to my room, close the door like any teenager, adolescent and adult :P would do, but when I'd sit alone, I would ponder about how wise she is, and would realize that I should be more fair and more objective.

I always had a bad temper, I still do. Everyone who knows me are thinking: "But you're so calm!" Yes I am, and it is because of mom. She helped me learn how to control my anger and look at things more positively.

I am a better person, a more patient one because of you mom. And I owe my imagination and modest (really modest) creativity to the stories you used to make up for me before I'd go to sleep when I was a child.

You my mom, are the most important person in my life. 

Be happy mamie, and khalleh 3al daghet ba2al yinzal 7ajik m3ateltineh hammik :P Ba3dik sabiye wlo!

When you wake up thinking about Red Velvet & Chocolate cake ball

... then you know you have been bitten by Le Gustav - Innovation Sucrée, more like, you have bitten Le Gustav. I don't know what I can add to what Micheline already beautifully described and said about Le Gustav in her blog post, except one thing:

After Chef Noor offers me a Chocolate cake ball, or a Red velvet ball (yes, they love me this much), the second I take a bite, I instantly get transported to another world full of happiness, joy, satisfaction, love, daisies, rainbows, marshmallow clouds, floating in the air, porsches... yes, those 2-3 minutes are simply heaven to me. Yes! Heaven!

I have been planning on grabbing my not-so-bad-camera and shooting those desserts, but hey.. you know how forgetful and lazy I am, so for now, just look at the lame iPhone's camera photos, and I promise I shall bring you much much better photos. It will also be a challenge for me to do some Dessert Photography.

Red Velvet Cake on the top. Chef Noor baking :)

More and more red velvets (Yes I love this cake)

Red Velvet Balls with Melted white chocolate on the top

Tarts with Pomegranate

Chef Noor pouring Melted White Chocolate on a Red velvet cake

Convinced? I am sure you are! Check the map of Le Gustav :)

Just believe, you're not gonna be sexy forever

I used to say: "I will buy a house soon!", the responses I would get would range from "Why? It's the guy who is supposed to buy the house!" macho tone to "You look like you don't want to get married, hein!" sarcastic lame tone to "But this way, the future husband will get greedy, and will only marry you for the house!" evil tone

And, my response would be mostly : "meh"

They don't get it. It's not about me + someone. It's just about me! If I want to buy a house, it's for me!

Me... me... me! *mouse like voice*

We no longer live in in the 19th century, where the girl remained illiterate, and had to rely on a man to make a life. Now, things are different. Do I really need to explain how? Seriously?

I am not rooting for being alone forever, far from that, I believe happiness is to be shared, so are achievements and goals. I am just saying, if a woman is alone, it doesn't mean she's "incomplete". So cut her some slack.

This is a shout out to many women, single or not, you are a whole on your own. Embrace it. You rock. Not all of you, some of you really need to restart their brains and stop thinking that their only role in this life is cooking and cleaning (that is what the cook and cleaning person are for) and raising kids (it's not your sole job)! Yeah you can do much more for the community, in the industry, for the country, just believe!

So did this post distract you with all these photos of these sexy and beautiful women? I really don't know why they're here. I have no idea what my point is. Hmmm. You got an idea what my point was? Maybe I just wanted to tease you. I donno.

Thanks for twitter people for helping me find these photos and include them in this post.

Happy Women's Day :)

Let me tell you why God doesn't exist

See and follow through my epic logic. You know in Math, there is a method called "par recurrence" used to prove something, after validating it for x = 1, 2, 3 and then "par recurrence" or "by induction?" we prove that it's also valid for x = n.

Now I play the lottery maybe once every 6 months. 

x = 1 was when I said: "God, if I win the lottery, I will distribute them on my family"

Did not win

x = 2 was when I said: "God, if I win the lottery, I will distribute them on my family and friends and charities, I don't want anything for myself"

Did not win

x = 3 was when I said: "God, if I win the lottery, I will keep them for me, me me me me... only me!" Yes, I tried the selfish one

Did not win

So by induction, I should conclude that I will never win, and God doesn't exist. But hey, I am going to try to validate for x = 4. "God, if I win the lottery, I will run naked in front of all twitter people".

Kidding :P Not even 10 million dollars would make me do anything like that! MEH

Lilo Dali Multipass

So after waiting for years for any of my friends to notice my obsession with Salvador Dali and get me his book on my birthday, I finally decided to follow through and get it myself for moi (from librairie antoine online :P).

Now, what can I say except that this man is amay-zing. He's someone who did not let anything stand in the way of his imagination, he just lets go, and you can see that in his paintings (and from what I read, the movie he made "Le chien andalou"). I am still at 35% of the book, it includes his BIO, in addition to that when he drew what and what they suspect he meant by them, and many of his mind-blowing quotes. How often do you see someone that confident in himself? Ironic though, he was also shy. Which makes him even more interesting.

When you read about someone that grand, you cannot but feel some of that grandiose yourself. You feel like you can do something big as well. I will never be a famous painter, or singer or musician or dancer or photographer, I think Art isn't my thing. But my plan is to keep it real, and to be the best ordinary person I can be. How? I think it's simple. It's as simple as knowing what you want, being honest and true to yourself, and keeping a sense of humor while at it. Because really, why so serious?

I know, I am speaking about real, while Salvador Dali is the epitome of surrealism. But to tell you the truth, I have never seen anything as real as his work. 

I've been through many phases, my favorites were Ziad Rahbani and Che Guevara, and now it's Dali's phase, and all I can say is that I am enjoying every bit of it.

Kylie - Part XI

"Tomorrow night? hmmm I don't have plans tomorrow night so yes why not!" She smiled at him. He smiled back. Starred for a second, and then took her number so he can call her the next day and tell her where to meet.

Her heart kept pumping, she didn't know whether that was because she just said yes to a married man or because a drifting car almost smashed her.

Next day at work, she forgot all about what happened the day before, she was swamped with tasks and she couldn't even sip her coffee or have her lunch break when suddenly a number she's never seen before appears on her phone. She looks at it, then dismisses it thinking it was a client. An hour later the number turns on the screen again, when she finally decides to answer, the first words she hears are:

"For a second I thought you gave me a wrong number, or just decided that am not worth it at all." He said.

She stopped everything she was doing and just stood in shock, this was definitely a man who keeps her on her toes, very unpredictable and someone she knows is going to sweep her off her feet, very soon.

She answered: "No, of course not. I just totally forgot that we were seeing each other tonight, you know, very busy at work" and laughed. He replied: "Oh how I wish you gave me a wrong number, this is mean!"

At night, when she arrived and gave her car to the valet parking guy, she saw him waiting for her on the entrance, all elegant and with the most beautiful smile on his face. She felt like she knew him for years and this man was the man of her life, and there was nothing weird or wrong or new about this. 

"So you want me to start with the obvious, or you want t wait and tell me at your own pace." She said. 

He smiled.

*He liked how honest she was, this isn't a woman who wants to fool around, and god knows how much does he hate unloyal people. Thing is, he didn't want to approach her that day, but he knew he might be missing his chance forever, he saw something in her, and just couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He knew this was more than just finding a woman sexy, or cute. It was definitely something more, and he took the risk, knowing that the first thing she will see is the ring on his left hand.*

"I am getting a divorce" he paused "I know you're thinking, he's definitely lying since this is the excuse most married use but still don't take off their rings". "But am not. I just haven't had the courage to take it off yet." He looked at her with a shy smile. She immediately saw his pain, she knew, it wasn't him who took the decision to get a divorce.

"Don't worry. Listen. Honesly, those sushi were nice for tasting and all, but am stil hungry. What do you say we go for Hotdog at Freddy's?" she said nicely.

"Freddy's? Seriously? Ah women and their taste, put your coat on and let's go. I know the best hot dog place in town." He said with confidence.

*He liked what she did, she immediately trusted him and so did he. She's giving him time. She understands, and she knows he's not a bad guy*

But she's not a patient person at all. She looked at him while he was driving and asked him: "When will the divorce be finalized?"

His smile completely disappeared: "She still didn't sign on the papers!"

Kylie's jaw dropped. She was confused, who filed for divorce? Him or his wife? In that moment, he knew she was lost and didn't know what was going on, he wanted to save the moment but he knew what he was going to say next might ruin every possible chance that they can be together, and he really wanted her in his life.

"When you love someone, it's hard to let go..."*

Stay tuned for part XII, a lot of things will be revealed :) it might be the last one.

Delusional, realistic or what?

Check what Dali told his parents when they decided to employ a drawing teacher for him when he was still 10:

No! I don't want any drawing teacher, because I am an "Impressionist painter!"

Of course his parents laughed, and thought oh what a cute 10 year old boy!

But he was right wasn't he? This makes me think about our role as parents, whether to encourage our children when they blurt out something like the above, or dismiss it trying to diminish the difficulties, roughness and obstacles a person will face in a real life leading them not to be able to accomplish anything.

Some say: "No high expectations, no disappointment"

Do we encourage? or do we tell them: "get real, you're cute!"

On the wandering mind and happiness

This article, I identify a lot with. Yesterday I was with a group of friends I knew back in school, and they were sharing a lot of memories of which I only remember 20% of. I felt bad. At first I used to think it is because I have a bad memory, but truth is it was simply because I did not concentrate on the moment and my mind used to wander a lot dreaming of happier moments. And that is what I did most of my life. But not recently, since I learned that lesson, and the cure for my lousy memory was simply to live in the moment and focus more. Now of course, my mind still wanders, but we're learning, grasshoppers :)

This article is a very cool and interesting read on how letting our mind wander is a major cause of unhappiness. Simply, try to live and appreciate the moment. As my friend and school colleague told me yesterday: "Every moment that is gone, will never be replaced"

Since it's the last day of the year, I just want to wish my readers (if you're still reading that is, since I've been really ignoring this blog) a good year, I know it won't be all good, let's be realistic here, but I hope you change your job if you're unhappy now, I hope you find love, if you're feeling lonely, I hope you get a promotion if you're doing well at your job now, I hope you spend quality time with your loved ones and I hope you stay true to yourself, no matter what!

Happy 2011. Thank you for being there for me.

p.s. Happiness, is only a state of mind.

Oh well

I must admit, dates mean a lot to me, because numbers mean a lot to me, and yesterday 21/12 I got to the big 3 O.. I got a very delicious cake at work and I made a wish, a selfish wish for the first time ever, but today I would like to officially retract that wish.

Been a long time that blog is pretty dead, that's not good, since most probably I will want to get back years later to remember how I felt in this period, then again, maybe I don't want that. Subconscious can do wonders I tell ya.

Finally, being young is different from being immature. Just saying :)

Happy Birthday to me, I got myself an RC Helicopter!

I will never forget this

A teacher in school once told me: "Iza hadafik tari2o so3be, ma titkhalleh 3anno w trou7e 3al tari2 el hayne".

Like being in another world

Listen to it and thank me later. It's a Croatian song, sang by Pink Martini and called "U Plavu Zoru" (the blue dawn)

Not me - succumbing to life

I was one of those kids who aspired to become a pilot, a rock-star, a nobel prize winner, an actress who has won at least 2 grammies, the country's president, formula one driver, company owner, coffee shop owner, pub owner, some large weird space with coffe and drinks and food and pool table and darts and library and media room and all that on one place, owner... etc..

All those profiles have one or two things in common and those are, being important and having power over something or having the ability to have a strong impact or influence on people's lives. Now that is most probably because of  the superiority complexe that I suffered from, but I think most kids wanted that no?

Nowadays, I am just an employee, who works 9 to 10 hours per day, with a salary at the end of every month, no aspiration or ambition at all. And weirdly enough, I don't mind. Difference is, I still wanna be a coffee shop owner, with a pool and a library and all that... But I can do that in my future own place, my house is going to be a recreational center! Then again, this is a whole different story. For me, a job now means means to survive. And the one quote I resisted all my life, haunts me now:

"If you don't do what you love, love what you do!"

I live for nights and weekends and vacations and I dont mind doing this at all. I never thought I would reach this point in my life since, and I quote myself:

"I don't like how things go. I don't think I'm going to grow to be a traditional employee, wake at 8 am, go to work at 9 am, go to lunch for an hour at 1 pm then come back at 5 or 6 pm, be so tired to barely eat, stop doing sports and go out only on weekends when it's a lot more crowded.

No that's not me. I'm not going to fall for life classical boring life. Not me."

hmm, what planet was I living on right? A friend of mine told me, he no longer gives a high importance to building a career, as much as he cares for being remembered as a good husband, a good father and a good friend. I honestly agreed with him. I am not advocating for killing our dreams and terminating any atom of ambition, ambition is still there, it only changes from one individual to the next, and to each their own aspirations and dreams and what makes them happy.

Not all of us are going to be "Entrepreneurs", or company owners, or pilots, or rock-stars, or a hot short sports person... And it's O-Kay!

Painting by Salvador Dali - Galatea of the spheres

Chile miners to surface starting today

For some reason, this story touched my heart and I have been keeping up with its news. These guys in Chile (33 of them) were trapped for over  2 months (since August 5 due to a tunnel collapse), and the rescue was even foreseen to take place even later than now, but luckily search teams sped up with their rescue plan and it’s now ready.

 

Can you imagine being trapped more than 700 meters underground and there is no way out? Their psychological status is very delicate at this point, moreover they will be exposed to light after being in the dark for more than 2 months, they will be given some of sort of protection for their eyes, they will also wear a "bio-harness" designed for astronauts to monitor their hearts etc.. Once they’re out, they will be checked by doctors and they reunited with their families (noting that their families have been camping there since the incident, what an anticipation yeah?)

 

I was wondering how the selection will happen, will they start with the strong ones? Or the weak ones to get it over with? Apparently, they will start with the most psychologically stable ones in case something goes wrong, and then to the weakest and ill ones.

 

A capsule has been built, it will travel up and down (15 minutes to surface), and it is built in a way to resist any crumbling rocks over it.

 

Check the latest article here for more on this story.

Kylie - Part X

"May I interrupt your playing on your cellphone while being at the most prestigious and important race in the country?" He asked.

"If it was so prestigious and important in your opinion, then what the hell are you doing here talking to me?" She rudely answered.

He smiled. He was now even more interested. He slightly leaned his head to the left and bowed, he excused himself and retreated.

She was in shock, feeling an ultimate urge to go to him, grab his arm and turn him to face her so she can say more things, but she didn't know exactly whether she wanted to vent, to blame him for her being in the stupid race, or to tell him: "Interrupt! Please."

She did, she walked in a fast pace towards him and said:

"I apologize, I really do, that was very immature of me, thing is my friends dragged me here, and I'm sorry... it's not your fault, and I vented.. and"

He cut her saying "Stop apologizing, I only wanted to say one thing." And he fell silent.

*She looked at him.. waiting for him to continue.. he said nothing, and she got it, this is not a guy who is annoying and clingy and superficial, that was a smart deep guy right there, he was honest obviously, but he wasn't easy to manipulate like she's used to! And guys who can get manipulated, aren't a challenge for her. So for her, he was a challenge.*

"And that is?" she impatiently replied.

"Do you like sushi?" he asked.

She opened her eyes even more, knowing she already has big eyes, she looked pretty surprised. "Excuse me?"

"Sushi... Japanese food.. fish.. you like?" He continued.

She smiled: "Yes I do, where are you taking me?"

*Pause: See what she did? She automatically presumed he was asking her out. It's not wrong to presume things, it's a faux-pas to imagine that saying it out loud will put her in that situation where she's the smart lady who anticipates thing. She didn't think twice whether that poker move was in her benefit or not. She just threw herself, she likes adrenalin rushes, and she never learns.*

He laughed: "Hmmm, now what makes you think I am asking you out?"

This is when she flipped, she noticed her wrong move and didn't know how to get out of it. She had to think fast, she kept looking around wishing a car would drift and make a loud noise, grabbing everyone's attention. He lifted his hand and placed it gently on his forehead swiping that bit of sweat that summer day was causing, and suddenly, she saw it.

Her IQ doubled, it was more than 300 now, she thought in lightning, she said eloquently yet with so much spite: "Well, it was a joke honestly, you know, a "sitcom" material scene, you know? Asking a married man who just came out of no where and spoke to me whether he's taking me out for sushi or not?"

*Now, that was an intelligent answer, she knew he wanted to take her out, she saw the way he was looking at her, and she saw he was interested and the lame excuse he used. But, she's a strong and intelligent woman and she wasn't going to fall for a married man.*

He smiled and said with confidence: "There is this excellent sushi place I know in downtown, tomorrow night?"

Her response was completely a puzzled one, she looked up and down, left and right, looking at trees and rocks beside the road, maybe they'll give her an answer. "What just happened?" she thought to herself. She lost at this game, the ball was no longer in her field.

She looked at him, not knowing what her answer is going to be, but for some reason she couldn't control herself and she just wanted to get over with this situation and said: "Tomorrow night? hmmm I don't..."*

I should go to lunch now. Stay tuned. Check out Part 9 and before

Kylie - Part IX

*But she didn't follow. She was crying... Because she knew he didn't want her to follow him, she knew he wanted it to end before it got ugly, before they grew apart and grew as strangers. He wanted to keep that beautiful image of her, he wanted her memory to remain untouched, sacred and full of hope.


Months were gone by, Kylie found herself as a strong and independent woman. People around her were enjoying her company like she was some kind of celebrity, she projected positivity and wittiness. Yet, she was alone. For her, it was acceptable, she had come to terms with it. She felt like there was no need to be with someone in order to be happy, she understood, sharing a life with someone is her ultimate dream, but this wouldn't mean that she wasn't happy, it only means it was not complete.


She had to take a shortcut, there was too much traffic, and while at it, she passed by her ex's house. She didn't slow down, but she did take a long, a real long look. It is nice to know what that person is up to, and she thought to herself:


"Did he ever really love me? did I really matter to him? Or was it a mind trick?"


She had met her ex during a rally race. She didn't want to go, but her best friend dragged her, because her boyfriend had dragged her. So she went with them, but she had taken her phone with her on which she spent all her time playing. Cars were the least interesting thing for whole in this world.


He spotted her, she was totally his type, well, Kylie is everyone's type. She's small, beautiful, and has a posture models would die for, eyes that radiate intelligence, but face that manifests warmness. She saw him, but didn't care less. She thought: "Cute, but if he's here since 6 am to watch cars race, then well... definitely not my type!"


It was like he read her thoughts, she saw shadow near her and was immediately startled when he took her by surprise, held her arm firmly yet gently and said to her: "May I...*


It's getting a bit late and I should sleep, but should you decide to read Kylie's story (which I started in September 2008, and it had few loyal readers :), there are 8 previous parts already: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII

Breast Cancer might be around the corner, get yourself checked

Trying not to repeat myself from previous years and during every October, knowing that October is the Breast Cancer Awareness month, therefore I will try to say something new here.

Usually women aged 40 and older are more prune to having breast cancer than younger women. So those women, I urge you to get a mammography every 6 months, if not, at least once a year. Moreover, if you have cancer history in your family, even if you're young do get a mammography, my best friend was only 16 when she got diagnosed with breast cancer. Unfortunately, she did not make it.

I have to admit though, she was a true fighter, I don't know how that happens, how women diagnosed with breast cancer, how a teenager for that matter, confront such an ordeal in such a strong manner.

I know mammography is not a walk in the park, but it doesn't really hurt that much, and you should be better safe than sorry.

Also note that, there are ways a woman can check for lump in the breast, and that can be done every month. There are many videos online, just google: "How to check yourself for breast cancer"