Hearing myself speak

No Regrets

2011-06-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

He was undergoing a metatarsal amputation of the right foot, which means they were chopping off all his toes at the same time. They had already taken his left leg just below the knew. Diabetes tends to do that to you if you don't treat it with the respect and care it deserves.

We gave him spinal anesthesia, so he was awake but silent for most of the operation. I actually thought he was asleep until he suddenly said, " I don't have any toes anymore. Everyone has ten and now I have none. ". He said it with a calm smile on his face as he continued, " But I've had a full life. I've seen the world. Thanks be to God for everything".

I just sat there not knowing what to say. What can I say to that, anyway? It was sad and tragically poetic.

I hope I speak the same words in 40 years or so - minus the part about the toes, of course.

Here's Edith Piaf - Non, je ne regrette rien.

Now, hold on a minute...

2011-02-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

Needless to say, the last week has been nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster for all Egyptians. One that has ended in dividing people sharply into two sides; the one that yearns for the facade of stability we've had for years and the one that wants to keep the protests' momentum going until Mubarak finally leaves. This dissent was at its ugliest yesterday when the former group was actually visibly pissed off at the protesters who were being shot at and saying that they deserved it because they brought it on themselves.
Now, I don't care which side you're on but there should be no country on the face of the planet in this day and age, where protesters who are peacefully expressing their opinions - whether you agree with them or not - are shot at while we all stand by with folded arms and annoyed expressions on our faces. The very thought should be inconceivable and I can't believe that people sitting at home all bundled up in front of their TV sets and computers have the nerve to say "well they had it coming, didn't they?".
Don't even get me started on how gullible we've really turned out to be. I'll admit that Mubarak gave quite the speech to plead with his people for a dignified exist, complete with strategically placed pauses and looks of defeat, but are people really that easy to fool? How did half the population do a complete 180 after a single speech? Is it so easy to forget what's been done over the past 3 decades that your desperation for this "mess" to go away gives you the gall to say that these kids have done enough and they should just go home when they've been forced to shift from exercising their God-given rights to fighting for their survival?
How are people still defending him and claiming that the abhorrent criminal activity that's been taking place in the past 2 days in El-Tahrir must have been devised by all the other bad guys in the government, because you know, he's really an O.K. guy once you really get to know him.
The guy's a Goddamn octogenarian who's been in power for 30 years. I think that means that he's earned enough experience over the past few DECADES to disqualify him from being the good guy surrounded by a few bad seeds leading him astray.

You don't need to be of a certain political inclination to realize that what's happening to the protesters in El Tahrir is wrong. They're Egyptians, they're human beings and they have every right to be there.

Parents

2011-01-20T08:02:00.000-08:00

It's a fact of life that your parents will always do things that drive you crazy. They will always misunderstand and annoy you. They will sometimes make you feel like choosing the hardest wall in the house and banging your head into oblivion.
One of the problems with getting older is that you tend to realize that no matter how many times you argue, one day they'll be gone and you're going to miss them sorely.

Then you feel like a complete idiot.

I'm a horrible person...

2011-01-20T05:14:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get angry. Get angry at patients, get angry at myself for doing so and eventually get angry at everybody else.
I get angry at patients because they can be so frustrating sometimes. It's horrible because they're so weak, vulnerable, horribly aware of their own vulnerability and where I work, they're often quite destitute. They also give you the vague impression that they're going to be back very soon because they just can't and/or won't take care of themselves. You know that diabetic will be back in less than 6 months to get another toe ( or maybe a whole foot) chopped off. You know that drug addict will be back in less than a month to get another part of him fixed after fighting with another drug addict.Then there are the relatives, who are a whole different ballgame.
So when it's 3 a.m. and patients won't cooperate because they're so terrified or they're insulting because they don't trust us since the only doctors available at 3 a.m. in government hospitals are the really young ones, I tend to lose my temper. I become impatient and I yell. I become pushy and downright harsh.
So when an initially terrified young woman woke up after a C-section and weakly kissed my arm to thank me before I even realized what she was trying to do, I felt like the worst person in the world. I don't deserve any gratitude because even though she might not be aware of how horrible I can be, I unfortunately am.

Sir, you have my undivided attention...

2011-01-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

There's an obvious disadvantage to being at the bottom of the professional food chain at a hospital; you are expected to be at the receiving end of everything ranging from priceless medical knowledge - from those actually willing to share it - to... well...crap. The trick to smoothly navigating these everyday involuntary one-way transactions is by having a permanently interested look on your face. You are simply fascinated by the words coming out of your professor's mouth. It doesn't matter if he/she is talking about medicine or what happened to them on their drive over- you shall hang on to their every word.
Try to gradually perfect the balance between having a look of deep interest on your face while you're internally trying to navigate the crowded halls of your mind trying to remember that distant dream you had for yourself and what was it that you really thought at 15 you would be doing at 25.
It gets easier as the days go by and eventually feigning interest isn't so hard.
The downside however, is that you may soon become a sticky professor's favorite fledgling and he or she will seek you - even hunt you down Goddammit - to share with you things they think that you simply must be informed of.
Tread carefully, children.

Didn't see all this coming...

2010-12-03T03:51:00.000-08:00

I never started this blog with the intention of neglecting it but I can understand how it looks that way considering I haven't so much as looked in its direction in almost a year.
Anyway...I have my reasons..trust me.
The last time I wrote, I was talking about how difficult it was to get my papers done so that I can graduate and start my residency. Well, a few stacks of paper and many sleepless nights after that, I started my anesthesia and critical care residency.
The funniest thing I've realized about my chosen career after just a few months down its path, is that for someone who puts people to sleep everyday, I hardly get any sleep myself. Whoever thought up 36 hour shifts was obviously devising an extremely advanced way of slowly crushing the collective souls of residents everywhere. It's even harder when you have to sniff that lovely magical knock-out gas that accidentally leaks out of our decrepit machines and builds up in the OR everyday. No wonder coffee isn't cutting it anymore!
Then there are the dee-lightful staff members. I've said it once and I'll say it again; prospective university staff members need psychological evaluations before being released onto the rest of us. I can only smile, nod and say " yes ,sir/ma'am" while wanting to gauge my eye out with a blunt spoon for so long before cracking.
*Sigh*...more on that later..I need to go punch my fist through a wall or something...

Red Tape

2010-02-28T10:31:00.000-08:00

Egypt is unique. There's really no doubt about that. This is probably the only country of the world where getting out of medical school is so much harder than getting in it. We seem to be clawing our way out of one of the gates of hell just to prove that we've spent almost a third of our lives in this hellhole.
The way we're drowning in paperwork is getting downright comical. They're like little bureaucratic supervillains that never seem to die. As soon as you think you're done with one of them, it seems to breed two more. Then those little bastards seem to be dancing in front of your face jeering about the number of stamps and approvals each one of them wants - nay, my pretties - demands!
It's also weird that while the university hospital seems to have an abundance of officials and employees, yet we have to do some of their work. We have to go around the hospital buildings getting our attendance and vacation histories, which for some reason are so impossibly hard to transfer along with our names from one building to another.
Also, if they find it necessary to drown our paperwork in so much ink, how about we stick all those with the mystic power of the ink within the same vicinity. I'm not asking for much here; just stick them all in the same building.

I'm just asking for a little mercy for our sore feet. Is that really so much to ask for!?

Book Review

2010-01-05T08:12:00.000-08:00

So I haven't posted in ages, been busy, bla bla bla..yada yada yada..moving on.

The next couple of posts are some thoughts on a few books I've read recently (warning: Some spoilers included) :

Vertigo by Ahmed Mourad
I saw this in a bookstore and after reading the summary on the back and seeing that it was already in its fifth edition, I decided to give it a go .

The short version of my review :

I hated it and I can't believe trees had to die to make paper for this crap.

The detailed version :

Ten pages in, I felt like I was reading a movie rather than a novel. A movie starring Ahmed El Sakka no less (with Karim Abd El Aziz as a possible stand-in in case El-Sakka pulls a muscle). Just in case you're confused, this is in no way, shape or form a compliment. I don't like my novels playing out like bad action movie scripts.

The lead protagonist (Ahmed) and his best friend and partner in crime are in a word: repulsive.

They're sexist and disgusting. They almost always fail to have a conversation where they don't talk about women derogatorily and I just don't understand why the writer insisted on letting us know every time the best friend farts or burps.

I hardly think his intestinal movements are pivotal to the novel's events and if it was an attempt at comic relief, it failed miserably.

I also don't understand the reason for the incessant use of vulgarity in this book. Was this supposed to be some sort of lame attempt at gritty realism by trying to accurately depict conversations between young Egyptian men? So how accurate was this depiction? Do all young Egyptian men have conversations that are this sexist and retarded? In that case, we're even more screwed than I had ever previously thought.

Now that whole alter-ego business...

-An old dude shows up...
-He knows stuff only *gasp* Ahmed himself could possibly know!
-He shows up suddenly and disappears into thin air!!
-And he has a ring with the first letter of his deaf girlfriend's name!!!

It was not only painfully obvious that the mysterious old man was a ~figment of his imagination~, he also had absolutely no use in the novel. Seriously, erase him completely and see if anything's different.

Don't even get me started on the ~big revelation~ when Ahmed suddenly realizes that he and the old dude are actually...*drumroll please*...the very same person!

As Keanu Reeves would say: Whoaaa...

The most tragic part I suppose is the ending. While reading the last pages of the book, the only thing I could think of (besides I can't believe I spent money on this friggin' book) was...damn, they couldn't think of that a couple of hundred pages ago?

I'll admit that I did like the sister's story line quite a bit and even Gouda's although it's hardly original as a viewing of several Egyptian movies can demonstrate.

Next up, A review of 1/4 Gram...

2009-10-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Please tell me I'm not the only one over 10 years of age and of a supposedly sound mental state who has to exert a great deal of effort in order to restrain herself from running delirious with joy down the toy aisles in a hypermarket?
Anyone?

Happy Eid

2009-09-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

Let these tasty, decadently high-caloric homemade cookies we all know only too well usher you all into a happy Eid.

I Can Feel it Coming in the Air Tonight...

2009-09-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

..Oh, Looord.

It's this time of the year when you feel the air heavy with a distinct yet, familiar flavor we've all come to know by heart.

It's the gift that keeps on giving. It's particularly generous with our lungs.

There's not a single year that goes by when it doesn't pay a visit.

In fact, we've become so accustomed to its ubiquitous presence all over Cairo's night sky, that we feel a little anxious if it isn't around.

And its color just never goes out of style...

A Parallel Me

2009-09-14T04:49:00.000-07:00

I find the idea of parallel dimensions quite charming. I'm somewhat pleased to think that somewhere out there in the vast and (possibly) infinite universe, there's another "me" who's making better, smarter choices.
At the same time, I find it rather comforting to think that somewhere out there in the vast and (possibly) infinite universe, yet another "me" is looking right at me with her mind's eye and thinking the exact same thing.

High Hopes

2009-09-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

I always find it weird how other people are so much more sure of my talents and potential than I personally am. I try to calmly and gently tell them that they've got the wrong idea and that they're overrating me beyond belief, but they seem to hold on to the idea that I will become the living proof of how they are insightful enough to foresee who will succeed and will not.

Nobody knows what the future holds but I'd like to go ahead right now and apologize for disappointing everyone... just in case.

High Hopes - Pink Floyd

Hospital Food Chain

2009-09-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

I always (naively) assumed that a well-balanced, mentally stable human being after climbing up the food chain would not want to inflict the same injustices he/she was previously exposed to on the new fledglings taking his/her place dangling at the bottom.

Turns out there are more mentally unstable people than not. In Other words, (and I don't care how cheesy I sound saying this) be careful kids; it's a jungle out there!

Product Review: Mirinda Hibiscus

2009-09-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

You know that shitty metallic aftertaste that badly-brewed Hibiscus sometimes leaves in your mouth?
Drinking a can of Mirinda Hibiscus is like drinking an entire can of that shitty metallic after-taste.

What About All the Rest?

2009-09-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

I don't know how to say the following without sounding like a complete asshole but I'll try.
I think it's awesome, amazing and mind-blowing that the Children's Cancer Hospital (57357) is enjoying this tremendous amount of support, both moral and financial.
It sort of bugs me though that a great many other hospitals in Egypt that are just as needy (if not more) are not getting nearly as much attention. It seem that somehow, the massive media campaign aimed at promoting the CCH's efforts has made it more well...fashionable to direct donations there compared to other hospital.s
My own personal experience is limited to El-Demerdash (a.k.a. Ain Shams University Hospital), but I don't think I'm being pessimistic in thinking that it's only one among many hospitals that need serious financial support just to stay afloat.
I go to work every day and I see this crumbling establishment trying to pose as a hospital that receives a ridiculous amount of patients each day complaining from every ailment imaginable under the sun.
As awful and life-shattering as cancer is, there are also many other awful diseases out there that need so much to treat or even to diagnose properly. I've witnessed young residents with my own eyes pay for patient's treatments out of their own pockets and let me tell you, their pockets are by no means deep.
It's not just money either. Blood is more commonly unavailable than not and sometimes it can make all the difference.
So is there anyone out there willing and powerful enough to advertise the needs of other heavily pressured hospitals in Egypt so that all those generous Egyptian philanthropists (and for once, I'm not being sarcastic) can be made aware of other places where their help is badly needed?

Things that Go Bump in the Night

2009-05-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

So I just started my pediatrics' round, last Saturday. If there's one thing I've come to notice with my keen observational skills, it's the absolute lack of any semblance of hygienic conditions within the hospital. I mean, sure it might seem hygienic to a family of rats but it's not exactly fit for 10 hospital wards full of babies.

Last night, my friend and I decided to wander off from the hole in the ground we like to call the "ER", after our red blood cells finally decided to give up the good fight against the ER's horrible ventilation (or lack thereof) and we began to feel our brain cells slowly withering from the lack of oxygen. So there we were, strolling through the hospital's empty hallways with the intention of visiting our friends on the second floor, when suddenly...

We thought we thaw a puthycat!

It was a puthy..err... pussycat indeed...

In fact, there were two of them, rummaging through the garbage in front of one of the wards.

Needless to say, cats playing around in what seems to be last week's macaroni inside of a friggin' hospital, by no means make a pretty sight.

Then if that wasn't enough to permanently turn us off from the practice of medicine in Egypt, the following events take place while we pass one of the balconies :

Me: Wait a sec, I think I just saw something move.
Friend: What? Where?

~*We both put our heads together and squint through the darkness until we see..err..a rodent of some kind~*

Me: Eww! It's a huge RAT!
Friend: No no, it's ...it's got..thick hair on its tail.
Me: EWWW..omg shut up...o look..the cat looks like it's trying to pounce on it...how cute!

After the furry little fellow scurries along moments away from inevitable doom, we conclude it was in fact a weasel...and if we had any doubts, it made it's identity entirely clear by scurrying, once again, in front of us on our way back and a few inches away from the kids sleeping soundly in their beds.

I finally understand why the pediatrics hospital is commonly known as the "The toilet of El-Demerdash".

And if you're a toilet's toilet, you know things have got to be bad!

I'm at the age..

2009-04-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

When I'm finally starting to realize that I'm not nearly as "special" as I thought I was. Whenever I start feeling good about something, there's just something around the corner that kicks my ass right back into reality.
And will someone kindly explain to me just why do I give so much crap about what people I all but loathe think of me?

Me and myself are very displeased with each other...

And here is the appropriately titled...Sucks to be you- Prozzak

Close Encounters of the Avian Kind

2009-04-20T04:44:00.000-07:00

It's not very reassuring when your resident tells you that the patient who just threw up on your shoes the day before, has now been confirmed as the 65th case of Avian Flu(H5N1 strain) in Egypt.

It's also kinda difficult to hide it from your family - ya know- so as not to worry them or anything, when it gets printed in the newspaper the next day and everyone at home jumps whenever you sneeze or cough. Even when you tell them that there's no human-to-human transmission...yet.

Well hopefully because if a virus wants a place to mutate where else could it find a better home?

Okay okay, enough with my fear mongering...

The poor woman came to the hospital 9-months pregnant and as custom goes in certain.. well..I guess you could say.. socioeconomic classes here, she was raising the chickens, so she could eat a couple after she gave birth. She and her family kept denying that little tidbit however, until her condition became severely deteriorated and ventilatory support became necessary.

As my father would say, "E7na sha3b ghalban walahy".

It seems however that the Dr.Sha3bolla approach isn't working too well and the Ministry of Health needs to start working on a new game plan, since we're now the proud owners of the highest number of Avian Flu cases outside of Asia.

I'm a Doctor! Well sorta...

2009-04-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

Imagine me saying that a la Zach Braff, all full of myself in my fancy work p.j.'s (a.k.a. scrubs).
So I technically graduated and I'm currently 6 weeks into my year as a house officer (a.ka. my year of living dangerously...dun dun DUN).

I went ahead and picked the group with obstetrics and gynecology as the first round and my oh my, what a hoot! Suffice to say that adoption does not get enough love in this country and anyone who tells you girls that pregnancy is a beautiful thing should be instantly smacked on the head. Preferably with something capable of causing brain damage.

Between the random pools of blood and vomit on the floor and all those women screaming their heads off at once, topped off with a doctor getting a miniature nervous breakdown every now and then, I just can't seem to see the beauty. Not even when the resident finally lets you assist in a delivery and you hold that strange squishy creature in your hand covered in a strange variety of ..well... crap and you're looking around frantically for someone to take it away before it slips out of your hand.

Eh, it's the circle of life maaan...(no, I'm not using a bong right now).

I've learned in these past few weeks that I'm not nearly as much of an insomniac as I fancy myself to be. In fact, I actually like to sleep every now and then.

That I'm always going to find blood somewhere on my hands, no matter how careful I am or how many pairs of latex gloves I carry around.

That working in a hospital requires you to be an asshole/bitch/jerk more than your normal daily quota, as unfortunate as that is.

That everyone in the hospital steals from everyone else. We were actually sent out more than once on missions to rip off both the internal medicine and surgery hospitals of as many cannulas as our formerly innocent pockets could carry. We all died a little inside as we started our career in crime *sigh*.

That washing your shoes before you step into the house is always a good idea because you're never quite sure exactly what it is you slipped on while walking down the hall that day.

And finally that requests are a great way to lose weight, if you steer clear from all the junk food (a.k.a. mysterious and greasy toxic waste everyone in the hospital seems to order). Eat your heart out, Jenny Craig !

I'm too cool to worry, you know...

2009-01-27T22:37:00.000-08:00

Here I am, just hangin'..

My grades are gonna show up presumably within the next 48 hours but I'm not worried. Nu-uh..no siree. I mean why should I? They're just basically some numbers. I mean, its true that these numbers are the summation of any effort I put into the last six years of my life and most likely will determine where I spend the next six but I digress, they're just numbers that will not get any higher or lower if I worry, right guys?

The thing is, I just want to make plans for the rest of the week. What does that have to do with grades you say? Well, if they do show up online or in college, I'd hate to be in a position where everybody can get theirs except me. Not that I would cry, hyperventilate or possibly pass out..but I would just feel so lonely and left out and no one likes to feel that way, friends. No one.

And while the F5 button has been fun to play with (its so much fun seeing the faculty's results' page load over and over again-such bright colors!) , I really should get up before my index finger falls off because I'm assuming I might need it in the future.

This entry was brought to you by a calm and cool medical student who is patiently awaiting those pesky results, ya know, just to get things over with and not because her heart is trying to break free from her chest. Toodles!

Texting Good Wishes My Way? No, Thank You.

2008-12-16T02:19:00.000-08:00

You know, I really miss the days when people had to pick up the phone or drop by and actually make an effort to tell you "Happy Eid" or whatever phrase they prefer. Getting the same text message as the other 200 people in your phonebook does kinda defeats the purpose of the "sincere wishes" you're trying to send me.

The Month of Fasting, Among Other Things (part 2)

2008-09-23T11:15:00.001-07:00

Ramadan has also unfortunately become the month of neverending T.V. series for as long as I can remember. In recent years however, T.V. in Ramadan has been a continuous flow of commercials with some shows dispersed here and there. You end up watching so many commercials, over and over again that you become more familiar with them than with some members of your family.
I'm not going to talk about T.V. shows or series because I've avoided following any of them for quite a few years now but rather some T.V. ads that always strike me as odd whenever I venture to sit down in front of the television with a cup of coffee.

1- The series of commercials produced by The general union for NGO's ( el ete7ad el 3am lel gam3eyat el ahleya*- E7sebha sa7, te3esha sa7). Apparently, they're trying to teach the people of Egypt how to manage their budget properly. It's not the fact that the prices for bare essentials have doubled and tripled over the last few months that are making life difficult for people in Egypt. Oh my, no! It's because people are frivolous and wasteful. While the latter may be true for some portion of the population, producing a series of commercials reminding people how much easier their lives would be if they would be just a little more careful with those water faucets and cigarettes is not only equally frivolous and wasteful, but also moronic and aggravating.

2-A commercial for a~ particular~ brand of frozen vegetables(that shall remain anonymous), where a bunch of chefs decide to having a poolside cooking party. What an absolutely brilliant idea!
I know that whenever I decide to cook, I always to do it best by the pool while doing a little dance and gently caressing some artichokes, if ya know what I mean! *winkwink-nudgenudge*
Heck, I don't even know what I mean...

3- A commercial for that ~ particular~ brand of underwear(that shall remain anonymous), where we observe the trials and tribulations of a young man who doesn't have the best taste in wifebeaters/A-shirts/undershirts (el fanelat el dakhelya ya3ni). We watch with aching hearts the mess his life has become until we collectively rejoice upon his discovery of this ~particular~ brand ( that shall remain anonymous) and how the right fanela dakhelya can make you a star among your peers. It also appears to be the key to success in attracting women and eventually making a marriage work. These are pearls of wisdom, people! Pearls, I tell you!

4- Finally, I hope that Sameh chokes on those Goddamn chips of his.

There are probably a shitload of others that are also likely to make my brain hurt but those are the the ones that have left a stain on my soul, so far.

*at least I think that's the correct translation

Listening to : Goldfrapp - You never know

Procrastinator Extraordinaire

2008-09-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

It's awfully depressing when you realize that you have the ability to spend the entire day coming up with creative ways to watch hour after hour pass by without doing anything that actively validates the air you consume until the entire day manages to slips away .

(O how delightful...I can rhyme.)

Just how smart aren't we?

2008-09-16T12:21:00.000-07:00

As I approach graduation, I find myself concerned about how exactly I'm going to be a doctor handling lives day in and day out, because quite frankly after almost 6 years of textbooks and exams, I feel like I don't know... well, shit.

And I'm not even a slacker.I study, I get an 'excellent' grade every year and then I move on to the next year. Similarly, all the students in my class don't seem to know much either even if they study their little hearts out every year.

And I'm just talking about the basics...

There's this belief in medical school that you start to actually learn after graduation as house officers and residents. However, what kind of logic says that millions of pounds should be spent annually on thousands of students for six years, just so they could begin their actual learning process after graduating.

Also, you should keep in mind that living (if only for a while) patients are involved in this delightful learning process.

Thinking about this also reminded me of how angry I was when I was in middle school, when an Australian friend told me online how they were learning all about ancient Egypt. I remember thinking "How come you're learning about us and we're not learning anything about you guys? Wait a second here...how come we're not learning anything about anyone else!?".

Of course in all fairness, our schools were adamant about teaching us the most popular crop in one country from each continent. They also made an effort to teach us exactly how many bullets were shot on the 6th of October...for some reason unbeknown to us all.

*cue mental image of a 13-year-old me banging her little fists on her little desk and crying "What does it all mean!?" at the top of her lungs*

I know you're probably thinking; "So you're trying to say that education in Egypt sucks? Well, thank you Captain Obvious!", but please humor me for I need to spread my despair.

So any suggestions on how to overhaul education in Egypt and start over? I'm actually serious...no joke, people. I know I'm kinda negative and pessimistic in general but possible solutions would make my heart dance.

I mean, there's gotta be something that can be done about it. Right?

Right?

Medical School - Bringing you closer everyday to....

2008-09-15T06:49:00.000-07:00

Cold-blooded Sadistic Murders!

And that's not even a figure of speech....

An Egyptian endocrinology professor at Ain Shams university has been convicted of killing a man, proceeding to cut him up with a chainsaw and finally running over the victim's head with his car to make it impossible to identify him. This dude used to be a fearful fixture in the 5th year oral exam circuit and I've seen more than one student examined by him last year laughing hysterically with a bewildered look in their eyes after reading their news.

Is it now obvious why I say that professors at our faculty require psychiatric evaluations before being unleashed onto the students?

My condolences to the victim's family because as strangely (and macabrely) funny as this is, it doesn't make it any less horrible.

The month of fasting, among other things (part I)

2008-09-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

Why is it that during Ramadan driving through the streets is the akin to playing bumper cars with a group of Attention deficit children?

Egyptians are generally known for their impeccable ability to avoid maintaining any lanes what so ever but in Ramadan , they're practically gliding across the street from one side to another, with their eyes half-closed and their mouths half-open more often than not. The traffic jams are phenomenal displays of what a combination of low blood sugar, not enough sleep and preexisting road rage can do to the normally docile Egyptian citizen.

Okay, I totally made that last part up.

It's always fun to hear people curse their heads off while driving, insulting you, your mother, your father and every other relative they can fit into a single sentence. Especially since it's usually followed up by the ubiquitous " Allahoma iny sayem!" or "God, I'm fasting!".

You see, that's enough to fill the world with scented roses and sunshine until the next driver cuts you off.

I'm glad I don't drive but I still get the need to jump out of the car and proceed to throttle some drivers while riding in the passenger seat. Fortunately, that plan never comes to fruition because I'm usually too busy yawning and dreaming of caffeine just like most people on the road.

Little Angels

2008-08-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

I was stepping into Carrefour about a week ago with my mother and suddenly a shiver went down my spine.
I was surprised...no...overwhelmed by the sheer number of babies & toddlers in the supermarket.

It's not that I hate babies but I've always recognized the fact that unlike many other girls, I do not have the ability to voluntarily fawn over a little kid. The extent of my reaction is "aww, cute kid". I don't pinch cheeks and I don't tickle tummies. That might be a defect but that's just the way I am.

However, in supermarkets/department stores etc. , the expression " kiddies gone wild" is the only one possibly applicable. My indifference to random children suddenly shifts gears to extreme dislike for both them and their parents.

The things is, parents seem to think that they've done most of their work when the baby starts walking. Um , no. I don't want your little bundles of terror running over my feet and hiding behind my legs during hide & seek. The idea that a small child can hide entirely behind one of my legs is not very pleasant you know.

I don't like taking each step with an extreme fear that I might trip over a running child and then turn out to be the cold-hearted villain as the mother spastically screams out "danaya!" . I especially hate when a little boy is running through a dressing room in a clothing store. Despite what his proud mommy might think, his early inquisitive nature is NOT cute.

Can people not keep their kids in check anymore or do they depend on other people for that when they're in public?

Magdalena - A Perfect Circle

2008-08-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by the lovely and talented Juka, so here goes :).

RULES:

1. Put your iTunes/music player on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get you answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT!! After you’ve answered all of the questions, tag 5 other people and then let them know they’ve been tagged to do them themselves.

1.IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?

Kelly watch the stars - Air (ha!)

2.WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

Sexy boy - Air ( oh crap..)

3.WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

Cuts you up - Peter Murphy ( well look at that ..I'm a masochist )

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

The overly dramatic truth - El-P

5.WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?

Last - Nine Inch Nails

6.WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

Metal Heart - Cat Power (I'm not really *that *mean you guys...)

7. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?

أHurt (live) - Nine Inch Nails ( lol)

8.WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

Sucks to be you -Prozzak ( eh..not very far off!)

9.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

Hold on to yourself - Nick Cave & the Bad seeds ( ha! again..)

10.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Bongo Bong - Manu Chao (articulate is what I am..)

11.WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

Cornflake Girl - Tori Amos (well, I'll be damned!)

12.WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Sunday Girl - Blondie ( this isn't shaping up to my advantage is it? )

13.WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Carolina Drama - The Raconteurs (so not only am I dramatic, I'm apparently also Southern )

14. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

These Stones will shout - The Raconteurs

15. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUERAL?

Reckoner- Radiohead ( I can live (or rather die) with that actually)

16.WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

Burn- Nine Inch Nails (being an arsonist is SO MUCH FUN YOU GUYS!)

17. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

Siren - Tori Amos (yep, I turn into a mythical feathered creature at night and try to seduce Batman)

18.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

Whip it - Devo

19. WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?

Magdalena - A Perfect Circle (hey..at least it wasn't the answer to the next question)

20. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOURSELF?

Dashboard - Modest Mouse (see above)

Get your ipods/itunes (whatever!) out people because I would really love to know what’s on them.

Tagging everyone who reads this and wants to do it. Just let me know when you're done, so I can check it out ! ;)

In through one ear and out the other

2008-08-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

Last night, I watched a segment about the "Respect Yourself" or "E7terem Nafsak" anti-sexual harassment campaign by Kelmetna Magazine on "el 3ashera masa2an" show along with millions of other people. It resonated with me as I'm sure it did with many other girls around Egypt particularly since the segment adamantly placed emphasis on the fact that it's not the girl's fault and unlike what people believe, it doesn't simply boil down to the way she's dressed.

So I decided to check out the campaign's facebook group and you'll never guess what I found people arguing about for pages upon pages.

Actually, you probably can

Lo and behold, people were still arguing about clothes and the way girls are dressed.

I'm stunned that so many people are simultaneously naive and hardheaded. Note to the public : covering a girl from head to toe has been done and it doesn't desuade macho-men with inferiority complexes walking through the streets of Cairo from running their mouths and possibly drooling to the extent of needing a bucket tied around their necks (and this has been supported by research).

Before anyone flames me, I'm not advocating that women walk around in the skimpiest of outfits but basically I believe in two things :

a) Regardless of religious beliefs, I don't think it's particularly intelligent of a girl to emphasize her body over everything else she possesses be it intelligence, talent, humor..etc.
b)However, I do believe in personal freedom.

Another reason why the whole clothing issue is so completely redundant to me is that saying a women is "asking for it" by the way she dresses is basically proclaiming that the majority of men in Egypt are decerebrate animals with absolutely no control over their actions who are simply being driven around by their hormones and desires. I find that both lame and unacceptable. Seriously, people have to come up with a better excuse than that.

To further explain my point; let's use the open door analogy Egyptians seem so fond of. We like to say that if a door of a house or a car is left open, surely this will lure a theif.
Well, yeah..except that means that 90% of the Egyptian male population have suddenly become degenerate theives and women (pssst...those are the houses/cars...ooh..and their skimpy clothes are the open doors!) have suddenly become walking targets.

I don't know about you but that's just insulting to both sexes .

I don't want to live in a place where that analogy is an accepted fact that applies to the vast majority of the population especially in this day and age.

You know what the real problem is? It's apathy. As cliche as that sounds, it's the truth. Nobody gives a damn any more. It's just another day and another chick getting hit on by some moron, maybe violently, maybe not. Ho-hum well what's new and what do you expect me to do, lady?

I'd go as far as to say that some people enjoy seeing other people's misery. After all, it makes for awesome small talk!

listening to: Robyn-Bum like you

Essence de Microbus

2008-07-04T23:18:00.000-07:00

You know what you really shouldn't take with you on a Microbus on a really, really hot day? Three bags full of raw fish.
You see, I initally thought that there nothing worse than the smell of sweat and stale underwear on a hot crowded microbus but as usual, turns out I was really naive. The low point was just about every miniature traffic jam when whatever breeze was blowing through the windows just stopped leaving you clutching your chest and clawing against the already tattered seat in front of you just waiting for sweet relief, even if it's permanent.
You know what's even worse than simply smelling it all through the ride? Having to maneuver your way through the aforementioned bags while the owner looks on innocently, causing your shoes to pick up the scent and keep you company for the rest of the way home, where you promptly burn them in a sacrificial bonfire while quietly weeping over their young prematurely snuffed out lives.

On a more pleasantly smelling note; HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOU!

Listening to : Sour Girl - STP

Random lulz

2008-06-19T23:06:00.000-07:00

I love this flash animation so much. It always makes me laugh maniacally at my computer. If you haven't seen it before (in case your cave doesn't get a good internet connection) or if you'd just like to see it again, here it is : END OF ZE WORLD

Translation for anyone who doesn't know what the hell the dude is saying :
Hokay, so here's the Earth, chilling. Damn! That is a sweet earth you might say, round! Alright, ruling out the Ice Caps melting, meteors becoming crashed into us , the Ozone layer leaving and the Sun exploding , we're definitely going to blow ourselves up . Hokay, so basically we've got China, France, India, Isreal, Pakistan, Russia, the U.K. and Us...with nukes...(We've got about 2600 more than anybody else, whatever). Henyway, one day, we decides, those Chinese sonsofabitches are going down. So we launch a nuke at China. While it's on it's way, China's like, "Shit shit! Who the fuck is shooting us?" "Oh well! Fire missiles!" Then France is like, "Shit guys...we got ze missiles zey are coming! Fire our shit!" "But I'm le tired"..."Well, have a nap-zen fire ze missiles!!!" Meanwhile, Australia is down there like, "wtf, mates?" India, Isreal and Pakistan launch their shit , so now we've got missiles flying everwhere, passing each other . Russia's like, "AAAHHH!! Motherland!" Then England's like, "'Bout that time, eh, chaps?"..."Righto"... So now the U.S. is like, "Fuck, we're dumbasses" Canada's like, "What's going on, eh?" Australia's still like, "wtf?" Mars is laughing at us . And some huge meteor is like, "Well fuck that" ... So, now we've got nuclear winter... heveryone's dead 'cept Australia, and they're still like, "wtf?"...But they'll be dead soon. Fucking Kangaroos. But, assuming we don't blow ourselves up, us Californians just have to worry about California breaking off from the United States . To go hang with Hawaii . Alaska can come too ... The End!

With a little help from my friends..

2008-06-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

"Friends" are always really interesting when they're not really willing to live up to the less pleasant aspects of friendship. It's not their fault though I suppose. I mean, it's exhausting being nice and helpful all the time.

I also get pretty interesting and it's not my fault I'm vindictive.

Listening to : Ladytron - Destroy everything you touch

Perplexed

2008-06-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

Do I secretly strive for his attention because I actually like him or simply because my ego can't handle the fact that his attention is exactly what I fail to receive?

Perhaps someone should let my ego know that I'm not in high school anymore and spread the word around the rest of that sorry place parading as my brain.

Listening to : Cat Power - Metal Heart

Physical Abuse Courtesy of ...Medical School

2008-06-10T02:38:00.000-07:00

The expression "Victims of Medical School" 0r "Da7aya Koleyet Teb" has always seemed a bit of an exaggeration to me. Last week though is probably one of those times when it actually applied to some of us!

You see, we take some private lessons in the most absurd places. Specifically, the inner alleys of El-Abbassia. Mind you, I'm not talking about the residential areas there in general, I'm talking about the innermost, darkest, broken-down, suspiciously odoriferous areas surrounding the faculty.

Last Thursday, a random resident driving over a friend's foot while standing in front of the um.."educational center" where we take our lessons, prompted one of our male colleagues to shout something along the lines of "watch it!". After that, apparently all hell broke loose. The man stepped out of the car, people started pouring down from the apartments (still in their sleeping "garments") and pseudo-thugs ready with their retractable pocket-knives started running over from the local all-night cafés. They then proceeded to beat the crap out of every male student who just happened to be standing there. The used their fists, random chairs and a few tables to cause as many bruises as possible along with some ripping of clothes and breaking of glasses for good measure, while the girls were locked in the aforementioned center or fled for safety.

This ended in a dramatic scene where the police drove in after our Professor/Doctor/Tutor drove over to get them.

Then the credits began to roll followed quickly by "THE END".

No, seriously. I'm not making this stuff up.

Let this be a warning to all those who wish to enter medical school : If you thought it was just about the studying, think again kiddies, think again!

Listening to : New Order - Crystal

The Biggest Trap?

2008-06-09T04:05:00.000-07:00

I love it when Doctors/Professors literally spit out their "pearls of wisdom" at us during rounds. Seriously, the stuff I hear coming from these men's mouths is pure comedy gold.

I remember during my OB&GYN round last month, there was this particular doctor who blew me away. We only saw him twice but he had a particularly profound effect on me during one of those times caused by one of his highly entertaining "pearls.

I'm paraphrasing here, of course but the gist of what he told us one time when we were discussing the value of knowing the patient's and her husband's respective ages was:

"See? Her husband's much older than her. He probably needed someone to serve him. That's what these marriages with significant age differences are usually about. You see, the biggest trap a man can fall into is ending up outliving his wife because then there would be no one to take care of him in his old age. I mean, a woman can serve herself when she's old and on her own but a man still needs taking care of! "

So let me get this straight...
A elderly widower's biggest problem would be the absence of a female "servant" rather than a "companion"? His biggest problem would be the inability to shout "JANE! ME HUNGRY! FEED NOW!" at someone? And an elderly female widow needs nothing because any thing's manageable as long as she can cook and clean after herself despite any decrepitude old age might cause?

This is actually as silly as the notion that a widower should get married as soon as possible because he needs someone to take care of the house while a widow shouldn't because she should stay loyal to her husband's memory and think only of her children.

If this is the biggest trap a guy could fall into, the biggest one a girl could fall into is ending getting hitched to a guy retarded enough to think of her as an investment to keep him comfortable in his old age.

Listening to : God is an Astronaut - Radau

Random Embarrassing Situation

2008-06-01T02:54:00.000-07:00

So I had an Obstetrics and Gynecology exam recently. It was one of those exams where they threateningly go "SHIFT!" every 5 minutes (or so they say-- it feels like we shift according to the time it takes a resident to yawn in between well.. shifts). As a result your brain goes into overload and fries itself until it recovers of course right after the exam and you wonder how you could have been such a moron to mess up like that.
So I go in all ready for action. I was going to do all that I could with the patient in the hypothetical 5 minutes that I had. I choose the first relatively high surface I find to begin writing on. I go ahead with the questions and the patient quietly says " Doctor, do you mind my stomach, please?". I look down in horror to realize that the "high surface" I have chosen is the pregnant patient's belly and not a commode of some sort. Then again, you'd think I would find it suspicious that there's a commode sprouting out of the middle of the friggin' bed. *Facepalm*
It gets even worse when she answers one of my questions by saying "this is my tenth pregnancy, I've had nine miscarriages". She then adds with a glare " I hope this one works out!".

Now, where's that dude telling you to shift when you actually need him!?

Random Movie Reactions...

2008-05-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Here I am emerging once again from the dark abyss that is medical school to the breathe the air of the normal life that includes normal stuff like " fun " , "movies" , "music" etc. If only for a little while..

My God, that sounded lame....

Anyway...Here are some random movie trailers I've seen lately + commentary by me because you just know that I can't shut up.

Tropic Thunder

I need to see this movie. I truly believe that my life will be happier when I do. I'm so happy Rober Downey Jr. has succeeded in achieving his grand "comeback" which I think probably started with "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" and now has culminated with "Iron Man" because he has always been such an underrated actor. In this movie he actually plays a white Australian actor playing the role of a black man..so the least you can say about the man is that he's versatile!

Also, I know I'm weird but I find Ben Stiller to be a very strangely attractive (if short) man . I will go hang my head in shame now.

Prom Night

So like, some people, like , totally thought people needed to see yet another horror movie remake. So this movie is like about this bad-ass-psycho-OMG-stalker dude who's like totally hellbent on killing all these hot teenagers at their prom. Like what a nightmare, right? So all the hot girls are like all running away and tripping over their own totally hot dresses. Then there's the obligatory " Like, omg why don't you just -like- leave me alone? eeeeek". The movie probably ends with just enough leeway for a possible sequel cos like, this is cinematic GENIUS that needs to be totally seen over and over again.

What Happens in Vegas

Cameron Diaz is actually orange in this movie. ORANGE. That is all.

Harold and Kumar escape from Guatanamo Bay

I honestly thought the first one was totally hysterical, so I'm really looking forward to seeing this one. Just fun stoner comedy.
Random Fact : Christopher Meloni (Elliott Stabler from Law & Order : SVU) has a small role her as the KKK leader. He also played "Freakshow" in Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. I didn't know the man had it in him to be so funny =D.

Disclaimer: I haven't seen any of these movies. These are my impressions based on this trailer, so no unnecessary whining, please.

I've also seen a couple of older movies recently: Sliding doors and The Descent (Yes, I finally got myself acquainted with Satellite TV once again).

Sliding Doors was a movie I always heard good things about but avoided because I think Gwyenth Palrow is one of the most wooden and overrated actresses in Hollywood. Well, the movie was a fun, interesting little movie and as for Gwennie, I'm not British but I thought that her accent was cringe-worthy. Granted she had a much better accent in Shakespeare in Love and Emma but this is the actress who they gave an Oscar to instead of Cate Blanchett!? *Facepalm*

The Descent was surprisingly good. It was obviously low budget but I thought it was a damn good movie that was pretty gripping from start to finish and I'm a person who literally dozes off in movie theaters if the movie isn't interesting enough. I realized the director was Neil Marshall, who also directed another low-budget movie which I liked a lot and wrote about here before called "Dog Soldiers" which was one of the better werewolf movies to come out in recent years (though I'm waiting to see how "Wolfman" with Benicio Del Toro will turn out - despite Mark Romanek jumping ship which is a damn shame).

As for the Descent, I saw the version with the original British ending which was rather depressing but I think it made the movie overall stronger. Oh and there is a sequel in the works, so here's to hoping it doesn't suck.

That's enough for now. I'm out!

Listening to: The Raconteurs - Carolina Drama

Who has the biggest brain..?

2008-04-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else have this problem? This problem being total and utter addiction to that cursed application on Facebook called " Who has the biggest brain?". Seriously, forget the cute little scientist popping on to the screen every 5 mins....this game is eeevil.

I can't seem to get the " I'm gonna beat you, you wretched computerized game!" attitude outta my head whenever I sit down to play a game. This is hands down, the most addictive application on FB at the moment and that's saying something.

Great! Just what I needed; a new way to waste time...

Dr.Shrinking Violet is Currently Unable to Examine You...

2008-04-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

There's something I can't wrap my head around these days (lol breaking news, I'm sure.); the fact that despite us being in our FINAL year of medical school, my colleagues (particularly the chicks) insist on acting like they're oh-so-embarrassed-to-be there when certain medical terms comes up in conversation. Here I'm referring to stuff that everyone else would understandably be too embarrassed to bring up while having lunch with friends; menstruation, scrotal examination, breast examination..etc.
I can understand people who haven't entered the deathtrap known as medical school going into mini-attacks of convulsions when I talk about unsavory topics like these with them (I'm so sorry Juka!) but seriously, other doctors-to-be (hopefully, someday) acting like I just said an especially heinous curse word is très annoying. Blushing in the middle of a PURELY scientific discussion about the dos and don'ts of the examination of a particularly sensitive area in the body(something we do at least TWICE weekly during our surgical rounds) is almost as bad for a med student as fainting at the sight of blood is. Seriously, you're going to be house officers next year. Unpleasant and often smelly situations will be the NORM.

Toughen the hell up or sit the f*** down, kids!

I despise falsely conjured modesty and hate that educated people choose to adhere to the relic -and in many situations- completely uncalled for behaviors deemed appropriate by their society just for the sake of appearances.

/rant off

One of my favorite songs (and videos) :

The Perfect Drug - Nine Inch Nails ( Lost Highway OST)

Tagged: 10 Random Things

2008-03-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

Tagged by greyscale . Thanks !

Here we go :

The Rules :

-Post 10 random things about yourself.
-Choose 5 people to tag and a reason you chose each person.
-Leave them each a comment directing them to your blog so they know they are it.
-You can’t tag the person who tagged you (you’ll have to make new friends).
-As a courtesy to the person who tagged you, please let them know when you have posted so they can have the sheer delight and extra work load of reading your answers)

1- I carry a 13-blade swiss army knife with me almost every time I leave the house. I love it! Not because of my homicidal tendencies but because it's so damn handy for so many things.

2- I lived in the U.S. for 3 years as a child. It was just long enough to ruin my Arabic forever. I have no accent but people who concentrate with me when I'm talking notice how I tend to mix up pronouns and the actual order of the words quite a bit. My writing in Arabic is also beyond juvenile.

3. I love music a lot of my friends think is headache-inducing noise. Then again I tend to think that they listen to music that should be played exclusively in nursing homes and elevators.

4- My favorite past-time EVER is walking around aimlessly in the dark listening to my noisy music. Preferably past midnight.

5-My favorite band/musician is Nine inch Nails (a.k.a Trent Reznor). Screw the haters! :P

6-I try to be friendly but it's not in my nature to be gregarious. In fact, my own mother thinks I come across as unapproachable.

7-Besides the occasional " OMG what a cute baby!!!" , I don't really like dealing with kids nor do I know how to.

8-People tend to think I'm unromantic. I like romance, I just don't like the cheesiness of it conveyed in forgettable romantic comedies.

9-I love Jane Austen and I hate her for creating Mr.Darcy.

10-I enjoy horror novels and horror movies greatly, however many of them make me laugh. In fact, I thought A Nightmare on Elm street was hilarious.

Tagging all the following because :
a) I read their blogs
b) I like reading random facts about people whose blogs I read ! :P

Hesperia
Sherief
Eventuality
Spellz
Wild at Heart

Stalk-a-licious!

2008-02-27T02:15:00.001-08:00

So here's the latest in a long line of creepy messages that end up in my Facebook inbox. Observe, my friends this ~*mysterious*~ stranger's unique skills of expression:

Subject: hi

"first of all i want to say that i send to you cause i feel that we
will become friends although i hate this way but believe me i am different
from anyone you meet on net or awhole your life i dont talk to anyone
but you seem that you are good-hearted if you want to win a good friend
try to call me on mobile ............. or through email
...........@hotmail.com my name is ........... 28 years single work as an
accountant from cairo i will wait your call bye"

Of course, this was simply edited to remove the dude's name, mobile number and email address.

However, the idea of leaving them in there just for the mere bitchiness of the idea seemed incredibly tempting.

Let's analyze this bit by bit, shall we? Even though, the lack of any punctuation whatsoever will make it somewhat of a "challenge".

"first of all i want to say that i send to you cause i feel that we

will become friends although i hate this way"

I have my profile set to private, my photos set to private, my status set to private and we have absolutely no friends in common. I fail to see the mystical connection we seem to have but apparently he does, so who am I to judge? He also "hate this way", so you know, he's like, never ever done this before but our connection was just too strong for him to resist, dammit!

"but believe me i am different
from anyone you meet on net or awhole your life"

I like how he simultaneously demonstrates what an overinflated ego he has and assumes that he's the most interesting person I have ever had the pleasure of encountering in my dull little life.

Although if that were the case, I would have carefully slit both wrists a few years back. Heck, I would have gone straight for the carotid just to be positive.

"i dont talk to anyone
but you seem that you are good-hearted "

So he doesn't talk to just anyone but he'll make an exception for me. I fail to express how shiny I feel inside at this moment. I feel so..so...ezbeshee-al!

O and be still my heart, for this random person off the interwebs thinks you are good based only on my name and the tiny thumbnail of my already blurry profile picture!
Well, that's all he can see but I've always felt that I have a phonetically pleasing name, so it's no wonder really.

"if you want to win a good friend
try to call me on mobile ............. or through email
...........@hotmail.com my name is ........... 28 years single work as an
accountant from cairo"

Translation of this: Act now if you don't want to miss the unique opportunity of getting me; the one, the only, the amazing to include you in my exclusive group of friends! After all, I'm a man from Cairo in my late 20's with a steady job and not only a mobile, but an email address, too! And you know how we fellas are rare nowadays, don't cha?
* insert image of him dancing to his own personalized rendition of "don't cha wish your girlfriend (or rather boyfriend) was hot like me" behind his keyboard. *

"i will wait your call bye"

Yep, you sure will.

Whatever You Say, Dude.

2008-02-26T05:58:00.000-08:00

Today, while we were driving home, I saw a guy rush by in his car which had the word "DONGEROUS" conspicuously stuck on its rear end.

I mean, if you're gonna go ahead and try to proclaim what a bad-ass you are in such a pathetic, stupid and desperate method, you should at least make sure that said pathetic, stupid and desperate attempt is spelled correctly.

And my guesses turned out to be...

2008-02-24T20:54:00.000-08:00

As I sip my coffee and check the Oscar winners, it turns out that my first guess were right in all major categories except :

Best Actress : My second guess ; Marion Cotillard won.
Best supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton won, so I was just totally off course on this one!

And considering I'm a medical student who's always running from one place to another, trying to cram information in my overwhelmed brain, I probably won't get to watch the ceremony during its re-run and see Jon Stewart make inappropriate and awkward jokes. Ah, well!

It's that time of the year again...

2008-02-24T09:25:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's here, again! That time of the year where I give you my absolutely random and useless Oscar predictions.

Here goes:

Best Actor : Daniel Day Lewis for There will be blood...a no-brainer, he's got the buzz, the Golden Globe, the BAFTA and The SAG. Plus, he's DDL and everyone loves him.

Won't be surprised though if ...No other guesses, here.

Best Actress: This one is a bit tricky. The competition is between Marion Cotillard and Julie Christie. One one hand, Marion has been getting a lot of buzz. On the other Julie is a legend and not really in need of much buzz anyway. Also, there's the nature of their roles. Marion is in a biopic as Edith Piaf in la vie en rose a.k.a la mome and Julie Christie is playing an Alzheimer's disease patient in Away from her. It's common knowledge that the Academy LOVES both debilitating conditions/handicaps in movies and biopics. Then there's the fact that Marion has a Golden Globe (for best actress in a comedy/musical) and the BAFTA but Julie has the SAG and also a Golden Globe (for best actress).

My money is on Julie Christie, though. That's because the Academy loves old people who happen to be movie legends.

Won't be surprised though if ....Marion Cotillard wins.

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem for No country for old men. No brainer here, too. If simply to make up for the fact that the Academy neglected to nominate him for his amazing role in the Spanish-language movie; The sea inside.

Won't be surprised though if ...No other guesses, here.

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett as err...Bob Dylan :D. This is another tough one because they're all fine performances but first of all Cate is nominated for both best actress and best supporting actress, so she's likely to go home with an award. Also, she's likely to lose for a second time this year the best actress award for her AMAZING portaryl of Queen Elizabeth. Everyone knows she should have won the first time instead of Gwenyth Paltrow and although Cate has won best supporting actress before for Aviator, I won't be surprised if the Academy give it to her a second time to make up for not giving her an award for Elizabeth.

Won't be surprised though if ....Ruby Dee (SAG winner) or Amy Ryan win for American Gangster and Gone baby gone, respectively.

Best Movie: My first guess would be No country for old men.

Won't be surprised though if.......Atonement wins.

Best Director: The Coen Brothers for No country for old men.

Won't be surprised though if....No other guesses, here.

Just a Random Question...

2008-02-23T22:24:00.000-08:00

I've always wondered; why is it that when ultra-conservative Muslims become expatriates, they expect to apply their cultural and religious views to everyone around them? Mind you, I'm not just talking about themselves or their families, I'm talking about their new towns, cities, etc. by and large. It just seems odd to me that someone would move to a new place where things may be the complete opposite of what they are used to but still expect life to be exactly the same. Bleh..*shrug*

Hear the Crushing Steel..Feel the Steering Wheel.

2008-02-19T01:54:00.000-08:00

from Warm Leatherette by the Normal - 1978

Being the great procrastinator I am, I still haven't learned how to drive. I can't really say the prospect seems all that tempting. Riding shotgun while my mother and father drive, I find myself both highly amused and extremely concerned. My mother - who is an excellent driver by all accounts - is especially creative when it comes to shouting insults and making fun of the stupidity of her fellow drivers in a way completely foreign ( and just a wee bit scary) to her usual self. That's the amusing part. The concerning issue is the fact that her nervous system and heart are being kicked repeatedly in their respective asses whenever she sits herself behind that damned steering wheel. I mean, most - if not everything - in Egypt nowadays is apt to bring out the best in your genetic makeup, be it High Blood Pressure, Diabetes or other stress-related conditions you might be predisposed to.
I personally find myself staring fascinated, mouth agape and everything whenever I see the cars criss-crossing randomly through the streets, pushing themselves through any space that will take them. Together with the broken and bumpy roads, the unnecessary (and often inane) traffic barricades and the random car collision, it all paints such an elaborate painting of extreme mental incompetence. It's mah-velous, I tell you!
Also, I believe stupidity in driving is not gender specific. It's true that incompetent female drivers tend to drive a bit too slowly and stick to one side of the road with their hands and teeth (I'll never let go, Jack. Never let go...NO MATTER WHAT!)..so they'll probably have you gritting your teeth and pulling your hair out strand by strand and maybe get the blood boiling just a bit or finally make that aneurysm go *pop*.
However, incompetent male drivers are more likely to crash into you for the simple reason that you dared to exist in their field of vision (you simple, lowly mortal, you). They're also always in a hurry and always need to have one hand perpetually attached to the car-horn the same way an infant needs his goo-goo ( i.e. pacificer, bunny wabbit, peddy bear etc.) to stop crying. Apparently, twice as many accidents are caused by males rather than females (google it). It could be because women usually have their children with them, the fact that men are more aggressive or simply because men just drive around a lot more. Point is, you're more likely to break a limb or worse because of unfortunately being in the same vicinity as a retarded male driver.

In conclusion, whatever morbid worries you might have...you'll (unfortunately) find them on the street of Cairo (because you know you'll eventually have to go there..mwahaha).

Rabena Yostor.

Incoming Call

2008-02-15T00:34:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how people react to something they're not used to hearing...actually it's amazingly moronic.
Yesterday, I was sitting in the middle of a lesson and my cellphone rang ( I had forgotten to turn it off, as usual). The song I had on was Deep by Nine Inch Nails (one of my favorite bands ever). I had about 300 medical students either staring at me like I'm psychotic or giggling like little school girls who just learned -like omg! - how a baby is made.
I wasn't using the ringtone to make a "statement" but I just use whatever I have on my cellphone, which is naturally, whatever I listen to. O and I'm telling you now, if I ever have Nancy Ajram or Elissa blasting out of my phone at any given moment, you can help me pull the trigger and you don't even have to clean up after me. (No offense to people who like them)

Regressing...

2008-02-13T10:41:00.000-08:00

Meh. It's kinda weird really. Here I am in my very last year of college (um..finally) and I'm feeling just like I felt in High school. Difference is just that I dress (slightly) better. I'm all caught up in my angsty music and caught in the pursuit of a variety of hobbies just trying to see if there are any skills I have left in me that I might have - heaven forbid - mistakenly overlooked. And may God help anyone who even mentions me and marriage in the same sentence. Except if you happen to be my mother.

Yes, it's pathetic I know, but it seems the closer I get to graduation day , the more I revert back to the person I was 5 years ago.

I have an insane longing to be completely careless and immature. I'm looking for a way to gag that nagging voice in the back of my head that goes by the name of "sensibility". Screw sensibility. Maybe, I want to get into trouble because I've always stayed out of it. I've never gotten into any mischief as a youngster but now I realize what a huge mistake that was. I should have indulged when I had the chance dammit!

However, the more likely explanation is that I'm chicken. I'm too chicken to grow up and I'm too chicken to step out from behind my books and take off my sheepish " am only twee yearz old!" grin off my face and move on just like everyone eventually does.

Baby, it's cold outside....

2008-01-21T09:31:00.000-08:00

Damn! It's been way too long since I've made a post. Shame on me by all means! It's funny that I sit here writing this post as I'm slowly losing feeling in my hands and toes and watching my nail beds turn into a lovely shade of bluish-gray.

Winter, don't ya just *cough* love it *cough*?

You know it's winter in Abbasia when the fact that the entire square and the areas surrounding it are the equivalent of a gargantuan urinal becomes most pronounced. You're just walkin' down the street, chewin' your gum , mindin' your own business and you nearly bump into someone acting a little too much like they're at home. O.K. fellas, just because it's cold and just because you can , doesn't mean that you should. Meanwhile, chicks are avoiding fluids like the plague because they just know that there's a urogenital infection waiting to be caught by even being within the same vicinity of the university bathroom. Life sucks and ain't that a fact.

And yes, I realize that I've been saying gross, icky stuff for 5 minutes straight now.

To compensate, here' s a gorgeous 1989 song by Peter Murphy called " a strange kind of love". Lyrics:

A strange kind of love
A strange kind of feeling
Swims through your eyes
And like the doors
To a wide vast dominion
They open to your prize

This is no terror ground
Or place for the rage
No broken hearts
White wash lies
Just a taste for the truth
Perfect taste choice and meaning
A look into your eyes

Blind to the gemstone alone
A smile from a frown circles round
Should he stay or should he go
Let him shout a rage so strong
A rage that knows no right or wrong
And take a little piece of you

There is no middle ground
Or that's how it seems
For us to walk or to take
Instead we tumble down
Either side left or right
To love or to hate

The Great Weight Debate

2007-12-04T05:50:00.000-08:00

Being the highly perceptive person that I am *snicker*, I've noticed that there's not a single time I've gotten together with my girlfriends without a discussion about weight emerging somehow. No one knows when it starts. No one remembers who starts it. It just ..is ...and it keeps going..and going. It doesn't matter who is what size, everybody hates something about their bodies. Everybody wants something to be smaller, or bigger, or to move up, or to move down, or to disappear altogether. It's amusing how we do all this while sipping drinks or eating desserts that probably contain about a million calories each.

I've always been curious, though. Do guys do that, too?

Relax, take it easy

2007-12-02T00:10:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been finding it very annoying when someone tells me to "relax" in the middle of a discussion. People, seriously, I'm not angry. Being overly enthusiastic and I must admit, overly animated when I speak does not equal being angry. What really pissed me off though is people telling me to "relax" in the middle of the conversation when they're run out of things to say just so they could come out as the bigger person and I could come out as the hot-headed girl who needs anger management.
And yes, I am actually relaxed as I write this.

Things I've learned from med school: Part IV...Zucchini anyone?

2007-11-28T07:37:00.000-08:00

Zucchini/squash/KOOSA (Killing Off Our Sense of Ambition) or whatever the hell you want to call it, seems to grow just about everywhere in our blessed faculty. Just in case you were worried that something in this country has not been tainted by koosa..it's alive and kickin' in this 'ere parts!
I kept telling myself that it wouldn't happen, that there was room for both the hard workers and the league of squash defenders but the latter seem completely intent on our total annihilation.
It would be quite a show watching our faculty's heirs to the throne go through an oral exam. Some of them were treated fairly to be honest, others mostly just arrived to sign their names on the dotted line. My favorite was this dude who came in a classic suit, was very careful about the way he handled it and I swear he lifted its tips up like a lil' tutu when he sat down in front of the examiner. That's basically all he did in exams. Show up to show off the latest in men's fashion. Five minutes , he was in and he was out...not a wrinkle on his suit. It was particularly amusing when on one occasion, the head of the department ran down from his office to examine "him" in particular and no one else.

Show up in style for the occasions where your koosa matters!

So how do these kids and their parents sleep at night? How is it O.K. going through the rest of your life knowing that no matter what you are now, you based it all on cheating and on that annoyingly ubiquitous vegetable when you were young? It's enough that we already feel so disconnected from our professors, so why are they trying to alienate us even more with this constant effort to keep the business within their dynasties?

Great..now I'm hungry..

And the latest "WTF!?" news headline prize goest to...

2007-11-17T13:59:00.000-08:00

I was watching El-Arabiya the other day and this headline caught my eye (or rather burnt it) as it scrolled across the bottom of the screen. It was more or less similar to this BBC headline :

Saudi gang-rape victim is jailed

This happened after she appealed a sentenced issued against her following her rape 1.5 years ago. According to the article, the victim was " initially punished for violating laws on segregation of the sexes - she was in an unrelated man's car at the time of the attack. "

And by the way, her punishment was doubled from 90 to 200 lashes with an added bonus of spending 6 months in a luxury prison because it appears that the judges handling her case are sensitive and she hurt their feelings when she appealed because according to them she " had been attempting to use the media to influence them."

Well, I just can't see what the big fuss is about. I mean, when I read about a woman being gang-raped 14 times by seven men after she met a non-related male in a car(who was also raped and sentenced by the way), I look for the fine print. I look for the truth! She was sitting with an unmarried man...in a car..by themselves...O goodness gracious..what shock, what horror!?
Focus on PRIORITIES people! She broke the laws of segregation! Forget those pesky rapists, we have to make an example out of her for all the girls out their who meet ex-boyfriends in cars to ask for their stuff back! Never again, I tell you! Never again!

And the guys who gang-raped them both?

Well:
"Seven men were found guilty of the rape and sentenced to prison terms ranging from just under a year to five years. "

Their sentences were supposedly doubled but that doesn't really mean much when theoretically (as in, according to the country's friggin' law), they should receive the death penalty.

So yeah...there's like, nothing even remotely disturbing about this at all. Na-uh, no siree..now allow me to go crawl in the fetal position under my bed and weep.

Social Rehab?

2007-11-11T03:14:00.000-08:00

I've never exactly been a social butterfly. Thing is, it's never really bothered me until recently. Well, until my 22nd birthday a few weeks ago to be exact. I was happy with my tight-knit group of friends , happy with others beyond them being almost completely oblivious to my existence and especially happy believing that I didn't have to put energy into trying to charm ( whatever charm I could muster, of course) people I really couldn't care less for .
I mean if you had to logically choose between a ton of acquaintances you barely know and a small group of good friends, you'd choose the latter, right? Well, I've always believed in that idea and I'm starting to believe that I've been enforcing this rule a bit too strictly. I'm getting older and quickly losing the privilege of being able to deal only with people I like and making myself invisible to others. I'm less than a couple of years away from working and the thought of having to deal with a group of people, most of which I probably won't be all chummy with, scares the hell out of me. The idea of having to put myself out there, scares the hell out of me.

Man, growing up sucks...

What a lovely day for humanity...

2007-11-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

*Sigh* ! It's such a pretty day. The breeze is gently blowing making the leaves rustle softly , the birds are singing, the guy next to us is beating the crap out of his wife....
Yeah, that's right. Our next door neighbour, a dentist from a family which is very financially blessed , who has only been married for less than a year (also to a dentist) is currently undertaking the task of making his wife run around the house , screaming for help. Did I mention that she has just had a baby about a week ago?
So what goes through the mind of a supposedly educated young man when he raises his hand to strike his wife? What goes through his parents' minds when they hear about it ? Are they proud of their handiwork? If the two families get together to drag an apology out of him , will he really mean it or will it just happen the next time dinner's not warm enough? Questions, questions...I just hope someone's smart enough and brave enough to tell her to take that kid, run and never look back.

Things I just don't understand the popularity of ...

2007-11-09T03:56:00.000-08:00

Yes, yes ... I realize I complain ..a lot. I can't help it though, I'm just built this way and I always find fuel all around me that keeps me going.
Take these things, I just don't get why they're so damn popular. I'm not insulting people who do them/enjoy them (not all of them , anyway) , I just can't my wrap my mind around why they're so ubiquitous.

Regarding Fashion:

- The eye-popping muffin-top look: It's when a combination of a size-too-small jeans and a top tucked into said jeans produces the characteristic stuffed sausage look , no matter what weight you are. Why go and defy the laws of nature like that?
And if you're still wondering why it's called a muffin-top , well..:

- Baggy jeans a.k.a the runaway jeans phenomenon : As colorful the patterns of many boxer shorts are, I really , really don't enjoy seeing them wherever I go . I thought the whole concept of underwear was that it stays under the clothes. It's really not supposed to pop out every few minutes to greet the person seated behind you.

- Wearing something tight enough to show the outline of your belly button: Until recently, I didn't think this look was even possible. It's an interesting concept trying to point out exactly where you used to be attached to your mother before you graced the world with your presence but it also looks like your belly button is attacking your shirt, or that you're smuggling a CD, or doughnut or a bagel or something under there.

-Flip-flops on guys : I've mentioned this before but I cannot stress this enough, looking next to me and seeing really big , hairy toes wiggling around is just tres, tres creepy.

Regarding driving:

-Driving and chit-chatting on your mobile : Really, now. Are you that important? Is that call really that crucial? And if you wanna show off, why not show off your ability to afford a bluetooth ear piece car kit or something else that doesn't guarantee collision with the driver ahead of you. If you were only at risk of running into a wall or a lamp post or something just so you could get your lolz while driving with your best friend on the line, there wouldn't be a problem. The thing is , you're likely to hurt someone else and that's not fair , is it? I mean if you're gonna kill yourself, do it alone.

-Driving in the wrong direction: I see this all the time on Cairo-Ismailia road. People are actually too lazy to drive 200 metres to the nearest U-turn , so they can drive in the same direction as everyone else. What's interesting , is that there's usually an accident site nearby , not surprisingly, also caused by another lazy-ass moron. You'd think they'd head the warning but nooo, nuh-uh. These guys are "special", they don't need no stinkin' brains to drive. Another case of kill yourself alone, please.

Regarding T.V. :

-Prison break : They plan an escape, something goes wrong. They plan another escape, something else goes wrong. It gets a bit tiring after a while and how long do they think they can keep this up before they actually end up escaping? Almost everybody I know watches this show...

-Obnoxious guys with great wives/girlfriends on sitcoms and cartoons : According to Jim, still standing , grounded for life , the family guy , the Simpsons..etc.
It would've been O.K. if it were only that these guys are completely incompatible physically with their wives (i.e. fat bald guys married to really hot chicks) but they're also obnoxious , immature, irresponsible and just a wee bit retarded . Yet these shows are popular and have been running for many seasons. It's a conspiracy I tell you!

Regarding Facebook :

-Applications, applications, applications all over the place : I have to admit that some of them are fun but its like every single brain fart around the world is being turned into a facebook application.

- Listing the "Holy Qur'an" as one of your favorite books: Well technically, If you're actively practicing a particular religion, you're not exactly at much liberity to dislike the holy text book/ rule book of said religion and therefore it's kinda ridiculous listing it as one of your favorite books.

-About a gazillion groups for "booby tata7ada al malal!" (booby defies boredom) : It's always nice to know that the sight of a hot chick in a a push-up bra and a really low-cut shirt (who is suspiciously named, of all things, "booby") can drive legions of Egyptian men into a state of chronic persistent puberty. It's highly amusing how these groups are listed in guys' profiles usually right next to their Amr Khaled groups. My favorite was one group which actually put up a notice before the last ten days of Ramadan telling its members to stop uploading pictures until the last ten days of Ramadan are over, then they would meet again after Eid.
Now, that's what I call entertainment!

Movie Reviews

2007-11-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

First of all...I'M FREEEEE....*does several awkward little dances* freedom is mine , after 2 pediatrics and 10 (count 'em, TEN) Internal medicine exams over the last 2 months, they finally ran out of exams! I can now sit down and do NOTHING! Or you know...blog , of course!
Here are a couple of movie reviews of movies I've just seen. One of them is kinda new and one is kinda old :

Kinda old : 28 weeks later

Robert Carlyle , Catherine McCormack and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
I was kind of disappointed by this one. It's not that it's a bad movie , it's just that like most sequels , it failed to live up to its predecessor. Danny Boyle's 28 days later is one of my favorite movies and it wasn't just a horror movie about flesh eating humans infected by a rage virus, it was also about human beings (normal ones...) under extreme situations. It also included subtle and clever political and social commentary. However , with 28 weeks later , it felt like the movie concentrated on the flesh eating aspect rather than the human aspect and even when there was a glimpse of some sort of emotionally engaging storyline , they go off and infect one of the main protagonists halfway through the movie . In the end I felt there was too much gore and not enough story to carry the movie through.
It was a fun movie to watch, just not very memorable.

Kinda New : 1408

John Cusack , Samuel L.Jackson directed by Mikael Hafstrom
What if there were a hotel room ,with all it's creepy familiarity , with all those little soap bars , chocolates and alcohol bottles was actually an embodiment of your worst nightmares?
Based on a novel by Stephen King , here, the main character is a cynical horror novelist who goes in search of actual paranormal activity across the country , looking for hotels/mansions that actually live up to their reputation of being haunted. He gets more than he bargains for when his curiosity gets the better of him after he receives a postcard warning him about room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel of New York.
The thing I liked about this movie, was that all your expectations are likely to be off target. Just when you think something is supposed to happen, it doesn't . Just when you think it's all about to end peacefully, it still doesn't. I really enjoyed this movie, so did my non-horror-movie-fan friends. This isn't the first time Stephen King has based a horror novel on an inanimate object that is pure evil (see Night shift) . They all seem so harmless just sitting there don't they? Mwaha.. haha..hahahaha..sorry I had to do that .
I really recommend this one!

Things I've learned from Medical School part III

2007-10-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

In this edition...Procrastination and ridiculously inappropriate emotions.

Procrastination: I don't know how or why med students gained this bizarre reputation of spending most of their waking (and some of their sleeping) hours glued to their chairs , hard at work amidst all those text books. "Da7a7" is a particularly favorite term the populace use to describe us. I mean sure, we have insane amounts of work and very little time and/or energy left to do it after going through all those rounds and private lessons but guys...just cause we have a lot of work, doesn't mean we actually do it. Since I've started medical school, I've noticed that we've all developed terribly exciting hobbies like sitting around watching the clocks go by with our mouths agape (sometimes a little drooling , too) , walking around the house/streets , wildly gesticulating and wondering how we're supposed to pull this off or sitting in front of the television with our eyes empty and glazed and again with our mouthes hanging open. It doesn't matter what's on , as long as it's colorful , pretty and doesn't require 200 multiple choice questions to be solved right after while the material is still fresh. It's simple really, we have the time and yet we waste it. You could blame it on anxiety , avoidance , denial , low self-esteem or even perfectionism. Going through an educational system which stuffs massive and often useless amounts of information into your head and expects you to perfect it from A-Z will do that to you. Internal medicine for example is approximately 1000 pages and that's basically like studying a dictionary by heart but unlike a dictionary , at least 300 pages are full of crap that is never even applied clinically. Combine that with insane time tables that fit the university staff's social life and vindictive professors (I'm not sure who they're seeking revenge on exactly but apparently we're pretty high on that list .) who , you know , just for the heck of it decide to slam us with a test that's meant for someone hoping for a master's degree rather than a lowly undergrad ( not that even a postgrad student would pass it, mind you ). Ya know...just to stir things up a bit...cause a few riots in front of the dean's office , a few fainting spells in the middle of the tests or some simple mass hysteria. That sorta stuff.
The maximal form of procrastination , though is how at least 1/3 of a 1600 student class postpones a test each year for 3 months. I never really understood how it was O.K. for part of the class to take the test in September and the rest to take it in December with no consequences whatsoever. It was originally intended for situations like an illness , a death in the family..etc but now it really isn't all that necessary to have a good reason.You just pay a 100 pounds and that's it...3 extra months at your disposal. We all start the year together, know about the exams together , yet it's O.K. for some people to take tests later than others and still get the same treatment. It's O.K. to leave that back door open for those people who just can't get their act together on time. I know what panic attacks feel like and I know how it's like when you feel like you're likely to vomit if you read another word but is it healthy to promote this sort of mentality among people many of which are expected to make life or death decisions at a moment's call? Don't try to make sense of it..I've been trying for five years and I'm still not there yet.

Inappropriate emotions : I've been worried lately about the mental reactions I've been having. I'm not being dramatic when I say I think I'm slowly dying inside. It's like I'm being replaced by a cyborg known only as MS-11240820357. Just last week, while I was still recovering from the trauma of my four internal medicine exams and wondering how I'm supposed to get the energy to get through my pediatrics exam and then my orals and practicals, a friend of mine called and the following conversation took place :

Friend: I have some really bad news..
Me : omg..what ? ( my mother looks really concerned at this point because according to her , I turn a deathly pale)
Friend : "...." 's father passed away , yesterday.
Me : Omg , that's horrible (at this point...the color returns to my cheeks.)

It seems totally normal except that I turned pale because I thought that our IM results had come out early for some insane reason...BUT NO , it just turns out that a colleague's father has died instead and that was actually easier news to handle for me *HeadDesk*.

I was also at a practical lesson a couple of days ago for my pediatrics exam. A child the doctor was examining started to cry ( out of fear rather than pain, we don't torture little kiddies...not yet anyway) . You know what was going through my mind while the poor kid was crying ?? " Damn, what do I do if my "exam case" starts crying ?? I'm no good with kids anyway! " . YES, I know I'm a horrible person and I'm pulling out the gun out of the drawer as we speak to prevent myself from turning into a monster. ( or at least that's what I should be doing ..or you know, looking for a cliff or a really drunk driver or something.)

Thank you, Medical School ! Thank you!

O , I almost forgot... HAPPY EID EVERYONE! :D

Tag : Five reasons why I wish I was 3

2007-10-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

I knew I said that I wouldn't be writing for a while on my blog, considering I'm still trapped in the deep dark abyss that is my medical school finals ( Hide your women and children , folks. These things are dangerous!) but this tag (from Om Luji) was just way too cute !

Five reasons why I wish I was 3 :

1-It was the end of the era during which being chubby was cute .

2-It was so easy to please your parents. For example, going potty within the vicinity of the bathroom ( rather than..well..somewhere else) was an actual cause of celebration for the whole family.

3-No matter what you did, from drooling to trying to strangle the family cat, it was still considered cute.

4-Sleeping excessively was always attributed to your active growth process rather than being incredibly lazy.

5- Hair care products cost much less than the small fortune I currently spend(especially that my parents were the ones who did the spending !) .

OK , then! Tagging everyone who reads this :D .

Stating the Obvious

2007-09-13T12:13:00.000-07:00

First of all, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy and Blessed Ramadan!

I obviously haven't been updating as often as I should because of how busy I've been for the past few weeks considering my finals are just *gulp* around the corner. I'm gonna have to take an official break from blogging for a while to spare you entries like these :

"It's been weeks now since I've seen other human beings, I'm hoping for help to come soon before it's too late."

"I keep seeing and hearing things late at night...I don't know whether it's all in my head or just all around me...the dark thing , it comes mostly at night"

"I can feel the dark thing getting nearer...I'm starting to lose hope that help will ever come. Now, no food or water either most of the time.."

"I keep seeing it in my sleep...and O GOD it's too horrible...and the worst thing is that it's inevitable!"

"It's here and ...and ...NOOoOOOoooOO!"

Yes...as you can see...I'm lotsa fun during my finals...you can even ask spellz...I stayed over a couple of nights recently and scared the crap outta the poor girl a few times while I was actually sleeping.
Like I said, I'm gonna take some time off till I at least finish my essay exams ( yeah yeah, no loss I know !) but I'll probably have some interesting stories to tell about my oral and clinical exams what with the extortionist/chronic patients who are going to be my exam topics and nepotism rearing it's ugly , shameless head all around med school especially around exam time.

Pray for me people , please! And Happy Ramadan once again.

See ya.

Quick Poll....I need help!!

2007-08-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

SO I'm having a bit of a dilemma regarding my coffee habits, my studying and the fact that I'm being examined during Ramadan.

The facts are :

-I'm being examined Internal Medicine on 27/9 , 29/9, 1/3 and 3/3.
- All of these dates will be in Ramadan of course.
- I have a vicious addiction to all forms of caffeine especially during exam time when it seems like sleeping will simple make all the bad things go bye-bye.
-Considering the size of the subject matter, I'll start the "final revision" between 5th-7th of September. I use the word "final" very loosely.
-Ramadan will most likely be on the 13th of September and iftar will range between being at 6 to being at 7.
-I'm cranky and headachy every year during the first week of Ramadan because of caffeine withdrawal. I basically look like a cocaine addict in rehab.

So...

Much obliged, people ! :D

Note to self for future consideration....

2007-08-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not kid, people are not always hiding behind house plants waiting for you to trip and fall on your face , so they could snicker and whisper about what a clumsy klutz you are.
In fact, the majority of people do in fact have lives and hardly notice you,
or the way you walk ..
or your blemishes..
or the way you tend to spill coffee on yourself when you're busy thinking..
or how your voice tends to climb up a notch or two when you're chatting enthusiastically with your friends ..
or how you still mess up your verbs and nouns when you speak Arabic...
Stop being paranoid! Stop looking over your shoulder
and for the love of God, stop worrying about what people you don't know or don't even like think about you because it takes up too much energy and too much of what precious little brain space you have to do so.
You've got your friends , you've got your family and you've got your life. Enjoy them while they're here
and keep in mind that a few a years down the road,
you'll realize that you were never nearly obnoxious enough or hideous enough to elicit complete strangers on sight ...as you tend to imagine now.
And even if you did....well, you can't really please everybody, everywhere, all the time, can you?

..So stop trying , why don't ya!?

Greetings Earthlings

2007-08-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

No , no. The fact that I haven't written anything in this blog isn't because of random experimental alien abduction. At least none that I know of ...but the truth is like, totally out there , dude.

Anyway, the fact is I had a couple of tests in the 2 colossal subjects I have this year ; internal medicine and pediatrics. They both sort of included the entire syllabus, yet strangely enough , they weren't my part of my finals which start in less than 6 weeks. Only in med school do we find this strange proliferation of exams until they make sure they've got you cornered for the entire summer.
In this past week I've discovered that my capacity for staying up multiple nights (till maybe 6 a.m.) with very little sleep is increasing. The fact that I'm walking into inanimate objects all day long is completely irrelevant. As long as I can read , the bruises are just fine. I've also noticed that late at night, around 3 a.m., I seem to recall every single horror movie I've seen and every horror book I've read (plenty of both). The secret to not freaking myself out is to keep making continuous noise. If I sit silently for too long, I start to think that maybe someone /something is whispering my name (something possibly *in the house*) and then ..and then , maybe I'll spot something (let say it's human-like but entirely black, with shiny yellow eyes and sharp colgate-smile-white teeth) grinning at me in the doorway which would probably prompt me to run into my parents room to ask for help except *gasp* , they've been transformed into flesh eating zombies (*braaaaaainssss*) and they're out TO GET ME....this is usually the point where I realize that it's time for another cup of coffee.
My finals start on the 27th of September insha2alah and continue to the first of November. Internal medicine is a 4 day test and before anyone (dares) to ask me the brilliant question : " like omigod, you actually stay there for like, 4 days? " ...No, we don't. It's Just so friggin' big that they decided to examine us 2-3 hrs everyday for 4 days till they run out of material. Did I mention that it'll be Ramadan, one with very long summer days, at the time? As Sue would say, O joy O joy...as my friend S.I. would say , cover me and cry. Our student union asked our Dean to push it back a couple of weeks but the comedian he is at heart , forced him to enthrall us with this line : "Why don't you ask the Mofti to push back Ramadan a couple of weeks..Neeyahahaha", to which medical students in houses around Cairo responded with a collective chant of " Burst into flames! Burst into flames!". The chant didn't work though, we were missing a vial of a virgin medical professor's blood.
We've got some black, black days ahead of us...

On a lighter note, you know that new Ahmed 7elmy movie, "keda reda"? Yeah..aha...don't see it. A friend convinced us to go see it yesterday after the exam , seeing as we could've used a few laughs and we ended up walking out of the movie before it ended. I don't know if it's the fact that I have a mild degree of depression but is the Egyptian threshold for cracking up getting lower by the minute? I wanted to grab the guy sitting behind me in the theater by the collar , shake him and ask him " What are you laughing about!? Huh? Huh? It's NOT funny, it's STUPID! Do you want to be a mindless baboon? Huh? *slap slap*Do you!?Do you!? ". He was well over six feet and looked like he was well-fed , so I decided against it.

I saw this song on scrubs (so typical, isn't it?) and I really like it :

Bub-bye, now.

Movie Review : Morgan Ahmad Morgan aka Another Stupid Summer Movie!

2007-07-19T22:57:00.000-07:00

So my friends decided to go watch a movie last week and since it's summer, the majority of movies in the theaters are Arabic ones which I'm not particularly fond of (especially in the summer, when stupidity is especially high in movies whether Arabic or English) but I thought if 9 of my friends want to see the same movie, I can't stick out like a sore thumb , can I ? I wish I would've stuck to my guns though because we ended up watching one of the most hyped summer movies which is Adel Imam's latest : Morgan Ahmad Morgan.
(If you plan on seeing the movie, beware of the spoilers ahead and if you don't feel like reading all of the details, you could always scroll down to the bottom line at the end. )
At the beginning of the movie , we see a plethora of products of a wide variety all produced by the companies of one very wealthy man, Adel Imam's character , Morgan Ahmad Morgan ( MAM).
His first appearance in the movie is to face a little problem with officials from the tax department who were reviewing his records all while seeming quite serious about their jobs. What does he do about this problem? Why, bribe them of course! This basically sets the tone for the rest of the movie where he bribes just about everyone who intentionally or not stands in his way.
MAM has two grown children , who are attending a private and expensive university and are strangely enough in the same year/class despite being born in different countries. His daughter, an opinionated young woman, faces a little problem when she gets into an argument with one of her professors and asks for her father's help of course. On arriving to the University he finds her brother playing tennis with one of the professors, Dr. Gihan (Mervat Amin) and he finds himself quite taken by the lovely Professor on seeing her in her cute tennis outfit. This scene also sets the tone for the Mervat Amin's role throughout the remainder of the movie. It seems like she basically showed up to show off her newly acquired slim figure , her wardrobe and how her face seems to be botoxed within an inch of her life, making it seem quite painful for her to talk and nearly impossible to move her eyebrows out of place.
The Professor attacks MAM in the university Newspaper and accuses him of being a dishonest crook and worried about further attacks from her or anyone else, he decides to run for Parliament . Who do you think runs against him? Why Dr. Gihan of course! (maho mafeesh gheirhom fel balad ba2a). He finds his own employees and children supporting his opponent and actually finds his children using slogans insulting their own father to support their candidate, despite happily spending his money throughout the movie. Anyway, he ends up buying the elections and winning of course being the rich-ass billionaire that he is.
His children sit him down in one scene to tell him that it's sometimes embarrassing when he talks and that he needs to educate himself. Therefore, he decides to go to one of those "cultural" cafes and buy a collection of awful poetry from an unknown writer and publish them in a collection under his own name, which he buys all the copies of and ends up mysteriously winning the national award as the best poet for, to prove to his children that he is cultured and educated. Dr.Gihan invites him to discuss the book and the award at the university, where another professor , the winner of many literature awards is read to attack him. What does he do to get himself out of such a mess? Why he bribes the literature professor of course, with a watch no less . For this magical watch, the professor completely changes his position and sings MAM's praises . Gihan (who he also tries to bribe but fails) still finds a way to embarrass him after which he ends up deciding to go the own children's university to get a real degree after offering a huge donation to the University's president. Like I said, bribes galore.
The highlights of his trip through higher education include lots of laughs provided by Ahmed Mekky and his afro, the perpetually stoned (and nameless) student and a nice little role by El Sa3dany Junior as the leader of the University's religious group(he bears an eerie resemblance to our college's own resident religious leader). There's also a ridiculous number of female college students looking like hookers for some reason , drug use and professors being bribed to give MAM A's in their subjects (except for GiGi of course). There's also a particularly disturbing scene, where MAM still recovering from the effects of a "magic pill" given to him the night before, fantasizes during a lecture that Dr.Gihan is singing Haifaa Wahbi's um.."WaWa" song . Here Mervat Amin acts all seductive and er..stuff while wearing something similar to the pj's I had when I was four and the director thankfully got a (very obvious) body double for her um...."Derriere" shots . Mervat Amin maybe hot for someone well over 60 but she's still a granny and watching a granny go into Haifaa Wahbi mode is just plain disturbing. Still enamored with her, he bribes her fiance (a well educated businessman) to dump her and go off to India to run one of MAM's companies but she still doesn't budge emotionally and insists on how much she can't stand what a lowlife he is (for now, that is) and in an interesting scene, he actually explains to her why he gives bribes and tries to convince her how he's actually being benevolent towards the less fortunate this way. MAM is also caught cheating on Dr.Gihan's test , since she's the only one he can't bribe, causing an argument between him and his children during which he slaps his daughter (played by Basma) after which she goes into what the doctor calls "sadma 3asabeya" or a nervous breakdown ( I guess) where she lies in a hospital unable to speak until her daddy apologizes to her after which she miraculously recovers within minutes.
What exactly is "sadma 3asabeya / enheyar 3asaby" which we insist on making doctors use as a diagnosis in Arabic movies? That's not a medical term and nobody goes into a catatonic state where they can't speak/eat/function because their Daddy slapped them and recover instantly because he apologizes.
Anyway, Daddy promises to make them proud and studies hard till he graduates (barely). He also woos Dr.Gihan by constant and ubiquitous conformations of his love and when he graduates by his own effort finally..can you guess what happens next , kids? Yep, that's right...GiGi finally falls for him and says "I do!" followed by a "Screw You!" from me and most of the people in the theatre.

Bottom line : Silly movie, hazy storyline with ridiculous, unrealistic events and promotes the idea that anyone in society can be swayed from their beliefs by money no matter how strong their principals are. May provide a few laughs by Adel Imam as well as the younger comic actors in the movie but may also end up decreasing your IQ by several points and have you weeping over the 2 hours of your life you just lost.

So I've been fooled...

2007-07-05T07:43:00.001-07:00

I have an "acquaintance" in college who I considered a good friend in the first 2-3 yrs of college. We even looked a bit alike and most people thought that we were related. There was a distressing issue that she complained to me about during our first yr. Apparently, there was this guy who was always hovering around her. He showed up after she finished her sections, sat near her in lectures, bought her books she didn't ask for and even had the audacity to reproach her for not studying well after seeing her not-so-great grades when our test results were hung up on the wall after every test. She kept telling me that she wished he would just leave her alone and go away but she didn't have the heart to embarrass him. This girl was very delicate with a very low tone of voice (at the time , at least) , so I believed her. I used to encourage her to try and push him away by being harsh while dealing with him and I even offered to speak up for her if we both ran into to him together after one of our sections since most people thought we were cousins anyway. She told me she would handle it somehow but a few weeks later, she came to me horrified. Apparently, this guy was totally convinced that they had something between them to the extent that his elder sister had come to college one day to talk to her and tell her how he was a such a good guy and how much he loved her. She also told her that because they were so young, the engagement would be in the 5th year of college and marriage after they graduated. She told me how she had clearly put her food down and explained to her how it was never going to happen. I still believed her and offered my full support whenever she needed it.Fast forward to our fifth year in college. I noticed him attending our rounds instead of his a little too much. Sitting close to her in lessons one too many times. I warned her that if she didn't put up barriers, that it would happen all over again. She told me simply , " His friends are my friends and my friends are his friends , so it's O.K. now". I didn't like him and I didn't like how she was handling it but who am I to say anything? We drifted apart and even though we had different rounds, I noticed not seeing her recently at all. I asked the others if she was alright or if maybe she was sick but they said that they had seen her in lessons. Yesterday, someone mentioned that she got engaged last week and she was probably just busy. I was surprised and happy for her until a friend of mine told me she had seen the album and that he was with us in the same class in college. I asked her to describe him and lo and behold, she got engaged to her stalker.
See, I hope they get married, live happily ever after and have a truckload of little kids. I'm just really pissed about how she played me for over a year. How she just couldn't stand the attention. I feel like a complete moron whenever I remember how I offered to help her push him away.
I mean, If she enjoyed every minute of his attention and had bigger plans for both of them in the future , why make me think that she hated him ? Why did she feel the need to fool me?

I was just trying to look out for her...

Pet Peeves that bring out the axe murder in you

2007-07-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

I'm not talking about things that simply "annoy" you, I'm talking about things that elicit a strong desire in you to inflict physical injury, a desire that you have to work very, very hard to contain. Then again, my mother says I'm a violent person by nature...(Not because I enjoyed hurting small animals as a child but because I slam doors a little too hard and open jars a little too aggressively. *sigh*Don't ask)

-In a crowded line towards an exit when someone insists on laying their hands on you as if somehow that's going to propel both of you towards the door any faster. What's especially irritating, is the fact that they're really not important enough to be in such a hurry.
Hey there, strange person behind me...hands to yourself or I'm gonna cut ya! O.K now?

-When you're standing on a bus with a heavy book bag , rocking back and forth in rhythm with the lovely elevations and depressions of our streets and someone sitting down asks you to please stand still because your bag is brushing against his/her shoulder and causing a great deal of annoyance. They usually throw in a grimace of disgust for good measure
How about I just knock you unconscious with my big bad bag, so we can both have a nicer bus trip home, sir? Would that make you any more comfortable?

-If I have trouble doing something with my hands and someone actually pushes my hand away forcefully to do it themselves. I'm not a 2 yr old you moron nor are we living in the stone age, anymore where language was kinda scarce. We can c-o-m-m-u-n-i-c-a-t-e with s-p-e-e-c-h and w-o-r-d-s.
Otherwise, me get very angry of you and me want to smack your face in real bad.

-You can't do (insert anything e.g. be a surgeon) because you're a woman and you'll have a husband and children to keep you busy OR Brilliant statements along the lines of "women are taking all our jobs after graduation, you girls know you'll become housewives eventually". Yes, I'm a girl/woman/chick and being one , I own plenty of high heels. Would you like me to introduce you to their business ends?

-Pimply faced teenagers , wearing a cap glued to their head (that seems to be disintegrating into it's primary components...the cap not their heads...I think) ,who you can hardly see behind their steering wheels and who are always in a hurry to get somewhere. Where the hell are you in such a hurry to? To put out a forest fire? To free Palestine? To save a bunch of orphans from child labour? WHAT!?
If you're a pedestrian, they're fully intent on running you over when you dare to cross the street. If you're a driver , they shine the light in your eyes and insist on somehow passing you because if they're gonna kill themselves in a car accident , then they might as well take you with them!
You just wanna pull 'em them over and just...!#(%()@#....you get what I mean, right?

*Deep Breath*..That felt good.

Insomnia

2007-06-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

"When you have insomnia, you're never really asleep... and you're never really awake." - Fight Club

Sigh...I'm such a wimp.
I have over 2 months left till I start my finals and I'm already exhibiting bizarre stress-related behaviour (which I do on a yearly basis).
A few years ago it was unexpected fits of crying and yelling. It was like having PMS for a Goddamn month and you just know that means it was ugly.(e.g. We kaman bet2oly saba7 el kheir!? )
A couple of years into college, near the end of the year , I started talking and then walking in my sleep according to my family. I woke up once to my dad banging on my room's door because I had got up in the middle of the night and locked it from the inside. Handling doors in my room while sleeping would've been O.K. if I didn't have a balcony on the other side of my room of course.
This year , God help me , it's starting early. I've got insomnia, horrible horrible insomnia. My head hurts, my eyes hurt. I can't drink too much coffee because it'll make it worse , yet I can't quit it completely because it's the only thing keeping me from going into absolute zombie mode.

What do I do when I'm up all night? Well, I'm too dizzy to work , so I either turn on the T.V. without paying attention to what's on or repeatedly open and close the fridge without really taking anything out or I try to read something I've read before so I don't really have to pay attention to the words. Mostly though , I just walk around the house aimlessly with my mp3 player playing in my ears, which makes it fantastic when my mom wakes up to see who's making all the noise (my mom always wakes up to my footsteps even if they're on the other side of the house, it's like I'm a baby elephant or something) because she creeps up behind me and I get a miniature heart attack. Thanks, Mom. Merci Keteer really.
I feel like fainting on my bed all day but as soon as my head hits the pillow , my eyes just pop open. I start to roll around,sweat and curse. Last night I came pretty close to crying. I did get about 3 hrs of interrupted sleep though so I can't complain too much.
Let me tell you though, I had my psych rounds last week and interviewing bipolar and schizophrenic patients while you're half asleep is one heck of a trip!

I tried warm baths, exercise ,reading , warm milk , not even touching the bed all day etc. but nothing's worked ,yet. I think I'm gonna try and get someone to smack me on the head tonight. We'll see how that works.

I had to post this song :

Sweet dreams, everyone.

It’s all in the technique

2007-06-20T21:41:00.000-07:00

I’m sure we all (the ones with functioning brains at least) know that harassment is a horrible vile thing particularly because of how degrading and violating it is to women.

The thing I don’t get, is why would a pompous, self-absorbed jackass who thinks women were all created for his own personal entertainment do something as useless, inane and just plain stupid as harassment that eventually succeeds in doing nothing but making him look like an idiot?

To further explain my point; let’s examine some common techniques guys use to harass women:

-Walking up near a woman close enough so she can hear you whisper something obscene. She doesn’t understand what you said, she doesn’t care what you said, your breath stinks, you stink and you still suck at life.

-Honking a horn when you see an attractive woman. What’s the expected reaction here exactly? Should said woman throw herself at your car’s windshield? Wave? Chase the car wherever it may go because she is now certain beyond all doubt after hearing that heavenly horn that you (yes, you!) are the one for her?

-Swerving your car at an attractive woman in the street. Now what the hell is this about? I mean, I know if I was a guy, whenever I see a hot girl my immediate reaction would be to run her over! Yeah, baby, yeah!

-Walking as close to her as possible and singing. Seriously? That’s like, supposed to have a deeper meaning? Besides that your vocal cords need to be either lubricated or just pulled out for the sake of humanity?

-Comparing an attractive woman to various foods like “eshta/cream cheese” or “3asal/honey.” Or “zebda/butter”. What girl doesn’t want to hear herself compared to gooey, sticky fattening foods that send your cholesterol through the roof all day long ? It actually manages to make the perpetrator seem even more disgusting (hard as it is to believe) . I’m guessing it’s the drool that adds that extra “eww” .

-Grabbing your privates. Good God ! It isn’t enough that for some reason the majority of men think it’s actually OK to adjust um…themselves any where, any time (IT”S NOT DAMMIT, IT”S NOT!), they actually think that it’s somehow enticing.

The overall gain from these techniques is either being completely ignored, being looked at with disgust or if a girl is especially having a bad morning , a minor scandal to spice up the day.

What’s the point ? Even if you don’t have the least bit of respect for women, why do something so incredibly moronic? I don’t care if you can’t get married, or if the economic conditions are harsh bla bla bla…if you don’t give a rat’s ass about women and their rights at least maintain a shred of dignity for your own sake every once in a while.

This has got to be some sort of joke...

2007-06-04T05:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday , I had to do a double take when I was watching the news because I heard about this . Apparently, Palestinian islamists have been threatening to decapitate female Palestinian TV reporters for the protection of the ethics and morals of the nation. They seem to have reached the decision that "uncovered" women (i.e. not covering their faces) on Television are ruining the ethics of the Palestinian youth and corrupting the society, therefore they resolved that they would generously take it upon themselves to go ahead and behead those harlots.
Why didn't anyone tell me that the struggle of the Palestinian people was over with Israel and that there was peace in the middle east!? No more bombs, No more killing! Well, hurrah , hurrah! All we have to do now is tear the heads off of those pesky, distracting female reporters on TV and all our troubles will be over!

...What do you say...? There still isn't peace in the middle east?

THEN WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THOSE PEOPLE!??

This is how they think they're going to better their country!? By beheading women and blowing up internet cafes!? When did this popular theory emerge all over the Arab and Islamic world that by covering up women, somehow someway, any and all problems would just , disappear? I knew this theory was popular but I just never thought it would manifest itself this way in a place riddled with enough problems to last it a few lifetimes.
Yes, yes I know that they're living in difficult conditions and they use islam as a means to hold on to a glimmer of hope but frankly, I'm quite pissed off about people acting like retards/barbarians/utter idiots and taking islam down in the gutter with them. You want to act like criminals? Do it on your own account for once. I should probably say that these extremist groups with nothing better to do then to annihilate all God-Given rights women have and then go off to blow up a cafe or a mall or something before dinner , should step up and act like men and take responsibility for their actions without hiding behind religion. I should say that, but I can't, because it seems that they've been literally spat out of the category of "men" quite a long time ago.

I'm Dr.Evil...

2007-05-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

Tagged by Om luji because incidently, I read her post lol

How evil are you?

I knew I couldn't keep hiding it for much longer...Bwahahahaha *coughcough*

Tagging everyone who reads this, too !

Which is Worse?

2007-05-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that every single time I pray outside my house, some girl is waiting by to give me a cassette or give me a lecture about my hair? One girl even had the audacity (or is it the stupidity?) to ask me inside a mosque while putting on my shoes if I was a muslim. Um..well darn , you caught me! I’m really a Buddhist in disguise who came in here for the breezy atmosphere and the romantic lighting.

I should’ve asked her if she only began praying or even believing in God when she started covering her hair or maybe I should’ve just told her she was a hopeless moron. *Sigh*That’s l’esprit de l’escalier for you.

The next thing I see when I go out in the street are tons of happy happy couples. Arms around each other not a care in the world. The girls forming halves of these couples were usually girls wearing a hijab, a khemar or a 3abaya.

I’m a little confused here. So it’s not ok to leave your hair uncovered but having a guy grab you or put his arm around your waist or your neck, whisper sweet nothings into your ear and do whatever else it is you guys do together is A OK with God? I admit I maybe a little (ok VERY) uptight when it comes to PDA (public displays of affection) but shouldn’t a girl who’s so religious be just a little bit reluctant when it comes to letting a guy even hold her hand unless they’re officially married? Shouldn’t they be in the presence of their families and friends but never by themselves until they’re officially married? I’m guessing all of this goes on behind their parents’ backs as well.

I remember this professor telling us that girls should dress conservatively ( he meant wear a scarf) or else they’re figuratively letting each man passing by “have a lick”. And yes, those were his exact words. Do I understand from this rapidly spreading phenomenon that as long as you’re wearing a head cover or a 3abaya or whatever, it’s ok to give a selected few an actual “taste” before marriage (or even an engagement)?

And do the situations I’m put in make it ok for me to walk up to some random chick with a 3abaya and a guy surgically attached to her in the street and ask her if she’s a muslim because she’s got what seems to be a huge parasite (let’s call it Humanus hornyus) attached to her body? So can I, can I ?

Am I being judgemental ? Damn right I am. I tend to get that way when random people piss me off on a daily basis with their looks and their “words of wisdom”. It’s my turn, dammit!

See, I’m not against hijab or any tpe of garment a girl wears because she thinks she must in order to qualify as a good muslim as long as she’s not forced into it. I’m just sick of people preaching about appearances while everything else takes a back seat. I thought life was supposed to be about being honest with yourself rather than doing the equivalent of throwing society a bone, so they would call you a good girl and leave you alone, then sneak around and do whatever you want even though you know it’s religiously or sometimes even morally reprehensible. I thought...I thought your character was supposed to overflow on the outside instead of letting that shiny outer shell do all the work for your character or lack thereof.

Isn’t it? Or is that just not in fashion anymore?

Ma 3aleina. As one friend of mine usually says : Gayez el moftchy al OK!

The thinking Blogger Award

2007-05-14T12:07:00.000-07:00

Juka was generous enough to inflate my ego even more by choosing my little blob here for 'The Thinking Blogger Award'.

This is the thingy and I'll be hanging it in everyone's faces from now on insha'allah lol:

The story :

It all started with one blogger, Ilkar Yoldes, who decided that all the tags out there are mindless and the blogs useless.

Too many blogs, not enough thoughts!

He started a new tag “5 Blogs that make me think”.

The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).

It took me a while to come up with 5 blogs which made me think, I tried to choose ones that haven't already been tagged but the most important thing for me was just to post the ones I really like and read a lot. I didn't write many details because I found it rather hard to just sum up these blogs in few sentences, so just click on those links, find out for yourselves and enjoy. :

1. Alb Sayed

2. Reflection

3. Three lives

4. Whisper of Madness

5.Egypt-The Reality

You thought it was just about wheels, did you?

2007-05-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

Silly rabbit.

Ok that was lame…Anyway, moving on.

I’ve previously bitched and moaned about microbuses (MB’s) and metros but I’ve never mentioned terminals before, have I?

Terminals I’ve passed through include : alf maskan, el abbaseya , abd el menem reyad, el marg and maw2af el 3asher. The first 3 aren’t too bad really, they’re positively stylish compared to the last 2 which I only started to know of about 6 months ago when I moved. You see, I moved to a nice house and a nice neighborhood (where the neighbors are separated by a thankfully decent distance) in a “new city” but unfortunately it’s not always just about where you’re going but also about how you’re getting there. The same buses going to Obour city, Sherouk City and 10^th of Ramadan city happen to cross roads with those going to El Salam , El Nahda and a town called Alexandria (not that Alexandria) which I only know of with the help of the tireless vocal cords of the scary gentlemen always dangling out of MB’s but I’m not entirely sure where it exists on actual land.

Maw2af el 3asher is quite amusing really, once you get over the psychological trauma and cultural shock that is. You walk into that place and on your left are people selling fruit, screaming competitively what are apparently cheap prices at the top of their lungs. You walk in a little further and this strange, exotic odor hits you like a wall. You’re not quite sure what it is until you spot what seems to be sort of an open buffet and salad bar on your left. In other words; carts with really tall bucket-like structures filled with things like beans (I think) and old cheese (the “old forgotten at the back of your fridge because you’ve been too much of a lazy ass to pick it up and throw it out for the past year” sort of cheese) each covered with the most flies I’ve ever seen at one time. Would you like some Salmonella with that, sir? Followed by a variety of pickles (Fear not, those come with flies, too!) and those strangely shaped plastic containers filled with liquid licorice and what appears to be milk (again, I’m just guessing). Underneath it all is a smell I’ve found to be existent in every terminal I’ve ever been to (even the stylish ones). The smell you know is there but you’re hoping is not .The smell that conjures up terrifying images in your mind .The smell that turns your stomach and kills your appetite for the week. Yes, it’s the smell that indicates that many wanderers in these here parts have confused this public area for a urinal. Heck, the entire Abbasia square smells like a friggin’ toilet sometimes. Anyways, after you pass through there a few times, you just learn to turn off your lungs for a few seconds and never mind the brain damage.

After that you’re met by the cars, their drivers and the “dangling men”. It’s like an attack of bees. You’re suddenly surrounded by people screaming unintelligible names of places at you all at once and pointing towards those heavenly vehicles of theirs. Is this what it feels like to be a rag doll? And don’t you dare get in an empty MB while another half full MB going to the same destination is standing there! They actually start fighting over the “customer” and their street vocabulaire starts to demonstrate itself in its most extravagant forms.

Damn, I never knew you cared guys! And now I’m a little scared that I do….

As for el Marg, well, I went there at the beginning only when I was trying out all the buses and almost ran towards the metro station once I got there. All I can say is imagine the same “maw2af el 3asher” atmosphere with slightly less of an odor and many more people who look like pickpockets and cut throats. The best description belongs to my father who dropped off a handy man there (and consequently told me never to go there again): It seems like the residents might one day take apart the metro and sell it as spare parts when it pulls into that station.

*Sigh*Truer words have never been spoken, Dad.

I should really start making my posts shorter ….

Things I've learned from Med School (Part II) : Patience, my love.

2007-05-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

In our blessed faculty’s hospital , known as el Demerdash (a governmental/university/teaching/really cheap and miserable for the most part hospital), you’ll find a huge display of human misery. It’s really one of the bleakest places I’ve ever been, particularly the children’s hospital which is always overcrowded.

When you’re in your 5^th yr of med school and you’re actually dealing with patients hands on, you realize with a great degree of shame that you’re intimidated by them. You actually perspire, tremble a little and wonder if you were really cut out for this when you have to perform an examination or even take their history.

Is it because we still haven’t gotten used to the idea that we’ll be dealing with human beings and not just answer sheets? Sure.

Is it because not an insignificant number of our professors will make fun of us at the smallest mistake in front of the entire round?

Well, sometimes. Depends on how resistant you are to ridicule really

Mainly though…It’s because Demerdash patients are professionals and I’m talking about the chronic patients especially. They know more than you do. Much more than you do. The thing is, someone say, with hepatitis or with a valve disease has been coming to this hospital for 10+ yrs. He’s listened to the professors talk and talk and talk in both rounds and in private lessons. So basically these patients have graduated from med school twice over. When you go up to one of them all full of the intention to act as ..errr…doctorly as possible, he/she gives you the complete scientific explanation of their condition and how to examine them(where to put your hand , how hard to press , which order to use..etc.). Naturally, you’re crushed and the idea of crawling into the foetal position in a corner somewhere doesn’t seem so bad considering what a silly little thing you actually turned out to be.

Ah yes... I remember my first sheet when the patient pointed out that I had forgotten to ask him his job and marital status and started to tell me point by point what to write about his disease and what not to write . I particularly remember how he said in the exact scientific (English) terms : “I had rheumatic fever when I was eight now I have a double mitral lesion and my father died of coronary heart disease “. I didn’t even know what a double mitral lesion was at that time. There are actually ones who taunt you when mess up something. Like a couple of weeks ago a cardiac patient asked me “ How do you expect to auscultate the femoral without palpating it first?" with a smirk and a sinister look from behind his glasses. “ Well um…I …um…know where it is already!” was all I managed.

Yes, great comeback , I know.

There are even famous patients who get phoned (via their cellphones or special patient “caterers”) in especially for exams and for lessons. These are usually the ones with textbook cases and clear enough cardiac murmurs or signs for our inexperienced ears and eyes or just really rare ones we usually expect to only hear about but never see.

This is all for a price, of course. Rounds are cheaper than lessons as expected ; an hour or 2 is a pound or 2 from each student making up about 40-60 pounds depending on the round each day. Lessons though are about 70 L.E / student for about 6-8 patients and there are roughly about 80 students per lesson. Exams though, well, now we’re talkin’! If you look gullible, a patient can actually squeeze over 150 pounds from you during an exam. There are stories about having to give up earrings and watches. I have even heard a girl actually got asked to give up her wedding jewelry during the exam. Why pay up? Well, there’s always the fear that the patient may give you the wrong information during history taking, therefore steering you away from the correct mode of examination or diagnosis. When your examiner spots something shady in your sheet and asks the patient to confirm, they of course say something completely different. There goes quite a chunk of your grade and your future plans.

Why,thank you very much Mr. Chronic patient sir.

I don’t know if this makes me sound cold-hearted or if the entire situation is too bizarre to make me sound otherwise. It’s like the people you go into medicine to try and help end up being the bane of your existence for the last 2 (and most crucial) years of your undergraduate studies. I don’t resent paying the money but I do resent being taken advantage of, I resent this entire system of teaching medicine and come to think of it, I resent having to feel resentment towards somebody with a chronic illness actually.

Good God, that was long…Ah , well …till next time !

SmartAss Teacher Syndrome

2007-05-02T16:56:00.000-07:00

I’ve come to the conclusion that after a certain number of years, educators (whether teachers or professors) start to fall victim to the ridiculous assumption that just because they’ve seen a lot of "those kids” come and go, they can simply take a look at one of them and tell what they’re all about.

Generalizations, condescendence and even premonitions of what the bleak future of these students holds then ensue.

I don’t get it really, is there a particular elixir they hand out to you when you start teaching that gives you superhuman powers to see into the souls, hearts and minds of all you students? Don’t they realize that individuality and creativity are already weak on their own without their attempts while in a position of influence, to generalize characteristics which can’t possibly apply to every single kid in a classroom and that lumping us into categories that are easy to remember really diminish the possibilities of people reaching their full potential ? Why do they insist on continually drilling into our heads that we’re all “lazy”, “parrots”, “of diminished IQ”, “spoilt”, blah, blah , blah ..etc. etc. etc. since we’re children until we actually believe it and start calling each other the same. If teachers/professors aren’t supposed to give you a chance to show them what you’re truly made of without preconceived notions, who should?

Just last week, a certain dermatology professor decided that a student who showed up late wearing a baseball cap must have been a spoilt professor’s kid who only shows up to rounds when he has the time and really doesn’t have to work hard like everybody else. Well zippidee doo da , why didn’t I think of that when I saw him? I mean since it’s so obvious and everything *snicker*. He actually said all this after the guy left and I’m not sure if he realized that instead of agreeing with him we all thought he was either an (a) manic depressive (b) moron (c) both. Then he proceeded to point out how we’ve all become lazy, students with no goals or motives. Um , yeah….we all give off the exact same vibe I’m sure. So he not only made several completely ridiculous assumptions but actually managed to project himself as an asshole thus losing all respect we had for him. I’m not expecting him to get to know us each intimately but if he doesn’t even make the effort with a few of us then he should just (in the words of the great common man) stick his tongue back in his mouth, shut up and teach.
We don’t need your assumptions, your mundane theories about life, your clever clever attempts at sarcasm. Just do your job and let us do ours and we’ll both be better off ,believe me.

I'm still alive barely...

2007-04-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

I just had to mention that I didn't abandon my lil' cyber blob or anything. I just had a test which went swimmingly well! ( lol, is it obvious that I'm lying? what gave it away? was it "swimmingly"?).
Actually,this week sucked like no other: studying for the test, the flu, throwing up, my mother and I arguing for the umpteenth time..lotsa fun. THEN I go in to one of our resident crazy cat ladies/professors to be tested on an X-ray that was actually not black and white but a pale sickly GREEN. Yes, ladies and gentlemen green. I walked around the room for about 10 mins looking for any source of light that made it viewable but to no avail. She looked pissed off...and she wasn't lookin' very pretty all pissed off like that, especially in that shitty lighting. Then the day ends in a magnificent sandstorm. By the time I got home, I had sand in my eyes, my mouth, my throat, my hair (my friends in dermatology kept joking about how it looked like pediculosis/ lice infestation...ha-ha guys, real comedians the lot of you), my clothes and my toes. This is turning out to be a lovely week :S...

Anyway, here's Mika's Love Today...I've been humming it for about a week now:

Tagged Again : Which Famous Leader Are You?

2007-04-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

Tagged by Fadfadation ..Merci keteer ya fandem ;)

I took all 4 sets of Q's and I was twice this guy:

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

And twice this guy :

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Lovely! What's better than being a combination of a smooth talkin' adulterer (who wasn' t such a bad president to be honest) and a Kee-Raaaazy mass murderer who was rejected from Art School!

Like I said, Merci Keteer ya Fandem ! :D

(and even though fadfadation tagged just about everyone I know and Mak beat me to Sou, I still have you Reema lol...you're it!)

Tagged : Back when we were Young

2007-04-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

I'M STILL YOUNG DAMMIT!! :S

Well... tagged by juka , so here goes:

1.Did you use to be a good student at school?

Yeah, I was a total teacher's pet whether be it academically or in extra-curricular activities. Been in Honor classes most of my life (with the exception of when arabic brought my grades down one year because I sorta couldn't speak it... yet lol). I was one of those weird creatures who actually liked studying (actually I liked marking things off of my to-do list ...OCD , I know I know) but I hardly showed off in class. In fact, I prefered to listen quietly and just surprise ppl at the end ;).

2.What were your most loved and hated subjects?

Most loved:

Biology, Physics, English,French and Art . I wasn't particularly fond of chemistry except that I had a major soft spot for organic chemistry.

Most hated:

Arabic : didn't matter how hard I tried, I sucked at all things arabic except for grammar.

Economics : No seriously, what was this about?

Philosophy: What is in an "if"? Or an "and" ? Or ..or...o forget it.

Geography: I don't want to know who produces the most grapefruits O.K.?

Mathematics : How can I love physics and hate Maths ? Well, it was more of a love/hate relationship here. I hated it because I sucked at it for the first 5 yrs of school . My fifth grade teacher called it my "monster". I decided it was either me or Maths one day and I totally conquered that mofo . Hah! I ended up enjoying it despite myself really...I especially loved Algebra.

3. When young , what did you want to become?

An astronomer or a doctor. I thought about studying art professionally but I decided I wasn't good enough to pursue a career in it.

Well lemme see, tagging Reema and Spellz.

The Results Are In , What now?

2007-03-27T03:55:00.000-07:00

I hardly ever write about anything political because other people do it much better than I ever could. That's why I didn't mention the "constitutional amendments" or the "referendum" or any of this supposed democratic (LOL, yes I know, I know...) bullshit and decided to boycott like many other people considering what a big lousy joke the whole thing was.
Against my own good sense,I watched "el 3ashera masa2an" or "10 p.m" yesterday and didn't know whether to laugh or cry when they were interviewing the voters. My favorite was this one lady who enthusiastically replied to the reporter when asked about her vote : "Yes, I vote Yes!".
The dismayed reporter (who looked like she was about to creep into a dark corner and crawl into the fetal position at the end of the segment) asked her if she knew what the constitution is. "el Dastoor? Dah kowayes!"

.....Uh wenaby da zay el balsam 3al gar7 ya 7aga.....

The reporter then gave it one last shot and asked her if she knew what the amendments were, to which she replied "No, why don't you tell me...".
Some people thought they were voting for the president, others didn't know what the hell they were voting for, some even thought there was a monetary punishment if you didn't vote. I loved how El-Ahram (the headlines of which hit me like a wall this morning) boasted about the amendments being written on the ballots for the voters to remember. Like , that's actually going to make a difference if they're using their thumbs to sign. It also says that the turnout from rural areas was higher than that from urban areas. Well, good golly! I wonder why...

Oh and lookie here friends and neighbours , according to the government, the turnout was 25-27% and the approval rate was about 75%.

According to human rights and independent groups , it was barely around 5%.

I also found this video on youtube that speaks volumes (kudos and respect to its creators) :

The Public Transportation Saga continues : Le Metro

2007-03-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

Did I ever mention that I sometimes have to ride the Underground Metro/subway sometimes, too? No? Well, now I have.
Ever since we moved 3 months ago to one of the new cities built on the outskirts of Cairo to realize the dream of having a house of our own (we generally dislike um...neighbours) I've come in contact with the metro too!
My mom drops me off in the morning at a Metro station on her way to work and I take it to College. It's very practical actually, 10 mins and I'm there. If I happen to finish around the time my mom gets off work , I take the metro to meet her and I'm microbus-free for that day.
The thing is , just like microbuses have their highly entertaining events which make for great small talk topics , so does the metro.

Today for example, one metro- in the direction of Helwan- broke down. As a result,the next few metros were so congested , it looked like they were about to burst open and spit out the people filling them to their limit. It was totally comical waiting for a car where there was enough space to fit in. The metro cars pass by and you see faces, backs, bags, hands and clothes stuck to windows cartoonishly. When the doors open a bunch of girls pour out screaming (I don't know why they were screaming really but obviously they felt compelled to do so) and trying to pull their bags, hair and veils out with them. I worked up the courage to get into one of the cars and I've never rested my chin on so many strange heads and shoulders in my life. At one station a ..um..heavy-set woman waltzed in and demanded that I make some space. "I wish I could move lady but there's no space" to which she replies "space? Why there's plenty of space!".
O RLY? Then pray tell why am I forced to sniff your hair for the next couple of stations?

It's not an unusual sight to see a shoe or an arm stuck in between one of the doors while I'm on my way out of the station. It takes the conducter a while to notice the screaming but he eventually opens the doors again before he severes a limb. To be honest, it's not really his fault. It seems that some of passengers can't quite grasp the concept of having to move into the empty spaces in the car and away from the door to let someone in before the doors close. It's a complex concept I know.

Then there's that annoying policy of "Nazla? Nazla ? nazla? hah hah hah ? Nazla? " ...I swear that I'm getting off at the next station, honest to God and all his prophets , I promise you from the bottom of my heart that I'm getting off and may God strike me dead if I don't!
....Another "Nazla?" has to be thrown in for good measure though after all those promises are made....

I've noticed something weird about the way people deal with ticket machines. Besides of course suddenly finding a stranger squeezing in with you while you cross because she/he just happened to "forget" buying a ticket. The thing that I've noticed is that despite the fact that about 10 machines are working just fine, people seem to gravitate towards the 2 or 3 crowded ones. Is it because it's hard work checking the screen to see if the machine's working? Is it because the ones being used heavily are more likely actual ticket machines rather than say , a gateway to a parallel dimension (as if anyone would notice) ? Is it just the sweet smell of armpits that makes your day worth living?

Sigh...Questions , Questions.

I always take the ladies' car and on one occasion , this poor schmuck got on just before the doors closed by mistake. This lead to screams of protests : " A man! Men aren't allowed here!" , " We can take him to the police station when the metro stops!" yes ladies, because that poory scared guy is going to kidnap/rape/harrass/kill a car full of screaming vicious hyenas..err women ...then an empty semi-circle formed around him immediately with his back pressed to the door. It was like an invisible force field automatically goes up around any men in the ladies' cars.

And I can't sign off without mentioning the beloved sound of " tick, tick , etshfooo" ..Yes, that's right. You hear that sound and you realize someone is snacking on flax seeds or "lib" right behind your ear. I mean let's be rational, the lady behind me has gotta snack on something right? She has one hand free, a full set of teeth and a long metro ride home, so why shouldn't she spit out those darling little salivated missiles?

Well this post is long enough now and I'm sorry to have bored you if you've made it this far :D .

Bub-bye for now.

Current Musical Obsession

2007-03-25T02:51:00.000-07:00

I just came across this song by accident on Youtube ( don't ya just love youtube?). The artist is called Diane Cluck, you can read about her here.
The song is called : I'm your "Here I am" :

I'm Your "Here I am"

First my fate was to be lied to,
'Cause I liked it, and I lied too.
Then my fate was on it's Round Two.
Out of two rounds, it stopped--
said, "Here I am. Here I am."

Come embrace me, I'm your long lost.
I'm your comeback,
I'm your: "Here I am."
Don't waste me, 'cause I won't last long,
and I won't come back,
I'm your: "Here I am."
I'm your, "Here I am."

Slowly it comes around again.
Second time, still it's not sure.
First time I lied, said,
"I'm not ready yet,"
and it slammed the door.
After suffering all the scabs of falling off,
I can lie no more.
Now one last try--
and it's so close by

In the star light,
in the street light,
in the headlight,
in the house light,
in the half-light,
in the no light,
even then, it's so bright.
You can't help but hear, "Here I am."

Embrace me, I'm your long lost,
I'm your comeback,
I'm your: "Here I am."
Don't waste me, 'cause I won't last long,
and I won't come back,
I won't come back,
I'm your: "Here I am."
I'm your, "Here I am."

Happy Birthday, Gary Oldman!

2007-03-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

Just a quick Happy Birthday to one of my favorite actors of all time , Mr. Gary Oldman who is one of the best, most versatile and most underrated actors around. He was :

Batshit crazy Stansfield in the Luc Besson's wonderful "Leon: the professional" :

One of the best Vampires in cinema history IMHO in Francis Ford Coppola's " Bram Stoker's Dracula"
(I know that it was a completely romanticized version of the novel but Gary Oldman oozed charisma as Count Dracula in this movie)

Beethoven in the painfully romantic "Immortal Beloved"

Sirius Black in "Harry Potter:The Prisoner of Azkaban"

He's in the next installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman series, "The Dark Night", reprising his role as commissioner Gordon.
He's now 49, here's to wishing he finally gets that damn Oscar ( he should've at least been nominated for at one point) by the time he is 50!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And A HUGE Happy Mother's Day to my Mommy and All Mommies out there !

We appreciate you deeply even if you don't believe it sometimes ;D!

Too. Many. Babies

2007-03-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

In today's round, I was responsible for taking the patient's sheet. It was a case of marasmus which is basically a condition where there's generalized protien and carbohydrate malnutrition causing retarded growth and mental development in children.
By the time I was finished I had a very strong desire to strangle the mother. Why? Well...
this baby had 3rd degree marasmus which is the highest degree and is characterized by something called "senile facies" meaning he looked like an old man. He had every possible complication I've ever read regarding this disease ; recurrent gastric infections, dehydration, chest infections, ear infections, retarded physical (13 months old and 5.5 kg ,half the normal weight for his age), retarded mental growth (incapable of producing sounds even), ulceration in his mouth and tongue, ulceration in his eyes (he might go blind) , ulceration all over his skin and the weakest cry I have ever heard. According to one of my colleagues , he looked like he was "on vacation from the grave". To top it all off, he was a single child. I mean, what degree of negligence does it take for this to happen ??? The mother looked like she had come to terms with the idea that he was dying , she couldn't remember details about what happened to him , she was most definitely not honest about his history (stuff like this just doesn't happen spontaneously) and according to her, the father is unemployed.

I'm sorry if I sound like a Nazi but for the love of GOD, if you are incapable of supporting a family, why start one?
If you are incapable of raising a child and giving him the love and care he deserves ,why have one?

May God forgive me for saying this, but some people should have their tubes tied at birth. Human life is not a trivial matter. Neglected children are already all over the place , who eventually breed more neglected children. Why ? For what purpose?
It's not just about poverty either, Rich people breed some of the worst creatures roaming this Earth. Rich kids are even worse sometimes because despite all the opportunities give to them, they can still turn out to be selfish , arrogant , useless people. But parents always play a role in them turning out the way they do IMHO.

Birth control is cheap, God damn it. It should be used more often!! If every baby was wanted and if every baby was born to loving and responsible parents , there wouldn't be so many evil , wretched and miserable people in the world right now.

Besides, in a religious country like ours (whether you're Christian or Muslim) , why do people insist on breeding so much when orphanages are filled to their limit? Instead of having three kids, why not have 2 kids and give one orphan a family (as long as you can actually support 3 kids emotionally & financially) ? (And I'm not talking about adoptiing him/her , changing his/her name..just giving them a home)

We're already one of the most overpopulated countries ( the root of a lot of our problems IMHO) in the world , I shudder to think what the streets will look like during rush hour in 10 yrs or so....

--- This is what a marasmic child looks like, this is what I saw today...

You know it's flu season when ...

2007-03-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

You start sneezing all over all your friends and family members.

Your nose feels like it's about to fall off your face any minute now.

Your face feels like someone's pounding your forehead , pinching your cheeks and twisting your nose in a deadly death grip all at the same time while someone's pulling your teeth out and evil tiny creatures are banging on your ear drums.

You wake up feeling like someone just beat the crap out of you while you were sleeping with a pair of heavy old shoes bringing them down wherever they landed, yet somehow you failed to wake up.

Your College Dean passes by a miserable pile of human flesh (a.k.a you) sitting on a bench, looks at you long and hard to make sure you're still alive and asks if he should take you to the clinic.(We have a clinic for the students at college? Like, No Way!?)

You become a proud source of "El Microbatat ely 3al Microbasat".

You drink a strange and mystic mix of herbal infusions yet it doesn't matter because you can't smell or taste them.

You start to sound like Janice from friends. Somehow everyone ends up sounding like Janice from friends .

You somehow consume enough tissues to make a tissue-paper-wedding-dress. ( Yes, there's an actual game where you do that)

You want your mommy to go back to taking care of you all of a sudden.

You walk around with your vision blurred, your eyes half open, your mouth open to allow any possible air entry, your balance lost and your hands constantly outstretched in search of your bed. Sorta reminds me of this :

Things I've learned from Med School (part I)

2007-03-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

1-Far too many people are too infatuated with how fantastic they are.

2-Professors should be required to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before being unleashed onto the students. Pyscho-Professors turn normal students into Psycho-Students ,some of which one day will become New Psycho-Professors. Thus the Cycle continues and the Earth bleeds.

3-Far too many people have too much potential for split-personality disorder and/or schizophrenia. Yikes.

4-Far too many people look more than willing to kill you in your sleep, even when they're smiling.

5-People should require a license to breed. Too many people produce too many neglected children who either grow up into lousy adults or don't make it to adulthood at all (some of which pay us a visit in the pediatrics ward during their short short lives). Babies are easy to make, raising them well is the actual challenge.

6-Far far too many people seem unreconciled with the idea of wearing deodrant. Wear it people , it's for the benefit of human kind.

7-Too many guys have a long way to go before they're men, too many girls seemed to have flown over the "mademoiselle" station right into the "45 yr old divorcee with 3 kids" station.

I'm Diggin' this song right now : The killers-Read my Mind.

Le ShobShob

2007-03-06T14:36:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of what the slippers we wear to the bathroom at home look like. In what appears to be a disturbing recent trend, these slippers have become a hot fashion accessory...for guys. Look, I have nothing deep to say about this but I just came home an hour ago and everywhere I turned a guy's toes were wiggling next to me. I mean...EWWW. Unless you have cute perfectly pedicured toes (which means you've got worse problems than being a fashion victim, young man), put that sh*t away plz!

Current musical obsession

2007-03-05T02:55:00.000-08:00

Kaiser Chiefs- Ruby

I just can't this song out of my head, I've been humming it all day long and the video is really cute :D .

Eric Clapton - Layla (acoustic)

An old song but I hadn't heard it for quite some time until they played it on the radio a couple of days ago. It's just...WoW. The guitar and piano work is just amazing.

Le Microbus

2007-03-03T03:09:00.000-08:00

Let me tell you a story...

When I was in school, my parents lovingly did the mistake of never letting me get involved in public transportation. They would always strive to drop me off and pick me up whenever I needed them to. Then university started and with it started the lovely and colourful world of public transportation. In the beginning, I was actually too embarassed to stick my hand out in the street and stop a bus. I mean moi ? Stick my hand out? In the street? In front of all those people!!??
I got over it though and started sticking out all my limbs if it meant that the damn bus would actually see me and stop...
First for me, was the CTA ; nice seats, air conditioned and generally nice people. Problem was , I had to wait for it for a long long time. So my brother told me what I had dreaded to hear; I had to start riding the minibuses and microbuses. The ones that used to scare me with their men (who must all have peices of little children stuck in their throats from that day's breakfast) calling out their destinations in rather unique pronunciations (No two are really alike. Sort of like snowflakes but not quite as pretty) and with the people riding sticking out the windows and doors like they all got compressed into a humongous sardine can. I first tried riding the minibuses because they looked bigger and didn't look like they were about to fly off the ground when they moved but they were so crowded. Getting in and out was like walking through a swamp of various odours I really don't wanna know the cause of. So I decided I would take the plunge and take the tiny ones. At least everybody's always sitting down, right?
The thing is, in one of those Speedy-Gonzalez type vehicles, you get people from all walks of life and social strata. That's why it's always so amusing. You never know what you're gonna hear , see or smell. I always go out wondering what assault on my senses will I experience , today?
I could hear an expletive , the meaning of which I will never know because I can never ask lest it be something so profane it'll ruin my innocence forever . Fights of every kind; over 25 piasters, over the driver driving too fast, or intentionally hitting all those road bumps because he hates us all and seeks our destruction. I've had a little kid I don't know sleep on my arm all the way home just because her parents are relieved they only have one kid on their lap to deal with now and I'm too embarrassed to wake a sleeping child even if she keeps sneezing on me in her sleep. I've had people offer me food if they're eating. Just last week a lady started taking a tangerine out peeling it then promptly saying "etfadaly ya 7abebtchy!" to which I reply "merci ketcheer walahy".

Today though the strangest incident of them all.

I get in the car, say hello and a nice little old lady with a big navy blue bag on her lap smiles and says hello back. I like nice little old people, probably because I never got to know my grandparents. Anyway, I sit next to her, pull out my book begin to read, then collect money from the "clients" when the car moves (yes, I actually collect the fare quite often..) and I give the lady her change. Moments later she says "No, no!" in a low voice. I wonder if I could've given her the wrong change or something. Then I look down at her hands on top of the bag and lo and behold, a pair of yellow eyes are staring at me. It was a cat, a kitty, a feline. Yes, God help me but a cat was taking a ride next to me on the microbus !!!The lady tells it to "behave, we're in the street!" and kinda bangs it softly on the head. Then she pushes it in the bag and zips it when it doesn't behave. Good God, what else does she have in there? A puppy, 2 hamsters and a little kid!??
I try to get back to my book and actually see her smiling at me through the corner of my eye but I refuse, yes , REFUSE to look her in the eye for fear of bursting into flames or turning into stone. She's not a cute little old lady anymore, she's a creepy old cat lady and I'm stuck with her in a confined space for about 30 mins more.
See, I'm not afraid of cats. On the contrary,I think they're quite lovely. It's just that seeing a cat peering out of a bag on some old lady's lap, a bag which then begins squirming next to my leg is just Pretty.Freakin'.Creepy, OK!?
The thing is, she would actually bang the bag wherever her hand landed when it moves. I was stuck between wanting to laugh, wanting to cry for having to see this shit and wanting to scream because this was just too effin' weird even for my taste.

This is now officially considered the strangest thing ever to happen to me in public transportation( this year). Unless I sit next to a guy who says he's from the planet Xenon and is carrying his boss with him in a jar in his bag , it shall remain so.

P.S: I haven't learned how to drive yet and the streets don't make me very enthusiastic about it besides the fact that driving to Ain Shams med school ( and all it's private lessons) is quite a hassle. So I shall remain in contact with MB's a little while longer.

My mask of sanity is about to slip.

2007-02-27T01:29:00.000-08:00

I don't really know why but I've recently noticed something rather odd about myself. I'm not sure if it's odd or if it's something that everyone does but never speaks of for fear of being accused of insanity by other people who secretly do the very same thing. I've noticed that when I'm in public I tend to imagine these very detailed hypothetical situations and all their possible consequences that usually have an unpleasant or maybe even bloody conclusion. Examples:

When I'm walking down the steep and very crowded metro stairs, I always wonder what will happen if I slip and fall on the hard cement below, breaking my jaw with blood spraying a metre in front of me. I guess some ppl will try to help, someone will likely steal my wallet and phone from my bag and others will simply try to quickly avoid the sudden crowd and continue to their destinations after taking a small glance at the cause of all the commotion. Most people though will probably just gather around to watch so they could tell their friends and families all about it because we just love to watch horrible things happen to strangers and then use them for small talk.
I would then feel a sudden disgust and imagine what would happen if I pushed someone.
Sometimes when I'm especially pissed off, I walk around simply looking hostile and daring anyone to say or do something stupid, so that I can take it all out on a stranger I'll never see again but get the satisfaction that I just made the day a little gloomier for someone I don't give a shit about and probably hated on sight.
When getting out of a car or a taxi with a friend, I wonder what might happen if that friend gets a little too enthusiastic about arriving and slams the door in my face while I'm still half way out.
Then I wonder what might happen if I do it.
When I have close calls, like almost slipping on the stairs or almost getting hit by a vehicle of some sort, I never let it just pass. I have to imagine the possible consequences up to the point where I'm lying in a hospital bed unconsious with my family and friends standing around me and looking sad.
I imagine if they actually will be upset , or how long it'll take my friends to notice that I'm gone and then how long it'll take for them to forget me.
I wonder what will happen if I tell that "acquaintance" talking to me while I'm smiling at her that in reality I can't stand her guts and want to give her a good slap or two on the face because I know she secretly hates me for whatever reason.
Sometimes when I'm out with my friends, walking around with the ever present water bottle in my hand just laughing and having a good time, I look at complete strangers and wonder what might happen if I bang them on the head with said bottle. An outrage I bet! My friends looking horrified at me, me with a twisted sick smile on my face, my victim looking at me speechless and ready to throttle me at the same time
I often wonder what will happen if I shout an expletive at that smug, arrogant, misogynistic professor in the middle of class just to see the look on his face. He'll probably make sure I never graduate and ruin my future because I'm a worthless kid who decided to let him know that he's an ass.
Right now I'm wondering what kind of impression do I hope to give by quoting American Psycho in the Goddamn title .

I choose to believe that this is all a normal part of having an overactive imagintion. Reassurances of this theory are more than welcome

How good were My Oscar Guesses?

2007-02-25T18:31:00.001-08:00

Here's how my guesses faired against the actual winners in the order of awards at the ceremony:

Best supporting actor:

Winner : Alan Arkin
My guess : Either Eddie Murphy or Alan Arkin. Score 1 for me!

Best supporting actress:

Winner: Jennifer Hudson.
My guess : Jennifer Hudson. Score 2 for me!

Best Actress in a Leading Role :

Winner : Helen Mirren.
My guess: Helen Mirren.3..yes, I'm good I know.

Best Actor in a Lead Role:

Winner: Forest Whitaker
My guess : Forest Whitaker. 4...mwahahahaha

Best director:

Winner: Martin Scorsese
My Guess: Marty..that's 5!

Best Motion Picture:

Winner: The Departed
My Guess : Babel or Queen. OK , I did not see that one coming.

Out of my 6 guesses (without seeing most of the movies involved) I've guessed 5 correctly!

Conclusion: I need to get more active hobbies....

It's that Oscar Time of the Year.

2007-02-25T11:13:00.000-08:00

I love movies.

That's why I have this annual tradition of staying up to watch the oscars LIVE. You see, I must know who wins the moment they win, I can't just wait until the next morning...why...why ...that's sheer madness to me! (yes yes , I know it's pathetic but I wasn't always like this. It's taken me a few yrs to get that way lol).
Problem is, most movies that have a chance getting various awards tend to be released in the later months of the year so that they have a stronger presence in the memory of the academy members. It's simply a matter of "out of sight , out of mind". That's why I still haven't seen a lot of the movies in the awards race because they haven't been released (or have been just very recently released) in Egypt, yet. However, since The Oscars have been sucking for the past few years and you can safely predict awards based on Awards Buzz, good PR , Academy Award preferences and tendencies, previous unfair snubs by the academy and the pattern of awards handed out previously this year (eg. Golden Globes, BAFTAs..etc.) , this year I've decided to give you my very first Academy Award Predictions in the main categories even though I haven't seen half of the movies competing lol. You see, it's widely believed that a lot of Academy members don't see all the movies before voting (as indicated sometimes by who wins), so let's see how good a guesser I am ;) :

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

Nominees:

1-Leonardo Di Caprio: Blood Diamond.
2-Ryan Gosling: Half Nelson
3-Forest Whitaker: The last King of Scotland
4-Peter O' Toole : Venus
5-Will Smith : The Pursuit of Happyness

Who will win: Forest Whitaker. His only real competition is Leo who gave a ferocious , fantastic performance and although I know bad accents have never really stood in the way of awards,Leo's accent was just heinous which annoyed me till the end of the movie.

Who deserves to win: Forest Whitaker. He's a fantastic actor who's been underrated for years. Check out his role in Eastwood's movie "Bird" which won him the best actor award in the Cannes film festival in 1988.

Best actress in a Leading Role:

Nominees:

1- Meryl Streep : The Devil wears Prada
2- Kate Winslet: Little Children
3- Judi Dench : Notes on a Scandal
4- Helen Mirren : The Queen
5- Penelope Cruz : Volver.

Who will win: Helen Mirren is a 100% sure bet this year. She totally dominated the awards season this year. She's sure to be making an acceptance speech tonight. Another fantastic but very underrated actress who actually deserves the recognition she's getting. And Meryl streep is not winning for a comedy mocking Vogue editor Anna Wintour. Ain't gonna happen. Kate Winslet has the record now for the youngest actor ever to recieve 5 nominations. I like her and good for her, except that I'm almost sure that she's shaved at least 5 yrs off of her age ( Lady was not 22 in Titanic nor did she look 19 in Sense & Sensibility and sure as hell doesn't look 31 now.) and I don't think she should've been nominated for Titanic.

Who deserves to win: All bow to Helen Mirren.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

Nominees:

1-Alan Arkin : Little Miss Sunshine
2- Eddie Murphy : Dreamgirls
3- Djimon Hounsou: Blood Diamond
4- Jack Earl Haley: Little Children
5- Mark Wahlberg: The Departed

Who will win: Either Eddie Murphy or Alan Arkin. More likely the former because he's won both the GG & the SAG award.
Who deserves to win: Djimon Honsou or Alan Arkin.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

Nominees:

1- Jennifer Hudson: Dreamgirls
2- Rinko Kikushi: Babel
3- Adriana Baraza: Babel
4- Cate Blanchett: Notes on a Scandal
5- Abigail Breslin: Little Miss Sunshine.

Who will win: Jennifer Hudson: Buzz Buzz Buzz. Except the Academy might pull one of it's unexpected twists and give it to Rinko Kikushi. Who deserves to win: Rinko Kikushi. She was in a move with the mighty Cate Blanchett and superstar Brad Pitt and outshined them both. She also lead a lot of people to believe that she's actually mute/deaf in real life.

Best Picture:

Nominees:

1- Babel
2- The Queen
3- Little Miss Sunshine
4- Letters from Iwo Jima
5- The Departed

Who will win: This one is tricky. Babel did win best picture at the GG, however a lot of ppl have deemed it overrated. Also, Last yr was Brokeback Mountain's big year and Crash ended up winning an unexpected best picture.I think it'll be either Babel or The Queen.
Who deserves to win:The Queen.

Best Director:

Nominees:

1- Babel
2- The Queen
3- United 93
4- Letters from Iwo Jima
5- The Departed

Who will win: Again tricky. Clint Eastwood won at the GG for Letters from Iwo Jima as best foriegn film and the academy loves to kiss his ass. Martin Scorsese won at the Director's Guild Awards and GG for the Departed and Marty's been snubbed more than enough in previous years. The Queen also has a chance of winning. Since the Academy has a history of trying to make up for previous losses by one overdue award, I'll say Martin Scorcese

Who deserves to win: Marty for the win! You see, I can't get over Jon Stewart's joke last yr at the ceremony : " For those of you keeping score, Three six mafia ; one.. Martin Scorcese; zero.". Give the man an award already!!

I'll be seeing most of these movies within the next two months isa. For now , let's see how well I know how the academy thinks! Off to study till 3 a.m now before the show starts. It's being presented by Ellen DeGenres, so it's sure to bring on a few laughs.

Mmmm...coffee...and popcorn :D.

Book Reviews

2007-02-19T03:12:00.002-08:00

Thanx to all the time I spent in public transportation, I've just finished 2 books these past couple of weeks. To make this easier for me , I'll give them grades out of 4 and I'll try not to include any spoilers :

Four past Midnight - Stephen King :

A collection of 4 novellas first published by Mr.King in 1990. It's not his best work I'm afraid, or at least in my humble opinion. There were 2 stories I liked. The first is "The library policeman" (3.5/4) which was a good read but dragged on for longer than needed. It was both scary and humane. The second is The Langoliers(4/4) , which was excellent and engaging. It's obviously my favorite story and despite being the longest one, I flew through it quite quickly.

The other 2 stories disappointed me. The first is the story "Secret window, Secret garden"(2/4) which was later made into a movie starring Johnny Depp. It was eerily similar to "The Dark Half" which was a novel published by King in 1989. You could basically guess the ending before you were halfway through the story. The other was "The Sun Dog"(2.5/4). Although interesting at first , it also dragged on unnecessarily and not to a very interesting end. The ending was anti-climatic and confusing to say the least. It left way too many loose ends.

Overall verdict : 3/4

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon :

Now I absolutely loved this book. It was first published in 2003, originally intended for adults but was then published simultaneously as both an adult and a children's book. I had heard a lot of good things about it and I bought it expecting it to be a sort of quirky mystery novel but it turned out to be so much more. The hero of this book is a 15 yr-old by the name of Christopher Boone. His life turns upside down when he discovers the neighbour's (Mrs. Shears) dog Wellington, murdered one night with a garden fork. He decides to take a note from Sherlock Holmes (whose stories he's fond of reading) and sets out to collect clues and facts which could help him solve this murder mystery. The thing is,
Christopher suffers from a mild form of Autism known as Asperger's Syndrome and the story is told in the first person where Christopher explains that he's writing a book about something real and that this was interesting enough to write about. The chapter alternates between events of the story with its unexpected turnabouts and between chapters which give insight to the way Christopher's mind works. Aperger's syndrome (as well as I understood) is a social behavioral disorder where a person analyzes things quite differently. He views people differently and is afraid of social situations most people take for granted. That's what makes this book so interesing. This book was funny and very touching.

I highly recommend this one.

Overall Verdict : 4/4

People are just too silly sometimes...

2007-02-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

My famly and I moved to the outskirts of Cairo a couple of months ago to one of the "new cities" because we wanted to have a house of our own. The roads to and from there are usually crowded. However, the past couple of days they have been extra crowded. The reason, you ask? Why, it's the miracle tree of course! Apparently, a couple of days ago, someone discovered a tree on the masr-ismailia road near the airport that has the words" لا اله الا الله " or there is No God but Allah carved on it. People came from all over the place to see it. Everyone who has a mobile phone (which is everyone in Egypt) climbed up to take photos. The funniest thing were the people searching the other trees for any other little "miracles" they might have missed. I'm no psychologist but the only explanation I have is Mass Hysteria. That's right my friends. People have collectively gone bye-bye and we've all known it for a long time.
I've never believed in these sorts of things, where someone says he finds a divine phrase written on a potato or on some sugar cane perhaps. I never really thought God would need to do something like that to remind us that he was there. I hate to sound cheesy or corny but if you want a miracle don't look at the writing, look at the goddamn tree. Look at it's detail and structure and history. That's the miracle. Not something which was probably carved out by somebody who subsequently started this rumor to see what the latest imbecile count was these days.

Update:

I just saw a feature about the tree on "el 3ashera masa2an". Apparently , they're making up some sort of committee of botanical experts to determine whether the writing is natural or not. For the love of God, with all the problems this country has, they're making up a friggin' committee for the friggin' tree???? I hope a lightening bolt strikes it and burns it to the ground. I don't enjoy being an hour late every where because a lot of people are extra stupid this week. The presenter "Mona El-Shazli" pointed out the same thing I pointed out above ( the same thing any member of the sane tribe, no matter how small it's getting) would point out ; If you want to see God's power look around you, you don't need the writing which may or may not be miraculous to believe. So what if it's natural? Trees always have markings on them, it depends on how you look at the markings. In the US, you constantly hear of someone finding the face of Jesus on a sweet potato or something, even though nobody really knows what he looks like.
MASS HYSTERIA I tell you.

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In other ridiculous news, Britney Spears is now an even more amusing train wreck as she has completely shaved her head!

See? Business in the front and party in the back!
Thanks for ruining my pre-teen memories, Bitch! >:(

Random Embarassing situation

2007-02-14T02:05:00.002-08:00

We all have irrational fears, right? I have several in fact.Despite not being afraid of ants,spiders,geckos, lizards, rats ,mice, cats, dogs or anything like that, one of the (major) fears is *drumroll plz* : my fear of Cockroaches! I see one of those littles fellas walking by and I jump up in the air, do a little dance and run out the room to get a weapon of some sort (i.e : a heavy shoe/slipper and insecticide) like my life depended on it. I have never killed one myself till this day, someone else has to do it for me with the weapons I provide. I simply cannot imagine touching one of them even if it's with an industrial strength shoe. The sensation of one of those ugly critters being crushed under something that's in actual contact with my body, while their horrid internal anatomy oozes out in a disgusting pool of unidentifiable fluid is simply too much for my nervous system to handle. And God help me, what if it's carrying a sack of pulsating eggs full of little horrors still in the making?

I bet you're saying Hello to your breakfast by now. Hello, eggs. Hey, coffee. Hi there ,toast.

So when somebody tells me that there's a cockroach within a small distance from me, it better be an actual one that's deserving of my electrifying reaction which is sure to follow. That's why in the middle of my round , yesterday I didn't appreciate it when my friend sitting next to me started this little chat with me:

"Cockroach", she says in a calm tone.
"Where?", I reply in a sleepy tone.
"Underneath you", still pretty calm.
"Alive or dead?" , Kind of awake now.
"Alive", stilly frustratingly calm
"HOLY CRAP", Shock and horror on my face.

I get up , interrupt the Doctor in the middle of the lesson . "Cockroach?" he asks. "YEAH,COCKROACH!" I say almost causing one of his ear drums to burst. So then I turn around to look that vile little creature in it's beady little eyes and I realize the "cockroach" my friend was talking about was so tiny it was barely visible in the ground. Basically a tiny spot moving around on the ground. "THAT's WHAT YOU MADE ME GET UP FOR??". I mean, this thing was so friggin' tiny, I probably didn't even have to step on it.I could probably kill it with the power of my mind.

Thx a lot, sweetheart. Now everyone thinks that I'm such a "girl". Damn it, that reaction was supposed to be reserved only for insects the size of my palm, woman!

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In other less disgusting news (depends on how you look at it *snicker*) It's Valentine's Day today!
Time to break out your savings to buy your loved one something that's incredibly red, perfumey and expensive! Beware of the Blinding Red you'll see in the streets today, drivers & pedestrians!

O and let me introduce you to my livejournal icon this week :

S.O.S concert....Singin' in the Rain

2007-02-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

So I went to the S.O.S concert , yesterday! Standing in the cold wind and rain for over 6 hours sure does your body good :D !!
I have to say , it was a totally different and very enjoyable experience for me. My only complaint is that instead of starting at 2 p.m like they announced, they started at 4:40.
Guys, that was just not cool or classy.

I fortunately had an umberella to salvage my hair from the rain before the show started and during the show I opted to wrap my scarf around it. According to my friend, I looked like I had just dropped in from Bosnia. Lovely.

Here are my opinions about the bands I managed to see :

Chromatics : Nice guys, obviously very talented but lacking in the showmanship department. The music was great, but they didn't engage the audience well.
Vocal Curse: LOL, those guys were just so cute you had to pinch their cheeks! 2 highschool students, beat boxers and very good ones at that. I had a vague idea what beat boxing was and after explaining it to my friends , I said " this will probably be very entertaining!". And it was! They put on a fun show and had great stage presence.
Arabian Knights : Now, the thing is I'm kinda biased because I hate rap music with a passion (remember, you can't spell crap without rap...BWAHAHAHA). These guys are an Arabic/English, hip-hop/rap group, their songs (or what I managed to understand anyway) were about things like national and religious pride and feminism also (well..I think). The best thing they did really was bring out the break dancers for about 10 mins. Those guys were AWESOME! I mean, holy physical strength and flexibility Batman!
Black Theama : those guys are amazing, great voices, fantastic music and terrific lyrics. They definitely got the audience going.
Salalem : Fun guys, beautiful music and I think the lead singer might have had a little sumethin' sumethin' before going on stage , if ya know what I mean. I can't forget him crying out "Ya gama3a....ana mapsoot...3shan entcho mapsootein!!!" . You had to be there, but it was comedy gold believe me lol.
Fathy Salama: Brilliant music , the guy with the Sagat "finger cymbals" especially stole the show. The fantastic guitarist from "Eftekasat" , I believe who goes by the conspicous single name of "Ousso" came out and played with them for a song. It was all great until F.S. introduced an Algerian singer by the name of "Kareema". You see, the type of music they were playing with her on the vocals was a bit too "progressive" and maybe considered too much of an "acquired taste" to be playing for a big crowd at an event like this. You see, her first song was a series of screams of varying ear blowing intensity. We were between shock, laughter and a bit more shock. Another song sounded like she was reading the obituary (each chorus ended with " antom al sabekoon we na7no al la7ekoon" but the songs she sang in French as well as a song for Cheb Khaled were fun.

I unfortunately couldn't stay to watch Wust el Balad , Eftekasat or Nagham Masry because I left at 9:30. I'm frankly a little pissed because if they had actually started on time, other ppl as well as myself would've had a chance to see those bands.
One more thing, what's with the creepy security men about to run us over in the middle of the crowd? Come to think of it, what were those human shock absorbers doing in the middle of the crowd(particularly adherent to the girls) anyway?

I think we'll definitely go to the next one isa . But I think we'll a little later than the time they're supposedly beginning at (yes, I'm still bitter).

Cinema rant & some WTF news

2007-02-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

So I went to see Blood Diamond today. Fantastic movie! I'll write up a review tomorrow if I have time isa.

As usual, my cinematic experience was a little tainted by a few things that just piss me off to no end whenever I go see a movie :

1- To parents who take their kids to movies that are rated (R) : WTF are you thinking? How is it OK for your kids to see a movie full of blood , violence and cursing ? Besides the fact that this movie was way too complex for a 7 yr old to comprehend and I'm awfully sick of hearing a child asking his mommy what the bad guy is saying when he tells someone to "F**k off!" in the movie. Yeah, mommy why don't you tell him what it means?

2- To parents who leave their kids aged 14 and under go to the movies alone : Again, WTF are you thinking? You let a group of children go off to the movies alone , with no supervision, go into whatever movie they want and that's just OK with you guys? At the very least there should be an agreement upon what movie they're seeing. Besides that, you may want a 3-hour break from your kids, but I really resent the fact that each of my friends and I had to turn around 2 times to tell the 10 yr old chatterboxes behind us to keep quiet and stop kicking the chairs. I ended up practically screaming "PLZ SHUTUP"...which worked for about 5 mins. Even my "evil stare" didn't work and when my "evil stare" doesn't work, you know it's a bad situation.

3- To parents with newborns : We're glad you have a new bundle of joy. No really, we are. I just have something to tell you, as shocking as this might be, if you don't go to the movies in the first 12 months of your infant's life, guess what? It doesn't mean you'll die, it doesn't mean you'll disappear and never be heard from again and it doesn't even mean that you're not as good as anyone else. But since it's your bundle of joy, how about you handle it at home instead of involving an entire theatre audience. I know it takes a village to raise a child, but come on!!

4- To the people who insist on answering the phone during the movie because the balance of the very universe itself depends on you taking that call; where were you guys today? I didn't see you....(plz stay hidden..you make so many ppl happy that way).

5- To people who litter in the movie theatre and leave it looking like a hurricane hit it : Ekhsss...you should be slapped on your hands and made to stand in the corner.

Disclaimer: No, I don't hate little kids and I don't eat them when there's a full moon.

Now the latest WTF!? news :

The fatwa I was so displeased with here , was actually a huge misunderstanding....apparently, he only said that a woman can't be a Caliph but she can be a president.
Of course! Now it all makes perfect se...wait a second...

::runs off to look out of the widow::

nope, we haven't been sucked into another dimension....

or been caught in a time warp...

or....oh, forget it...

Fighting Form

2007-02-05T05:08:00.000-08:00

Fighters, won’t you take your positions?
The match is about to begin.
It’s not a big decision,
To go through this again.

It tends to start somehow,
For some mysterious reason.
Fighters, won’t you take a bow?
This might be the game of the season.

A word and a look are thrown,
Quickly from across the ring.
The tension seems to have grown,
There’s no telling what more it’ll bring.

Now, you’re both in the attack mode,
Words are getting stronger than ever.
But you’re speaking in different codes,
Communication seems to be severed.

It’s nothing special really,
This daily confrontation.
To some it may seem silly.
A ridiculous altercation.

But it’s the nature of all
Mothers and daughters to disagree
When one or both builds a wall
Through which they fail to see.

Precious time spent today,
May not be found here later.
I’ll try to do what you say
And to your needs I will cater.

All I need is for us to try
And retire from this constant game.
Don’t keep your walls so high
And I’ll try to do the same.

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I wish I didn't argue with my mother so much :( ...

(I know that I write some of the most contrived, mechanical poetry ever-I'm seriously not fishing for complements-but I decided that one of the perks of having my own blog was being able to publish my poetry, dammit! :D)

George A. Romero

2007-02-04T12:58:00.000-08:00

I was just taking a quick look at imdb and I realized that it's the birthday of none other than the legendary director George A. Romero! He's 67.
"What's he famous for?" is what you're probably asking. Zombies, baby!
Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I'm an enthusiastic horror movie fan and George A. Romero movies are required viewing for ppl like me.
His most famous movies are the Zombie-series : Night of the living dead (1968), Dawn of the Dead (1978), Day of the Dead ( 1985 ) and The land of the Dead (2005), where he actually created a new horror movie genre which is....*drumroll plz*..... the Zombie genre (well...obviously!).
The night of the living dead was actually made on a very small budget of about 100,000 $ without any famous actors. The movie was so scary that some ppl actually ran out of the movie theatre. Be still my heart, my heart be still! lol
His movies besides having a generous amount of blood and gore , also had a good deal of underlying social commentary regarding issues like racism and consumerism.
He's now working on another Zombie movie called The Diary of the Dead and he's also working on an adaptation of the Stephen King novel "From a Buick 8" (great book by the way).

Ok, I promise never to use the word Zombie so many times in a post again :D !

It gets worse...

2007-02-04T02:43:00.000-08:00

Thx to asrar el banat for bringing my attention to this new article in el masry el youm :

فتاة «المترو» تتنازل عن اتهامها أميني الشرطة بهتك عرضها

The potential rape victim I wrote about in my last post has dropped all charges despite the screams, the witnesses and the police report. Suspiciously enough, after negotations between her family and the assailant's family . Apparently they've come to some sort of agreement, where the police corporal turns from a rapist to an honest man of the law just doing his duty by catching her trying to sneak out without a ticket.
Good God, could they have tried to insult our intelligence just a little bit more? I mean cause nobody reading that would think it's stupid because we all haven't noticed the ppl passing by every single hour without tickets in the underground metro. No, no that's just crazy talk. The vigilant policemen are always there to catch them.*HeadDesk*
I don't know what might have happened; financial agreement? Threats? The girl was afraid of the social stigma if this became public? I don't know , but all I know is that you don't get your clothes torn off your chest and get the crap beat out of you by 2 policemen if you try to sneak out without a metro ticket. I highly doubt that they're that dedicated to their jobs.

And another male chauvinistic pig/ sexual predator roams free in our country.....