Moody P

This week was the absolute opposite of its predecessor. I feel like I have nothing to do at work, constantly find myself looking at the time.

My work at home has been far more productive (don't get excited - it was small in size but more productive than work at work!) The Unfolding of Language is very interesting...and so easy to read. I always put off non-fiction because I feel like the seriousness is such a bummer and thus inappropriate for a light, after-hard-working-day (yeah right!) kinda read. But this book has proven me wrong. It's insightful, very interesting and informative but remains down to earth and cleverly humourous.

Going to see This Is It on IMAX today. Not so excited to be honest. But I promised my sister I would go, so...
Also, the 34th annual book fair was launched this morning...I'm sure it won't be any different from the ones before, but I might go in search for some good reads.

33 hours and 17 minutes to the weekend. COME ON!

Kiss of Life

I'm happy because I just:

Watched Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden

Bought two new books

Listened to a great song

Kiss of Life - Friendly Fires. Enjoy:

Diary

Hello. I've been feeling quite productive lately. I've been doing stuff instead of just sitting at my laptop all day. I've been reading more, that's one. I finished the second installment to the Twilight saga. I wonder what I'm gonna pick up next. I'm getting an urge to reread Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre. Something eerie that'll match the strangely windy weather we're suddenly experiencing.

I've made some progress on my research. Nothing noteworthy, but progress nontheless. I hope I go through with it, and I hope it turns out good.

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen today. First I made muffins, with lovely pink frosting. I have to say, they weren't amazing, could have been better, but they were good still. I later made some pasta with a yummy turkey and tomato sauce. My hamsters (aka my wonderful family) could not abstain from commenting on the food. Dad wanted more sauce. Mom and sister said the pasta needed to be cooked more. Brother wanted no sauce at all. Anyway, I had fun, and I thought both dishes tasted fine. If I don't say so myself.

Many houses in town have put up flags and all celebrating the coming National and Liberation days. I felt like I wanted to join in with the celebrations so I made a collage of the Kuwaiti flag to put up somewhere. I cut up old magazines that I have absolutely no use for, and stuck shreds of black, green and red on a white polestirene slab. One that I also had no use for. I felt great afterwards because it looked good and I had recycled stuff that I could have just thrown out.

Last but not least, I got signed up in the elections listings (I'm not sure what they're called exactly.) Basically, you get added to the list of electors so you can vote next elections. If you're Kuwaiti and you're 20 years old, or older and not listed, visit your local police station with a copy of your nationality and civil ID, and get listed. It's easy, it won't take much of your time, and you'll be able to have a say in the future of your country soon.

I hope it's not long till I post again.

My First Time

I was anxious at first, almost afraid. Afraid of the unfamiliar. Afraid that I wouldn't be pleased, that I wouldn't like it and never want more of it. Indeed, I was treading new ground. It felt different, new, but really really interesting.

My first science-fiction experience proved to be anything but disappointing. I read Worlds Apart by Joe Haldeman and, thank God, I don't regret picking it up. Although it's part of a trilogy, I read it out of convenience (it's the only copy available at home...from back when my dad was in university) and I didn't feel like I was missing anything, so everything went fine. Like I said...I was a little hesitant to start science-fiction because, like with everything new, I was afraid I wouldn't like it...I was afraid that I pick up a bad book that would put me off the whole genre...

But Worlds Apart proved quite the opposite; it was easy to read, more or less a page-turner, and I must say, quite interesting...so I will hopefully be reading some more sci-fi in the future.

The novel picks up where its predecessor left off: after World War IV during which a bioweapon has killed all adults over the age of 20 on Earth. It follows two story-lines, first that of the heroine Marianne O'Hara, citizen of New New York, one of the last remaining artificial worlds orbiting Earth, who finds herself included in several missions back to Earth to help the juvenile savages that have become the entire population. Also, we follow the story of Jeff Hawkings, O'Hara's Earth-bound lover, who travels across Florida posing as the Healer, trading with the now feral children, providing medicine in return for power supplies that would help him contact New New York, which he isn't sure still exists.

Again, it was really interesting to get an insight of what someone thinks the future might hold. Overall, fantastic stuff! First, but definately not last.

Cap ou Pas Cap?

As advised by Nada, I got the awesome French movie Jeux D'enfants, and I watched it a couple of days ago. I absolutely love it.

A rom-com, starring Guillame Canet (who seemed awfully familiar, like really REALLY familiar...and I still can't figure out where I've seen him before!) and Marion Cotillard. The direction by Yann Samuell was very imaginative (reminded me of Science of Sleep [sorta] if any of you've watched that one.) It is a love story. And this is what brings me to todays DEBATE! :P Last time (Experience is Vital) it was pretty much just Nada and I discussing the issue at hand (and Moos adding a couple of really neat comments here and there too) so I urge you guys to join in this time.

Using her own words, Nada describes herself as being "emotionally crippled" and therefore enjoys love stories with not-so-happy endings. Stories that involve impossible love, love that leads to disaster, one-sided love...etc. She thinks Jeux D'enfants is that kind of movie. I watched it, and frankly, I think, that in the end, it is no different than any down-right mushy, lovey-dovey love story that exists on this planet. And that's why I loved it myself! The two protagonists are in love with each other but might not fully know it, they don't get together for different reasons, they live a "regular" (i.e. nothing special) life without each other for years...then they meet once more and choose never to go their seperate ways again (I am obviously over simplifying a great movie...watch it to get the big picture.) In what way is this love story different than your usual, let's say, Jane Austen type romance?

True, there's the whole issue of the "jeu" or the dare game that they play through-out the movie. But is that much different from the game of concealment that Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax play in Austen's Emma? (for example.)

Overall, highly recommended. Thanks to Nada for recommending it to me. Oh and sorry for the excessive use of brackets (or parenthesis, for those of you who prefer the American way of things!)

Review: The Kite Runner

It has been ages since I last posted. I didn't know what to say, or what to write. I suspect that it was my Ramadan routine that was the culprit. Always the same; getting up late, not eating, eating, sleeping late. Basically, my life has failed to provide any inspiration for posting.

But I realise that nothing is going to change if I don't change it myself. Part of what has got me thinking again, is reading and watching The Kite Runner. So here's a book/movie review.

Well, I loved both. The book is a page turner, Hosseini's words flowing right off the page. The plot is greatly woven, the characters perfectly developed. I absolutely fell for Baba. And Amir is just the perfect protagonist. The movie was amazing too. A great adaptaion in my opinion. Although there were events that were ommitted, it was still quite faithful to the novel. Very well acted by everyone...Khalid Abdalla played Amir very well, and Homayoun Ershadi was perfect as Baba. The soundtrack was well chosen as well. I recommend both.



As you can tell, my writing has gone rusty. It needs a little oiling here and there. But it'll hopefully get back to normal soon.

***SPOILERS***
P.S. I cried watching the movie...When Baba died, and when Amir read Hassan's letter. *Sniff*

Book Review: Girls of Riyadh

I have just finished reading Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa AlSanea. So here's a review as promised :)

This book was first written by this 26 year old Saudi Arabian woman two years ago in Arabic. It was a big hit as far as I know. (It was all over Virgin at the time!) It hadn't appealed to me back then. I'll have to admit that I thought it would be a lame excuse of a novel, probably about chat addicted Saudi youth in search of love on the world wide web.

Stereotypical. Yes, I know.

It was only when I happened to come across this book translated into English (not in Kuwait!) that I thought, "Hmm. I might actually give this a try." The facts that it was published by Penguin, it had an eye-catching cover, and that it had raving reviews by Time, The Associated Press, Glamour, The Seattle Times and more probably helped push me towards the cash counter with the novel in hand.

The novel tells the love stories of 4 Saudi girlfriends in the form of e-mails. The aim of these e-mails is to expose the "secret" and "scandalous" lives of young Saudi's who try to find love in an environment that closes in on their freedom's.

I think the book was an "OK" attempt at what it ventured to achieve. The narrative form was a little too simple, the plot-line a little predictable. I personally found the tone of thenarrator a little annoying at times. Although in the end you find that the novel doesn't really solve any of the problems it has uncovered,onemust give the author some credit for at least posing some important questions concerning the society she writes about. Though it might be a tip-toe of a step that AlSanea has taken towards change with this novel, it is a step nonetheless. Pick it up if you want a light read, only if you have nothing better to do. I'd give it a five on a scale of one to ten.

Catching Up

Love Actually was actually...quite good. I expected more, but what I got was very good. (Yes, sometimes I'm hard to please...) I fell for almost all the charming Englishmen, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman...need I continue?!

I also watched Message in a Bottle. It was a good movie! Really romantic and sad...Don't you just love those kinds of movies? The ones that make you go "Awww!" That's what it made me do, I said "Awww!" But you know what...I realised something, and it's that I'm not so emotional anymore...I can't remember the last time I burst into tears while watching a movie...as a matter of fact I can't remember the last time I burst into tears. Full stop. I'm even reading P.S. I Love You, which I shall follow with the movie adaptation once I'm done, and it's really sad at times. I mean I can feel the sadness but I have failed to shed any tears...Good? Bad? I don't know...

Oh yes, and I never knew Kevin Costner was such a babe :P

Snore

It's been a while...

You know what?! I'll save you the hassle and cut to the chase :)

Beside the fact that I had a bad hair day, and I forgot my sunglasses, so I was blind after 2 seconds in the sun...oh yeah, and I parked pretty far away from the campus gate, this morning went fine :)

My God! That read like a total ... I don't know, just read it again and you can tell that it was nothing like me...

I really need to speed up my reading, it's been 3 weeks (I think) since I started and I haven't made any headway with Tom Jones (or History of Sexuality for that matter!)... Let me tell you this though...part of the blame does not lie with me. I shall leave it at that, and your clever minds should be able to figure it out...plus, I'm probably the only one in class who's read this far, so...

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All of the above was supposed to be posted yesterday but I went out before I had the chance to actually post it.

***

Today I feel fat, ugly and tired. After reading this statement you should refer to the oh-so-difficult-to-understand sentence in red. I so don't read like myself anymore!

I went to the material market yesterday...(ilblockat) cuz I needed to buy material for a dress I'm having made. I watched as the salesperson let roll a sea of weightless chiffon and let it ripple and dance happliy in mid-air, until it settled in an elegant bundle at my lap...I was mesmerized. It's wonderful how things that would otherwise be considered trivial, can at a certain moment cause someone so much happiness...

I don't want to bore you, and I would like you to read the whole post, so I'm going to stop here. I apologize if any sentences above don't read like normal English...let's just say that I didn't promise anything normal in this blog...so please bear with me. Until next time...

High

School has started again...Didn't go like I thought it would. Which reminds me how things rarely turn out the way you imagine them. I think it has something to do with my romantic optimisim! (I humbly roll my eyes at myself) I imagine something to be great and awesome and perfect...and when it's not, well I guess it's just not...It doesn't have to be a disaster...just not the way I imagined it.

Okay! You probably are thinking..."What's F. talking about?!" So let's change the subject.

Tidying stuff up gives me a certain pleasure...an elated feeling. So does seeing stuff in a nice sophisticated mess!

I dreamt of an old crush last night. It was great to see him again. Put in mind, however, that I've never seen him before.

LOL

Newly ordered books for university will not arrive to the student bookstore till the second week of March. Wow!

He was a bit of a fish really.

I've never been to Virgin and found the book(s) I wanted! EVER! >:(

The colour of pink grapefruit juice is HOTT...for a wall.

You know you need a makeover when your parents urge you go to do something different with your hair... <:(

Don't you hate waking up a couple of minutes before your alarm clock goes off???

My cat looks ugly when she's wet

Child Philosophers

While my siblings and I nerdily read in the back seat of the car, as Daddy drove us out for lunch, my 10 year old brother surprised me with this:



"Imagine all the insects in the world not having names before humans gave them names..."



LOL! He didn't even want an answer, he was just stating it. Reminds me of the philosophy of language I was learning about only last semester. I love clever kids!

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Randomness:
Do you know people who have staple articles of clothing? I can't think of anyone I know personally, but I find it really interesting...Miranda Priestly (the boss from The Devil Wears Prada-Lauren Weisberger) always wears a white Hermes scarf somewhere in her outfit. Also, Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl...he wears this quirky scarf all the time...I think it's cute!