Is this an omen?

So last Friday, I had a little accident on my bike which resulted in me landing on my face and elbow in the middle of the street right before the light turned green for the oncoming traffic. It sounds soooooooooooo much worse than it actually was when I re-read that sentence, because of course the cars waited until I could get myself up and out of their way, and I wasn't bleeding except for a small scratch on my elbow, and my face, surprisingly, did not swell up to the size of a balloon. In fact, other than some general soreness, the only serious result was that my ear was killing me, (which turned out to be because my jaw was thrown out of its spot - not to worry, my chiropractor fixed that a few days later).
I took a few minutes to get un-disoriented (I'm getting kicked out of any writers club that might ever accept me for that word) and then I got back on the bike and went about my several errands, and then went to a soccer game that night with M (Canada beat St. Vincent and Grenadines 4-1 --Yay!) M and I went biking again the next day.
I told my colleagues the story on Tuesday, and they almost all pointed out the same thing: First, my bike is stolen on only its second day in Montreal. Then, I have a little accident on my new bike the very next week... Should I maybe NOT be riding a bike?
But I've decided to keep biking. Accidents happen to everyone, and apparently bikes getting stolen in Montreal also happen to everyone, and the bottom line is, I really like biking. If I can do it instead of taking the bus for some of my shorter trips, why not?

Beautiful People, Shallow People

Yes, we have come to this... A site called beautifulpeople.net is opening in Canada. Beautiful People is different from other dating sites because, well, it only lets beautiful people in. The goal is to ween out the "uglies", see? Before anyone can register, they send a picture and are judged by the existing members, who decide if they're goodlooking enough to get it... This is where Karma kicks in, see? Because if you find your significant other on this site, well, you're finding someone as shallow as you for signing up, and you can make each other unhappy for as long as you both shall live. Heaven forbid anyone end up getting a pimple and falling out of love...

Cocoa > Carob

A word of advice for those who have heard that carob powder is a good cocoa replacement: maybe in small quantities, but if you're really truly a chocolate lover like me, it just isn't gonna cut it. I used carob powder to make brownies yesterday (I had some from when I first found out about my allergies and found out it was a good chocolate replacement, possibly healthier, and I had gone on an "all alternatives" buying craze) and while I know have a brownie-like cake thingy that tastes kinda fruity, I do not have brownies... Next grocery run, cocoa is being bought...
Thought you'd wanna know.

Quietly Dumping Garbage in our Lakes (or "Save the Fishies")

I found this frightening. I found it even more frightening that it was happening so quietly. This should be a huge deal...
Please don't let the Conservative party run the country for too much longer, or stuff like this will become common place...

Officially Ridiculous

Have you heard about the 12 year old girl in Gatineau who took her father to court for grounding her? This child's parents are divorced, and when her dad decided she couldn't go a field trip as punishment for bad behaviour, she went back to stay with her mom, but also took him to court. More ridiculous than this is that the judge ruled against him. Please please do not let this set a precedent for kids being able to take their parents to court. This is a matter of discipline, and whether you agree or not with the dad's disciplinary measures, it's not something that needs, or should have, the interference of courts. I wish the judge had just I'm not an expert in legalese by any means, but I seem to remember hearing that there are so many things that don't make it to court for ages because the system is backed up like crazy. The last thing we need is this kind of thing slowing stuff down even more...
I posted this about the law a few weeks ago. Please, let's not make a complete mockery of the beautiful system we have in this country to hold people to account.

Hijabi Swimwear Hullabaloo

First, to set the tone, I wear something that looks like this when I go swimming:

I bought it from a swimsuit store. You can buy it online. You can buy it around the world. It's made from the same material as any other swimsuits. My sister has one just like it, but don't worry, they're different colours and different patterns. We're not trying to look like twins.
So, today we went for a swim in our condo's pool. It was pretty quiet and uneventful, until 3 minutes before we were planning on leaving anyway, a custodian approached us and told us we weren't allowed to swim here anymore.
Excuse me? Sorry? What's that? I pay condo fees like anyone else. I hurt no one by wearing my fabulous hijabi swimsuit.
The bottom line is that apparently, someone complained about our attire and she came to tell us we had to go. Sorry but no... We stayed, we discussed, we explained, we had her call a member of the condo board, and before it was time to go, we were told we could swim in our hijabi swimsuits without any problem (which we already knew, but now they knew too).
So, the sweetness of victory, or the bitterness of feeling the sting of ignorance? Well, a bit of both... I have to admit that it hurts when I find someone out there is still determined to limit my abilities to enjoy my basic rights just because I'm a Muslim woman who chooses to demonstrate my faith. Live and let live. We're in a pluralistic society, which means we all have the right to go on and act on our beliefs, so long as they don't hurt other members of that society. Hopefully, everyone comes to that conclusion soon.

Useful Information (or "Not to be an alarmist, but...")

I heard about this website on CBC Radio called "ToxicNation.ca", which is run by an environmental defence group. From it, I found some great links for information. Check out the following if you're concerned about different products you use and are looking for alternatives with less chemicals and toxins.
I don't think we read labels very much anymore. I think we've just gotten used to assuming if it's on the shelves, it's okay for us, but that's unfortunately not true. I've tried following those emails in the past that say "avoid products with ingredients xyz in it" but the names are so confusing and the products so many that it's easy to get confused.
That's what makes this site so helpful. You can actually search for the specific skin care, health care, and beauty products that you use and get their ratings for toxins that they have, instead of looking for complicated sounding ingredients.
The other helpful site is this one, which shows you a list of less toxic products to use in your home by category (cleaners, dishwashing, etc).
Happy reading!

I Spoke too Soon - Part II

Lesson of the weekend: don't let the bad guys spoil your fun.
M and I went down to a bike shop this afternoon, and I now have a great new ride, used, so hopefully not as tempting, a better lock, and a more cautious outlook on where and how to lock it up.
We went out to the Old Port and the Lachine Canal and rode around a whole lot, and I am now slightly stiff, but very very happy.
Happy Sunday all...

I Spoke Too Soon

Well, I suppose at least now I can call myself a true Montrealer. Within three hours of writing my bike post this morning, I walked out of the last store on my errand run and found myself bike-less.
That's right Ladies and Gents. My bike was stolen. Apparently, this is extremely common, and one can't expect to have a bike in Montreal without it being stolen every so often. And before you ask, I did have it locked, but I suppose in hindsight, it wasn't tight enough. Not to worry though, I plan on getting another one soon, although I think I'll buy a used one, so that it's not so appealing to a thief.

High Rise Fire Alarm

We live a LONG way up from the ground, like WAY WAY up, and last summer, before I moved here, I made M promise that any time the fire alarm went off, he'd take those stairs down and not just ignore it. Even if it was 3 a.m. Even if it was 30 below outside.
Well, it was 25 above this morning, and it was 8 a.m., but it was Saturday morning when the alarm went off and after going down the many floors, eyes still half closed in the stairwell, and waiting downstairs for 20 minutes for a fire truck to show up and say all was clear, I cannot get any more sleep. I've essentially given up on more sleep this morning.
We have a gorgeous view of downtown Montreal from our living room window, but these are the true perks of living in a high rise.

Let the Biking Begin

On the third try, my bike has now arrived from Ottawa in my parent's van (the first two tries were mine...) and I couldn't be happier about it. Last night after work, I biked down to the grocery store for some salad and ice cream. Today, I'm still debating whether to take the bike or bus to the store to pick some stuff up. The advantage of not having a car is that you're forced to find another mode of transportation. If you have one, it's always more convenient to take it. Well, I don't have one and I'm very happy about it. The summer is the perfect time to use that bike, and I'm hoping my enthusiasm doesn't wear off too quickly.
Hold me to it. Check back in a few weeks from now and ask me if I'm still using that bike...

This is Old but HILARIOUS

Does anyone remember a couple of years ago when Stephen Colbert spoke at the White House Correspondents Dinner?
This is the greatest video! You've probably already seen it, but it's worth watching again.

Egypt Air Brings People Together

We were at the P.E. Trudeau airport last night waiting for my aunt to arrive on Egypt Air's first summer flight, and wouldn't you know it, so was half the population of Montreal! In the hour we stood at the arrivals section, my sister was approached by 3 different people she knew who were waiting for relatives, and in a bizarre domino-effect, a couple of those people were approached by other people they knew. It was like a fabulous meet-and-greet and the airport. Everyone kept commenting on how the last time they'd run into each other was also when picking people up the summer before. It speaks to the beauty of this country, that so many of come from so many other places, and that then our families, who come here to visit us, can find out just how great this place is.
So far, my aunt is impressed.

Are You an Aquavore? (Or "I'm all talk")

I got this in my work newsletter today. It's a water-use calculator that helps you figure out how many litres you use a day on average. I filled out the questionnaire to find my numbers and it's embarrassing how much I use... Changes must be made. Low-flow taps must be sought out. Dishes and glasses that don't need to fill the dishwasher must be rinsed quickly and set aside, taps must be turned off while toothbrushing, and shower times must be limited...
The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, has a hadeeth (saying) that says to conserve water, even if you're doing your wudu (ablution) in a river. Conservation is important, and that's not just a theory.
Check it out yourself. There's nothing like finding out how much water you waste to shake you into action.

What Will Don Cherry Say Now?

Now that the Detroit Redwings have won the Stanley Cup with Nicklas Lidstrom, a European captain, Don Cherry has lost his favourite, and hopefully last, ridiculous justification for racism. Cherry will have you think only North Americans know how to play play-off hockey. Europeans are soft, wimpy, lack "heart". North Americans, specifically his "good Canadian boys", have all of that in spades.
Listen to Cherry long enough and he'd have you believing that every NHLer born on this side of the pond has played entire seasons on two broken legs and block shots with their face every game. He'd have you believe that there's no such thing as a tough European player, that Danny Markov and Darius Kasparaitis don't actually exist. Most importantly, he'd have you believe that unless you fight regularly, you don't care, and you can't win.
This year's Conn Smythe trophy winner, Henrik Zetterberg, is Swedish. So much for one of Don Cherry's favourite racist insults - "Chicken Swede". The Red Wings not only have a European captain, but have 13 European players on their roster, many of them key. As Cherry himself often says, you can't win the Stanley cup without "Heart". Someone should let Cherry know that "heart" has nothing to do with genes.

Happy Birthday to Her

I've always known that my mother is a very special woman, but in the last few years, watching some of my sisters become mothers themselves, and all that that entails, I have come to a much better understanding of what it takes to be a good mother.
Mothers feed and change and hug and teach and comfort and protect their children. Mothers wake up a million times a night when the baby won't sleep, or the toddler's sick, or the pre-schooler's wet his bed, or the kindergartner's afraid to go to school, or the kiddo's worried about a test, or the teenager's gotten into a fight with her best friend, or the grown child is calling from far away and just needs to talk. Mothers take care of everyone else before they even dare to think about themselves. Mothers have an endless tap of love that just keeps gushing out the life that everyone else drinks from. Mothers are beautiful, fierce creatures. My mother is my hero.
Have a perfect day Mama.

Once it's gone, is it gone forever?

All my life, I've had very strong vocal chords. I would get a cold, get a flu, whatever, and even with a sore or scratchy throat, I would still have a very strong voice (which, if you know me, you know I've always put to good use by talking!) Until the ripe old age of 23, I never lost my voice. And then came my trip to Egypt for my baby sister's wedding. and sleeping with the AC cranked WAY up in the hotel the night before in a room I was sharing with my cousin and her adorable 4 year old. I woke up in the morning with the equivalent of a mid-February head and chest cold in late June. By the next morning, I had officially lost my voice from talking over the music / singing along with the music at the wedding the night before. And when it was gone, it was gone!
For close to three weeks, I coughed and hacked, and could barely whisper. When my voice came back, it came back in some other form, and for a while, I sounded like a stuffy old man and worried I would never hear myself as I sounded again.
Well, my voice came back at long last, but I think I can safely say that it never came back as strong and stubborn as it used to be. Oh, don't get me wrong: when things are good, I still sound like the "old me". But the difference is that now, I'm much more prone to losing my voice, and by much more prone, I mean that before, it happened "never" and now it's come very close to happening twice.
Last July, before M and I's Katb Kitab, I was on the verge of losing it, and this week, in recovering from that nasty Seattle cold that came back with M from the conference last Thursday, I've been hacking and coughing ALL the time. This despite the fact that I'm otherwise significantly improved, and that I drink ginger tea like it's water, and consume honey like it's air...
One of my best friends, Katherine, loses her voice all the time when she gets a cold, and I remember always finding it funny. Well, Katherine, I ain't laughing anymore. I believe you now, and I know what you mean.
Pass the ginger tea!

How Barack beat Hillary

If, like me, you've been following the Democratic race in the US, but not closely enough to understand every last detail, this is a great article that helps analyze how Barack got to where he is right now, essentially the Democratic nominee, while Hillary went from the assumed winner to second place. Enjoy.

Hijab Potluck Day

Everyone should do this, (well, ladies, anyway. I don't know many guys who trade clothing) and not just with hijabs, but with whatever you have in your closet that you haven't worn in a year, or bought once and just never actually got around to wearing... Dig it out, pack it up, make a nice treat of any sort and cart it, along with your no-longer-used clothing to a friend's house - and TRADE!
This is exactly what we did today with a group of sisters I just met in Montreal and it was a total blast. It truly is amazing how one person's trash is another's treasure, and how things go in and out of style, and suit one person, and then then next, and so on.

Anywhere and Everywhere

Saw this vid on Saj's blog and the ending brought tears to my eyes. Quite beautiful:

10 Things I've Learned from my Weekly Commute

1. Greyhound / Voyageur has more than one model of bus. Some are perfect for sleeping - i.e. the headrests are at the right height for a shorty like myself and the chairs lean back a good amount - and have the better overhead compartments where it's easy to put your bags, and others, well, really aren't. Best to pray for the "good for sleeping" buses and to keep a good book on you for the "bad for sleeping" ones.
2. My laptop battery really does have a 2 hour lifespan.
3. You can get good reception of CBC Radio 1 in Montreal until about halfway to Ottawa, but the reverse is not true.
4. If you're planning to sleep on the bus, don't act friendly to the person sitting next to you. Any act of friendliness, no matter how mild, may be misconstrued as an invitation to talk for the entire trip, at which point you will have lost valuable sleep time.
5. The Ottawa bus station (on Catherine ave.) has a horrible selection of potato chips. They're too salty, too flavoured, and too greasy. If you really want chips, pick them up before you get to the bus station.
6. The Montreal bus station's store is not open at 5:30 a.m., so bring your own breakfast/snacks if you want to eat before 8 a.m.
7. More people take the bus as the weather gets nicer. Summer will be packed.
8. If you sleep without bringing a travel pillow, expect a terrible crink in your neck.
9. Buy the round trip Ottawa-Montreal ten-pack from Ottawa, not Montreal, and save about $35 because Quebec applies an extra tax to your tickets. and last,
10. People in a state of travel are all slightly anxious, and usually eager to smile or talk. Somehow, while we're in between homes, we all want one more friend, one more conversation, one more connection, even if that distance is a minor or routine one.

This is a joke, right?

So Rachael Ray wears a scarf that sort of resembles a Kaffiyeh in a Dunkin Donuts web ad, and the US conservative commentators go crazy!
Michelle Malkin, one such commentator, tells us that the Kaffiyeh "has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad".
Oh, really? So only Palestinians who kill people wear these extremely popular scarves? Umm, no. It's just a part of the Arab culture, and saying it's akin with terrorism essentially means you think everything Arab = Terrorism, which is just so, so wrong.
The silliest part is that Dunkin Donuts pulled the ad. A little too apologist, non?

Canada's First Climate Exchange Now in Business

Check this out. Today is the opening day of the Montreal Climate Exchange, which allows companies to buy and sell carbon credits.
It'd be nice if the government would actually set emission caps to make this more effective, but kudos to these guys for not waiting for Harper et al to actually do something, and making it happen themselves. If nothing else, it's a start, and might have some impact to at least push action on climate change forward.
A scary quote from the article above:

Since 1990, Canada's emissions have risen faster than all of the other Group of Eight industrialized nations -- the United States, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Britain and Italy.

Pass the Purell

M went to Seattle last week, and along with bringing back a really cool travel mug with a pic of the space needle on it, and a nice little bag from the conference he went to, he brought back the fiercest cold I've had in years. Everywhere I go, I leave garbage cans full of used tissue. In light of this situation, I'd like to bring your attention back to the home remedies I posted last summer about great home remedies for colds.
I wanted to add one last remedy to the list:

• Onion cores. This stuff is absolutely fantastic, if a little hard to swallow. Chop up the core of the onion, drench it in vinegar, and a little salt and pepper, and then eat it raw with some bread. This really helps with the sinus congestion.

Good luck with any colds you might all be suffering. The weather really is not helping.

Musical Warfare

I found this fascinating: an article in The New Yorker about how music is being used by the U.S. army as a breakdown tactic during interrogations. Though the rest of the article is serious, I couldn't help being amused by the fact that country music seemed to be the most effective - more than hip hop, even - at getting people to talk, effectively making it a tool of torture (so everyone really does hate country then, eh?)

Heartbreaking

Have you heard about this family's death in Calgary? There were children involved, and one has survived. I'm not even sure what to say, really, just that I'm upset and shocked by it.

I can't imagine why anyone would want to take another life, add to that taking a child's life, and now add to that the possibility of taking the life of a family member, a loved one. Police aren't looking for suspects and have called it a "domestic homicide" so doesn't that essentially mean they think one of the parents did it before taking their own life?

I'm reminded by a verse in the Quran which says something to the meaning of "anyone who kills a soul, it is as if he has killed the whole of humanity, and anyone who has saved a soul, it is as if he has saved the whole of humanity."

Life is precious.

Hockey Night in Canada now available in your native language

I love this country. I always tell any visitor to Canada that there are two things that they'll find quintessentially Canadian: Hockey and Timmy's. Well, Hockey Night in Canada (that great Canadian institution, if you forget about the whole "Don Cherry" part) is now being broadcast in both Mandarin and Punjabi. Check it out here.
I hope one day there's an Arabic broadcast. I would watch out of curiosity, just to see how certain phrases like "faceoff" and "he shoots, he scores!" got translated, but in the end, I know I'd switch back to the hockey broadcast I grew up on, or at least the RDS one that shows me the Habs games when CBC insists on airing the Leafs.

The Typo Eradication Advancement League

I heard about this on the radio today (CBC of course!)
I loved it, although I'm curious, who has time to travel a country looking for typos??

Baby Ikea

A couple of things I'd consider picking up for my little angels if they weren't up and moving across the world soon.
Have you ever seen the "baby poang" chair from Ikea?? Too cute.



p.s. Shopping in downtown Montreal with a stroller is quite the disaster. Can I call out the Eaton's Centre and the Les Ailes De La Mode complex on their lack of ramps?? What's up with that? Honestly, at least my sisters and I had the option of picking up my little angel's stroller and carrying it up/down stairs when we needed too, but what does a person in a wheel chair do? How many different entrances do you have to walk by before you find one with a ramp? Loving my new town and all, but for a big city? Come on, really disappointing.

Bouchard-Taylor Get it Right

The report is in, and the Bouchard-Taylor commission agrees: My hijab is not a threat to anyone. Barring me from wearing it anywhere but home or in public places in Quebec would be contrary to the values of freedom and integration. Way to go Bouchard-Taylor! Read the full article here.

Little Angel Laundry

Today my little angel was walking around with his Teddy in one hand and his sister's Teddy in the other. Now, we make a point to keep the bathroom doors closed because little angel loves the toilet, but today we accidentally left the door open for about 2 seconds, which was long enough for him to toss not his - but the Little Angela's Teddy - head first into the toilet bowl.
The scene that followed was out of a sitcom - first my short shriek, followed by silence, followed by a complete breakdown from Little Angela. Of course, my sister had fished the Teddy from the toilet almost immediately, but this didn't matter to my niece.
The bottom line is that the Teddy has now been washed and dried and gone through a full laundry cycle, so all is once again well...

Silver Lining?

Well, I guess I'll have to settle for Markov winning gold. Russia beat Canada in OT, 5-4 to take the world title. We were close, but not close enough.
Congrats on a tournament well-played. Losing in the end is bitter, but at least I can comfort myself with the fact that, since we didn't lose to the US, my american brother-in-law won't be calling to rub it in as he did so many years ago.

One more title? and wedding season continues

Canada is one win away from another world title today, although they do face the mighty Russia, so it won't be easy. One of Les Boys, Andrei Markov, is playing for team Russia, and although there are no Habs on Team Canada, my alleigance definitely lies with my country.
Go Canada Go!

On a separate note, M and I seem to have beat the rush when we had the wedding in February. Last night we were at our second wedding in three weeks, and there are at least two more to come in the next month and a half. A quick shout out to all the lovely couples: May Allah swt Bless you with long and happy lives together (and for those to come, if you need anyone to vent to about how stressful or time consuming wedding planning is, you know where to reach me - that's you Suad!)

Heeeeee's Back!!!

Check it out! M's posting his lovely pics again (I think it has something to do with the excitement over his brand new SLR, and also no longer having to dedicate long hours to wedding planning - heheh)...
Go take a look. I may be biased, but he could quit his PhD and make this a full-time job/hobby, non?

Coffee Snob?

I've been drinking the good stuff on a regular basis since I was about 15 - the nearly three hour commute to get to and from my fabulous high school five days a week, plus my lack of self control, really cemented any chance I had of sticking to orange juice to just wake me up.
For years, I kept it to myself and only drank the coffee out of the house. The reason: my mother, who is the most health conscious person I know, abhorred (and abhors) caffeine.
I remember a funny coffee related incident the summer after I finished high school, on my way to a trip to Egypt with my kid sister for a few weeks. We were in the car, on our way to Montreal to catch our flight with my mom and dad, and I suddenly felt the urge to confess.
"Mama," I said, "I have to tell you something terrible."
"Yes?" she asked.
"I drink coffee. I drink it EVERYDAY."
My mom laughed and nodded and said something like "I figured".
I've always preferred a "real" coffee - Second Cup, Timothy's, Starbucks - to a Timmy's or the instant stuff, but the bottom line is that I just have to get my fix, and I'll take it however I can get it (see my trying to quit posts from last Ramadan for further proof). I also like the real cappuccinos from Second Cup WAY more than the sugar-filled stuff at Timmy's.

The reason I'm even thinking about any of this is that this morning on CBC radio (my favourite station ever!), they were doing blind taste tests in TO, having people sample instant vs. really brewed coffee in the streets and seeing which they preferred. Most seem to prefer the real brew, but it seems there are more than expected who like their coffee with "three crystals of Folgers, Half a cup of cream and five tablespoons of sugar" as the radio host said - Yuck!

When I'd first started going into "Proper" coffee stores, I would try not to laugh or roll my eyes as I heard people order the complex sounding names. You know, the "I'll have a non-fat, extra foam, double shot, extra hot soy latte" order? Well, when I first discovered my allergies to milk, my ability to drink Lattes was shot in the foot. I also had to avoid the sugar, but I loved my fancy coffee drinks so much that I HAD to find a way to solve the "milk free, sugar free" coffee crisis. I scoured the various coffee shops until I discovered Timothy's "sugar free vanilla syrup", which they could use with soy milk to produce my "small soy vanilla sugar free latte". I suddenly felt like just as much of a coffee snob as those I was laughing about...
I've since eased up, I only treat myself to a soy latte about once every two months now, and most days I just get a regular coffee and allow myself a little bit of milk or cream in my coffee. I don't avoid all milk or sugar products any more, I just make sure to keep it to a minimum and that seems to keep me ok.

Keith Olbermann says it so well

He really couldn't have said it any better. Watch this video if you are as sick and tired of Dubya destroying lives, countries, economies, and just about everything else he gets his hands on. It's beyond true, and it reminds me just how angry I am about this stuff, and how, sadly, I've become hopeless and apathetic and often forget just how angry I am.

A week in the making

It was pointed out to me by a friend today that I haven't posted in about a week - over which I was already feeling somewhat guilty. I've been wanting to post - honestly! really! but there was just a lot else going on that was taking my time up...
I'm now "slightly" more free, so here goes...

On the bus ride home to Montreal today, I was thinking about how much I want to write, and not just posts to this lovely blog, which is only slightly edited and really not in the least refined, but write GOOD writing, write like I used to write in high school when I was in a writing program and the words were more creative and I had characters and all cliches were banished with a red pen if I dared scroll them onto the page to begin with. I want to write a novel, or a book of poetry, or something else fantastic like that, and I want it to be a best seller and I want LOTS of people to enjoy it. I basically want to write the book that I wanted "Does My Head Look Big in This" to be. I loved that book, I thought the author did a fantastic job, but I was hoping it would reflect what I considered to be a "typical" Western Muslim teenager's life (i.e. mine) more closely. And it didn't. Well, I want to write my version of that. And I should be able to, right? I mean, I'm qualified: I have the experience. I was once a Western Muslim teenager and am now a Western Muslim twenty-something, so it should be easy, shouldn't it?
Well, the short answer is no. The long answer is that it takes more discipline, more time, and probably more creativity, than I have to offer right now. It does, however, remain a long term dream. In the short term, I just want to start writing regularly again, even if it's bad and disconnected, it's a step towards good. Not a sufficient step, but definitely a necessary one.

Other Amazing "Speltisies"

That's my new word for "things made with spelt flour" - and the latest in this wonderful addition (you remember the Spelt Biscotti of last Toronto visit?) are little spelt pesto rolls... In T.O. this weekend for a good friend's wedding and a visit with my husbands family, and you cannot even begin to understand how truly delicious these things are. I opened the bag. I finished the bag. In one sitting. That's all there is to it.
My parents-in-law have also discovered spelt sesame sticks. For all you Egyptians out there, this is essentially "bo'somat" a.k.a. that totally fabulous thing you have with your tea. I'm seriously considering just up and moving to T.O.

The Habs Are Out

but we should look on the bright side...

Third Time in Four Years...

...that the people of the Kashechewan first nation have to leave their reserve due to flooding. You probably remember the e-coli problem they had from a couple of years back. And yet, the government refuses to move them to a different location permanently, saying it's "too expensive".
It's often hard to believe that there is an entire group of people who lives like second class citizens in this country that is so good to so many people, and so open to giving so many the opportunity for a better life.
I know it's more complicated than I'm making it, but sometimes it's so heart-breaking, I don't know how else to think about it.

Feather Fur and Fin

Have I mentioned recently how much I love cbc radio? Today I heard this absolutely lovely song by Danny Michel about nature, and I enjoyed it so much I had to look it up when I got home. Here are the lyrics. Do you ever feel like this is how the earth will end up if we don't change?

I went to the country
to escape the noise and lights
I laid there in the pine cones all night
I woke in the morning
and all the trees were gone
I got this sinking feeling
everything felt wrong

There were strip malls and dollar stores
and diesel in the air
So I slept in a row boat
and I anchored far from shore
Now I don't hear them chainsaws no more

I woke in the morning
when someone pulled the plug
I was stranded in the lake bottom sludge
With all the tires, paint cans and things

Well,

Every little critter
with feather, fur & fin
cried to Mother Nature
to come back for them
for every piece of litter
for every little sin
She cried for all of them
feather, fur & fin
She cried for all of them
feather, fur & fin

So I went to an island
down the Caribbean way
And I laid there in the sand all day
I turned on a radio
and I heard the DJ say:
Well, batten down the hatches
down Santa Elena way
I swam the ocean reef,
with coral all was gray

Every little critter
with feather, fur & fin
cried to Mother Nature
to come back for them
for every piece of litter
for every little sin
She cried for all of them
feather, fur & fin
She cried for all of them
feather, fur & fin

She saw the eagle's eye
weeping in the willow
She prayed to the mantis
and she cried into her pillow
for the salmon in the Fraser
and the salamander's kin

She cried for all of them
feather, fur & fin
She cried for all of them
feather, fur & fin

Well, I went to the city
when all the trees were gone
and I laid there on a asphalt lawn
And she cried out a thousand days
of hurricanes and floods
Her face ran with tears
and the streets ran with blood
Fur coats and sushi boats
and diesel in the air

Every little critter
with feather, fur & fin
cried to Mother Nature
to come back for them
for every piece of litter
for every little sin
She cried for all of them
feather, fur & fin
She cried for all of them
feather, fur & fin

Feather, fur & fin
she cried for all of them
for feather, fur & fin,
she cried for every fin

It's very very new, so If you want to listen to it, this is the only version I can find on the web so far. Go about halfway through the video before he starts singing.

Joke of the Day

Stolen from CBC radio this morning, with a slight modification. Because it's so bad, it's good:

A neutron walks into a deli and orders a sandwhich. The waiter brings it over a few minutes later and says, "For you, no charge".

Knee-slapping ensues!

To Sleep... or not to sleep?

If I was trying to complete my allusion, I should finish with "that is the question", but in reality, it's not a question any more. Just about everyone I know wants more sleep, and just about everyone I know doesn't get it. This article in the Globe and Mail hit the point home, and I've been meaning to post it for a few days, but it was always late by the time I got around to it, and I kept deciding to sleep instead.

Dying Professor's Last Lecture

This is beautifully inspiring. At the time of this lecture, the professor speaking was given weeks to live. It's been over 6 months:

Other things we have to be proud of...

In my dream last night, Les Boys eked out a victory in their series by pulling off a 4-1 win tonight, and all was forgiven... at least until the first game of round two.
But seriously, we took a walk through the old port yesterday, and as a transplanted Montrealer, still adjusting to the city, I have to say that we have lots to be proud of. Notwithstanding the awful roads, this town is gorgeous: we have fabulous architecture, a very European character, and lots of natural beauty in the form of the mountain.
Here's some of what I found spectacular yesterday.

Crushed!

A few days ago, my Montreal Canadiens were leading their first round series 3-1... After last night, they come home to play the crucial seventh game of the series tied 3-3. Needless to say, I'm on the verge of nightmares. I've decided it's in my best interest to brace myself for the worst, so that on the off-chance they manage to pull off a win and proceed to round two, I'll be pleasantly surprised, and should they complete the self-anihilation they started so convincingly last Thursday, I'll have been expecting it...
Of course, I know that no matter how well I prepare myself for failure, I'll be crushed. Any self-respecting Habs fan suffers with every failure the team fails, and glories in every victory. It's our nature: we can't be cool, calm, or collected... this is Hockey, and this is the most storied franchise in its history, and no matter how true it might be that it's only a game, it's also a culture and a passion. My brother-in-law yesterday suggested I should follow his approach:
"I used to care about the Egyptian national team," he told me, "and they always lost. It was once I stopped caring, that they finally started winning."
And as right as he is, I'm just incapable of turning off my obsession with hockey, or of the Habs in particular. I just wish they weren't so determined to give me a heart-attack, and had more concern for my poor nerves.

Indoctrinating Beauty

Have you heard about this? It's a "children's" book coming out just in time for Mother's Day about Mom's getting plastic surgery. And it's called "My Beautiful Mommy".
That's right: so now it's not just enough for women with low-to-no self-esteem to go update their bodies with expensive and painful surgical procedures, but we need to explain it to children in the form of picture books since they're so confused by the whole process... Okay, I know it's happening anyway, but do the kids really need a book to legitimize the whole thing? Do we really need anymore signals hitting children, or adults for that matter that it really is what's on the outside that counts, and that appearance is everything?
Signing off and grossed out...

First Canadian Team Eliminated

The Pens swept Ottawa 4-0, and my hometown is now out of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and though I love my city, I've never actually been a Sens fan, so my only real sadness about the whole situation is that Canada now only has 2 teams left: Montreal and Calgary... If betting wasn't haraam, I'd put my money on my Habs of course, and that's where I'm putting my support...
1 more win tomorrow night and we're on to round 2. Pray for me that our new antenna starts picking up CBC's tv signal from over the mountain...
g'night!

The Slippery Digital Slope

1- I used to write in a journal, not "dear diary" style or anything of that sort, but the kind of poems that end up on this site every so often, and other writing that's either too terrible or too private to share. I keep it in my overstuffed purse and have kept one there (or in my school bag back in high school and university) since the ninth grade, in case the mood should move me and I should be inspired to put something down.

For maybe 6 or 7 months, I haven't put anything down in my journal except maybe a phone number or directions. It's become more like a notepad than a place for writing... and I miss it.

2- My old cell phone was a pay-as-you go plan, essentially used to say "Baba, I'll be at the bus station in 25 minutes" after a late class, or "Mama, was it walnuts or hazelnuts you wanted me to pick up from Bulk Barn". My new cell phone is a full-fledged, long term plan with lots of minutes and unlimited talk and text to "my 5" which I used to make fun of endlessly before I signed up for the same thing.

3- I had a laptop at work a few years ago before switching jobs, but I rarely used it and stuck instead to my trusty, old Windows XP Service Pack 1 machine for all my computing needs at home. When I switched to my "new" job about 2 years ago, I went laptop-less until about 3 months ago, when I decided to buy one for my new, mobile, double-citied life.

4- Around that same time, I got a new mp3 player which also happened to play FM Radio, so now I can listen to my beloved CBC Radio in transit.

I would have scoffed before at getting internet access wherever I was, but now that I can listen to CBC anywhere, and make endless phone calls on the Greyhound between Montreal and Ottawa, I'm practically itching to be able to check anything from anywhere. But here's the catch: I don't need to. I sit at work for 8 hours with internet at my finger tips. Depending on the day of the week, I can check the internet either 1 or 3 hours after leaving my office. That's barely any time to be "un-plugged" but I think I'm hooked.
My solution is to slow down, get a bit more "disconnected" and read solid, physical, tangible books or my Quran on my bus rides... The physical world is actually a fabulous place, and for all the advantages of constant connection, it's nice to stop and notice what's actually around us once in a while. There's something to be said for having access to too much data and not enough information, and that's what I'm afraid the digital age has done to some, including myself...

FYA (For Your Amusement)

A photo from the scene outside the Bell Centre last night on my way home. Taken around 8 p.m., game was already well underway, so things were quiet outside:


And on a completely different note, If you liked Lord of The Rings, check this out:

Little Angel Update

He walks!

Where are the words?

I've always been better at writing it down than saying it but
today, I can't do either
can't find the words to put to paper to screen to mind to ear to dream
because each time I dream the words I find myself looking for a way to forget
them to replace them
with easier words
like 11 degrees and sun
like 1st place like water like rain slush spring
all happy words while parting is a sad one
and the word that I try to forget becomes a sentence a page a book
and my eyes are half open half closed and my brain is lost somewhere
between waking and sleep
hoping and dreading -remembering
and forgetting

I've always been better at writing it down than saying it but
today
I can't write or say or think

Dissecting the Hug

Because I love these 'sociological' investigations and politics, I thought this Globe and Mail article was pretty interesting: How do you hug? What do you mean by it? Is it spontaneous, or pre-meditated? Is it in private or public?

Check it out here.

Clinched!

With their 3-0 win over the Sens last night, Les Boys can finish the season in no less than 2nd place and have clinched their first division title in 15 years! So proud of my team. Now, if only Saku Koivu can figure out a way to play on that broken foot, and Komi and Hamr can come back healthy, we'll be good for at least a round of play-off action...
I always get funny reactions walking around with my Habs scarf in Ottawa... More on that in a future post...

On My Coffee Cup This Morning

I liked this a lot:

"The law, for all its failings, has a noble goal - to make the little bit of life that people can actually control more just. We can't end disease or natural disasters, but we can devise rules for our dealings with one another that fairly weigh the rights and needs of everyone, and which, therefore, reflect our best vision of ourselves."

-Scott Turow

What would you do? (Smile, you're on camera)

This was on ABC a while back. Commonplacer has actually already discussed it, but this is a longer version of the same video.
So, would you encourage, discourage, or do nothing? Fascinating.

MAC Give Ottawa - 1000 Item Food Drive

Just spreading the word: If you live in Ottawa, you can do something small to help those in need.


"Although Canada is a rich country, but we still have lots of people suffering from lack of food.For the sake of Allah, MAC Give is inviting you to fight hunger in a food drive with the Ottawa Food Bank. The goal of the event is to Collect 1000 Items of non-perishable food items by April 5th, 2008. This is a way for us as Muslims to give back to our society.
Remember, when you provide someone with food, you are keeping his dignity.
Collection Date: Sat. April 5th from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.
Location: Abraar School (1085 Grenon Ave.) at the Gym.
For Food Donations:http://www.mydo.ca/MG/Food_Bank/donate.html
Register here and you can drop the items any weekday at Abraar School from 3:00pm to 4:00pm, or on April 5th between 5:00pm and 7:00pm."

Spelt Biscotti (City Trotting)

The last 4 days, in bullet-form:

• bus to Montreal from Ottawa on Thursday night
• drive to Richmond Hill, via Kingston on Friday (morning / afternoon)
• spend the bulk of the weekend in Richmond Hill with my second family
• drive to Montreal via Kingston on Sunday (morning / afternoon)
• attend one of M's best friend's Katb Kitab's last night

And tomorrow, it's back to Ottawa. I think I'm actually getting really good at this, and we can all breathe a sigh of relief to discover that M and I both LOVE road trips, so we got to and from his parents' place and back home quite happily. Now about his parents' place, can I just say I'm feeling very, very loved? I brought my usual supply of spelt bread as back up (as I do when I'm travelling anywhere, since it's not always available or I don't know if I'll have a chance to shop, or whatever) and discovered that they had stocked their pantry with a) organic spelt bread, b)Kamut raisin bread, c)multiple types of goat feta cheese d) spelt penne, and e)SPELT BISCOTTI!!!

I have never in my life tasted spelt biscotti before, but it's fabulous, and the coffee/tea-lover in me was just so incredibly pleased to have something to dip into my hot drink and nibble on. (Heheh, I'm going to have to pick up the exercise regime again though...)

And another thing. I can now play Risk. I may not have achieved world domination this time around, but I'd like to think I learned a thing or two for next time. All in all, a wonderful weekend and well-refreshed for tomorrow (Don't you just LOVE four-day weeks?)

Paris (The city of Smart cars)

I know, I know, they told you it was called the city of lights. Well, if you've been there recently, you'd know that they should change the name. I don't think I've ever seen so many Smart Cars and Mini Coopers in such a short time as I did on our day and a half in Paris. I came back environmentally inspired (We don't have a car, but if we get one, I want to think green).

Anyway, here's my personally shot post card of the Eiffel Tower and the Seine. Enjoy...

Little Angel and Angela Update

FYI for any of you who are latecomers to this blog, my little Angels and Angela's would be my nieces and nephews. Today's update refers specifically to the munchkins in Ottawa, who I saw after a 4 week absence in Egypt last week, and who've grown a lot.
My angel's crawling speed has increased significantly, and now he not only babbles, but babbles with expression while staring straight at you. I know I'm biased, but he's right in that "most adorable age ever" stage that hits around 10 months and last until about 14 months, and boy does he know it!
Meanwhile, my little Angela is turning more and more into a little girl and less and less a toddler. She was already speaking full sentences before we left for Egypt, but now her sentences are longer and significantly more complicated. Last week, during prayer, I couldn't concentrate at first as my little Angela recited the Fatiha along with the Imam. She also decided to borrow my hijab on Tuesday night when I got back from work. I gladly lent it to her, but upon trying to get it back so I could pray 'Asr, she told me, "Here Nonno, where this one" and held up an imaginary hijab for me. (We often give her imaginary cups of tea when she wants some. Can you say "what's good for the goose is good for the gander"?)
Little Angela is also really big on role playing right now. In one evening, she went from being herself, to being me, to being her father, to being someone I had met in Egypt that she had only seen in a picture on the laptop.
Next week, I'll have my little Angel and Angela almost exclusively to myself for two weeknights. I can't wait to see what they have in mind for me.

p.s. On a completely unrelated note, I attended a McGill MSA (Muslim Students Association) spoken word and poetry event last night as part of Islamic Awareness Week. All's I gotta say is this is a talented and creative bunch, masha Allah, and I'm glad to be joining the family! I'm now motivated to do some more creative writing (blogging doesn't count if it's not super-artsy). I've been in an insanely long dry-spell what with the whole wedding/honeymoon/moving thing.

Meet our reflections

So now that M and I are married, and since my blog is aptly named "Meet my shadow" (only because the url runonsentence.blogspot.com was already taken, but that's another story), I thought I'd post this photo from our month-long adventure to Egypt and back via France. This was taken in the Paris airport on our way. It's not a shadow, but it's the next best thing...

Snow snow snow

I was so proud of myself for being able to deal with the cold during my first three days back in Canada last week, and then.... Wednesday happened. On Wednesday, I waited outside my parents' house in Ottawa at the bus stop 40 minutes with cold wind pushing blowing snow straight at me, before an almost-totally-full-bus finally came by to take me to work. Welcome home, right?
We're supposed to be having another storm today and tomorrow, and in Montreal, we're fairly close to breaking the record for the city's snowiest winter. At least I get the same weather regardless of which city I happen to be in.
I took this photo a few days before leaving for Egypt.


In other news, I returned from Egypt to find Les Boys on the verge of becoming 1st in the conference, and now they are. As I'm mentioned previously, Bob Gainey is a genius. As a Habs' fan, I'm sitting back and enjoying...

Prayer in the Desert

Some of the gentlemen on the safari day trip we took catch Asr prayer.

Back home (safe, sound, and jetlagged)

Well, it's been an extremely packed 4 weeks since my last post. During that time, I a) got married, b) moved to Montreal, c) went to several different places in Egypt, d) spent 28 hours in Paris, and e) came (to my new) home...
I've just finished uploading a total of 3000 pictures (mine and M's combined) from my memory stick onto my computer. There are opened suitcases everywhere and a dirty cup from my instant coffee in the sink. I have lots of stories to share and will hopefully get a chance to do it soon. In the mean time, we need groceries, so I'll leave you with one of my favourite pictures from our trip until my next post.

Ready? Set - Taking the Plunge

Friends? Check.
Family? Check.
In-laws I get along great with? Check.
Big white dress? Check.
And finally... A really really great guy who believes in the same things I do, encourages me to a better person, loves Lord of the Rings (almost) as much as I do, lets me rant ON AND ON about hockey, laughs at my corny jokes no matter HOW awful they are, and gets all my lame engineering references? Check.

Deep breath.

Next time I post, insha Allah, I'll be Mrs. M.

Hadeel's Back! (online that is, and in Egypt)

In case you missed it, your favourite (or, at least, my favourite) blogger/journalist/Egypto-phile has come back to the blogosphere after a short break. Check her out at Hadeel Speaking

Martin Luther King - Some words of Wisdom (and, of course, more wedding talk)

From the same blog that brought you the Materialism post, here's a comment on Martin Luther King day. Something I think we can all take to heart.


On a lighter note, have I mentioned recently how much I like my group at work? I know I sound like I'm just sucking up, but these people threw me a surprise shower today, on my second last work day before I take off for the wedding, replete with very very yummy food, gifts, and the most embarrassing hat you've ever had to wear at a shower (I'm talking cardboard covered with tin foil, then covered with bows and wrapping "decor" as the gifts were opened). All in all, fun times.

p.s.

I still have left-over candy canes from my splurge over Christmas

Shamefully neglected

What, you ask, is shamefully neglected? This blog, I say... and for that, I am truly sorry. Let me say that I'm not actually writing a true post today, so much as just writing to say that I know I haven't written. If it's actually bothering anyone other than me, I'm sorry. Is it a good enough excuse that the wedding is really soon and that I had (and still have) a lot going on on several other fronts on top of the wedding? I'm hoping it is...
So, following is not a promise, but a resolution, that once the whole wedding, and honeymoon, and moving to another city (sort of) thing is over in a couple of months, I will try to post more often. Really, I'll try. and the good news is that I plan to take a lot of pictures on the honeymoon. Which means there'll be pictures on here again for what feels like the first time in forever. After all, the whole reason I originally started this blog was to post pics from my last trip to Egypt, so if you go back to the very first entries, that's all they are...
Anyway, all this to say I'll try. Just give me a little bit of time... Who knows: maybe I'll post regularly sooner than that. Just don't hold your breath. In the meantime, enjoy the geniuses like Jen, K, and Sajda on my blogroll. and go back and re-read Hadeel's hilarities. They're worth a second (and third, and fourth) read.

*insert superlative here* of 2007

How many best of, craziest of, funniest of, whatever-else of lists have you seen as the year winds down? I'm a complete sucker for these lists and here's something noteworthy:

CBC's 2007 Top 10 Canadian Newsmakers in the Arts' list includes Zarqa Nawaz, the Little Mosque on The Prairie creator.

You go sister!



p.s. Did you know you can watch the episodes on YouTube??
p.p.s. Happy New Year!

This says it all...

This cartoon from the Globe and Mail is sadly accurate in its representation of Canada's official position at the recent Bali conference on climate change. We have the dubious honour of having won something called "The Fossil Award" for being the country or group that held up the process.

Samwise the Bloated

So you've already heard about Samwise the Bloated and the whole "peas help bloatation" thing here and here.

Well, a few weeks ago, I captured Samwise in action. It seems he's found a solution (involving the water filter) to be able to get to the bottom of his tank despite his bloatation.

Observe, and enjoy:

What do you mean they're bad for your teeth?

Having lived in a country where Christmas is a big deal all my life, I have to say that I appreciate how much more cheery and positive everyone gets this time of year. All through school, I got 10-15 days of holiday over Christmas and New Years, and that's enough to make anyone love the season. Now, in my third full year of work, I'm still adjusting to the fact that, in the federal government, there isn't a built in two-week holiday for everyone. If you want vacation at Christmas, you take your vacation at Christmas, and I almost always want my vacation in the summer time for trips to Calabogie and such.

Nevertheless, I enjoy the quiet time at work for that week when the office almost becomes ghost-town-like. Most of those still around are others like me who don't "do" Christmas, although some are people who are just saving their holidays for another time of year too. I like getting a chance to catch up on whatever I've fallen behind on (which is A LOT this year). I like chatting for a bit with whoever's still around.

As a child, I know I loved the lights on the buildings and trees. Now I'm not so sure because I worry about the energy it all consumes. What I definitely loved when I was little, and still love now, are candy canes. I can't describe it, can't pinpoint exactly why they're any different from those candies or mints you get at restaurants at the end of a meal, which I'm not addicted to, but candy canes are definitely a favourite treat of mine. Maybe it's because they're not available all year round, or because I forget about them and am pleasantly surprised every year when given one at some point in mid-December. This year, one of the gals at work stuck little stockings up on the outside of everyone's cubicles and filled them with Hershey's Kisses, Reese Peanut Butter cups (mmmmm.....) and Candy Canes. I've had one Peanut butter cup, no Kisses, and finished my Candy Cane and gone back down to the pharmacy to buy another package. I love these things. I try hard to ignore the fact that sucking on a stick of sugar all day and then only brushing your teeth when you get home must be a recipe for cavities. At the end of the day, it's ignorable. They just taste soooooooooooooo good.

Meaningful Gifts

There's a beautiful (and very short) Prophetic saying that encourages gift giving as a form of getting closer. In Arabic, it's "Tahaadu, Tahabbu", which essentially means "give gifts to one another and you will love one another".
It's very simple, and obviously it alone will not make people love one another, but I think it shows how much gifts mean to us as humans. We like being showered with attention and love. We like being given something we weren't expecting, and we like the feeling of knowing someone has thought about us and though about how best to make us happy. All of these are results of being given a gift.
At the same time, I think we've reached a point where sometimes gift giving is taken too far. Sometimes we seem to exchange gifts because it's what's expected, and not because there's actually any love, or need in the exchange. How many of us have spent hours trying to look for something to buy a loved one because an occasion like Eid or Christmas or their birthday is coming up, and they don't really need or want anything? How many of us have ended up buying them something that just sat there just to have bought them a present? I personally would rather get flowers, or a chocolate bar, or a phone call, or sit together and watch a movie then get something I don't need. These are all gifts too, and show that the person who gave them to you remembers and cares.
I heard about another great way of gift giving on the radio this morning. Both Green Peace and the CHF (another great Canadian non-profit) have these programs set up where you can buy a gift on behalf of a family member or friend to either send valuable food stock, or animals, or medical supplies like malaria kits to people in need around the world, or sponsor specific green peace projects. Both of these groups have a catalogue so you can pick the exact gift you want to give, and go with the cause closest to your heart or to whomever you're buying for.
And think how much more valuable contributions to an environmental project, or chicks, or fertilizer, will be to those who need it and to the earth, than a knick knack that sits on your friend's shelf collecting dust until she/he finally decides to donate it to the Goodwill or throw it out.
You can apply the idea to any cause you want by picking an organization that does good humanitarian or environmental work and then donating on behalf of a friend as your gift. Human Concern International is a great option, so's IRFAN-Canada (both are humanitarian groups that provide orphan sponsorship and medical and sustainable supplies in war-ravaged regions of the world).
So if you're stuck for what to buy and still behind on your Christmas shopping and starting to panic, or if you haven't gotten Eid gifts yet for some important people, and it's just hitting you that Eid's about to end, try something like this. It'll make you, and the person you're buying for, feel great.

38 cm

and counting...
at 8 p.m. there were 38 centimetres of snow on the ground in Ottawa. Beautiful to look at, but not so much fun to walk through, let me tell you. When I opened my door this morning, the snow fell IN to my entrance. Brrrr...

Party Planning

From the Dilbert Blog, some amusing-ness (and I know that's not a real word, but it just fits here) about the holiday party season:

Which of these two things is easier?
A. Planning the invasion of Normandy
B. Planning a holiday party
If you are male, you might think a party involves invitations, food, booze, and decorations. It seems simple. But if there is a woman in your life, step one of the party preparation process can involve anything from aerating the lawn, to attending mime school in France, to lifting the house with cranes and putting it on stilts. There’s a whole other level that sneaks up on you, and it doesn’t end until the doorbell rings.
One of the most useless party customs is giving attendees gifts as they leave. These guests already gave you a hostess gift when they arrived. The obvious solution would be to tell guests to throw their incoming gifts in a pile by the entrance, next to the shoes. When people leave, they can rummage through the pile and pick something they didn’t bring. Pardon my French, but I think a “voila” is called for.
Remember, any problem that can be solved using the word “rummage” is bound to be efficient. And efficiency is the key to good party-giving.
A hard part of hosting is guessing the right amount of food you need, which usually means getting three times more than people will eat. Another problem is that people refuse to line up when the food is out. You can solve both of these problems by getting less food than your guests are likely to want. After you host a few parties, word will get around, and people will go straight to the buffet line as soon as they arrive and toss their hostess gifts by the shoe pile.

Real

I booked my 5 weeks off in my HR system and on my calendar at work last week. I'll be gone all of February, plus a little before the wedding. These things are little, since everyone's known since forever that I'd be gone that whole time, but having it entered in electronically makes it very real, and was bizarrely exciting. Am I a geek, or what?

Materialism

As the world around us gets geared up for the crazy shopping season, or is already somewhere in the midst of it, here's a reminder and a plea for sanity. Things won't make any of us happier, at least not material things. At least not for long.
More Jack Johnson. Enjoy:

Slater Avenue, Update

Back in May, this great "222" sign on Slater avenue caught my attention. Well, about a week ago (or maybe two?) I noticed a change.
I guess someone else thought the 222 would be a creative motif around which to build a club.


on the cold front, I'm still sniffling coughing and wheezing. For all of you in the same boat, remember these Buckley's-like remedies?

'Tis the Season...

To be congested (fa la la lala lala lala - Sing it!) My little angela has a viscious head cold and has managed to share the love with all in the family (parents, grandparents, baby brother, and your's truly - Auntie Noha). This morning I woke up unable to breathe. I'll spare you the details, but winter has definitely arrived. It's 20 below zero (celsius) with the windchill factor in Ottawa today. Winter has MOST definitely arrived.



On the bright side, Les Boys won 4-3 in Shootouts against those poor Toronto Maple Leafs last night, despite being horribly outshot and deserving to lose. I'm starting to really like our rookie goalie (46 shots, and no panicking). but the team needs to play better 5 on 5. Wow, I sound like such an arm chair coach

Cree Indian Prophecy

Beautiful and all too true. Thought I'd share:

Only after the last tree has been cut down
Only after the last river has been poisoned
Only after the last fish has been caught
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten

The Homeless

Working downtown has its major ups, but also some downs. I love the easy access into the city centre on dedicated bus routes. I love that if I have to run errands after work, I'm at least already halfway to where I need to get. I love the busy-ness of downtown, how alive it is, and just the variety of people I end up seeing (writers are people-watchers, and my commuting time, combined with my coffee time and my errand time, is my people-watching time and gives me a lot of my inspiration).

The down of downtown is the poverty you sometimes witness. I get off the bus two and a half blocks from work, and depending on which stop I get off at, I am almost guaranteed to see 4 different homeless people every day, sitting on the different corners. Some of them are very cheerful and thoroughly courteous, smiling good morning, never asking for money, commenting that it's cold or warm, snowy or windy or rainy today, or telling me that they like my Habs' scarf.

One of my colleagues knows most of them by name, and knows their stories. If you've been working in my building long enough, you almost definitely know the man outside the Holt Renfrew with the big, brown dog, the long hair and the beard. He's cheerful, always. He has a mental illness that isn't obvious right away, and one of the breakfast places downstairs gives him free coffee whenever he goes into the building.

On Thursday, I decided to treat myself to a soy latte, and on my way into the Second Cup, I saw a homeless woman I had never seen before. She was sitting a few feet from the door of the store, hand out, staring off and looking sad. She was young, maybe 35 years old. I went in, and 5 minutes later, with my $4 coffee in hand, when I came out, she wasn't sitting anymore. She was standing in the same spot. Sobbing. Just completely caught up in her grief about something, and it was so incredibly sad. I can't begin to imagine what happened in those 5 minutes, and the scariest thing is that probably, nothing happened. Her life was already bad enough before I went into the store, and just as bad as I came out. But imagine yourself sobbing alone in the middle of the street, with commuters averting their eyes and passing you every which way. It was enough for me to nearly start crying myself, but not enough for me to ask her what was wrong. I was afraid, and somewhat shaken, so I took my coffee and continued to my building.

I didn't see her this morning.

I read in the paper this week that the homeless rate in Ottawa is rising quickly. I can't imagine what drives someone to such a terrible state, to the point where they lose everything and are alone with no one to look after them, invisible in plain sight of everyone who passes them in the busiest part of a city. I try to remember to thank God everyday that I don't know the pain of having nothing and no one, but my family, my shelter, my peace of mind and faith are all things I take for granted until I see (really see, not just absently notice) people like this woman I saw on Thursday.

I won't even try to analyze the reasons for it, or point fingers, or take political sides on the homeless issue, but I do believe that in general, our society would go a long way with more compassion. There is a teaching of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, that says: "Even your smile to your brother or sister is charity". This is a charity we can all give to afford.

As promised

An update (with some pics!) on Samwise the bloated and the rest of the LOTR fish gang.
From my sister's email today: his bloatation is doing much better today after a strict diet of only peas.
I have to say, after looking at the three little fellas, Samwise it the cutest :D
(my apologies for the blurriness of Sam's pictures; because of his bloat, he's floatin' around and doesn't stay still long enough for the pic to come out clearly)

Frodo

Frodo and Gollum

Samwise the Bloated

The three stooges

Changing it up a bit

Okay people, I think the minimal look needs a little break. To be honest, I've thought so for a while now, but I've also been WAY too lazy to do my own layout design / minor programming to make the page look the way I wanted it too (which was I'm-not-actually-sure-how, but-just-different-from-how-it-looked), and I wasn't particularly digging any of blogger's offered templates.
Well, I went back and looked, and I've decided to go with one of the standard ones (still too lazy to do my own, but also because I actually like it.) It's called "Harbor", and I'm kinda digging the whole waterfront thing. Also, M should consider this an olive branch extended on a little "question of contention" we have, because, really, doesn't harbor naturally make you think of that most famous harbour in Halifax?? (you know what I mean, M).

Anyway, hope you all like the new look... We'll see how long it lasts before I go nuts and return to something either way too plain or way too busy again.

Poetry of Social Awareness

One of the things I love so much about good songs and poems is that they say important things in a powerful, creative way, and rarely come off as a) boring or b) preachy as the same thing said in plain language. I've already posted the lyrics on here for "Waiting on the World to Change" by John Mayer, which I think speaks to the apathy of a lot "young" people these days and why they feel there's no point in trying to make things better.
I write some of my own poetry and music, but I've never had a good knack for writing good "social/political commentary" songs, so when I find one I love, I like to share it. Here's a song that says a lot of things, speaking generally about hypocrisy and obsession with money, weapons, and power. Like I said, expanding it all out in plain language will likely be a) boring, and b) preachy, so enjoy the song instead. It's by Jack Johnson. A lot of his other stuff is great too, discusses nature, the importance of focussing on non-material aspects of our life, etc, but this song, Symbol in my Driveway, is the one that packs the most punch to me...
Here's a YouTube link to it... Never mind the "eSocialist" picture; I couldn't find his original vid.

Random Acts of Fishy-ness

So I haven't written in about a week, right? and I said I wouldn't do that again, right? Well... sorry? It's just that most of what's going on in my life right now is not blog-writin' material - not that it's bad, no! it's plenty good, it's just that my life right now pretty much involves a lot of wedding planning, and I'm greatly enjoying it, but it's not the kind of stuff I want to post...
From my sister in Montreal though, comes this rather hilarious situation:
A few weeks ago, my sister's sister-in-law (I never know if I'm supposed to call her my sister-in-law, or how exactly to describe our relationship) got my sister and brother-in-law some goldfish as a gift. My sis and brother-in-law (bil for short) named them Frodo, Sam, and Gollum (If you haven't seen Lord of the Rings, this reference is completely lost on you. If you have, each fish sort of resembles his namesake: Frodo is small, Gollum is a bit on the freaky side with massive eyes on the side of his head, and Sam is pear-shaped and large).
So it's all good in the fish world. after all, what are you gonna do with gold fish? Put them in their tank, feed them, and look at them, right? Well, last week, while my sister is away, Sam develops some "bloating" and starts floating to the top of the tank after dinner... My bil calls my sis and tells her he's floating, so she assumes he's dead, and my bil says: no, he's swimming, just on his back or side, but then he just 'rests' or floats every so often...
so my sis suggests calling the pet store, which my bil does, and they tell him the problem is bloating... Guess what you do for a gold fish with bloating? You feed it defrosted crushed frozen peas. Isn't that silly? So now, every night after dinner, Sam needs to eat peas. and then he floats and bloats (my sister says he's so bloated she's even made up a special word for this: "bloatation") and by morning he's fine again... My sister's actually convinced he just eats too much: one time, my bil had to hold him back with the net to let the other fish get a chance to eat when he put the food in...
Anyway, I promise that eventually there will be pics of these little guys, who've turned out to be more work than first suspected, but for now my sis says that the pic would just convince any of you that they're keeping a dead fish in the tank. I think maybe Sam just likes to back float, which is an unfortunate position to like for a fish because it's so synonymous with death for them?

Howdy-Ho Good Neighbours!

Did you ever used to watch Home Improvement, that incredibly corny family sitcom with Tim Allen pretending to be a Tool Man on a local cable show called "Tool Time"? Do you remember his neighbour in the show, Wilson? If you never saw the show, it ran for about 10 years (I think) and one of the insanely silly jokes / running themes of it was that the audience NEVER saw Wilson's whole face at once. He was always standing on the other side of the fence, so only the top half of his face was showing, or holding something that was covering the top half of his face, so only the bottom half was showing... In the very last episode, you FINALLY got to see all of Wilson's face in one shot. It was really quite a clever, if ridiculous, little joke.
I got to thinking of Wilson yesterday when I saw my uncle and said to him "Howdy Ho Good Neighbour!" which was something Wilson would always say to Tim over the side of the fence in the backyard... My uncle and his wonderful family have just moved in really close by to us, along with having my sister and her family next door... we're considering just changing the street names to our family names at the rate we're taking over the neighbourhood. It's funny, cuz when I tell people how close we all live to each other, they seem shocked. Like you would never CHOOSE to live this close to your family. but that's exactly what we did; we chose to live nearby... and now when I want to go for a walk, I can go with my parents, my uncle, aunt or cousin, my sister, my little angel and angela tagging along (in strollers or on foot, depending on whether we're planning a power-walk or a dawdle...) or if we just want to pop by and see each other for five minutes, or borrow a cup of sugar like the old cliche, we do it... If I don't see my sister, niece or nephew (read: angel or angela) for more than two days, I basically go into some form of mild withdrawal. three days and we're talking more serious withdrawal. 4, you don't even wanna ask. I love having my family near by, and I'm incredibly grateful for it. Case in point, we all had dinner together tonight, with little notice that this was what we would do. Exhibit two: this morning, my uncle and I happened to ride the bus into downtown together without even meaning it. It just makes for a lot more bonding time when everyone's nearby. So, welcome to the neighbourhood!

Very Very Sad

I read this article today about a sixth grade boy in a Montreal area school who died a few hours after getting into a fight with someone at recess. If you read the article, it doesn't seem like an incredibly violent fight. There's no mention of blood. Neither of the kids in the fight have a history of violence, but the boy who died did have a cardiac condition.
My condolences and prayers go out to the boy's family, and to the little girl who is probably feeling incredibly guilty and quite traumatized right now. I can't think of an 11 year old who hasn't gotten into a shoving match during recess at least once. I hope she's able to get over it.

An Extra Hour

Thanks to Daylight Savings Time (DST for short in the IT world), we all get an extra hour this weekend. I remember that in university, I was always so thrilled with the extra hour in the fall right around midterms, and always so devastated with the loss of an hour in the spring right around finals. Now, it just means one more hour to sleep, and I'm quite happy to have it...

Hope the cold weather isn't getting to everyone too much...

Update... I feel better

Sorry to have been Debbie Downer in my last post. All's good Alhamdulillah. Sometimes you just need to do a little venting...

One of These Days

Do you ever have one of these days? You know, the ones wear it's impossible to get out of bed, and even when you do, you're still asleep for the next 3 hours? The ones where everything you normally do so easily at work becomes inexplicably hard, and you suddenly have two new deadlines and you can't remember how you usually get stuff done?
I had one of those today, on the heels of a sick day yesterday, on the heels of a weekend the two days before, and so I felt like I really and truly had forgotten how to do everything I think I'm normally quite capable of.
Also, Hadeel is killing her blog, and for me, this is truly devastating information. After I finish writing this, I have to pop over there and check if my last comment maybe, just maybe, inspired her to keep it alive...
Sigh, deep breath. Tomorrow's a new day...

Don't Cry for me, Argentina

Interesting. A few weeks ago I saw a headline in the paper calling Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner "Argentina's Hillary". Now she's up and beat Hillary at her own game before Hillary has a chance. No strong opinions here, just sharing an fyi...

My nightmare job

I spent 2 hours going from one Staples Business Depot to another (3 in total, across the city) in search of a purchase I had to make today. I've concluded that one job I can likely never do is work at Staples on a weekend. These poor people were BUSY, soooooooooo BUSY, that despite the fact that
a) their inventory didn't match their stock,
b) they put the wrong thing on hold for me at a store and I didn't find this out until driving 25 minutes to pick it up, and then
c) kept the new kid in training on hold on the phone for 20 minutes when he tried to call a third store to check if they had my item

I managed not to lose my cool with any of them. It wasn't even a conscious thing this time to stay nice. It was more out of just feeling awful for them, just thinking that, when this is done, I get to go home and they have to stay and help the perpetual line up of 35 people, all trying to return something without a receipt and asking complicated questions until closing time. Customer Service is a talent. Smiling at people who are treating you rudely, and feel they have a right to it, is a talent. I salute the staff at Staples, but I don't think I'll be going there on a Saturday again any time soon.

Insanity

I had a meeting in the building two blocks from my building this morning at work. It was starting to "warm up" so I wore only my sweater over my button up and my trusty Habs scarf around my neck, opting to leave my jacket at the office. On the way I saw several ppl moving supplies off trucks and into some office buildings in SHORTS and T-SHIRTS!!! It was 3 Celsius outside. no warmer. Maybe they thought by dressing down, they would encourage summer to come back??
I don't know, all I know for sure is that just looking at them gave me a cold.