I woke up today to the sound of my phone beeping...opened my drowsy eyes and read a message from a friend of mine: "fuck they bombed Beirut airport its been closed." I had to read it at least four times, for I knew what that meant...a friend of mine is in Beirut right now and he was supposed to fly back today...well instantly I jumped out of bed, ran to the TV to find my dad already watching. I texted my friend in Beirut, only to hear more bad news from him, that all the taxis were full and he didn't know how to get out.
I sat on the coach and thought of my mama, she is also in Beirut...we tried to call her bas as was expected all the lines were busy...finally my text message got to her, and bless her heart-she's not that good with technology-wrote back a three word reply: "ok at home." My dad and I could relax, home for my parents in Beirut is in Broumaneh-up in the mountains-also my mom works for the United Nations, fa I knew that if the shit really hit the fan they would have my mom (and other UNers) out of there in a jiffy!
So then we sit...and the news starts to get worse and worse...Israeli navy entering Lebanese water...bombing a school behind a UN building in the south...and the final thing now...making another zone in the south (20 km into Lebanese land), exactly like how it was before the 'liberation'. I am on the Haaretz webpage...confirming or denying the news that LBC and Aljazeera are reporting to my father...we finally got through to my mom...we called the house phone from our land line...and she was cutting and we could not hear her clearly...and that really freaked me out...my little mama all on her on there...and I just wanted to cry...still do...but I know it will be ok. I know that watching the news-especially how my dad does it, none stop-makes it all seem a lot worse then it really is...bas I am worried, I am scared...and I am angry...what are they doing...why are they escalating it so much...why not negotiate...give back the prisoners and take back your two soldiers...why do this...WHY?????
p.s. my friend did find a taxi, one taking him to Syria...and then from there he would have to find one that will bring him to Amman...am waiting for a text from him to tell me that he crossed and is in Syria.
13 July 2006
12 July 2006
Pottery
I've lost it...the energy or ability to write in this blog anymore...or maybe it is more to do with the fact that I am just fed up with Amman...I just can't seem to get over the block that has occurred in my life...it includes so many things. My inability to work on my PhD...just look blankly at the word document-this inability has lead to other blockages...I am just not very happy...another blockage is my single status...I actually like being single...bas usually while being single I end up liking someone...at the current moment there is absolutely no one I am interested in...just BLANK...and that is just plain boring. Anyway how after festering in my fed upness for so long...I have decided that it is time to do something about it...I think I should take up a hobby...a good friend of mine has just moved back to Amman...and so I have someone to share this hobby with...fa am thinking of taking up pottery classes (I know not very exciting bas give me a chance to make things and then break them to vent the ever present fed upness and frustration)...if anyone out there knows where one can take pottery classes in Amman...and if anyone is actually still reading this blog...ha...please do help me get rid of this fed upness and mild-depression I am festering in right now...I would be ever so grateful:)
10 July 2006
The blue angel turned into a devil
I know that what he did probably cost my team the WORLD CUP...bas I still think that Zidane is one of the most amazing players in football...and I was truly saddened to see him walk off the way he did...and hearing people saying things like "its Zidane's walk of shame"...yada yada...blah blah...what he did was an overreaction...bas that is what it was...a reaction, I wonder what the Italian dude said to him...bas still I salute him and his game.
Zizou one of the Gods of football!
I am impressed
I am not a big fan of the Lebanese...bas once in a while they do something that reminds me of why they are so amazing as a sha3ib. I am been thinking and writing about how it is a shame that we in Jordan are not doing anything to show our anger and disgust at what is happening in Gaza...only last night I was arguing with people about it...and today I open my gmail account to find this email waiting for me:
Dear all,
A group of university and youth organizations around the country are organizing an open sit-in in light of recent events taking place in Gaza. It will take place on Wednesday, July 12 beginning at 3:00 pm and is tentatively going to extend until Sunday. It will be held in downtown, next to the dome in the bahs area.
Wednesday is mostly a political rally, but the next four days will be full of cultural events such as
exhibitions, concerts, films, lectures, etc. as well as workshops that teach kids to make slingshots, learn Palestinian dabke and other fun activities. In other words, we are aiming to make this into a street festival that celebrates resistance and the will to live.
On Monday and Tuesday July 10-11 between 5 and 9 pm we hope that we could gather as many people as possible to help us prepare for the event. We need to come up with slogans, banners, kites, and other material. You are all invited to Nadi Al Liqaa to help out. (Nadi Al Liqaa is in Ain Mreisseh, facing Jumblatt mansion, it is a small yellow blg. There is a white iron gate just outside the main entrance, you go down the stairs and you will find us).
Please send this email to whoever you think is interested in joining us or even in attending the events. We need as many people as we can gather to make this event a success.
like I said...so impressive...just a group of people sending out emails and it gets to someone in Amman...am considering to go to Beirut to join in on this activity...bas won't it be better for us to arrange something similar...the bloggers of Jordan...come on...
Dear all,
A group of university and youth organizations around the country are organizing an open sit-in in light of recent events taking place in Gaza. It will take place on Wednesday, July 12 beginning at 3:00 pm and is tentatively going to extend until Sunday. It will be held in downtown, next to the dome in the bahs area.
Wednesday is mostly a political rally, but the next four days will be full of cultural events such as
exhibitions, concerts, films, lectures, etc. as well as workshops that teach kids to make slingshots, learn Palestinian dabke and other fun activities. In other words, we are aiming to make this into a street festival that celebrates resistance and the will to live.
On Monday and Tuesday July 10-11 between 5 and 9 pm we hope that we could gather as many people as possible to help us prepare for the event. We need to come up with slogans, banners, kites, and other material. You are all invited to Nadi Al Liqaa to help out. (Nadi Al Liqaa is in Ain Mreisseh, facing Jumblatt mansion, it is a small yellow blg. There is a white iron gate just outside the main entrance, you go down the stairs and you will find us).
Please send this email to whoever you think is interested in joining us or even in attending the events. We need as many people as we can gather to make this event a success.
like I said...so impressive...just a group of people sending out emails and it gets to someone in Amman...am considering to go to Beirut to join in on this activity...bas won't it be better for us to arrange something similar...the bloggers of Jordan...come on...
28 June 2006
Total silence
I came home last night, and found my father not watching the football...bas looking at Aljazeera live in silence...there was no noise coming from the TV...and I asked him why it is on mute? He looked at me, and said its not...then we sat for two hours in silence, watching as Israel bombed Gaza! It was the strangest thing...for it to be in silence...yet to know that the sound must be shaking children out of their sleep...and I was sitting with my dad...peacefully in our little house in Amman...watching as the forces of Mordor enter Gaza!
I went to Raising Yousuf today...and reading how people are living just saddens me so much...its so depressing...and I don't know what to feel or what to think.
My father-being the liberal radical that he is-states ever so quietly that they should just have killed the soldier. He is a soldier...not a civilian...that the Palestinians can not possibly use the same tactics as Hizbullah did...that al-Qaida must have finally arrived in Palestine-this new Army of Islam-I just sat and watched as the electricity company went up in flames. I wanted to cry...bas what is the point...aw use of that...who will it benefit...other then to make me feel better...bas as I sit here I don't know what to do?
Why is the Arab street not out demonstrating...my father was saying inno in his time-when he was my age-he was out there...they all would have been out there-where are the student of Jordan University? Why are they not demonstrating...why am I not demonstrating...why is the conversation I am having online with my friends about where we will go this weekend...Aqaba willa stay in Amman...why are we not talking about what do we do? Where do we go to show our disgust...our disapproval...oh why oh why?
I went to Raising Yousuf today...and reading how people are living just saddens me so much...its so depressing...and I don't know what to feel or what to think.
My father-being the liberal radical that he is-states ever so quietly that they should just have killed the soldier. He is a soldier...not a civilian...that the Palestinians can not possibly use the same tactics as Hizbullah did...that al-Qaida must have finally arrived in Palestine-this new Army of Islam-I just sat and watched as the electricity company went up in flames. I wanted to cry...bas what is the point...aw use of that...who will it benefit...other then to make me feel better...bas as I sit here I don't know what to do?
Why is the Arab street not out demonstrating...my father was saying inno in his time-when he was my age-he was out there...they all would have been out there-where are the student of Jordan University? Why are they not demonstrating...why am I not demonstrating...why is the conversation I am having online with my friends about where we will go this weekend...Aqaba willa stay in Amman...why are we not talking about what do we do? Where do we go to show our disgust...our disapproval...oh why oh why?
22 June 2006
EarWorms
In the Guardian today they had an article about earworms-those sticky tunes that people can't get out of their heads. There was a study conducted that states that 99% of people at one point or another had an earworm.
What triggers the retrieval of a particular song - making it come to mind and get stuck in the head - is not exactly known. It might be anything: a title, a thought or a reminder of past experience that somehow is connected to a melody. Or it could just be a few notes that prompt the brain to refresh the memory and find the missing parts of the song. "Earworms seem to be an interaction between properties of music (catchy songs are simple and repetitive), characteristics of individuals (levels of neuroticism) and properties of the context or situation (first thing in the morning, last thing at night or when people are under stress)," says the scientist conducting the experiment.
They also found that women are more susceptible to earworms than men. And musicians more than non-musicians. The reason for women being more susceptible is unknown, bas they say that is could have to do with the fact that earworms are more problematic for those inclined to worry, and women had higher neuroticism scores than men.
The way of get rid of a earworm, is to sing, 'eraser songs'-those that have a mystical ability to eat any other earworms. Singing the eraser tune rids one of an earworm but risks replacing it with the eraser song.
Top 10 earworms
1. Kylie Minogue, Can't Get You Out of My Head
2. James Blunt, You're Beautiful
3. Baha Men, Who Let the Dogs Out
4. Mission Impossible theme
5. Village People, YMCA
6. Happy Days theme
7. Corinne Bailey Rae, Put Your Records On
8. Suzanne Vega, Tom's Diner
9. Tight Fit, The Lion Sleeps Tonight
10. Tiffany, I Think We're Alone Now
I think we need to add Haifa's song, Boos il Wawa...any other suggestions for Arabic songs that become earworms?
What triggers the retrieval of a particular song - making it come to mind and get stuck in the head - is not exactly known. It might be anything: a title, a thought or a reminder of past experience that somehow is connected to a melody. Or it could just be a few notes that prompt the brain to refresh the memory and find the missing parts of the song. "Earworms seem to be an interaction between properties of music (catchy songs are simple and repetitive), characteristics of individuals (levels of neuroticism) and properties of the context or situation (first thing in the morning, last thing at night or when people are under stress)," says the scientist conducting the experiment.
They also found that women are more susceptible to earworms than men. And musicians more than non-musicians. The reason for women being more susceptible is unknown, bas they say that is could have to do with the fact that earworms are more problematic for those inclined to worry, and women had higher neuroticism scores than men.
The way of get rid of a earworm, is to sing, 'eraser songs'-those that have a mystical ability to eat any other earworms. Singing the eraser tune rids one of an earworm but risks replacing it with the eraser song.
Top 10 earworms
1. Kylie Minogue, Can't Get You Out of My Head
2. James Blunt, You're Beautiful
3. Baha Men, Who Let the Dogs Out
4. Mission Impossible theme
5. Village People, YMCA
6. Happy Days theme
7. Corinne Bailey Rae, Put Your Records On
8. Suzanne Vega, Tom's Diner
9. Tight Fit, The Lion Sleeps Tonight
10. Tiffany, I Think We're Alone Now
I think we need to add Haifa's song, Boos il Wawa...any other suggestions for Arabic songs that become earworms?
Who shall we cheer for?
I have found this webpage that ranks the countries in the world cup mish according to how well they play or anything connected to them actually playing...bas they are rated according to the following:
* Life expectancy
* Poverty
* Military
* Aid
* Climate
* Inequality
* Health
* Debt
* Corruption
* Companies
* Human rights
So according to it, the number ONE country to cheer for is Ghana...ha!!!! And the worst team to support is the United States (30th)...my team Saudi is the 28th team to support...and my second team-the one I really want to win the World Cup-Argentina is: 8th!
Check it out and see how well your team does or does not do: Who should I cheer for?
* Life expectancy
* Poverty
* Military
* Aid
* Climate
* Inequality
* Health
* Debt
* Corruption
* Companies
* Human rights
So according to it, the number ONE country to cheer for is Ghana...ha!!!! And the worst team to support is the United States (30th)...my team Saudi is the 28th team to support...and my second team-the one I really want to win the World Cup-Argentina is: 8th!
Check it out and see how well your team does or does not do: Who should I cheer for?
14 June 2006
Obvious Thought
I have been looking at the Palestinian blogs...and seeing what people are writing about what is happening in Gaza...and I know this is obvious...bas I am so sad...so upset...truly to see my people going through this while I sit in the comfort of my house here in Amman...worrying and thinking about the Saudi match.
Disgraceful!
That I have become so detached from Palestine...from what is happening in the world...living in the comfort that my parents have provided...I seem to have forgotten that there are bigger more important issues...troubles in the world...how disgusting is that?
Disgusting!
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