It just keeps me going...

Photographed By Robert Frank



A number of quotes that I find timeless:

" You never see the hard days in a photo album but they are what get you from one happy snapshot to the other."

"In this town, its not about what's right or wrong, its about what's common and what's not."

"The real loneliness is....living amongst these really kind people asking you to pretend."

" You gave me my first glimpse of a real life and asked me to carry on with a false one... no one can endure that..."

" A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it"

(Anonymous)

M. Gandhi once said:

" First they Ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they Fight you , then you Win.",
" Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do is in harmony."

Paulo Coelho' s inspirational thoughts never fail me:

"We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path.",

"You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow for the unexpected to happen.",

"Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering.",

"In the long run, what people think about shepherds and bakers becomes more important for them than their own destinies."

"A fall from the third floor hurts as much as a fall from the hundredth. If I have to fall, may it be from a high place."


Last but not least,to close off... my all time favorite words were once infamously said by John Lennon:

"Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans."

My Best Friend's Wedding ;-)...

Just got back from Amman,Jordan after being away for the weekend to attend one of my very close friend's wedding.... i'll have to say she looked phenomenal, the ideal picture of how a bride should look like on her big day...


I was so happy that i didn't miss on being a part of it, & to have gotten the chance to share her excitement, emotions and fears....and last minute deals..lol
The wedding was a lovely, light, hopping wedding at Le Royal , Amman..
Picture a "big fat Greek wedding' episode all over again, with of course an arabic touch to it...lol especially when it comes to the big close family gatherings and all... it was so cute and extremely funny at the same time...
Almost the whole 20th floor was booked for the wedding crew.... room doors wide open, late night visits, midnight feasts at neighboring rooms, pajama parties, noise complaints, bride dragged from one room to the other, hosting pre-wedding dinners while taking over the whole restaurant ... continuous camera flash, wrong make up/hair advice...last minute findings/arrangements...dramatic flower bouquet catch, killer heels, nonstop dancing, wedding stalkers...it was great fun!
Im not sure if i can say im gonna miss my friend (the bride), as i miss her already...but also i guess her move to Bahrain will only get us closer to each other...similar lifestyles & only a 20 mins plane ride away..Good Luck Mo ;-)

You truly never know where your real destiny lies, you can only have control over it to a certain extent...u can either facilitate what god has in plans for you or not... but you truly cant create your own from scratch...what's written up there is destined to take place....i believe that God's plan is not there to clash with ours, or at least it shouldn't be regarded that way...To me, you are given the choice of picking the path that will lead you to your intended destination... you can either use the aid of a guided tour or make it your own way...at the end all Roads Lead to Rome...

Suzy, I can't wish you anything but the best...to a new beginning, to new memories and to new shared hopes, laughters, and dreams.....

Wished all of our friends and dear ones where there just to see that genuine smile on your face...

The Comfort of a Blank Page....

It's taking me more than half an hour now to write a single word.....Instead i felt comfort from staring at a blank page... i wish i had the option to stay silent for the longest convenient time...its the confusion of not knowing which direction to look at anymore...need to address at least through words and/or actions what is a priority right now.... i don't think that i'm incapable of assessing who and what is important to me at this point in time....got the feeling that my life has been shattered into too many little yet significant pieces before my eyes...wish all of these pieces are within visible sight...from where im standing, i can only see what i can ...
Out of sight out of mind...?? i highly doubt that, im aware of all these missing pieces as they make up the person i am or at least the person i've become...reaching out is the only challenge...how can i function if a missing part of me is lying on the floor ready to get crushed or maybe swept away for good...
The problem is will I have to get down on my knees, risk getting cut over again and start looking for every missing bit myself or will I have to wait for a passing stranger to kneel down and offer to help....

I miss my once living angel...you are the only one who used to believe that i come just as i am!

Tomis Doesn't like my art work!

I think maya looks cute and playful in this version...i know there are much better ways to do it but hey give me a break i'm a step away from turning my office into a digi lab....;-) i think it would look good incorporated somewhere in her new room...hint hint :-p!

Anyway it's the start of the week again, a lot of deicisions still up in the air..have this feeling its gonna fly this time...don't know where im gonna be in a week's time or two...got quite a bit piled up, though it looks like i might not last the week, gotta get through today somehow and start looking foward to tomorrow...

No Bravery....

There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
Tears drying on their face.
He has been here.
Brothers lie in shallow graves.
Fathers lost without a trace.
A nation blind to their disgrace,
Since he's been here.
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.
Houses burnt beyond repair.
The smell of death is in the air.
A woman weeping in despair says,
He has been here.
Tracer lighting up the sky.
It's another families' turn to die.
A child afraid to even cry out says,
He has been here.
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.
There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
But no one asks the question why,
He has been here.
Old men kneel and accept their fate.
Wives and daughters cut and raped.
A generation drenched in hate.
Yes, he has been here.
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.

James Blunt- No Bravery

Looking around us...truly"Bravery" is out of sight....except for those who are suffering of course! Thanks Lulu s for your e-mail... it kind of opened my eyes even more...man what is happening to our world!!

Just Another Random Thursday!

Another Day at Work...

Im still uncomfortable with the idea of having my written thoughts exposed.... and dont ask then why blog? (will get to that in later posts) but to be honest, the furthest my personal thoughts have been before was in some drawer, hidden between some pages of some uncompleted journal. I think i'll always have in the back of my mind that this will hardly be a place i can call my personal space or my private zone...No offence, i enjoy the idea of sharing but i just wonder if i'll find the thought of having to filter my words an obstacle at times....
Funny enough, i think i have come to realise that i generally find more comfort in expressing myself and my ideas through creating images....I dont know maybe its coz i find that imagery tend to give more room for controversy and less for judgment....weird!
The written word seems too binding for me to let it run riot ;-). I may sound surprisingly prudent while saying this, but articulating my fears, emotions or worries has always had a slight holdup at first...

STOP NOW, IMMEDIATELY

By Gideon Levy
"This war must be stopped now and immediately. From the start it was unnecessary, even if its excuse was justified, and now is the time to end it. Every day raises its price for no reason, taking a toll in blood that gives Israel nothing tangible in return. This is a good time to stop the war because both sides can claim they won: Israel harmed Hezbollah and Hezbollah harmed Israel. History shows that no situation is better for reaching an arrangement. Remember the lessons of the Yom Kippur War. Israel went into the campaign on justified grounds and with foul means. It claims it has declared war on Hezbollah but, in practice, it is destroying Lebanon. It has gotten most of what it could have out of this war. The aerial "target bank" has mostly been covered. The air force could continue to sow destruction in the residential neighborhoods and empty offices and could also continue dropping dozens of tons of bombs on real or imagined bunkers and kill innocent Lebanese, but nothing good will come of it. Those who want to restore Israel's deterrent capabilities have succeeded. Hezbollah and the rest of its enemies know that Israel reacts with enormous force to any provocation. South Lebanon is cleaner now of a Hezbollah presence. In any case, the organization is likely to return there, just as it is likely to rearm. An international agreement could be achieved now, and it won't be possible to achieve a better deal at a reasonable price in the future. Israel's other goals - returning the captured soldiers and the elimination of Hassan Nasrallah - will anyway be more difficult to achieve even if the war goes on for weeks and months. The IDF is now asking for "two more weeks" and in another two weeks it will ask for "another two weeks." A decisive victory is not in the offing. On the other hand, the price is skyrocketing. Every day increases international criticism of Israel and hatred of it. That is also an element in "national security." As opposed to the choir in Israel that makes a false presentation as if the world is cheering Israel, the images from Beirut are causing Israel enormous damage, and rightly so. Not only in the streets of the Arab world is more and more hatred being sown, but also in the West. Not only hundreds of thousands of Lebanese but tens of thousands of Westerners fleeing from Lebanon are contributing to the depiction of Israel as a violent, crude and destructive state. The fact that George Bush and Tony Blair are cheering Israel might be consolation for Ehud Olmert and the media in Israel, but it is not enough to persuade millions of TV viewers who see the images of destruction and devastation, most of which are not shown to Israeli audiences. The world sees entire neighborhoods that have been destroyed, hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing in panic, homeless, and hundreds of civilians dead and wounded including many children who have nothing to do with Hezbollah. The continuation of the war therefore is neither moral nor worthwhile. The economic blow the war caused to Israel will even remain limited if the war ends now. A lethal summer will exact a much greater economic price. The Israeli rear, which has so far displayed impressive resilience, will not remain indifferent in the shelters for much longer. Slowly, the cracks will open and citizens will begin to ask why we are dying and what we are killing for. That's just the way of war. At first, nobody asks why, but the more entangled they become, the more difficult the questions become. We've been here before, more than once. Wars began with broad national approval and ended with a great crisis. Those who bask now in the consensus should know that nothing lasts forever. The war will become an imbroglio. When it becomes apparent that the air force is not enough, the ground invasion that has already begun will intensify. The cliche about the Lebanese quagmire will be revalidated, and when the soldiers are killed, as is already happening daily, in house to house hunting, the protests will rise and divide society. Now Israel is hoping for the elimination of Nasrallah. That's an atavistic impulse, even if understandable, which seeks the head of the enemy in order to prove our victory over him. There's no wisdom or practicality in it. Once again it is worth reminding ourselves of the dozens of people Israel assassinated in Lebanon and the territories, from Sheikh Abbas Mussawi to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, each replaced by someone new, usually more talented and dangerous than the predecessor. The goals of the war should not be dictated by dark impulses, even if they come in response to the wishes and demands of the mob. The only advantage that would benefit Israel from the elimination of Nasrallah would be that maybe it would bring about an end to the warring. But it can be halted even without that. The other desired goal, the return of the prisoners, will anyway only be achieved through negotiations to release prisoners. Israel could have done that before the war. It is still too early to weigh out the balance of achievements and failures of this war. The day will come when it will become clear that it was purposeless, as are all wars of choice. Ceasing it now guarantees a limited achievement at a limited price. Continuing it guarantees a heavy price without any guarantee of a suitable reward. Therefore, Israel must cease and desist. The president of the United States can push us to continue the war all he wants, the prime minister of Britain can cheer us in parliament, but in Israel and Lebanon, the blood is being spilled, the horror is intensifying, the price is rising and it is all for naught."