We are who we choose to be.

Had A Bad Day

2008-10-16T23:54:00.001-04:00

New Blog

2007-08-31T14:43:00.000-04:00

Ok, its been ages since I blogged. Just been really busy. And I decided to switch over to wordpress which took me longer than I thought. But its done now. Please update your links! My new blog address is http://geekisiddiqui.wordpress.com/

The more you say goodbye I say hello...

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

Its been ages since I've really blogged. I've just been incredibly busy. Let me see if I can remember all thats happened. I don't have time so there won't be any pic right now.

July 18th I had my last day of work at TowerData. In August it would have been 2 years at the company. The longest I've worked anywhere. It was a great opportunity it and I enjoyed but I was totally ready for a change. Call it the waterloo co-op syndrome. After switching between working and school every 4 months for 5 years it was definitely a bit difficult having to stay put in 1 place for so long. If I hadn't got into grad school I would have started looking for a new job. I think I'd gained all I was going to from that job anyways.

I flew home to Mississauga that night and drove back to NY the following day with my sister. We did a lot of walking and a lot of eating. Went to some restaurants for restaurant week like Terrace in the Sky and Sea Grill that were just fantastic. Went to a couple of broadway shows that were wonderful (Les Miserables and The Drowsy Chaperone). And spent a good deal of time just walking around new york and chilling in union square. It was really nice and I'm definitely going to miss nyc. And of course all the friends I made there. As a going away present they made a little scrap book for me with pictures from the last two years and then signed it with messages like a yearbook. It was an awesome awesome gift.

Drove back on the 22nd and left behind new york, my home for the last 2 years. And returned to my home home! My house for the last 19years. Its sold now. My parents have bought a new house, still in Mississauga. Actually its only 5mins away from my current place. We just needed a house with a room on the main floor we can make into a bedroom for my grandmother. Going up and down stairs is just too difficult for her now. I like the new place. Its certainly bigger. And I guess its nice that its the same neighbourhood so its not too different...and yet, it'll be totally different. I know I haven't really been living at home for about 7 years now but still. 19years in 1 house...I think it'll be awhile for the new place to be home.

Anyhow, once I got home I didn't unpack at all really. Instead I had to start packing some more. I thought I had packed a lot into my place in new york.....it doesn't compare at all to this house. I've been packing forever and theres still so much to do....

In between the packing I had the 5th annual bbq with my friends. It was a smaller turnout than previous years. But we still had 17 people come and all the food turned out great. We played some good games of soccer baseball, ultimate frisbee, badminton (thanks Mezba for bringing the equipment!), and then we ate some more :P The weather as well turned out fantastic, those weather people predicting thunderstorms don't know what they're talking about. Near the end of the day as what has become an unfortunate tradition, my friends did chase me and try to get me wet. They only semi got me but it turned out fine since afterwards most people got most people anyhow. So I wasn't the only victim. And with the weather as it was I was almost dry by the time I stepped back in my car to leave. You can see some pictures on my friends online album here -> BBQ Pictures

I saw the Simpsons movie. It was alright. Good but nothing great.

And then i packed some more. And in the midst of all this packing there was the stress of travelling. Or at least trying to travel. See the plan is for my mom, sister, and I to go to fly to Saudi on Saturday for Umrah! But to get the visa's my sister and I needed birth certificates. We're both canadian born but we have the original small birth certificate cards and apparently when applying for visas we needed the new longs ones that state who your parents are and everything. We applied for this early in July and it still wasn't here! After several trips downtown and a visit to the MPs office to try and help expedite the process, we finally go the birth certificates just this past monday. So then we sent them off for the visa application and finally we got visa's today! A full 2 days before the flight...my parents shouldn't have worried so much hehe....

So tons of packing to do since we'd fly out this saturday. Return on the 16th and the move on the 18th! Thankfully I've finished my school loan stuff but as for finding a place downtown...don't think I'll have time when I get back. So it also looks like I'll be commuting from the new house downtown for school for at least a little while. I just haven't had anytime whatsoever to look for a place downtown...hopefully the commute isn't too bad...anyone done the commute before for school? How was it?

I'm really excited about Umrah. I've never been and everyone tells me its an amazing experience. So inshaallah it will all go very well. I don't think I'll be blogging again till after I'm back...well who knows...but if anyone has anything in particular they'd like me to pray about please let me know. And please pray I remember as well :P thanks. I will definitely try.

And finally please pray about the following.

A few days ago I was just sitting at the computer as I am now. Eating some food while reading some random articles when my friend sent me a link to a new article. I clicked on it and started to read. The headline said a local Waterloo student died in an accident at school. I though omigosh (I went to waterloo) thats terrible. And then I started to read the article. And it totally shocked me. I had to read it again. The boy who died was a friend of mine. We weren't particularly close we only chatted online every once in awhile. But still he had worked with me on school projects, group assignments, and had studied with me. He was a real honest and down to earth person. And its just really tragic that his life has ended at such a young age. InshaAllah his family and friends able to find strength and peace. My prayers are with them.

Back

2007-07-26T08:57:00.000-04:00

Back in Canada
Back in Mississauga
Back in my home home.
Back from the pages of reading Harry Potter.
Back online.

I've just been fairly busy and when not busy, just lazy. Lazy in emailing, blogging, and reading blogs. Sorry. I'll get back into it soon enough.

In other news that I will blog about in detail later (Hey I just said I'm feeling lazy didn't I?).

I have no idea where I'm living this fall yet (whether at home or downtown).
I have last minute bbq planning to wrap up.
And my house which I've lived in for the last 18-19 years is now sold and we're moving.

Going offline

2007-07-18T11:11:00.000-04:00

Its my last day! =) I think I'll leave work in a couple hours and after that....I don't think I'll be going online till I finish book 7. No blogging, msn, email, facebook, etc. You never know where spoilers may appear. I mean, they even had spoilers in The Star today! Anyone else think thats really dumb? K, time to wrap up last minute things.

hmm...I just realized this will be my last post from nyc....

1 more day!

2007-07-17T14:52:00.000-04:00

I just had my last status meeting! This time tomorrow I'll be saying goodbye to my co-workers and I'll be free! I like the company, its been fun. But I can't wait to be done!

The past couple of weeks have been really busy so theres been a lack of posting. Just a lot of packing, hanging out with friends, and lots of dessert. Sigh, I just found this wonderful and amazing cheecake place last week and now I'm leaving it behind :(

I was actually feeling quite sad about leaving the other day, though that may have been picked up just by reading my last post. I'm not down at the moment though. I'm going to miss it for sure, but the excitment of things I'm going to do this week and the excitement of going home are also starting to kick up a gear :)

I went to a circus yesterday. It was by the seaport by the water side facing jersey. Pier 17. What an odd place to have a circus. Made odder still that the show was a 930 and to my surprise (though it makes sense now) it was not family friendly. Nothing too bad but still a bit risque. It was really quite good though.

In Canada whenever I have loose change at stores I usually drop it in the unicef boxes or whatever donation boxes you'll usually see at stores or fast food places. I don't see those as much in new york so I just had this little box I dropped change in at home. I didn't think much of it. I though ok maybe I have about 10-15$ or so in there now. I went to the bank yesterday to drop it in the coin counter machine and get cash for it and it turned out to be....$184! Sweet, that just bought me my circus ticket (hehe bought me my circus ticket...I dont know why I'm amused by that) and my restaurant week meals!

Anyhow, that was a fairly ordinary post. I'll try to be a bit more interesting next time. Probably have a collection of new york pics I think...

And then it hit me....

2007-07-16T00:12:00.000-04:00

I have less than 1 week left in New York.....

:'(

Well, it came up to me
And asked me if I wanted a glance
It looked kind of nice
And so I said I might take a chance
When I glanced it held my eye
And when I walked home later that night
All the stars were shinin bright
And then it hit me...

Los Angeles Pictures!!!

2007-07-10T15:40:00.000-04:00

First, yay! This is my 200th post! =) I wonder how many posts I'd be at if my old blogs were still around...

And now for California pictures!

Omar's place in 1000 Oaks, California

After dropping off our gear, we're ready to roll.

Driving to the Beach

The beach!

Another beach pic

The Ocean!

Aamir and Omar at Muscle Beach

Venice Beach Promenade

Venice Beach park area

Me playing catch with Wilson and Tom Hanks

Poking the Lion at the Famous Grauman's Chinese Theater

The Mall beside the Theatre

Aamir attempting the water-defying walk through the randomly spraying fountain

Me trying to eat the Hollywood sign

Then I saw some of Cap't Jacks treasture and just couldn't resist.

Hook tried to stop me.

But with Shaft on my side I wasn't scared.

At least I wasn't until Jason showed up...ahhhhhh!

I ran, but Neo & Trinty put an end to me....don't ask why, it was a weird script.

For our amazing performances Omar won an Oscar for Best Lover (that scene was not shown do to the PG-13 rating of this blog).

I won the Best Body award.

And Aamir won, Puss in Boots

Still not entirely convinced show business was for us. We went to work at the construction site Omar is supervising/planning/some sort engineering or whatever supposedly does while chatting and facebooking with us.

Zoom, Zoom

I wonder how long it takes to change the tire...

And then we were off again

To Downtown LA! ...but that was rather meh.

Though the Buddhist Temple was nice.

So we were off again!

And driving on Malibu Canyon Rd was awesome.

The scenary was just amazing.

We went to Bevery Hills and Hollywood Hills. Sorry, I'll only post 1 pic of this b/c I don't like how they turned out. None of them really captures how hilly/steep some of the roads are and how nice the houses look.

Santa Monica!

Walking along the beach

Just chilling and enjoying the view.

The Ocean is so fun to just sit and watch.

After chilling on the beach we decided to get some

Chocolate!

And head to Universal Studios for some fun

I just barely missed out on the discount =(

But I still had fun on the kiddie rides

And the not so Kiddie rides, yeehaww Bull Riding! That was fun! I actually didn't do that well though, 14-15secs or so. But I fell off not b/c I slipped but b/c the jerking action of the bull was hurting my hand a lot and so I let go, maybe I wasn't holding the reins right...). Omar lasted the longest at about 17-18 secs. Thanks for making me do it though Omar =)

Random pic I had to take for any Waterloo'er out there.

Random scenary shot taken at Univeral.

Good night LA, I'll be sure to visit again.

ps. There are a few more pictures on facebook for those interested.

Back from LA!

2007-07-06T14:46:00.000-04:00

I'm back from LA! And it was awesome!!!! It wasn't a very relaxing vacation but thats not what I was really looking for anyways. It was a lot of going here and there and seeing a bunch of stuff and being a tourist. And I definitely saw a ton of stuff, Long Beach, 1000 Oaks, New Port, the OC, Leguna Beach, Topanga Beach, Santa Monica, Beverly HIlls, Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, Malibu Beach, Malibu state park, Universal Studios, and lots of other stuff which I'll point out when I put up pictures.

Which unfortunately will not be with this post. I went out with some friends last night and I'm going out again tonight so pictures will have to wait till the weekend. Sorry! hehe. The only disappointment was downtown LA. Theres really like nothing there....its like the anti-new york. Everything worthwhile is outside of downtown in the suburbs. And the downtown core itself is really small.

I also got fairly well versed with the layout of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). I arrived in LA late on Friday, about midnight. Omar was driving to pick me up but was running a bit late so I had some time to walk around and explore the terminal for about 30mins or so. After he picked me up, things became a bit interesting. Without detailing the entire story, let me just present you with:

Ahmeds Traveling Tips:
1) If you're flying 3000 miles across the continent to visit friends, please provide your flight details. Simply saying 1am at LAX isn't enough.

2) If you fail #1 please bring your cell phone.

3) If you instead decide to leave your cell phone behind with your family...it helps to leave your flight information with them as well.

4) If you've now failed the above 3 steps, remember to bring the phone number of friend your visiting.

5) If you fail #4 and mistakenly call the older sister of your friend waking her up in the middle of the night....you might as well get your friends number from them.

6) If you've now left your friends with the only option being to drive in loops around the airport terminals hoping to spot you.....it helps to stand outside.

BRB - Gone to Los Angeles

2007-06-29T16:40:00.000-04:00

California...knows how to party
California...knows how to party
In the citaaay of L.A.
In the citaaay, In the citaaay
We keep it rockin! We keep it rockin!

Alright, I'm off to Los Angeles California for 5 nights to hangout with my old highschool buddies Aamir and Omar! Woohoo! I'll put up tons of pics when I get back. Have a great weekend everyone and Happy Canada Day!

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Die Hard 4 Mini-Review

2007-06-28T18:01:00.000-04:00

I saw Die Hard 4 last night. There were quite a few scenes where I thought to myself oh man, thats dumb, or thats just so unrealistic. But overall, the movie is great action flick that is just a lot of fun. Its a bit over the top, but the pacing is good and its pretty funny as well, in fact there were many moments where I was laughing aloud. Oh and to think of it, the movie had no nudity and almost no foul language. I'll give a 4/5 and I'm definitely going to add it to my Die Hard DVD movie collection.

Next up on my list to see, Ratatouile and of course Transformers!

About labels and movies

2007-06-27T17:47:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I started to go back and label my old blog posts but for some reason it was making me sad. I'm not sure why as my previous posts aren't sad or mark any particular event in my life that would make me sad...so because of that, and the fact that I really don't know how to label these, ie what categories to make....I'm thinking of just either only labeling new posts....or just getting rid of labels all together...I'm not sure yet. Any suggestions?

I watched Pans Labyrinth last night. It was...well it was engaging. I'll definitely give it that. It pulled me in and I wanted to know what would happen. But at the end, after it was all said and done, I was left unsatisfied. So I'm force to give it a 3/5.

I also Apocalypto a few days ago. It was much more gory than I expected. And the reviews for this were good, not just the written but the word of mouth reviews as well. So I think that skewed my expectations a bit. Still I was again engaged and hoping things worked out for the characters. The ending could have been stronger as well, but I'll give this one a 4/5.

I'm going to go see Die Hard 4 tonight. Early reviews say its good. I'm a fan of the originals and own the box set actually. I'd rank the 1,3, and then 2. Hopefully this one turns out well.

Oh and I saw Fantastic Four on Sunday. It was...meh. Its a renter and a mindless popcorn flick. The Silver Surfer didnt do enough. It was light on action for a popcorn flick. I'll give it a 3 only b/c I like the genre and idea of the film and I wouldn't mind seeing more like it (though preferably better of course).

Name that summerlicious californian beat

2007-06-26T15:48:00.000-04:00

What would you do if I blogged out of tune?
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your eyes and I'll write you a...post
I will try not to press the wrong key, yeah...

I had the a few random songs stuck in my head this morning. Although I've butchered it abit, the above was one of them. Any guesses what it is?

While writing that up, an old post of mine popped into my head...Pakora, Pakora (should be very easy to guess since the answer is in the comments)...and now I'm a bit hungry and wishing I had bought those chocolate ghiradelli squares I saw this morning....oh well. Its probably best I didn't.

Speaking of food, the last 2 weeks of July are Restaurant Week! Yay! Restaurant week is like Summerlicious, where restaurants have reduced price lunch and dinner menus. So far I've booked 3 places, Fleur de Sel, Sea Grill, and Terrace in the Sky. I wanted to book this other restaurant since it got 2 Michelin stars! But unfortunately its booked solid. Actually quite a few places are, crazy eh, trying to find a spot in a restaurant over a month in advance and not being able to. I'm not sure yet if I want to book another one or not...I do love Food!...but even at reduced prices, it adds up.

We've been on the run
Driving in the sun
Looking out for #1
California here we come
Right back where we started from
California, California!
Here we come!

In other news, I'm going to California this weekend! Woohoo! Aamir and I are flying out to see our friend Omar who moved there a few months ago! Leaving Friday evening and not back till Wednesday, a short but nice 4-5 day trip and a good break from work! It should be a blast, I haven't really hung out with Omar in well over a year I think! And I haven't really been there before so that adds to the excitement because I love to travel! And thats a lot of exclamation points I just used!!! hehe I'll definitely be taking a lot of pictures this trip. And btw, I've updated my Picture Archive.

Here's another song that popped into my head this morning. I'll leave this one alone and it should also be fairly easy to guess what it is.

There used to be a greying tower alone on the sea.
You became the light on the dark side of me.
But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and
The light that you shine can be seen.

5th Annual BBQ!

2007-06-21T14:51:00.000-04:00

On one summer day back in 2003 Anojan was thinking to himself how nice a day it was and how much he likes to eat food. How much he likes to eat food that is grilled. And being the nice guy that he is, he invited a few of his friends to a simple little BBQ in the park. From that small gathering of 9 or so Waterloo CS guys (and a couple girls) began the Annual Summer BBQ, last year..... I think we had about 25-30 ppl or so.

Its a day of eating, and games, and eating, and sports, and eating, and water balloon/shaving cream fights which for some reason always involve ganging up on Ahmed and chasing him around the park...outside the park, over the fence, through the parking lot of the senior citizens home, the park parking lot, through the woods, back in the park and then still not getting him! mouahahhhaah....ok maybe they slightly got me last year at the end...... :( Oh and then possibly some eating.

So this year will be the 5th Annual BBQ and it'll be on Saturday July 28th. In Scarborough. And every single other detail is still in the works hehe. So if I know you and you're in the area. Feel free to ask for more details and come :) If your some entirely random stranger I've never spoken to, well I think it'll have to stay that way for now.

Here's some pics from BBQ of past.

2003

2004

2005
Here's some pics from last year, the 4th Annual BBQ.

And heres a video of some evil friends chasing me with water balloons

Katie, Vivan, and Miss. Peacock visit NYC

2007-06-20T13:35:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay in blogging. I know I'm particularly behind in posting pictures. Its just been a busy last few days. And also facebook just makes it so easy to put pics up...I get lazy in putting them up here. Anyhow, to make it up I'm going to present you all with the answer to everything. Yes, everything. But you'll have to read all the way to the bottom of this post to find out....or you could cheat and just go to the bottom now.......booo cheaters....

Ok, so this weekend Vivian, a friend of mine from first year (wow thats like 7 years ago now...) and her friend Katie (who also went to waterloo and whom I share a remarkable number of mutual friends but somehow just never met) visited new york.

And naturally we did what every tourist does...check out Times Square.

We then met up with Anojan for some dinner the Afghan Kebab House.

The next day we had another visitor as Miss. Peakcock (another friend of mine, and yes, of course thats her real name hehe) joined us for more adventures in the city.

First stop, the MET (I only saw the Roman/Greek stuff with Jane last week).

Meow

This doesn't seem too hard...

Some more sillyness

And 1 more.

After the MET we went to this Mexican/Morrocan Halal restaurant and crashed some guys 20th birthday party. It was a fun dinner unfortunately the food wasn't that great and we didn't get any bday cake :(

Left to Right: Anojan, Jane, Me, Vivian, Katie, Miss. Peacock

Still wanting Dessert we begin searching for a place to satisfy our cravings

Finally we find a diner, and Miss. Peacock and Jane seem to think its fine.

But Anojan & I have our doubts...

Now I admit, the Banana split looked good...but the ice cream was rather meh

The next day we decided to check out Central Park

The fresh air did Katie some good as she grew a foot taller than me

But after that healthy walking...we wanted some more chocolate. This time we went to good stuf, Max Brenner's Chocolate by the Bald Man

mmm......chocolate.....

Vivian and Miss. Peakcock trying to decide what to get.

Anojan: ahhhhh I can't wait, where is my dessert!?

Yes! Its here!

mmmm....dark hot chocolate....

Vivian, Miss. Peacock, and I just posing for the camera.

A group picture

Left to Right: Janes roommates friend, Janes roommate, Jane, Anojan, Katie, Vivian, Miss. Peacock, Me.

Some sillyness on the subway

And finally the answer to all your questions.

Museum Mile

2007-06-14T14:09:00.000-04:00

So the other day was Museum Mile Day. All the streets from like 82th to 105th street along 5th avenue we're blocked off for ppl to walk around and visit the museums for free. We (Jane & I, Sadia and Romana were also there but always 1 museum ahead, and Aasia was busy having fun in the rain) checked out the Gugenheim, the Design Museum, took a walk in Central Park, and then went to the MET.

So we're entering the MET when I get a call from Janet. Jane goes inside and I take the call outside (better reception). While I'm talking on the phone I see this middle age woman taking pictures of a younger woman with a balloon. So I move to get out of the pictures when she comes up to me with the camera. Presumably to take a picture of the two of them, but no. You have good colour she says, could you stand in the shot?

I'm surprised but agree and tell Janet to hold. I pose beside the woman (brown guy, offwhite pants, red shirt, black cell...maybe I am good contrast to white girl with plain dress and silver balloon?). After the picture, I finish the conversation with Janet and walk into the Museum and Jane's like what was that?

Oh that? I reply, Well I only do pictures, no autographs. :P

Anyhow, here are some pictures from Musuem Mile (unfortunately not many for the most part, pictures aren't allowed inside the museums) and from dinner later that night.

Just a building I liked while walking to the Gugenheim

Museum Mile Street picture

Harp Player

Inside the Gugenheim

Light floor exhibit

Jane telling me she wasn't ready for the pic

Me

Outside the Gugenheim (you know.....I like saying Gugenheim. Gugenheim! Guuugeeenhhheeimm haha)

Outside the Design Museum

Otherside of Design Museum

Chandelior exhibit

View of city over small lake in Central Park...the pic doesn't do it justice.

Outside the MET

Inside the MET

Jane with Statues

Me with statues

Jane and Janet....they hate this pic......oh well :P

This makes me smile

2007-06-12T00:38:00.001-04:00

Another fitness checkin, another parade.

2007-06-11T13:16:00.000-04:00

Theres only 13 days left and I still have 7 lbls to go....this is going to be difficult. I need to up the cardio and cut down on the chocolate (I had like 3 slices of cake this weekend.....soo bad.....but....mmmmm....sooo soooo good hehe). So now I'm sitting here at lunch eating salmon, veggies and bit of rice. Its good. Its tasty. But....really, I wish veggies were just a bit more filling....sigh.

In other news, I went to the Puerto Rican Day Parade on the weekend. It wasnt as entertaining as the Dance Parade (btw I've decided that although I find parades incredibly dull on tv, they are fun in person) it was massively larger. Just massive. Ricky Martin was suppose to be at the parade...maybe he was but I didn't see him. I did however see J. Lo go by on a float. I'll put some pictures up on here later. They are already on facebook for those of you who can't wait.

Quiz Survey thingy

2007-06-06T16:59:00.000-04:00

Ok, my friend sent me this long ago by email...and I never replied. But oh well, I feel like blogging and this will do just fine.

1. What is your occupation? Product Manager (though for visa purposes I state Systems Analyst...shhh)...soon to be business student.

2. What color are your socks right now? white

3. What are you listening to right now? Noises from the streets and my co-workers using their computers.

4. What was the last thing that you ate? Feta Cheese from my salad.

5. Can you drive a stick shift? Not properly...yet.

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? I feel like blue today.

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My mom.

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? In small doses, hehe j/k. They're ok. I only see them every few years or so though.

9. How old are you today? 25...I feel older.

10.Favorite drink? Milk! Drink Milk, Love Life! And it does a body good!

11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Basketball!

12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Nope.

14. Pets? Does a tamagotchi count?

15. Favorite food? Chocolate!

16. What was the last movie you watched? I was bored and watched Hard to Kill last night (old steven siegel movie)...not very good.

17. Favorite day of the year? November 2nd!

18. What do you do to vent anger? I don't vent too much, I bottle up....other than to a few people I tell stuff to. Or I just find something to put me in a better mood. Watch a movie while eating some chocolate, or ice cream, or chocolate ice cream. :P

19. What was your favorite toy as a child? It changed with age...what age = child? Giant Teddy bear, He-man action figure, hot wheels, nes, and snes were big ones.

20. What is your favorite fall or spring? Fall (unless its spring with summer weather).

21. Hugs or kisses? Hersheys Kisses

22. Cherries or Blueberry? Neither, banana and watermelon!

23. Do you want your friends to email you back? Yes...but this is in blog format now....so comments will do. :)

24. Who is most likely to respond? Respond as in do this survey thingy? Probably no one.

25. Who is least likely to respond? Everyone.

26. Living arrangements? Anojan, Punit, I. Usually some guest is visiting. Soon to be back at home though so Mom, Dad, I, Sister, Dadi.

27. When was the last time you cried? Hmm...I don't remember, 2006 sometime.

28. What's on the floor of your closet? Suitcases.

29. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? I'm blogging it, not sending it... no idea who my oldest blog reader is.

30. What did you do last night? Groceries, Gym, Bought dinner, more groceries, watched a movie.

31. Favorite smells? Food and Chocolate, matches.

32. What inspires you? Things I see, People I know.

33. What are you afraid of? Other people dying, failure, hell, big bugs, rodents, some other stuff i'm sure.

34. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Spicy Cheese.

35. Have someone you'd like to have another chance with? I know if given another shot I could totally beat my mom at carrom board. :P

36. Favorite dog breed? I don't like dogs.

38. How many years at your current job? It would have been two years in August.

39. Favorite day of the week? Friday

40. How many states/provinces have you lived in? 3, Ontario, New York, Tamil Nadu (Chennai/Madras)

41. Favorite holiday? Right now I'm looking forward to July 4th, going to LA woo!

42. Ever driven a Motorcycle or heavy machinery? Do camels count? No? ok well I've been given rides on bikes and its fun. I'd like to learn someday.

43. Who's your favorite NFL team? I'm more of an NBA fan, Lets go Raptors!

44. Do you have house phone that is NOT cordless? I don't have a house phone. I only use my cell.

45. 10 inches of snow or 100 degree weather? Preferably I'd be indoors for either. But if I must venture out, give me the heat any day.

Japanese Human Art

2007-06-03T19:46:00.000-04:00

Why Is My Girlfriend Mad?

Matrix Ping Pong

Tag: Places to eat!

2007-05-31T13:26:00.000-04:00

Ok, I was tagged by Ruby to list my five favourite places to eat. There are so many wonderful places to eat and I just love food but I have to choose some...so after much deliberation....in no particular order....here we go. Oh but unfortunately I only have pics for the first two.

1. Grimaldi's Pizzeria - Brooklyn, NY
This is simply the best pizza I've had in NY. Its thin (I like thin pizza), its not oily, and its incredibly tasty and delicious. I went last Thursday and after waiting in line (Yes, its that good that despite the hundreds of pizza places in new york, this place on a thursday night will have a lineup outside!) had a fantastic large pizza with ricotta cheese and peppers. I've been craving more all week...I can't wait till I go again.

2. The Chocolate Room - Brooklyn, NY
The Chocolate (3) Layer Cake is just amazing! Its extremely moist, rich, and has a wonderful chocolate taste BUT its not heavy! I could just keeping and eating it. And as a free starter before you even read through the menu they give you a mini scoop of chocolate ice cream. The place itself is nice little dessert cafe and a perflect place to go and just hang out after a meal.

3. The Halal Cart on 53rd and 6th - Manhattan, NY
Looking at it, you may say its just a street vendor, like any of the hundreds of halal vendors on the streets of ny. But then I'd say to you, you haven't tried it have you? Yes, like everyone else they serve shorawmas, gyros, platters with rice and salad, chicken, beef, lamb, etc but they're portions are great and the food just seems to taste better from them. And that white sauce! Mixed in with that hot sauce!! Fantastic! And not only is there great food, but there is usually some very good eye candy as well! The lineup even at 2am will usually be half a block long or more!

4. Yemen Cafe - Brooklyn, NY
They have the best Roasted Lamb ever. I know many people aren't into lamb but this is just amazing. And its a great deal. You get lamb soup, a salad, a giant naan, the roasted lamb with rice and vegetables and unlimted Yemen tea for like $15. The lamb is extremely tender and tasty and the service is quite fast.

5. Home - Mississauga, Canada
What can I say, I can go to restaurants all over the world, try any cuisine, but a home cooked meal made by my mom (and/or dad) just can't be beat.

Ok, so now I'll tag.......Sofi, Sarah, Samosa and anyone else that would like to share their favourite places to eat.

Returning Home

2007-05-30T10:15:00.000-04:00

Wednesday
I got the email. Haven't got the actual papers yet so I don't tell anyone.

Friday
I left work early, got back to my apartment for some last min packing before going to the airport.....awk...I forgot the key at work...but the super let me in...so it was fine. Checked the mail on my way up and I got what I was waiting for. Took the cab to the airport and flew back home to Canada. My family was out at a wedding so I took a cab home and just relaxed. Its nice to be able to just sprawl on the couch, at home, and just watch tv and eat a home cooked meal. It was also really weird to be back. Well weird is not the right word. But...I haven't spent very much time at all in Canada in the past ~2 years. It was odd having so much space again. And not huge buildings everywhere.

Saturday
Woke up (I heard birds when I woke up!) and came downstairs to greet my parents. And tell them, I got into Rotman (University of Toronto) MBA program! They were naturally very happy to hear I got in and of course that I'm moving back. I'm really excited! I feel like I've missed out on tons not being home. I dont' regret leaving. I've experienced a lot and seen so many things here in NY. Still...you miss not being at home at times. That said, after my initial YAY when I found out on Wednesday. I'm going back to school!!! My 2nd thought was ok....I have 8 more weeks to do everything I want to do and haven't yet in NY!

So after that I quickly got ready and met up with Jessani, Nadin, Gabriel, and Al to play squash. I haven't played in ages and oh man...I'm out of shape. But I still managed to go undefeated! :) Afterwards we went played some basketball. I'm terrible at basketball but I'm a decent shooter and managed to win at 21. Then in American, everyone was tired so we only played to 4 points and I somehow managed to win that too!

After that we met up with James, Bradley, Seiji, Bill, and Ruth and just chilled at Jessani's place for awhile and played ping pong and a couple more games of 21. I was undefeated at pong and won 1 more game of 21. I'm on a roll today! After getting ready we all went to Alice Fazooli's (which coincidentally is the same restaurant we all went to when I was leaving Canada to come to NY) where Ali, Shahzad, Hillary, Dave, Ken, June, and Gordon joined us for dinner. I have to say the Calamari was excellent. The rest just ok. Jessani raves about the pizza....I haven't tried it but compared to NY pizza....I dont' know...afterwards we went to Ken&June's place and just hung out. And my lucky streak was broken as Shahzad destroyed me in pong. Twice. Ah well, better him than Jessani :P It was great to see everyone again and just chill and talk. I can't wait to be back and doing that more often.

Sunday
I met up with some bloggers (Mezba, Ruby, Isheeta, Liya, & Samosa) at Yorkdale mall for the first time. I've never met other bloggers before so I really had no idea what to expect. And I'm a pretty quiet person until I get to know people...but then I semi-sort of know them....but anyways it turned out to be a lot of fun. Everyone was very friendly, cool, and pretty much like their blogs. I'm looking forward to hanging out with them some more when I'm back.

The rest of Sunday and Monday (its was a holiday for me) was spent with family. And that was....fun, annoying, silly, frustrating, awesome. Everything families always are. :)

Dancing my way home

2007-05-24T11:59:00.000-04:00

I have 1 big thing on my mind to blog about....but that will wait till next week. For now...I'm going home tomorrow!!!!!!!! I haven't been home in like 5 months, and even then it was only a weekend...well this is jsut going to be a weekend too......but a long weekend......and....well I'm looking forward to it! Saturday meeting up with some old friends. Sunday meeting up with some new friends. Some bloggers actually. So if you're Mississauga/Toronto blogger and you also want to meet up for lunch on Sunday let me know. And of course time with family! Home cooked food! Play some Nintendo Wii with my sister, go see pirates 3 with my mom. And just chill and hang out with everyone. =) Thats this weekend. Now below is last weekend which was also a lot of fun, take a look.

So on Saturday, knowing that Caitlin and Fausto were coming down to visit, I did a quick Google search to see what was happening in the city. What I was the 1st Annual Dance Parade. Apparently different dance schools/assocations/clubs etc were all going to be dancing in a parade followed by a festival in the park. We got to the parade late and only saw the tail end of it, but the festival afterwards in the park (basically performances on stage by different groups) were awesome and so much fun. I really thought I'd only go check it out for an hour or two and I ended staying and watching for almost 4hours! Here are some pictures I took. Unfortunately my batteries ran out so I have no pictures of some of the really cool classical dancers, the salsa, the fox trot, tango, as well as some other more modern dance groups.

Brazilian Dancers

I forget where they're from...

Guy bopping his head.

Cowboy Dancing Guy

Some Costumed Dancers

Hoola Hoopers!

Rock on!

Lets Dance and Shout!

Stilts Girl

Strange Costume Guy

Now entering the Park (festival area) we see The dreaded Dancing Ninja!

Opening act of the festival, they had a great beat.

I just like this shot of the drums.

And then there were Belly Dancers

The Hip Hop Girls

The Michael Jackson type dancers, they were amazing!

Another shot of them...too bad I didn't take a video...

The Hip Hop Boys

The Charleston!

Peurto Rican Dancers!

The Geneva Kids Drum Group!

This was the most bizzare group! White guy with weird hair, black guy in garbage bag space suit, belly dancer, white girl in pink top and fluffy boots and of course...

The old perverted indian guy....

Then we had a big surprise performance

It was C&C Music Factory!! Now I know its old school, but still.......why does no one else remember who they are? They sing that "Everybody Dance Now!" song. And "Things that make you go Hmmm...." Click Here and I'm sure you'll remember.

After we all just went for food in the West Village area. Thats Caitlin and Fausto on the left, Jane and I on the right.

6 degrees of losing weight in November while in Amsterdam

2007-05-21T15:34:00.000-04:00

Fitness Check in -------------------------------------
checkin. I made it to the gym 5 times last week! And did cardio each time! Sometimes only 20mins when I was feeling lazy...but still, its better than nothing! My weight has been fluctuating quite a bit (by 2 pounds or so) But so far I think I'm down at least 0.5 a pound. So not bad, hopefully I can keep this up.

Strange Coincidence #1 -------------------------------------
Caitlin, Fausto, Jane, & I are all hanging out.
Caitlin to Me: Hey, Fausto's bday is in November too!
Fausto to Me: When's your bday?
Me: Nov. 2nd
F: Thats my brothers bday.
Me: Oh yeah? When's yours?
F: Nov. 19th
Me: Thats my sisters bday! Thats so odd.

Strange Coincidence #2 -------------------------------------
My cousin Rasheed & I are in Amsterdam. We decide to go to a comedy show called Boom Chicago. We get there and are seated by the waitress in a large hall that fits 200-400 people (I'm not great at estimating). Not 2 mins later the waitress comes and seats two other right beside us. Its Rohit! One of my friends from University. I knew he was going to Europe as well but didn't know his exact plans. What are the odds that we both go to the the same city in Europe, are in Amsterdam on the same day, go to the same show, at the same time, and seated next to each other? Craziness.

Strange Coincidence #3 -------------------------------------
I started to blog. I then came across Sarah's blog. Sarah is from NY which is where I'm currently living (though she's not from NYC...she wishes!). From Sarahs blog I found anon's blog. Anon is from LA and related to my friend Omar. Omar went to my highschool, Erindale, along with another friend of mine Aamir. Sarah and Aamir also friends. Omar just moved to LA for work but he's originally from Canada and went to University of Toronto. At UoT he knew Mezba. Mezba knows Ruby who is from Toronto (as is Squeeky and FU). Ruby went to Waterloo which is where I went! I'm from Mississauga which is where Liya is from. Liya is a teacher (Squeeky is also a teacher) and almost took a teaching job at my old highschool, Erindale. One of my best friends from Erindale is South African and currently studying medicine there (Liya is also South African). SingleGuy is also in medicine and working (maybe studying i forget) in South Africa as are Saaleha, K-Man, and Bilal. Bilal and FU use (maybe still do) to work business tye jobs. Sofi works a business type job (finance) in the UK which is where CellarDoor and Hanna are from. Cellar has a friend named Caitlin as I do. Hanna is friends with Anon. My Grandparents almost settled in the U.K. before deciding on Pakistan instead (coming from India). Pakistan is next to Bengladesh which is where Mezba and Haleem's are from. Though Haleem is now in Mississauga. ABCDLaw is going to Pakistan soon and is also going back to school soon for Law. My cousin Alia is a lawyer living in Hartford, Conneticut which is also where my friend Caitlin lives. Almira is also going to be starting school soon and AKA just moved to Australia to start school. AKA blog is Half a cup of Chai. And Chai can be had with Samosa's. And AKA knows Samosa who knows Ruby. And....I'm not sure how to fit more ppl into this 6 degrees of seperation thing (some of these links are already quite weak) but...it is a small world isn't it?

2007-05-18T18:43:00.000-04:00

The older I get, the more I enjoy just acting like a silly little kid. And the more fine I am with that.

Reading Challenge

2007-05-17T23:39:00.000-04:00

Since I feel like I'm all about challenges lately, which is really just a reflection of me contemplating my short and long term goals and what I want to do in my career and life (which suddenly sounds like to me a much more interesting topic than what this post is about...oh well) I thought I'd list another challenge. This is really just a semi resolution that I made.

I just want to read more. I'm not reading nearly as much as use to. I miss it. Books are awesome. And as the NBA commercials say, reading is FUNdamental. So the goal is to read at least one book a month. Thats just 12 books a year. Its like nothing. So yeah. Last month I didn't read much at all, but overall for the year I'm doing ok I think. Although most of the books are old books that I read when I was young and am just felt like reading again now.

So far this year I've read:
A Handmaids Tale (really good!)
The Catcher in the Rye (didn't care for this)
For One More Day (I liked Tuesdays with Morrie much better)
The Penelopaid (A Handmaids Tale was much better)
The Magicians Newphew (I liked this more than I thought I would)
And currently I'm reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (so far I like it)

I started The Virgins Knot (and stopped very bleh, I doubt I'll touch it again) as well as The Three Musketeers (I'll finish it eventually, its not continously holding my interest and feels like a chore to read at times).

And of course, we're all waiting for July to come so we can finally get our hands on.....Harry Potter! :)

Ok, thats enough for now, I'm off to read!

I'm not dressed yet

2007-05-15T16:55:00.000-04:00

I don't own any shorts. The last time I had shorts was like 5-6 years ago. I bought them to for the gym and playing bball/squash/etc. I used them for a year and then I lost them somehow and never bought another pair. Before that it was like grade 9 highschool gym class that I wore shorts. I prefer track pants. For one simple reason. Shorts are........short. I feel exposed in them! Ok, yes I know I'm a guy but still....after going so many years wearing pants I feel underdressed in shorts.

This weekend, with my goal of getting in shape in mind, I went shopping at Jersey Gardens. I got new shoes and I was looking for some track pants when I came across some long shorts. I looked at them....hmm....that are actually a fairly decent length...and soft....its a thick material...but light....maybe I'll just try them on....hey these are comfortable....and they are pretty long...and...I don't feel too too exposed...and they have deep pockets.....and I got them! Yay!

Unfortunately, my watch has recently stopped working. I alway wear my watch (unless I"m at home). I can't remember when I last didn't have a watch to wear and now suddently.....I'm wristwatchless! So now even in my full length pants and shirt sitting at my desk at work......I feel half-dressed.....sigh.......

The Challenge

2007-05-14T11:08:00.000-04:00

I decided I wanted to get back in shape. I'm not fat or anything but I use to be in much better shape than I am now. Its hard to be consistently active when you work long hours and aren't in school anymore. Particularly in New York where eating out for most meals is the norm.

But anyhow, I started a contest or challenge with Ruby and then Mezba and Sofi joined in as well. We each have our own specific goals but I feel the sense of competition will help motivate me. The end date of the challenge is June 24th. My basic goal is to lose around ~10lbls or so and just be in better shape. Anyone else want to take part?

Now although the challenge technically started maybe 2 weeks ago, Ruby and I have really only been running our mouths trash talking :P . But now its time to get serious. I have just under 6 weeks....

Alright so here's where I stand right now.

Now --> Target

Weight: 173 --> 163
So the goal is to get to 163...If I don't make it BUT I see myself being more muscular...I'm fine with that.

Body Fat: 14% --> um.....12%?
Is 12% a good goal? I have no idea. And I really don't trust my scale to be accurate in this...I doubt its right...but hopefully I'll at least be able to track a trend..hopefully a downward trend.

Hydration Level 60% --> ???
Ok, not sure how to make use of this value...but I'm going to try and drink more water.

Alright, so now I know my starting point. Once a week I'm going to check these things to see how I'm doing and I'll write down how often I went to the gym that week too. I challenge everyone in the contest to do so as well, I know if I see others going to the gym 4+ plus times a week I won't let myself get away with only going twice.

Now excercise isn't everything so I'm going to try and eat healthier too...which sucks since right now I'm really craving some Popeyes chicken.....but yeah. I'll eat healthier. No more junk food or chocolate unless:
1) Its free.
2) I'm out with a group of at least 3 people who are also getting dessert.

sigh....I'm hungry already.....I need to find some healthy snacks.....

Quick Update

2007-05-11T20:35:00.000-04:00

Finally updated the Picture Archive with all the remaining picture posts from 2006 and 2007. Hopefully I'll do a better job of keeping it up to date going forward. I also noticed I have quite a few posts in 2006 but 2007 has been pretty quiet....so I think I'll do some more picture posts soon. :)

oh, getting really close to 10k hits!

Does the left hand column seem to light a colour?

What dreams may come...

2007-05-10T16:23:00.000-04:00

Have you ever had a dream in which you weren't human? I was talking to a couple of friends recently about dreams and they said they hadn't so I was just wondering how common it is.

We were talking about dreams and then of nightmares. I haven't had a nightmare for years and years. But when I have in the past it has almost always been about death. Not my own, but people around me that I care about. There is however one exception, and its in that dream that I'm not human.

What I am is a ball in a square room. And I slowly bouncing (well more reflecting than actually bouncing) off the walls. Like an old school video of pong. And I have no control over the direction I'm going or the speed I'm going at.

I don't know what it means, I've actually never tried to analyze it. But as as kid it was pretty scary.

Aside, I'm approaching my 10,000th hit. My counter is in the right column, take a look and leave a comment if your number 10k!

Trying out some new colours.....its darker than I want....I actually want light colours.....its just so easy to go with a darker layout/design.....

Amazing Race NYC Recap!

2007-05-07T14:31:00.000-04:00

Ok, here is the long overdue Amazing Race NYC Recap! Warning, its somewhat long.

8 people, 4 teams take part in a grueling race around the city of New York to win the title of....um...winners! This post summaries the challenges and obstacles faced by 1 of the teams.

The race started with the four teams:
Team Romana & Aasia
Team Romana & Irfan
Team Women in black sunglasses aka W.I.B.S (or as pronounced by Darrin and I, Team Wimps) aka Jenn and Caitlin Nguyen.
and Team Harold and Kumar aka Darrin and myself.

We all met in midtown around 11am. The racing instructions/tasks were then handed out to all teams which were seeing them for the first time. After confirming the rules which each other, the race was on!

There were 7 tasks to perform and 1 mandatory 30min rest period. The tasks could be completed in any order except for the final task which well had to be last. Here's the task in the order we did them. Of the 7 tasks we knew exactly where 4-5 of them were. We started running in the direction of the first task thinking we'd figure out the rest as we went along. Though we briefly stopped at the Hilton hotel to get a city map and bug the concierge for the answer of one of the tasks.

TASK 1: Find the toy store that was featured in the movie Home Alone 2. Take a picture of a group member standing with the toy soldier that greets you when you enter. Buy a cheap toy for your partner in the $5 - $15 range before leaving. You may use any mode of transport to get there.

Its the FAO Schwartz toy store!

Darrin standing with the toy solider greeter.

Darrin in line to buy the toy.

While in line, directly infront of us was Team Romana & Irfan. After overhearing their racing plans (hehehe) they finally noticed us and we decided to form an alliance.

Darrin, Irfan, Romana

The next task was the Detour!
TASK 2: DETOUR
Choice 1: Rent a bicycle at Loeb Boathouse inside Central Park (its near The Lake). Ride the bicycle to 110th street and take a picture with the street sign and make sure both a group member and her/his bicycle are in it. Ride the bike back to Loeb Boathouse to return it. You may use any mode of transport to get to Loeb Boathouse.
OR
Choice 2: Save money by walking/jogging/running ONE FULL LENGTH through Central Park. Start at 59th and take a picture with the street sign, then walk to Loeb Boathouse inside Central Park and take picture while standing a few feet (20 feet away at most) in front of the Boathouse. Finally walk to 110th and take a picture with the street sign. You make go the opposite direction and start at 110th if you want. You may use any mode of transport to get to either 59th or 110th.

We decided on task 2.

At 59th street, the bottom of Central Park

By the Boathouse

While walking to the top of the park we planned the rest of the race, particularly the next task.

TASK 3: Find the street dedicated to the Latin Jazz legend Tito “El Rey del timbal” Puente after he died of a heart attack in the year 2000, and take a picture of the street sign with a group member standing in front of it. You may use any mode of transport to get there.

We thought this was on the left side of the park, so we walked the way across the park and then head up. Unfortunately once at the top we found out it was indeed on the east side and we had to walk all the way across again. For those that don't know.....Central Park is HUGE!!! It probably took us 1.5-2hrs to do all that walking. Fortunately, we did find the street and were able to move onto the next task.

At 110th street, the top of Central Park.

Tito Puente Way!

TASK 4: Find the building, constructed in 1872 on a coast of Welfare Island, to guide boats along the East River. Take picture of a group member standing a few feet (30 feet away at most) in front of the building. You may only use your feet, subway and/or bus to get there.

Welfare Island = Roosevelt Island! We made our way to the nearest subway station where we happened to meet Team Romana & Aasia.

Romana, Romana, Aasia

Once on the subway Romana & Aasia got off 1 station before us to then walk up to the F train station to get to the island. We continued so that we could transfter to the E train. Once at the station E train was arriving so it was a mad dash across the platform, up the stairs, down the hall, down the stairs and onto the platform and into the train before the doors closed. We made it! We sat down and rested our weary feet as we watched our train approach Roosevelt Island.....and then pass Roosevelt Island...and proceed into Queens...we read the map wrong! We needed to take the F train!

Trying to figure out why we're suddenly in Queens.

Lets check the map at the station...

We got off the train switched platforms again to get the same train in the opposite direction, took all the way to where Romana&Aasia originally got off, ran to F train station, got on that train and then finally got to the Island. All in all we probably lost 30-40mins or so.

Double checking the maps one more time.

Once on the island Romana found out from the Bus driver where the Light house was. Unfortunately the bus was packed so we had to walk. It took us 30-40mins of walking...tiresome as we'd already walked the full park.

Finally at the Lighthouse!

Fortunately we got a cab back to the station and proceed to the next task. Detour#2!

TASK 5: DETOUR
Choice 1: Go to either Gem Spa Newsstand or Eisenberg Sandwich Shop. Each person in the group must buy and DRINK 3 full cups of egg cream while in the store (you may buy in any available size). Take a picture of all empty cups. You may use any mode of transport to get there.
OR
Choice 2: Go to Magnolia Bakery and buy 4 red velvet cupcakes per person in your group. Each person must then EAT all 4 cupcakes while at the store (you may eat it outside the store if its too crowded inside). Take a picture of all the empty wraps. You may use any mode of transport to get there.

We choose the Egg Creme b/c Magnolia is more famous and always always has a huge lineup. Eisenberg was more on our route as well. We get there and order 3 cups each, 12 in total. The guy asks if we're sure. We say yes and he laughs and starts filling cups.

Disgusting Egg Creme

This was the most disgusting thing ever. Its chocolate syrup, milk.....and szelter. Blegh...disgusting. And the cups were huge. And I don't drink carbonated drinks (haven't drank pop in like 15yrs) so I was having a lot of trouble with it. I seriously felt sick and wanted to throw up for at least 30-60mins later. Even much later in the day I felt a bit burby. Gross I know but the drink was that bad.

I'm smiling but its cause Darrins telling me to just drink quickly and then throwup after. I finally finish though. And we make our way to the station to head to the next task.

On the way we bumped into Team WIMPS that were heading to Eisenbergs.

TASK 6: Take a picture standing beside the monument that represents aggressive financial optimism and prosperity. You may only use your feet and subway to get there.

This one was easy. The Bull by Wall Street and and Broadway in the Financial district. Unfortunately, my pictures got corrupted here so this picture is from Caitlin and Jenns collection.

Jenn by the Bull

Now we were off to the mandatory rest period. I don't have the clue for that on me...but basically it stated the restaurant we had to go to. Once there we had to wait 30mins before continuing on with the race. It was really only 10-15mins away from the BUll. Unfortunately, getting there wasn't so simple. We got on the uptown 4 express train, then transferred to the 6 train. But the train wasn't moving. Then due to a medical emergency on the train it wasn't going to move at all until help arrived. So we ran to the N train, took that past our destination (it didn't stop there) got onto a downtown 6 train got off at the stop we wanted and ran to the restaurant. Bare in mind...the egg creme...and running.....ugh...

Anojan sends a Sri Lankan restaurant...sorry anojan, i'm still not going to have a dosa.

We just chilled outside the restaurant and it was good as the egg creme sickness went away. At the end of the wait, things got interesting. Its the final task. And our alliance with Romana and Irfan was off. The final destination was only 6 blocks away and we both knew it. It was time for a foot race!

TASK 7 – FINAL DESTINATION
Your last destination will be the Starbucks located @ precisely 13 Astor Pl # 25 between Broadway and Lafayette St. Have a coffee or get a dessert of your choice, find an open table, and solve the puzzle.

Darrin got to the starbucks first follwed by myself and then Romana. Darrin and I find a table and ask a stranger for a pen to work on the puzzle. Romana searches for Irfan and then points out to us.......wait this is the wrong starbucks. We're all out the door and running again. We get to the right starbucks (there are 3 in the area!) and get to work. Both teams working on the final puzzle.

Place the numbers 1 through 8 in the boxes above so that no consecutive numbers are adjacent or have touching vertices (either horizontall, diagonally, or vertically). The first team to complete the puzzle will win the race!

And.....its solved....the winners of Amazing Race NYC 2007 are.....

Ahmed and Darrin!

The rest of the racers finished in order of Romana & Irfan, Jenn &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; Caitlin, and then Romana & Aasia (they actually just stopped after we called and told them we won).

Here's a rudimentary picture of the course we took. The big green dot is the start, the blue dot the end. The black line the path. And the small red dots the places we stop for tasks.

The designer of the race was our friend Anojan. Who was there waiting for us at starbucks. Many thanks to him, it was really a lot of fun. And I can't wait to do it again.

In fact....I just booked a flight to visit home Memorial day weekend. I get home the night of Friday May 25th and leave early morning Tuesday May 29th....perhaps its time for Amazing Race Toronto? Hmmm.....stay tuned....

A few of random pictures

Team W.I.B.S

Aasia & Romana in Central Park

Ahmed & Caitlin in the front, Jenn & Darrin in the back

Romana & Darrin happy to finish the Central Park leg and find Tito Puento Way

Chilling at the end of a long but fun day.

The last few days

2007-05-03T15:01:00.000-04:00

OK, so Day 1 I did cardio.....since then...squat.....sigh...but I'll do some today! Tuesday was the game so I couldn't. The Raptors won!!! Yes!!!! And then yesterday Anojan, Aamir, Jane, and I went out for Baskin Robbins ice cream and then to a Yemen restaurant (it was so good!) as Aamir heads back to Canada tomorrow. But today no excuse! I will excercise!

Oh, I got Accepted! Yes, after 2 rejections finally! I got....a credit card :P hehe. A whole $300 limit too. haha, for those confused. US Credit card companies don't look at my Canadian credit history. So when I moved here I had zero credit history. So I applied for citibank cards a couple times (they have a good airmiles credit card) but got rejected because of the lack of credit history. But now, finally I got one....though with another company. I don't really need a credit card, but it should help establish more of a credit history. Which helps in other things like getting loans and even renting an apartment. Its a bit of a pain but its funny too. A $300 limit on a card? I had bigger limit on my canadian card in highschool.

As for my mba applications.....I'm now 3 for 3 on being waitlisted, the latest wait list being USC. So...yeah, feeling a bit doubtful...though not down. InshaAllah it'll work out.

I finally got all the Amazing Race pics...so I'll do a picture post soon enough....within the week hopefully. For now they are on facebook if ppl can't wait.

Does this make sense to anyone?
Janet and Zaina having a conversation
J: Hey have you talked to Ahmed recently?
Z: No, have you?
J: Nope, its been quite awhile.
Z: yeah, I know we haven't been online at all and have been really busy studying for finals but he's been a bit distant.
J: yeah, and i know he's had a lot of visitors lately and been busy with them and with work as well....but he's acting weird.
Z: you think he's mad at us?
J: maybe....grr...how dare he be mad at us.
Janet calls ahmed
J: hey i got a bone to pick with you?
A: huh?

Raptors, weight, visitors, & a contest

2007-04-30T17:08:00.000-04:00

I went to the Raptors in New Jersey on Friday. The seats were great. And Bryan Colangelo said "Hey guys" to me and Noah. That was the highlight. As after that, when the game started.....the Nets killed us. Sunday was game 4. I watched from home....for 3 quarters. It was even worse than Friday. Hopefully things improve for game 5....

I bought a scale on Saturday. I'm hoping it will motivate me. I won't disclose my weight here. Its not that bad I suppose.......but its still the heaviest I've been in my life....sigh...I think I hide it quite well. As most people tell me I'm fine and don't need to lose anything. Some people even call me skinny (janet). but there are others that are evil who call me fat or tubby or something (darrin) and thats spreading to two other evil ppl (jenn and caitlin) grrr.....

Jane will back in town tonight. My apartment really is like a revolving door with friends coming and going quite frequently the last month or two. I don't remember when I last deflated the air mattress. Its a lot fun though. And not at all a complaint.

I just agreed to a contest with Ruby. 8 weeks (~June 24) to lose weight. We both have our own individual goals. But I always do better when there is a competitive factor involved. So my own goal is about 10pounds. So slight more than 1pound a week....shouldn't be too hard right?....Anyone else want to partake in this little contest?

Oh and another thing. I'm going to try and spend less time online. I want to stop waisting time doing pointless stuff online. Maybe the time will be spent on better things like reading...or maybe not....I just think I spend too much time online. So I'm going to try and no longer use the internet after........12 (midnight)....and maybe work that done to 11. I may still be online.....or doing something on my computer.....so its somewhat of a loophole....as I could still chat if people message.....but....the main thing is to just not sit there and start conversations or randomly surf the web. Hopefully this wil lead to me reading more (I'm woefully behind on reading my ever increasing stack of books on my window sill) and going to bed early. And hopefully that will in turn lead to me actually waking up early enough to cardio in morning and eating breakfast.

Bunch of small changes

2007-04-25T22:19:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I made a few changes. It probably doesn't seem like much....maybe it really isn't. But on the backend, with the new blogger code....well, its pretty different. It'll take me awhile to figure things out and decide how I want it. I finally liked about a bunch of blogs I read. Sorry, I didn't really ask most of you for permission. If you dont want it up just let me know (and sorry for doing first and asking later). If I somehow forgot to include you, sorry as well and just let me know. A few of the blogs are almost dead too....but I'll leave them up for now and clean house later. K, thats enough blogging for 1 day. 2 blogs, a template change, and all got up on my commenting...yeah definitely enough.

Yay.......boo.......interview tag.

2007-04-25T11:25:00.000-04:00

I have 2 other blogs....but they are just for testing stuff out in blogger design and template stuff.....but I'll never get around to fixing this layout if I just leave it there. So I'm goign to slowly start moving stuff here and changing stuff even if it looks weird and is incomplete....at least it'll be some progress....hopefully....sometimes you need to step back before moving forward.

First the good news. Raptors won!!!!!!! Yes! Parker with a big game! Bosh and TJ both played well. And we evened the series up at 1-1. Now we're off to NJ for game 3 on Friday where I will be attending! wooohooo! And props to Mitchell for winning coach of the year!

Now the bad news.....aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh........sigh.....I'm waitlisted by both Texas and Toronto. Now Toronto I know my interview only went so so....but still....Texas I had a great interview so I'm more surprised.......but now I'm scared........while I still have 3 schools to hear from still.....I'm much more doubtful. I really feel that its because I applied in the later rounds.....darn my recommenders for not getting them in earlier......darn me for not finishing my essays and hounding my recommenders for getting it done faster....sigh.

My gmat is good. The quality of my work experience is great. My essays I think were alright. My gpa sucks. My number of years of work experience just meets the minimum. So the fact that I'm at least waitlisted.....if I must look for positives.....is good. It means I just missed out....well waitlisted means theres a chance I'll still get in.......but really....I doubt it.

Inshaallah I'll get into one of my remaining schools. But if not.....well working for another year is not the end of the world. I'll be able to save more for school and need less of a loan. And I'm absolutely positive that if I apply earlier next year I'll get in. I mean when I applied in later rounds the majority of the spots were taken. And I still almost got in. I can improve my essays and 1 more year of experience will help too. It sucks.......but I had evening of dismay last night and I must try to be positive again now....and hey. InshaAllah I'll still get into my other schools...its not over yet.

On another note, Ruby had this game on her blog which I volunteered myself for....its basicaly a tag answer 5 questions type deal. Here we go.

1) The only chocolate left on the planet is one block of dark lindt. It's guarded by 10,000 hungry lions. I know you want it, what do you do to get past them?

Hmm....it better be one big block....cause otherwise I'd make my own chocolate..but hmm...lets see. I think I'd draw them away with bait.....or maybe I can steal one a giant robot dinosaur from disney and scare them all away.

2) What was your favourite cartoon as a child?

I can't pick one....but...I won't list all of them....to many........lets go with.....3. Gummi Bears, Thunder Cats, He-man.

3) You have the chance at an all expenses paid trip to anywhere on this planet. Where will you go?

On a trip around the world! But if I had to choose a single place....thats tough....I'd like to say Turkey or Spain or Egypt.......but I think I have to go with Mecca b/c while inshaallah I'll have many oppurtunities to travel in the future but just in case....I should do this first.

4) Favourite meal?

Shrimp! No wait....Lamp Chops....or Steak....can chocolate cake be a meal? ok...so many to choose from....lets go with... allo and fish pakora appetizers. rice and kebabs as the first course. prawns for the 2nd course. and 1 lamp chop in fried egg to top off the main courses. Then for dessert lets have a light fluffy chocolate layer cake with thin chocolate mousse layer. No icing. And maybe some double ka meeta as well (not sure about the correct spelling). And maybe the next day have good bbq with burgers, mcdonalds fries, and a sundae with chopped banana. :P

5) How do you feel about socks and sandals?

I'm actually not big on sandals.....but then I spent a lot of time in India in the last 2 years (visiting, internship). And....I've changed my mind. Sandals are great. Now for socks.......I get cold easily.....and I don't like being cold. Give me the heat anytime. So socks with sandals....perfectly fine by me.

The rules to pass along:
- Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me!"
- I will respond by emailing you five questions.
- You will inclue this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
- When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

The week in review

2007-04-24T12:39:00.000-04:00

Amazing Race NYC was just awesome! Everyone had a lot of fun. But I'll blog about that later when I get some pics from the other racers.

So for now...lets just do a bit of a recap. Last Tuesday Darrin, Jenn, and Aamir were in the city from Mississauga. So Tuesday we met up and went for Indian food. I was so in the mood for Indian food. I even got subway at lunch b/c I knew I'd have Indian for dinner. But then.....this place always says its halal, but today when asked the waiter was unsure.....so I had to get shrimp....which was meh.... :(

Wednesday, Zaina and Arefin dropped by and then they along with Darrin, Jenn, Anojan, and I all went for Lebonese food, Yum! Afterwards went to my apartment and played Wii....such an addictive lil console hehe

Thursday Caitlin came down from Hartford and we went to Carmines (family style Italian restaurant). It was really good. It was rather late when we finished so we all just went home after that.

Friday we went to Les Mis! Wow! It was awesome! So So So good. I'd definitely put it in my top 5 and probably top 3 shows. At least based on entertainment. On how good of a show it is....it vies for top spot. The performances were just incredible. Then we all (Anojan, Caitlin, Mike, Darrin, Jenn) all picked up some chinese food and went back to my apartment and played more Wii. Until 4am! Then we had to wake up at like 8 Saturday for the Amazing Race.

But like I said, that will be a seperate post. So yeah, basically it was a very very fun (though expensive) week. Good fun with great friends, what more can I ask for. Oh....except for the raptors losing game 1.....still.....Raptors in 5 (well my gues is 6)!

On an entirely other note. I found that during every year of university, sometimes every term, someone would really start getting on my nerves. And at no fault of their own. Its just.....ugh, I don't want to deal with them. They annoy me. And I hadn't felt that for the last 2 years....till now. Its back. I'm finding someone really annoying. And its not because I spend too much time with them. I'm not sure why it is. But....I take it as another sign I need vacation :P At first I was thinking maybe I'll take a weekend trip home. Or a weekend trip to LA to visit Omar. But...I think I'll take 4 days off and take a long trip home. The end of May inshaallah. Then hopefully I'll go visit Omar in May or June as well but that will only be a weekend trip. Of course if I inshaallah get into the schools I'm applying to......sigh still very worried about that...if only I had made it in time for the earlier rounds.....my plans my change. Dah well its out of my hands now.

Funny times

2007-04-17T14:11:00.000-04:00

I had my Toronto interview. It was ok. Only ok. I'm getting worried. Quite worried. I'm trying not to think about it too much. Another year of working wouldn't be the end of the world. But InshaAllah everything works out.

Let do something more fun instead of thinking about that. Here are some conversations/events that took place sorta something maybe like this. hehe.

1) Ahmed on msn during lunch at work#1.
Ahmed while thinking to himself about what he needs to get done today changes his msn display name to, "Tonights Plan: The Laundry Room". Shortly after, his mom messages him.
Mom: Do you need to tell the whole world you're doing laundry?
Ahmed: meh, what does it matter?
Mom: No, its good. It tells the world you are still single.
Ahmed: .......I have to go now.

2) Ahmed on msn during lunch at work#2.
Ahmed opening up the dark lindt chocolate bar he just bought from the store. Takes a bite and thinks not bad but wishes it were a bit darker. He changes his msn name to "70 just doesn't cut it". Later in the day his mom messages.
Mom: Did you get a raise? Why so small? You should ask for more.
Ahmed: Huh? No...oh my name....I was just talking about chocolate.
Mom: You and you're chocolate. Hurry up and make more money, I want to retire, I'm getting old.

3) Ahmed talking to Jane on msn.
Jane: Hey, Ahmed I'm going down in April! We shoot meet up, can we all go to Serendipity again?
Ahmed: Sure, though I know better chocolate places.
J: oh cool, we should go. Do you want me to bring you or Anojan anything from Canada? Chocolate?
A: haha, nah, thats ok thanks.
J: hmmm....I'll bring you oranges! You never eat fruit!
A: haha, thats ok. Theres a fruit section in my grocery store....I haven't really explored it.......but I think they have oranges.

4) Ahmed talking to his sister on msn.
Ahmed is quietly doing some work at home (in Brooklyn, New York) when his sister messsages him (from Mississauga, Canada)
Umber: BHAIYA!
Ahmed: yep?
Umber: I'm coughing, sneezing, I'm tired, my stomach hurts, I have a headache and I feel hot. Now Fix me!
Ahmed: haha, what can I do from here? Ok, ask Nana (a doctor) to give you some medicine and then have mom take you to the doctor tomorrow if you still feel sick. And go to bed, its late.
Umber: .....Fine........

5) Ahmed and Darrin are playing Pool.
Darrin has (somehow) won 3 games in row (somewhat convincingly).
Darrin: haha, this is like one of my best pool days. This cue stick is great.
The top of his cue stick then suddenly, without being touched, breaks off.
Ahmed: lol, what you do?
Darrin: Nothing, how'd you do that? Evil!
Ahmed: haha, I didn't do anything. Grab another cue, I'm going to break.
Ahmed does a poor break (for him) and much of the balls are still centered (probably a poor racking job by Darrin). Ahmed gets one ball goes in but then he misses his next shot.
Darrin: blah, I'm just going to bust it open some more, everything is too bunched up.
Darrin stikes the group of balls and....1, 2, 3, 4 balls go in! All belonging to Ahmed.
Ahmed: LOL....omigosh....lol....i'm dying...hahaha.
Darrin: WTH? Evil evil guy.

6) Ahmed, Jane, and Anojan are at the Chocolate room.
Anojan: The waitress hasn't really been attentive.
Jane: Yeah, where is she? I asked for milk and sugar like 10mins ago.
Ahmed: It doesn't seem that busy in here, well I guess you can tip less.
Jane: haha.
At the end of the evening,
Waitress: I'm sorry I half abondoned you guys, I've just been busy with this rude table. I overheard you guys talking about Visa's and Medical Jobs.....waitress proceeds to give a lot of info and tips for Jane on moving to NY, visa's, and job searching.
Jane: Wow, you've been such a resource! Hmm....hey do you know any Sri Lankan girls for him (points to Anojan).
Ahmed starts laughing.
Anojan: Eyes bulge for a sec and then he lowers his head with hand to forehead (hiding) and goes quiet as he's completely embarassed.
Waitress: haha, sorry can't help you there.
After waitress leaves.
Jane: I think I'll give her a good tip.

7) Janet and Ahmed playing wii before going to do cardio. Anojan gets home.
Ahmed: Hey Anojan, come do cardio with us.
Anojan: What now?
Ahmed: Yeah, you've been saying for a couple weeks you were going to start doing more cardio and you always say you'll start on monday.
Anojan: Oh...well...I would, but I need to work on planning this Amazing Race stuff on my computer.
Janet: Oh can I help? Can I see what you have so far?
Anojan: Yeah sure, but its all on paper at work.
Ahmed: Its on paper at work?
Anojan: Yeah....umm....ok, I'm lazy I just dont' want to do cardio ok.

Amazing Race NYC!!!!!!!!

2007-04-12T13:59:00.000-04:00

Last week on Saturday I decided to go to the gym and try a cycling class. It wasn't bad at all! I think I did alright. The only parts that really killed me were when you have to stand up and pedel. My legs were sore for a good 2-3 days afterwards though. Stairs became quite the challenge. But I think I'll try it again this saturday. I'm going to be committed to getting back in shape....at least in terms of excercising....at least 3 times a week. Diet.....thats another story.

Currently, I'm trying to go by the rule that I'm only allowed junk if its free or if I go out for dessert with people. I've been good with it....but my boss brought in easter chocolates and I'm like the only major chocolate eater at work so I finished pretty much all of it singlehandly. And Jane has been visiting from Toronto. And she likes chocolate too so we've been goign to dessert places. And it was her bday this week too. And we're all (her, me, Anojan, her bf, some other friends) are all going out to dinner, a comedy club, and more dessert tomorrow! So yeah.....diet...oh well. Recent articles say dieting is bad for you anyways.

So Jane is leaving on Saturday. But on Wednesday Darrin is coming down. And on the weekend his bf Jenn and her sister Caitlin are coming. And Aamir is coming down for 3 weeks on business as well around the same time. So.....more eating and more dessert! hehe

But thats not the best part! We were all talking about things to do and we thought hey, lets rent bikes and go biking in central park and maybe the city a bit. And then from that...we came up with the idea of having.......Amazing Race (scavenger hunt style) NYC!!!!!!!

Anojan is busy that day so he'll design the race for us. It'll be 6-8 tasks and we'll work in teams of 2 with a set budget. Tasks could be things like go to Serendipity and eat a chocolate sundae, go to the Park to rent a bike and go to Columbia and back, go take a picture with the NY Stock Exchange Bull statue, go to the state library and find X book, etc. Man, I'm so excited! And the trash talking has already begun! The sisters have decided they want to take on Darrin and I. Ooooh they are sooo going to lose. And several of my other friends in the city have also expressed interest. So we're up to about 8 or so people....roughly 4 teams so far and more people expressing interest each day! =) The race is set for the 21st. InshaAllah the weather will be good. hehe, I can't wait!

Interviews and Tag

2007-04-05T18:13:00.000-04:00

So I had the Austin-Texas (McCombs) interview this past Monday.......it went really well! It was much longer than I expected, 1230pm - 210pm. But it was quite casual, the alumni interviewing me was very nice and gave me a really good impression of the school and the city. I was ready for all his questions and he liked my answers and said he would give me a favourable review. He did however temper it by saying that the interview is still only one aspect of the application and that everything will be reviewed once more before they give you a decision. While most ppl he has approved have been admitted there have been times when they have not, and there have been times when he's given bad reviews and they've still got in.....which seems odd to me.....but oh well. I feel good about it right now.

Also, Toronto (Rotman) emailed me to setup a time for a phone interview! The guy said its only a 30min interview though. And from reading about it online its very casual and it makes me feel like its only a formality...as long as I don't screw it up. So yay!

So ABCDlaw tagged me, from no tags ever to 2 in a week! Kinda cool. Anyhow, she has given me the task of listing 5 of my favourite things and why.....hmm.......

1. The first thing that immediately jumps to my mind is...CHOCOLATE! Milk, cake, ice cream, cup cakes, truffles, bars, whatever, chocolate is wonderful!

2. Stories. Whether its a book, a movie, a tv show, a story someone tells me, a broadway show, whatever it is, I really enjoy a good story. The feeling of a good book where the entire world around you disappears and you are full immersed in a story...I just love it.

3. Travelling! There are so many amazing places in this world. Things that just make you stop and stare and go WOW. And going new places, seeing new things, and even the trip itself...its a fun adventure that ends up giving you so many little stories...most of which you forget but the trips are just incredible experiences.

4. Ok, so bowling, pool, movies, trips, vacations, shopping, etc all that stuff is a lot of fun...but I really like just simply hanging out with people and talking too. A lot of times, the simple sitting around with family or friends talking and playing cards or boardgames are the nights where you have the most laughs and the most fun.

5. Hmm.....what else...I like competing. And of course winning. I dont' mind losing as long as I did well. If I won but didn't do as well as I know I can I'm disappointed. That said, there are some ppl I will not lose to if I can avoid it. I won't lose to my sister or my cousins, Anojan at video games, Darrin at Pool, Jessani at anything, Ben at squash, and I could go on.

6. I guess thats another thing (or 2). I'm a big Toronto Raptors fan! Lets go Raptors, Lets Go! Woo! Woo! (I only woo woo online I don't know why I don't in person...its just not me). And I really like playing squash. Hopefully, inshaallah I'll get into school and be able to start playing again.

k, thats good enough. Lots of people have been tagged lately....I dont' want ppl to be sick of it....but if you haven't been tagged yet, consider yourself tagged! And list 5 of your favourite things and why. :)

Tag: 5 things (+some)

2007-03-29T18:15:00.000-04:00

Hey so this has been a good week so far. Lets see, I finally finally got a hold of a Texas alumni so my interview will be on Monday! InshaAllah it'll go well. Toronto finally has all my stuff so it'll take 4-6 weeks to process but hey, at least I know its moving forward now. The weather is warming up! I got a gift on facebook from one of my friends! My first facebook gift hehe, cool :)

I got a Nintendo Wii! Anddddddd its more fun than I thought! hehe I was joking around with my housemate Anojan though. Together in my we have an xbox360, a PS3, and now a Wii...all plugged into my lil 10-15year old maybe 20inch crt tv :P hehe, oh well. can't complain too much. we still have fun playing.

I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but other cool thing was that I was tagged by AKA. Thats the first time I've been tagged. K, so I'm suppose to list 5 things you don't know about me.....hmmm....thats kind of tough since some know me very well and others barely anything. But lets see....

1) When I was small I use think clouds were kind of solid. Like you could walk on them and touch them. I think this came from watching the movie The Boy Who Could Fly and the Superman movies. When my family went to Pakistan one year and visited Meri(sp?) a few hours away from Islamabad and went high into the mountains surrounded by clouds when you go up the sky lifts and cable cars I was quite disappointed when I couldn't touch them :(

2) I use to have what I'd have to describe as a phobia of dogs. I would cross the road and walk on the other side if there was a dog walker coming towards me on my side. I've improved tremendously since then. I had an internship in Chennai, India and there were stray dogs lying in the streets/sidewalks fairly regularly and I'd have to walk between them with them less than a foot away on either side. But they were rather docile and I got use to it. I can now have dogs come up to me or stand in an elevator while they are beside me and stuff. I may be quite uncomfortable and stiff at the time but I can do it. And I can walk by them on the sidewalk with no problem either, I don't even think about that now. Although...don't be fool'd I still am perfectly aware that there is a dog there. :P

3) I've never been in a real fight in my life. Certainly plenty of play fights, pillow fights, water fights, etc. But never a real fight. I've always wondered how I'd do. Though lets hope I never have to find out.

4) I may have mentioned this in a pervious blog. I have always felt I am capable of absolutely anything. Of course its too late for a few things now. And somethings I have zero interest in. But I felt I could do anything. I could be a hockey player if I wanted (even though I don't know how to skate right now). I could be an astronaut. A great lawyer. A doctor. An actor. Singer, etc. Whatever I wanted. It just takes hard work, dedication, sacrifice. But I could do anything I wanted....I'm very blessed to have the life that I do so that I can grow up believing (and still believing) such things.

5) I haven't drank pop (or anything carbonated) in....I'm not sure....10-15years. I just don't like the feeling/fizzle of carbonation. I don't think I've drank the equivalent of entire can of pop in my life. I also haven't had gum in maybe 6-7 years. I just always pass on gum.....and then go get chocolate!

Bonus
6) Other random stuff: I shook hands with Chretien(sp?), I was hit by a motorcyle, I slept on floor of the train station in florence infront of the newstand (only for 40mins!...we couldn't find an open hostel), chinese underground purse counterfeitors wanted me to go shopping for them, I can't swim, my friends nicknamed me Evil Guy (no idea why...doesn't make sense to me). My first name is actually Mohammed, my full name being Mohammed Ahmedullah Siddiqui.

Ok, so I think just about everyone has been tagged already. But if you haven't....consider yourself tagged!

Food! 2 years and going strong.

2007-03-24T09:27:00.000-04:00

Just as I open this up and am about to start typing....I recognize the irony of what this post will be compared to how my last post opened. haha, oh well.

Roughly 2 years ago I started eating only halal food. It was about graduation time. I was studying for finals with a friend and we were talking about life after school. I mentioned how one thing I want to work on is learning more about Islam, being a better muslim, eating halal food, etc. And of course he gives me the simpliest of questions. What are you waiting for? And so I was like you're right. And then we went to lunch and from that lunch forward, I have only been eating halal food. Its been hard sometimes. I miss pho and korean bbq and some other things. But really, overall I've been lucky to find a good deal of places I can eat. And its not that hard overall. Anyways, here some pictures of food that I love. It may perhaps be a bit heavy on the chocolate and dessert side...hehe. For those of you on my facebook, there are more pics in an album I put up a couple days ago.

Bruschetta - Florence, Italy

Chicken Chow Mein - Chennai, India

Steak & Fries - Paris, France

Nachos - Weavers maybe....Waterloo, Canada

Yay, chcolate cake

Fresh Bread, Croissants - Paris, France

BBQ - Scarborough, Canada

Pineapple rice - KittiChai Restaurant, NYC

I forget, but the sauce was good. KittiChai again.

Um....don't recall, but it looks nice.

Salmon Steak.

mmm....shrimp...

Panang Curry with Shrimp, are you hungry yet?

Some strangers on a train in India shared their food with me. :)

ok, I'm starting to get hungry myself.

Cookies! I made this one.

Dessert!

Frozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity

Chocolate Sundae

We finished it all!

Chocolate from Brussels

Chocolate shells

So many choices...where to start...

I miss Brussels

Ok, screw the diet, I'm taking some.

Random Tuesday Blogging

2007-03-20T17:48:00.000-04:00

I think I'll start a diet soon. Sort of. I'll eat whatever junk I have at home right now. But after that, no more bad stuff for 1 month. Unless its free or I go out with friends somewhere and everyone is having dessert. I did manage to make myself go to the gym on both Saturday and Sunday so that was good. For cardio I did some jump rope! Its been ages since I did that. It was fun! Though I got winded very quickly. Why is it so much easier to do weights than cardio? Cardio just takes so much more work. But anyhow, jump rope was fun, I'm still able to do the double jump and forward cross (where you cross your arms and hence the rope while you jump and then uncross your arms later). Haven't pulled off the backwards version of the alternating of feet yet....but in due time.

I actually did a lot this weekend. Aside from the gym, I did the grocery shopping, regular household item shopping, got a haircut, did some cleaning, and I cooked. A ton! Like 4 lbls of keema (ground beef) and pasta for the week. I actually have cooked in ages but it turned out well and its so much easier to cook for a few days than everyday....theres really just no time to cook everyday.

I also finished The Penelopaid by Margaret Atwood. I picked it up b/c it was Atwood and the story (the story of Penelope while her husband Odessey...sp?....was away sounded interesting). But I actually found it quite meh. I think I'll start the namesake now. I just watched the movie last night. I liked it! A bit slow at times....seemingly not really having a focus or direction...but overall I enjoyed it.

I'm still waiting to hear for the 2nd Texas alumni I contacted....nothing so far...sigh....I wonder if I'll be forced to go to Texas for the interview....that could be fun...I have a friend in Austin....but it would still be a hassle...and not cheap....

TMNT comes out this Friday! I'm not sure how good it will be.....but its the Ninja Turtles! I have to go see it. I think my favourite turtle is now Raphael. When I was younger it alternated between Leonardo and Michaelangelo.

My friends are doing the CN Tower Stair Climb again this year and have told me I should do it too. I've done it before. Twice. Its fun and for a good cause. Though each time I do it I'm like oh man, I'm never doing this again. And yet here I am, tempted to subject myself to the pain again. I don't know if I want to pay for the trip home in order to to climb stairs though...we'll see.

Les Miserables

2007-03-16T14:50:00.000-04:00

For those that have been following, 2 days have past since my last post. I should have some information. I do not!!!!! Argh!!!!!!! Apparently, due to a technicality I was 1 day late for the early decision deadline and as such I have to wait. And not only that but they (I'm talking about University of Toronto btw) have not received my transcripts! I sent that back in December....grrr....They said they sent me an email, but trust me I would have noticed. I look in my junk mail folder too! sigh.....So I told them to double check and in the meantime I contacted Waterloo (my undergrad university) and told them to courier over another copy of my transcripts. Now Toronto said they'll try to expediate the processing but also that it takes 4-6 weeks usually to process an application. Ok so does that mean from when I sent my stuff in (like a month ago) or 4-6 more weeks from when they get my transcripts? Man....this processing is killing me.......its like co-op ranking days x1000 (ok, only waterloo ppl will understand.....oh well). Its nerve racking nevertheless!

On the plus side, Austin-Texas contacted me telling me to arrange an interview either on or off campus. I think thats a good sign. They gave me a list of alumni in New York. I contacted 1 guy.....so far no response....I'm suppose to give 3 business days for a response before trying someone else.....but I have 2 weeks to book the interview (interview itself can be later)....so far no response....I have to wait til monday to try someone else.....man....please just let all this stuff work out. Inshaallah.

Another plus, I'm going to go see Les Mis in April. I have some friends visiting and we bought our tickets for the show today! I've heard great things about it so I'm excited! And I think I'm going to go see another show next weekend with some friends too. And tonight I'm going to go catch The Namesake. I hope its as good as the trailers make it seem.

Um........what else.......I don't feel like blogging more.....I feel like cake.......anyone have some cake? Want to share?........fine.

Oh yes, whats with this weather? It was so nice for a few days and now? Now we're back to snow and slush? blah....

Be grateful and do not be ungrateful

2007-03-13T12:35:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I, like everyone else, feel the need to complain. I have my days where I am a rockstar, I feel brilliant and look at my reflection and see an incredibly handsom me man. And of couse there are the days where I should have stayed in bed. I feel like I make 1 stupid mistake after another and that I look like an ugly slob....hmm...where am I going with this.....I don't really like to edit these much.....just type away....so I ramble at times.

Ok, so I have my worries. And my problems. I was having coffee with a friend last week and we touched on the subject and I thought to myself you know, I'm not perfect. But I definitely like who I am and I don't feel like I have any issues or that I'm on bad terms with anyone. Which is great. :)

So while I have worries and problems (I'll touch on that later as I like to talk about them even if they aren't important) you need to keep perspective on what really matters. And truly I have been blessed with so much.

I talk to others or see things (tv, movies, news, in person, etc) and there are real problems. People that are dealing with disease, and murder, rape, abuse, true financial difficulties, depression, and so many real issues. That really matter.

Basically, there was a good speech by an Imam awhile back that I heard and I like to keep it mind, which I do. But once in awhile you really have to think about it. About what really matters in life.

Be Grateful AND do not be Ungrateful.

Ok, so on to my petty problems now. Well actually its more of an annoyance and worry. 2 DAYS!!! Well thats when I'm suppose to hear from Toronto. USC and Texas I think I'll hear by the end of the month but they don't say percisely when. And then UCLA and Michigan I won't hear til nearly the end of May!!! So far.....argh. What if I get into Toronto and I need to respond before I hear from the others? Right now I think the others are higher on my list. I could put a deposit.......but I hear that could be 2-5k? Thats not chump change....... :S

And what if I don't get in at all?

Interviews are not required. My friend got requested an interview by Toronto. What does that mean? Well.....basically they aren't in for sure, but they haven't been rejected. So basically.....not that much. I've heard nothing. What does that mean? Absolutely nothing.......waiting sucks.

Ok, there was something else...but I just went for lunch and now I cant remember...goes to show how important that must have been.

On an entirely other note, did anyone see the last episode of Little Mosque on the Prarie? Ep 8 that is. Its on youtube if you care to search. I thought it was hilarious! Babar is too funny

A scene from little mosque on the prarie.
Theres a strict muslim single father babar, with a young teenage daughter we shall call L

Scene: L is studying at home with a boy
Babar comes home
Babar: Salaam!
L turns to boy: packup!
L: Salaam dad, you're home early
Babar: Is that a boy? Astagfurallah, alone with a boy!
L: Well if I'm with a boy then technically I'm not alone....
Babar: Boy (with the paki not black accent), go home. And never speak to my daughter again (in the whiny oh god voice)
L: Dad, he's my study partner, we're studying biology
Babar: Not until you're married

2 more weeks

2007-03-04T22:21:00.000-05:00

So as may have been gathered from my previous post, I was feeling quite down. And while I'm not 100% up, I'm heading in that direction and thats good.

On the plus side, I am finally done my applications! Yes, to know freedom again feels great! Well technically, I still have my last application to do, Western Ontario. But Western is lower on my list (no offense to anyone who went there). Its a 1 year program, and I feel like I want to do a 2 year program. There are definitely some disadvantages of 2yrs. 1 it takes twice as long :P and it'll cost more. But, I think I'll get more out of 2years. Learn more. And I'll be able to do a summer internship and inshaallah an exchange term. I want to go somewhere. hehe, I'll have to move somewhere for school too, but still I want more. Maybe London or HK or something. That would be cool. Just for a term.

For some reason, I'm feeling confident about getting into Toronto. I shouldn't. I really have no idea what will happen. I want to just get in anywhere hopefully....well. I hope I get in anywhere. Would I be happy if I just got in at 1 place, no I'd be disappointed. But meh, hope for the best. Take what life gives you. So yeah, I'm starting to feel confident about Toronto, despite nothing having changed to make me feel that way. I'll find out about Toronto in like 2 weeks. 2 Weeks! InshaAllah.

So with my new found free time, I figure I want to do something. What is it I want to do? I'm not sure. For sure I'll make myself go to the gym more. But what else? I thought about this before and never did anything but hopefully I will now. So what to do? I thought about fencing, or cooking, dance (hiphop or tap), or an instrument, or some art thing, but I haven't quite decided. Money is still a factor since I need to save for school.

Speaking of money. I find when I'm not in a good mood I tend to spend more. I'm lazy and I'll buy food. And I want to cheer myself so I buy nice food and chocolate of course. hehe, nothing wrong with that. I probably don't eat enough regularly anyways. I only had 1 meal today actually. But then, I spend money on other stuff too. Not too big on cloth shopping...though thats fun once in awhile. I like toys :P . I want a new tv. A nice big flat screen tv. BUT yeah....that would not be good. But I did buy a nba2k7 for my xbox360 =) ....and after playing it...I want a bigger tv even more! haha....one day.

I found a lot of ppl on facebook lately. Stewart, Masashi, Dina, Jane, Victor, etc. Someone posted an old grade 4 class picture. I'm such a geek in it. What I find cool though is, I can remember so many people in it! And talking to many of them, albeit short exchangs, is quite nice. Some of them remembered EVERY single person in the pic. Thats very impressive. I think I got about 60% of them which I thought was fairly good.

Anyhow, I have some pictures I want to put up. Actually lots of pictures. Food, visiting alia, silly things, and amazing things, oh and various things. So wow, 5 picture posts coming up. I'll decide which one first later unless someone actually requests something in particular. laters.

another big blah

2007-02-28T23:28:00.000-05:00

Sometimes life sucks. I want to go back to being 5 or 8. Lets go with 5 I think that was fun. From the eye of the hurricane, you still all the danger and damage around you. And you can try to help from within. But mostly all you can do is watch and listen. Sadly, the eye is not safe and soon you too are in trouble.

And I don't feel like typing more.

Conan - Bread Expert

2007-02-24T23:28:00.001-05:00

I came across this on youtube and thought it was hilarious.

a little bit of bleh

2007-02-23T16:24:00.000-05:00

Today is Friday. And I am glad. Its been a long week. In more ways than one. I haven't been sleeping much lately. Both because I've been busy and because I just haven't been able to.

I feel cold right now.

I had some very good chats with some people yesterday, it was very nice. I also didn't have some good chats with people...which is too bad.

UCLA application is finally done and overwith thankfully. I'll have to start on Michigan this weekened and maybe Western next weekend and then I'll be done and truly free...I can hardly wait.....inshaAllah I get in somewhere....

Sometimes confidence leaves and confusion clouds....sometimes I can look and see the sky and just start to smile.

I want to sleep this weekend. I don't feel like doing much else. I got 3 movies from netflix so I'll be watching those :P

You know what, sometimes I tire of peoples immaturity. Stop acting like you're 13 people. Not everything I say has to relate to you or me. And I can just imagine that some people might still take this post literally if they so happen to read it. Buts its in general. Can I not discuss things without it being taken so personally.

I feel like this post is downer....I dont like that...maybe it seems like that b/c I'm actually feeling a bit down at the moment.....but give me an hr.....heck let me hear a joke or a song i like and i'm sure my mood will change soon enough :P

snap crackle pop

i don't know it just came to mind
i'm weird like that.

I'm also annoyed with people not knowing at what volume to speak...indoor voices people....

Can you take me higher?

2007-02-21T07:26:00.001-05:00

When dreaming I'm guided through another world
Time and time again
At sunrise I fight to stay asleep
'Cause I don't want to leave the comfort of this place
'Cause there's a hunger, a longing to escape
From the life I live when I'm awake
So let's go there
Let's make our escape
Come on, let's go there
Let's ask can we stay?
Can you take me higher?
To the place where blind men see
Can you take me higher?
To the place with golden streets
Although I would like our world to change
It helps me to appreciate
Those nights and those dreams
But, my friend, I'd sacrifice all those nights
If I could make the Earth and my dreams the same
The only difference is
To let love replace all our hate
So let's go there
Let's make our escape
Come on, let's go there
Let's ask can we stay?
Up high I feel like I'm alive for the very first time
Up high I'm strong enough to take these dreams
And make them mine

Happy Valentines Day....meh

2007-02-15T00:59:00.000-05:00

Although I'm not a big fan of Valentines day....at least not yet. I do like this story/exchange I read. I've probably posted or shared this before but dah well I'll do so again.

It's Wednesday the 12th of February. It's early evening. Margret and I are sitting in the living room. Margret has asked me to do something the following day.
Mil: 'I can't, I'm afraid. I'm going into town.'
Margret: 'Why? What do you need to go to town for?'
Mil: 'Oh, I have to get some stuff.
Margret: 'What stuff?'
Mil: 'Just some stuff... things.'
Margret: 'What things?'
Mil: 'Various things.'
Margret: 'What things?'
Mil: 'What does it matter?'
Margret: 'What things?'
Mil: 'It's not important what specific things, is it? I have to get things or I wouldn't be cycling into town, would I? All that's relevant here is that I have to go, not the details of the individual items I need to get - there's no point wasting time giving you a big list, when the only significant point is that I need to go to town.'
Margret: 'What things?'
Mil: 'Oh, for Christ's sake... Pizzas. I need to buy some pizzas, OK?'
Margret: 'We've got pizzas.'
Mil: 'We've got a pizza.'
Margret: 'So? How many do you need?'
Mil: 'Several. I want to have several in the fridge.'
Margret: 'Why?'
Mil: 'So that we have a stock of them.'
Margret: 'Why?'
Mil: 'So that we don't run out, obviously.'
Margret: 'What would happen if we ran out?'
Mil: 'I'd have to go to town.'
This flings itself out of my mouth while my higher brain is still racing along behind it frantically waving its arms and shouting, 'Wait! Wait!'
Margret responds with just the tiniest movement of her eyebrows. Absolutely minuscule. Sufficient in size, however, to make me wonder if I could get a UN resolution to have her bombed.
Mil: 'I have to get other things too.'
Margret: 'What things?'
Mil: 'What the bloody hell does it matter? Why can't I go to town if I want to, for God's sake?'
Margret: 'Why are you being secretive? What are you up to?'
Mil: 'I'm not up to anything.'
Margret: 'Yes you are.'
Mil: 'Like what?'
Margret: 'I don't know.'
Mil: 'Because there isn't anything.'
Margret: 'Yes there is - I can tell.'
Mil: 'There isn't.'
Margret: 'You bloody liar.'
Mil: 'You bloody mad woman.'
Margret: 'Tell me.'
Mil: 'Stop talking now.'
Margret: 'Tell me.'
Mil: 'I...'
Margret: 'Tell me.'
I think we've both risen to our feet by this point (it allows for better voice projection).
Mil: 'OK! OK! You want to know why I need to go up town, you relentless harridan?!'
Margret: ''Yes! You lying swine!'
Mil: 'So I can get your Valentine's Day card! So I can get your bloody Valentine's Day card and post it to here - so it'll arrive as a nice surprise through the post!'
A tiny flicker. It's the merest stutter of hesitation, though, then she's back on track before the beat is really lost.
Margret: 'You don't need to get me a bloody Valentine's Day card!'
(I can't imagine what makes her think she's going to get away with this move - she must be getting old.)
Mil: 'Too bad! Because I'm getting you a Valentine's Day card! And I'm posting it to you! Tomorrow! When I go to town!'
Margret: 'THERE'S NO BLOODY NEED!'
Mil: 'WELL IT'S GOING TO BLOODY HAPPEN - GET USED TO IT!'
And, indeed, I do go to town, buy her a card, and post it. Inside I write, 'Surprise!' She gets it on Valentine's Day and says, 'Thank you,' to me, through gritted teeth. (She gets me one too, by the way - it reads, "I'm not interested in a nice, normal relationship... I like ours better.")
Odysseus and Penelope? Pah - lightweights.

Still frames in your mind...

2007-02-12T23:18:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to post for awhile now. Just haven't had my computer around when ideas come to me. And when I finally do sit down, such as now, I find the thoughts that had been pre-occupying my mind are not nearly as focused as before. Let me just go on about some random things then and perhaps another day I'll follow up with greater depth.

I need to care less about what other people that don't matter think. Like they don't really matter, and I shouldn't let little things upset me.

I've been finding a lot of old friends on facebook. Friends from highschool, junior high, and as far back as grade 2. Its quite nice. Now, I don't become big friends with them. Its really not much more than a Hey! haven't seen in you ages, what are you up to now?. A couple more messages like that and well, thats about it. But I do enjoy it nevertheless. And its interesting the memories we have of people. And that they have of us. This one friend remembers that I use to help her learn her provinces hehe.

I remember another time, during recess my one friend was upset because she was scared of dogs. So I sat down and talked to her about it. And told her how I was afraid of dogs too. (Man, so scared it must have been a phobia...I'm so so so much better than I use to be). And I remember after recess I got teased by some other friends about me liking her and her being my girlfriend....grrr...bugged me so much....hehe but I guess thats grade 2 for ya :)

I wanted to talk about faces. The sides we show to different people. But my inspiration for what I wanted to say....perhaps another time. I'm feeling tired now too.

Ohh, I finally excercised today! wooo.....I'm out of shape. But at least I've started again, hopefully I'll continue.

btw, Heroes is such an awesome show! Sadly there was no prison break today though.

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth it was worth all the while

It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

I'm tired

2007-02-06T00:45:00.000-05:00

YAWN!!!...Yawn.....yawn....yawn...zzzzz.....BUZZ!!!!!!!

man......morning already?!? where is the time going....I just want to sleep.....

Morning Dance

2007-02-02T00:33:00.000-05:00

The Facebook Skit

2007-01-28T04:27:00.001-05:00

A funny video my friend forwarded to me.

So...anyone on facebook? Want to be my friend? :P

The King of last excercising way too long ago...

2007-01-23T18:08:00.000-05:00

I need to start working out again! Its so sad. I've become one of those people that pays for a gym membership that they never use....In my defense I have been quite busy....but still....its not good. I have 2 applications due Feb 1st. After that I still have 3 more but I've decided I'm going to make myself workout again at that time anyways. Someway, I will make myself. I think I'll buy 1 of those excercise balls to do abs with as well. And I was thinking of getting a scale that tells you your body fat % but I've been reading a ton of reviews and none seem that great.....plus they're pricey. So thats a no go. But still, I'm determined. I will get back in shape. I don't need a 6 pack. But I want to make sure I stay flat (or get back to that) and not become round. I think the mission will be to lose roughly 10lbls or just be in better shape (I dno't mind gaining weight if its muscle). I'll try to eat better for now, but 2 weeks roughly, then it really begins.

I saw The Last King of Scotland. Its really good. A bit gruesome at some points but its definitely good. Forrest Whittaker was great in it. I also saw Sleepless in Seattle (meh), The Cider House Rules (Good), and The Fifth Element (not bad).

Oh, and these were all on in the background either while I was working or eating. So it wasnt like I was totally wasting time instead of excercising.

Travelling troubles

2007-01-16T15:11:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I went back home to Mississauga, Canada. So nice! So fun! And I did very little....well much less than I normally do anyways. I pretty much just hung out with my family at home, visited my Dadi, visited my Nana, and saw a movie with my Mom and Sister (The Pursuit of Happiness, twas ok). The weekend, or at least the traveling was not, however, without incident.

It involved, in no particular order but overly dramatic stated fashion, sitting in an 18wheeler, running across 4 lanes of the highway (twice!), my plane being blasted with green liquid, and running out of gas on the side of the NY state thruway. Lets start at the beginning.

Friday night I left Brooklyn and drove down to stay at my cousin Alia's place in Hartford. My friend Caitlin, who also resides in Hartford, was having a bad day so I told her I'd drop by to say hello and we'll go for ice cream. She said you won't get in til past 10 nothings open. So I was like, ok we'll get ice cream from Mcdonalds. Anyhow, I pull in just after 10 and Mike arrives at literally the same time. So all 3 of us go to Mcdonalds and Caitlin orders a cone, Mike orders a sundae, and then I go up and ask for .....a small fry. haha, ok maybe you had to be there. They were like what happened to ice cream? it was your idea! I was like, I just changed my mind. But I did try dipping a fry in the cone. It was ok. They said they could taste the salt in the ice cream later :P at least for a sec in that area of the cone.

Anyhow, I went to Alia's and we (her, her husband, and myself) just chilled and watched tv for a few hours before finally going to bed at 1ish. 430....ack...I should have gone to bed earlier....we woke up and packed my van to head back to Canada. We were all quite slow and tired and probably should have slept in more b/c we took way too much time. We finally got all ready and packed by 630 and took off (just Alia and myself, her husband had work). The guage read 3/5 full of gas so we thought we'd drive til 930 or so and then stop for breakfast and get some gas.

The trip is going well, I'm making excellent time as I'm able to go 135-150kmph for much of the way. And then...at 920...the guage starts to go left to right...and then to empty, the light turns on. Uh oh, we decide to take the next exit to get gas. Then the guage goes back up. We still stick to the plan of getting gas right away. Then it goes to empty (this all happened in <10secs) and I feel the van slowing down. I pull over to the right shoulder and stop.

Then it starts to snow....yay.....

The next service station was 12 miles away....hmm.....but there was a Mcdonalds and gas station directly across from us.......hmm.......we looked left, we looked right...looked left some more.....and then ran across the highway. Jumped the barrier. Looked again, and ran across the rest of the way. Went up to the gas attendent asked him if he had a container. He told us its illegal for him to sell gas in a container. Booo. We ask for the number for a tow. And ask for his number as well and turn around to head back to the van.

There is now a cop car stopped behind my van. Thinking, man we are so getting a ticket for crossing the highway we think well maybe he can help us at least. I run back to the highway edge but he's taken off by the time I get there. We run across the highway, climb over the barrier, run across the rest of the highway and sit back in the van.

I find my CAA info (thank goodness my dad got it for me) and then call the gas attendent to find out where exactly we are. I wanted something a bit more precise than before syracuse somewhere on the NY State Thruway. But......gas attendent guy didn't write his area code.......argh. We call CAA and they ask about the highway marker. oh yeah! We get out of the van and run to the sign....clear the snow, and read the number. Get back to the van and wait.

The guy came 35mins later, gave some gas, just enough for us to get to the gas station and we were finally back on our way. (oh, he was driving an 18wheeler, why not sure, flatbed in the back i think to put cars on. so i got to sit in it while filling out the form).

We stop and get gas and food and I call home to tell them what happened. My mom makes fun of me and my Alia.
Mom: What kind of idiots dont' fill the gas as the first thing when leaving on a trip.
Me: Mom, the guage was not working.
Alia shouting in the back: Its not my fault!
Mom: You two, a cs degree and a lawyer can't even fill a tank. I told you I wanted you home early.
Me: Mom, I'll be home before 3.
Alia shouting in the back: Its not my fault!
Mom: laughing, I know its your fault.
Alia shouting in the back: Its not my fault!
Me: I should be home before 3.
Mom: I told you get here early.
Me: I'll be home before 3.
Mom: If you're not back before 3, you won't get any lamb chops or shrimp.
Me: Ill be back, dont' worry.

The rest of the drive went without incident. In fact I pretty good time! No lineup (like none) at the border really helped of course. I got home at 2:20, plenty of time to spare. Less than 8hrs total, which means I would have made it home in less than 6hrs had the gas incident not occured!

Anyhow, the rest of the weekend was w/o incident. Til I went home Monday. Big storm, lots of ice. I get to the airport at 645am. Already 25 flights cancelled. Mine's still going, yay! I get stopped by customs, as usual. It only takes 15mins this time. We board the flight on time....then we get delayed 3hrs as the plane has to get de-iced and the sprayed with anti-ice fluid. Once we're going its good. And the plane at little tv screens in the back of every chair so that was really cool!

Anyhow, wow this seemed like a long post. Congrats to anyone who read the whole thing. :)

essays, 360, going home, mosaics

2007-01-12T14:27:00.000-05:00

I have not been blogging a lot lately. I want to, just been tired. Basically it goes like this
wake up
go to work
come home
eat and watch an episode of x-files
work on applications
fall asleep
wash rinse repeat

This will be my life for the next couple weeks. And then after that, after that I'll once again be free!!!!

I bought an xbox 360 last week. Its fun! Though my tv sucks, but still its fun. Its a challenge not to stop and play it. I haven't owned a system in ages. But I just felt like I wanted it. And I hadn't bought myself anything for my bday or the past 2 eids so i said why not. My sister wants a wii. I may still buy that for her but its out of stock right now so she'll have to wait. I tried it out myself....not bad....but not good enough.

I'm going home this weekend! Yay! Driving to my cousin Alia's place in CT tonight. Then heading back hom to Sauga for the weekend. Flying back monday morning. I'll be so glad to get rid of the car. So Glad! I love driving but its such a pain to have a car in this city.

Oh many people asked about the mosaic from my last post. Here's a link to the website where you can get the program for it. The program's free. Its cool. Just a bit slow.

Old old pictures

2007-01-04T21:07:00.000-05:00

Ok, so while I was home for New Years weekend I came across some old pics and decided to make a mosaic for my Mom. It turned out something like this. You should be able to click on it to view a larger version of it and see some of the individual pics. It looks much better when I enlarged it and then you view it from a distance, not sure how well it'll show up on here.

And here are some other pics that I found and liked. The pictures are all out of order now but oh well. hehe, I don't even remember any of these pics but I seem happy :)

My sister Umber & I. No Idea what we're doing here but we seem to be having fun. :)

Me holding Umber.

Umber and I again.

Ready for a toga party? hehe

I'm guessing my first suit.

This I remember, my Bismillah.

Everyone loves Marine Land! hehe, or at least Umber, Hafsa, & I do.

I'm going to guess my grade 2 or 3 school picture.

My mummy and me.

Just relaxing in my robe.

And just keeping it real yo. ....while sitting in a pot hehe

Saara and me!

Whats up yo?

My Abu and I.

Sporty me.

hehe :)

I like this pic.

hehehe

very lil me.

my mom trying to feed me.

Saara and me

Grade 1 maybe?

My dad and I

2006

2007-01-03T10:34:00.000-05:00

Another year has gone by. A lot happened in 2006. But then a lot happens every year I suppose. I think every year for the last several years something, at least 1 thing, really bad has happened. And 1 thing good. And of course all the inbetween. In 2006:

I made more new friends than I have in any year since my first year in university.
I felt lonely and alone more often than I'd care to.
I travelled to Amsterdam, Italy, Paris, Switzerland, Brussels, Hyderabad, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Princeton, San Francisco, and Hartford.
I spent less time at home (Mississauga) and with my family than any year in my life.
I earned more money than I ever have before.
I've had more expenses and spent more than I ever have before.
People died.
People were born.
People got married.
Things ended.
I lost one of my best friends.
I regained one of my best friends.
I gained weight :(
I lost weight :)
I gained weight :(
I.....darn..... :(
I struggled.
I succeeded.
I felt lost.
I found confidence in myself.
I realized a lot about myself.
I realized a lot about others.
I lived in one place w/o moving for longest time since I lived at home.
I made mistakes.
I became a better person.

I think thats all for now, all that I care to put up anyways. InshaAllah 2007 will be a great year for myself, you, and everyone.

Almost time to go home!

2006-12-27T17:44:00.000-05:00

Less than 1 hr to go for work! And then, AND THEN! I'm free. Sort of. I have Thursday off and I'm driving home to Mississauga! Yay! Friday I'm working from home which shouldn't be too bad. The weekend is naturally off. And Monday I drive back to NYC. Its a short break for sure. But it'll be nice to see my friends. And it'll really be nice to just have a bit of a break from work. =)

Good deeds spread and multiply. =)

2006-12-22T13:43:00.000-05:00

I bought lunch and its terrible. :( So I just bought a snack. Oatmeal raisin cookie, m&ms and some milk. I think that should be filling enough.

Yesterday I was considering giving some money towards a good cause. I hesitated for a bit. I'm not sure why, just stupidness on my part really. But I did it. And b/c I did my co-worker was inspired to match my donation. And thats really cool. Good deeds spread and multiply. =)

My parents called me, several times. They arrived safetly and sound for Hajj. My sister and nana likewise arrived safetly in Houston for their trip. And what about me? Well.....at least its Friday. I'm going to go to Jersey Gardens tomorrow for some shopping. Nothing much planned for the rest of the weekend except working on applications.

Mondays a holiday, yay! Working tuesday and wednesday. Then Thursday I have off! I'm going to drive back to Canada. And then work remotely on Friday. I get the weekend off and then drive back to NY on the 1st. Hectic and short. But it'll be nice to go home and see my friends again. I'm thinking of driving back after work on Wednesday but its an 8-9hr drive. Which means if theres not much traffic....leaving around 8pm i'd get there at 4-5am....not sure if I want to be driving that late at night....its tiring and I'll be by myself.....yeah.....most likely I'll leave Thursday.

hmm.......that was a lot of milk.....I feel sleepy now....I need to start going to bed earlier again. I've been sleeping at 2-230am or so lately.....I need to get that at least closer to 1.

I finished reformatting my computer! Now things are working the way they should. Just have to reinstall a few more things and then finally maybe I can put up some pics again!

I can do anything.

2006-12-15T11:32:00.000-05:00

I saw this in a friends post on facebook. Its for couples. I think its funny. Of course since I'm alone, I wouldn't need the outer gloves, I'd just be holding my own hand in the middle glove. :S

I was going to make a post yesterday. I'm backlogged on blogging and putting up pictures. But my laptop is killing me. I got some spyware or adware or whatever and despite numerous efforts it still persists. And its really preventing me from doing a lot on my laptop. So this weekend, well this weekend I'm going to go down to CT to visit my friend Caitlin and my cousin Alia. But when I'm back sunday hopefully I can just backup everything important, reformat, and reinstall everything. Hopefully it goes well b/c man its a pain.

So my parents are going to Hajj. And they've been doing all this stuff like adding me to their bank accounts. Making their wills, adding me to the safety deposit boxes. Tell me about their insurance papers. To look after my sister, etc etc etc. Its weird. I listen b/c its important for me to know just in case but I really can't imagine such things occuring. Its weird. But it does make me stop and think. Of how I would handle things. How so much would truly be on my shoulders. To be honest, I am confident I could handle it though. But inshallah, I won't have to worry about such things for many decades yet to come.

Ok, so financial documents for mba schools, check.
Transcripts requested check.
Graduation confirmation letters requested, check.
Recommenders asked, check.
Applications filled in, easy parts, check.
Applications filled in harder parts.....um....in progress.
Essays.......ack! sigh....I need to step it up on this.

Earlier this week, Wednesday I think it was. I got out of the F-Train and out of the subway station on 23rd onto the street first! hehe, thats like being first out and into the parking lot of any Go-Train station :P

Going back to the topic of expectations. I've for the most part always felt like I could do anything. If I work at it, have the dedication, put forth the effort I could do anything I wanted. Of course there are limitations now. Like, I don't like hockey, never have (I know I'm canadian but still! hockey blah). But still as a child I always felt that if I really wanted to, I could practise, train, and I could do it. And heck I can't even skate but I never felt I couldn't do it if thats what I really wanted (though of course for certain things the time has passed now).

This is more of a long term confidence mind you. In the short term, I can be less optimistic. It fluctuates I guess.....I'm odd.

Anyhow, while there is this inner confidence. Outwardly, I still worry. I downplay things. I do enjoy encouragement. It does help. But sometimes ppl just have these expectations of me. And its like.....um....ok, inshallah. But its just blind faith that I can do it, and do it well. I worry about being embarrassed by failing but I never worry about being a failure. This is partly why I don't like ppl knowing hard much or little I work or try. I know in the long run it will work out. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. I just felt like writing it I suppose. I think I need to display that faith in myself more outwardly. Not worry about failing or being embarassed or anything b/c the ppl that believe in me have never waivered in that. During my highs or lows. And also whenever I truly feel confident anything, I usually do quite well.

I can do anything.

Here it goes again

2006-12-07T15:50:00.000-05:00

Just when you think you're in control,
just when you think you've got a hold,
just when you get on a roll,
here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again.
Oh, here it goes again.
I should have known,
should have known,
should have known again,
but here it goes again.
Oh, here it goes again.

I am a fan of Survivor, Greys Anatomy, OC, and Smallville. These all air on Thursdays. Today is Thursday. Yay!!!!!!!!!! haha.

While I'm talking about shows, I have to say Heroes is awesome! For those of you watching, you know what I'm talking about. Those of you not watching. Watch it, give it til ep 3. And you shall be hooked!

Oh, And I have discovered I too have a super power! I was watching Hiro. And I decided to try it out. So I checked the time, I closed my eyes, I squinted and grinned and concentrated as hard as I could. And then I opened my eyes and voila! 2 secs into the future!! I did it! haha ok, that was a lame joke....oh well.

Since today is Thursday, that means tomorrow is Friday! And I'm flying back home! Yay!! My parents are going for Hajj and they wanted me to come down before they leave. I always seem to book the ticket and not really feel any excitement or anything about returning. UNTIL the time draws near. And now I'm excited. I haven't been home in about 4 months. It'll be nice to be home and sleep in my home room/bed and see my family and cousins. It'll be very quick and hectic though. I'm flying in Friday night and then I'm going to take dads minivan and drive back to nyc on sunday leaving around noon. So I'm really barely home for 1.5 days.

But taking the car will be nice. I haven't driven in ages. I miss it! Plus I'll likely return back in December for new years to hang out with friends so that saves the cost of flying. And then I'll return back on MLK weekend to give the car back when they return and I'll just fly back to nyc then. It works out well enough. Hopefully theres not too much traffic and no snow. Its an 8+hr drive and I dont' want it to be longer than it needs to be.....hopefully its not too boring either, i'll be driving be myself. :( Anyone want to go on a roadtrip to canada?

Taking this from Sarah's blog.
1) One book that changed your life?
Um...nothing really changed my life. Reading The Alchemist changed my taste in reading a bit though.

2) One book that you’ve read more than once:
I've read most of my books more than once. The last book I read again was A Handmaids Tale. hehe, do the Where's Waldo books count?

3) One book you’d want on a desert island
Actually, I'd want a journal so I can do some writing.

4) One book that made you laugh
Harry Potter, Archie Comics, Life of Pi, I know there was something else recently but I can't recall at the moment.

5) One book that made you cry
Honestly, nothing has really made me cry, but some have made me quite sad, even make me almost stop reading at times. The Kite Runner, One More Day

6) One book that you wish had been written:
The Life and Times of Ahmed Siddiqui from 1981 to present, with future outlook and introduction by Ahmed Siddiqui. :P I'm telling, its a bestseller waiting to happen!

7) One book that you wish had never been written:
The Great Gatsby. I loathed reading this book in highschool. Not a single character in it appealed to me.

8) One book you’re currently reading:
Wicked, A short history of nearly everything, The three musketeers

9) One book you’ve been meaning to read:
Some stuff by Ray Bradbury, Paulo Coehlo, Dickins, The Namesake, Q&A, The death of superman.

10) Now tag five people...

Prison

2006-12-03T01:13:00.000-05:00

Prison, not always a small room with bar walls in which someone locks another. There are many different prisons. Possibly the hardest prison to escape it the one in which we trap ourselves. Even when we realize it, breaking free is difficult. The walls of desire, of fear, of habit, of desperation are thick and hard.

Unfortunately Mama Jenn's blog is dead so I removed that. But Mister Farsh and Miss Cellardoor's blogs have been added. Also added a link to the site feed atom in the bottom of the right hand column as per a few of your requests. I haven't tested it but...I'll assume it works cause I wont' be fixing it soon if it doesnt.

So whats been happening lately, I've been busy lately and haven't had the time to blog. Shahzad was down a few weeks ago for business. Anojan & I met up with him for dinner at the Afghan Kebab House. Very good. Caitlin and Mike came down a couple weeks ago. I put up pics of that earlier. Darrin & Jenn came down from Canada for the long weekend. And stayed til Thursday. That was fun. Went shopping and ate out quite a bit. IHOP, Afghan, Thai, Pizza, Indian, Chinese, I forget what else. And we saw the show Altar Boyz. It was good. Not great, but definitely good.

I narrowed the my list of mba schools to 8. Toronto, Western, Michigan (ross), Austin Texas, UCLA, USC, Indiana, and Arizona (Carey). But in the end I decided against Indiana and Arizona and went with the first 6. I do admit, I'm worried. I feel I'm reaching to varying degrees with all of these schools. None are really a 'safe school' or fallback. I tell myself that hey, I should reach. If it doesn't work out, I'll try some others next year and thats fine. I can work another year. And yes, thats not bad. But its definitely not preferred. And I rather go with confidence. As I said in an earlier post, for some reason I felt really confident when I went to write the gmat. And it turned out great. I dont' want to give myself excuses. Inshallah, I'll get in to all and have to choose where I want to go. I'm going to get in. And next year at this time I'll be worrying about final projects and exams and ready to go on winter break. And I'm looking forward to that.

I'm tired of NY. I want a change. Have I been here 1.5 years already, or just about. How did that happen. I've gained a ton. I've experienced a lot. In fact if not for a lot of it, I wouldn't think I have any chance at some of these schools. Still. At times, I think to myself what is the point of this. This is ridiculous. Why am I here. And I don't mean what is my purpose in life or anything at that level. I just mean, why am I here, is this what I want.

old man: You can have anything you want in life.
young man: No, you can't. Only some people get what they want.
old man: Those are the ones that come and get it.

I'm going home on Friday. I'll fly back on Friday night. Hang out saturday. Sunday I drive home. It'll be hectic, but otherwise I wont' see my family at all for the rest of the year. And its been about 4 months since I last saw them. I'm going to head back home again later in December. But I'll just hang out with friends then. As my parents will be gone for Hajj and my sister and Nana are going to Houston. I was telling one of my friends its ironically and sadly funny. I haven't been home for Eid in I don't know how long and now that I will be. My family won't.

I'm a bit hungry. I think I'll go eat some raisins. I think I have raisins...I wonder how long raisins last for...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light , not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of god. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make and manifest the glory of god that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
- Marianne Williamson

Aicha - Cheb Khaled

2006-11-24T00:27:00.001-05:00


Its old, but it just came to mind today and I thought what they hey, I'll put it up.

UCLA, Picking Schools, Cookies and Thai food.

2006-11-23T00:25:00.000-05:00

So have you guys heard about the taser'ing incident at UCLA? If not go look it up. Theres a youtube clip about it as well. The super short version, a UCLA student is told to leave the library after failing to show his student card. He refuses to show the card and later the police taser him multiple times, While he is Cuffed, and escort him out. This is after he has already started to leave on his own accord. And he was not violent at any point before or after the taser'ings.

This is crazy! I won't get into discussing if race was involved. Maybe it was (likely even) but I don't know. Regardless, 5 or so taserings? Thats ridiculous. Violent force should only be used when encountering violent resistence or in self-defense. This case meant neither criteria. I hope the kid wins his lawsuit and the police involved are fired.

On another note. Trying to figure out where to apply is tough! So many cool programs. So not cheap to apply haha. If it were cheap I'd apply to like 20. As it is, I want to get my list down to 5-7 schools. Whats my list at right now? Its like at 14....argh. But the main ones are like Toronto Rotman, Western Richard Ivey, maybe York, McGill, Arizona...I don't know anymore, Indiana (Kelly), Columbia or Stern...I don't know...Darden (Virginia?...), Cornell...hmmm...., Austin-Texas....texas?...yeah...so choosing is tough...hopefully i'll make some decisions soon b/c I need to get started on the applications. Darn essays won't be writing themselves.

I watched Stranger Than Fiction last week. It was good, go watch it! Afterwards, I was craving cookies so I had to go buy some cookie dough and make some...yum, cookies! Though really, the cookie dough might be better than the cookies...its a toss up.

mmm....Cookie! (*in cookie monster voice*)

More Cookies!!!

Caitlin and Mike visited for the weekend. It was cool, I hadn't really hung out with Caitlin since February or so. 9-10 months, crazy. Almost a year ago! Although she thinks its been sooner than that but neither of us can remember so I think I'm right.

Caitlin all upset she missed the cookies.

Anojans like, forget cookies lets get some Thai for dinner. Mikes like sounds good!

Anojan & I at the Thai place, waiting for the food.

And laughing at some terribly funny joke...which I won't share. hehe :P

Just walkin along singin a song

2006-11-16T18:07:00.000-05:00

Ok, so yesterday I had an interview with a recruiter from Arizona State I think it went well. I think it gave me a chance to talk about my work experience and I really think my work experience is going to be a big plus. I learned more about the program and it seems quite interesting. So I went into the interview a little nervous but I came out feeling pretty good with a tune in my head.

There I was just a-walkin' down the street, singin' "Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do"
Snappin' my fingers and shufflin' my feet, singin' "Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do"
I looked good (looked good), I looked fine (looked fine)
I looked good, I looked fine and I nearly blew their minds

Haha, ok so I probably didn't blow their minds but it was good. inshallah. Later in the evening I went to a reception and dinner, again by ASU, where they were giving away this economics award. I was sitting there listening and its just wow. These people are so intelligent. And they know so much. And I listened to his economic presentation and it was really impressive. It made me feel like man, I want learn everything. I like economics, I don't want to pursue a masters in it. But I mean, knowledge is wonderful. Theres so much cool stuff out there to learn. And I wish I could just be a full time student for life. .......maybe w/o the assignments though hehe.

Anyhow, I got the chance to talk to many of the other prospective students and at first it was scary. When I first got there I was the youngest there (I think I was the whole night actually). But also, I was the only brown person, heck the only non-white person. Basically it was a room full of tall white guys all looking like finance guys. But more ppl came, it got a bit more diverse, I talked to ppl AND it was Fascinating! Everyone was coming from different backgrounds, even the people from the same sector had varied experiences. Different ages, parts of the country. Ppl from fashion, non profit, accounting, marketing, etc etc And everyone was very friendly. It was nice. Also, I felt like ok, I'm not out of my league here. My experiences are strong and others are interested in what I have to say. It felt good. And I'm excited about going back to school. inshallah. Not just this school, but any school really. I think it'll be fun. So after it ended I felt good and I had a tune in my head. :) heeh, I don't even know why this one, its a bit early for it. but nevertheless.

Sleigh bells ring
are you listening
in the lane
snow is glistening
A beautiful sight
we're happy tonight
walking in a winter wonderland

Gone away is the bluebird
here to stay is a new bird
He sings a love song
as we go along
walking in a winter wonderland

If I am.

2006-11-14T17:51:00.000-05:00

Resumes are such a pain! It took me forever to update. But I finally finished and sent it to the recruiter man. Now I just need to research the school, haha. No idea if they're any good yet but hey at the least it forced me to update my resume which is something that needed to be done. And the interview itself should be good practise as well. Last time I had an interview was about 1.5 years ago.

Why does cookie dough have to taste so good yet be so bad for you?

I upgraded or switched over to the new blog thingy. So what should I label this post? Random babbling? I think many of my posts might fall there then.

Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away!

I need to decide what I'm doing for xmas. Normally, its an easy decision. Go home to Canada. But my parents are going for Hajj. And my sister and nana are going to houston so.....I'd be returning to an empty house. I still want to go back to see my friends though so I think I might go back for a weekend plus a day or 2. And the rest of time I guess I'll stay in NY. That'll be......well I don't know. Hopefully it'll be fun.

If I am
What would you say to me
If I am
How would you treat me
If I am
Would it mean anything
If I am, If I am, If I am.
Now If I'm no more........

some changes.

2006-11-11T01:37:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I made some changes. At first I was thinking green, but I'm liking browns lately. And chocolate was in my head :P I still have to fix a ton of things b/c I'm not happy with the footer, header (I want some images maybe for those). I'm still iffy on the styles/fonts of everything. Still have to fix that tag/shoutbox thingy too. And theres a couple of sections I think I want to add. But meh, I thought I might as well get a bit down and I can fix the rest whenever I feel like it.

I'm watching Sahara right now.....have to say....not that interested in it.

Theres more to say, but tomorrows going to be a busy day so I'm just going to stop here and head to bed. G'nite.

The flaw that wasn't.

2006-11-09T14:51:00.000-05:00

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water, at the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house." The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not o n the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

ps. I hope I didn't come across as sarcastic in my previous post. I didn't mean to. I was just feeling tired. And I appreciate the input. In the end though.....its like too many chefs spoil the broth.

Eat a mint chocolate, then drinking cold water...feels good :P hmm.....except all the chocolate is finished now... :S

Here's a little song I wrote,
You might want to sing it note for note,
Don't worry, be happy.

blah blah tired blah

2006-11-09T00:22:00.000-05:00

I feel blah. I don't know why, I just do. Hopefully it'll be gone tomorrow, it usually is after sleeping.

I'm tired.

I have a slight headache.

Thanks everyone for the advise on the new blog template. (Its on another blog thats easy to find if ppl really want to see). I've decided I don't care. Well I do. But I'll just do whatever I want to do. And if it sucks, well thas ok, cause its mine. and Im fine with it. Can't say perfect b/c I know I'll think I can always make it better, but oh well. It is my blog afterall, if others dont like the design or the colours, well, bye. Once again though, thank for the help though, really.

Tired, Saddam, Death penalty, headache, ice cream.

2006-11-08T00:01:00.000-05:00

I wish I had some ice cream right now.

I have a bit of a headache right now too.

I had this big long conversation about capital punishment and islam and saddam hussein with my cousin Rasheed. And then I continued the conversation sort of with Sarah. Then continued that conversation onto Sarahs' latest blog post - Saddam Hussein -- Capital Punishment. Check it out and leave a comment w/ your thoughts. I'm interested to see what others have to say. It was having this kind of conversation. A good thoughtful conversation that is. I need to have them more often.

I have so much I want to do and need to do and I'm so tired these days by the time I get home. I really need to start doing some more research and stuff though for grad schools. I went to this MBA fair thingy a few weeks ago. I went to a similiar one in Toronto last year. Anyhow, a recruiter from Arizona is going to be in NY in a couple weeks so he's conducting interviews and asked if I wanted one. So I'm going to have to research them. I don't know anything about the school or program yet. Hopefully its good hehe, but at the least it'll be some practice.

My friend Chris just got into the MBET program at Waterloo. Congrats Chris!

I need to update my resume as well. sigh.

I chocolate chip muffin would be good right about now too. I made microwave popcorn today. It sucked. Its disgusting. I miss my air popper machine.

I still have a headache. I'm going to take some advil and hopefully go to bed soon. Later ppls.

Oh, added link to Zeeshan and Mama Jenn's blogs on the side. oh and for some reason the shoutbox thing isn't working for IE users, that sucks. But ppl should switch to firefox, this is just 1 more reason :P Feel free to try out the shoutbox thingy though to see if it works for you. I want to change this blog template a bit so I'll fix that while I'm at it hopefully.

The Phantom of the Opera, weekend tidbits, and Letterman

2006-11-05T08:55:00.000-05:00

I saw Phantom of the Opera yesterday. It was really good! The dialogue was a bit difficult to follow at times but I love the music. And the stage and costume were amazing! Music of the Night I think was my favourite song in the show. hmmmm hummm hmmmm hummmm hmm humm hmm humm hmmmm hummmm :)

Overall, I'd give it a 3.5/5 though. Maybe a 4. Based solely on entertainment value. Out of the shows I've seen I'd rank them something like....
Avenue Q / Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Who's Tommy
The Lion King
Mamma Mia
I Love, You're Perfect, Now Change
The Producers
The Phantom of the Opera
Chicago
Hair Spray
Rent (this is easily last, the only show I didn't like)

I'm going to go see Wicked around Thanksgiving with Darrin and a few others. Hopefully thats good, I've been wanting to see that for almost a year now. I have the book though I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

Finally went back to the gym (oafh, I'm sore) after like 6 weeks. I'm weak again it sucks, hopefully I get back to my oldself quickly. On the plus side I've lost 7 lbls!

I watched Maria full of Grace and Th Breakup yesterday too. Both were soli but nothing spectacular. Neither were exactly what I expeted either though, I'm not sure what I was expecting. I'll give both of them a a 3/5.

2 years fly by so fast. I still remember and I still pray for her everytime I pray. I still wonder about that time.

Finally got my room cleaned, went out and bought a nice small storage unit I really needed. Oigh, still need to do my groceries, update my resume, research programs, and so many other things...I can get some of that done today though I think. Need to go to the gym again today too, need to rebuild the habit.

Going out to dinner w/ Anojan and Punit, that should be nice.

Here's a clip I came across online. The full thing I'm sure you can find if you want to. This is just a short clip from the segment.

Bill O'Reilly on Letterman

=)

2006-11-02T11:20:00.000-05:00

I just realized that despite the fact I posted after midnight, my last post is showing up as on Nov 1st. Probably my timezone settings. Anyhow, I decided to put up another post. Because its Nov 2nd! The greatest day of the year! =) And what am I doing to celebrate this wonderous occasion? Well hehe, actually not much. I had a chocolate chip muffin and I'm looking forward to watching tv tonight b/c a lot of shows I like air on Thursday nights. =) Maybe on the weekend I'll do something. I'm thinking I'll go see Phantom of the Opera.

What a great day & Halloween Pictures!

2006-11-01T23:23:00.000-05:00

Today is such a great day, Nov 2nd. My favourite day. And probably a favourite day for many others, I mean who wouldn't like this day. hehe :)

Anyhow, I'm really tired today, so I'm going to just leave you with some pictures. Last night Aamir and I went to go check out the Halloween parade in the village. It was huge, blocks and blocks and blocks full of ppl. It was crazy trying to walk anywhere. I had friends there I was suppose to meet but it was impossible to find anyone. And the friend that were on the other side of the parade, forget about it, no way to cross and get to the other side. Ah well, it was fun. Here are the pics.

The Halloween parade begins!

It started with skeletons

The place quickly got really packed

This was cooler live with music

Here there be dragons

Aamir and I

KISS was there!

Random parade shot

And another shot of the crowd, everyone had fun.

Nothing more - Abort, Retry, Ignore

2006-10-31T11:39:00.000-05:00

I posted this before on my old blog. Sadly thats now out of commission...still need to remove the link. Maybe this on this blog too from last year.....not sure. Regardless here it is again. It appeals to the geek in me. Hope everyone has a good day. Laters.

Nothing more - By Anon (with appologies to 'The Raven' by Edgar Allan Poe)

Once upon a midnight dreary, fingers cramped and vision bleary,
System manuals piled high and wasted paper on the floor,
Longing for the warmth of bedsheets,
Still I sat there, doing spreadsheets:
Having reached the bottom line,
I took a floppy from the drawer.
Typing with a steady hand, I then invoked the SAVE command
and waited for the disk to store,
Only this and nothing more.

Deep into the monitor peering, long I sat there wond'ring, fearing,
Doubting, while the disk kept churning, turning yet to churn some
more. "Save!" I said, "You cursed mother! Save my data from before!"
One thing did the phosphors answer, only this and nothing more, Just,
"Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

Was this some occult illusion? Some maniacal intrusion?
These were choices undesired, ones I'd never faced before.
Carefully, I weighed the choices as the disk made impish noises. The
cursor flashed, insistent, waiting, baiting me to type some more.
Clearly I must press a key, choosing one and nothing more, From Choose
"Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

With my fingers pale and trembling
Slowly toward the keyboard bending,
Longing for a happy ending, hoping all would be restored,
Praying for some guarantee
Timidly I pressed a key.
But on the screen there still persisted words appearing as before.
Ghastly grim they blinked and taunted, haunted, as my patience wore, Saying
"Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

I tried to catch the chips off-guard --
I pressed again, but twice as hard.
I pleaded with the cursed machine: I begged and cried and then I swore.
Now in desperation, trying random combinations, Still there came the incantation, just as senseless as before.
Cursor blinking, angrily winking, blinking nonsense as before. Reading,
"Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

There I sat, distraught, exhausted by my own machine, accosted
Getting up I turned away and paced across the office floor.
And then I saw dreadful sight: a lightning bolt cut through the
night. A gasp of horror overtook me, shook me to my core. The
lightning zapped my previous data, lost and gone forevermore. Not even,
"Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

To this day I do not know
The place to which lost data goes.
What demonic nether world is wrought where data will be stored,
Beyond the reach of mortal souls, beyond the ether, into black holes?
But sure as there's C, Pascal, Lotus, Ashton-Tate and more,
You will one day be left to wander, lost on some Plutonian shore, Pleading,
"Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

I am the Man!

2006-10-29T23:55:00.000-05:00

First off, here's a link to another cool blog, Mr. Bilal. It can also be found in the friend section down below on the side over
<--------- there somewhere.

Now, I just want to say:

I am the man, that's what I am
I'm a straight shooter, with a master plan
I am the man, that's why I'm here
I am the man, I am the man

hehe, ok those are just some lyrics from The Philosopher Kings (whom are Canadian btw!). And just something that was in my head a bit this weekend.

So Saturday, was the day. Time to write the GMAT. My study pattern for it wasn't the greatest. I studied July - late August. Then I was dumb and lazy and did squat all for awhile. Then late Sept I studied til yesterday when I wrote it I studied again. And truthfully, I was feeling pretty good by the end. I felt I could bomb (relatively) and still pull of a low-mid 600. And while leaving my apartment and walking to the train to go to the test, I just felt, I own this, I'm going to do great on this. And really, its such a nice feeling of confidence to be able to walk into something feeling that way. I don't mean to sound conceited, I just felt, I guess how I stated in the last post, if I did as well as I'm capable of, I'd do well.

And thats totally not to say I wasn't nervous. I didn't sleep much before the test. And I woke up and prayed a bit extra. And during the test, well before and between the 3 different sections of the test are 10min breaks and I was like reciting any and all surahs, kulmas, dua's, etc that came to mind hehe.

But in the end, things turned out great! I got a 700 which I'm more than satisfied with. Thank goodness no more studying now. It was kinda odd going for an exam again, had many of the same feelings from my old waterloo days. hehe.

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement, even my doorman was like "mohammed, I want to wish you good luck and I hope you do very well." it sounds cooler in my head with his french accent than it does on here, but oh well. Thanks everyone. Encouragement is always appreciated.

After the exam I was having this wonderful feeling of Euphoria and feeling happy and kind of smart and so I proceeded to stand on the platform and watch my train come and then leave w/o me. Only to realize a min too late...wait, that was my train...I'm on the wrong side. lol.

I met up with some naseeb friends for dinner later that night. It was our Eid dinner at this restaurant called Dervish. Its alright, though its a very limited halal menu. The atmosphere was nice though. And we were doing our gift exchange thingy. Like a secret santa, but for Eid. I got Sadia. And as many of you know, I had no idea what to get her as I don't really know her too well. So I was asking a lot of ppl. In the end, I got her 2 shawls and some chocolate and she seemed to like it a lot so I'm glad. Other ppl complimented the gift as well so thats cool.

Giving gifts is fun. Getting too of course =) But I like to give gifts, to the ppl I care about. I feel like I see things fairly often that I'm like oh they would like this or that. Or this reminds me of this person. Its not super amazing stuff by any means but I still think its nice. Though, I think I do need to do a bit of the regular cool nice gift too. Just to mix it up a bit, as much as ppl say its the thought...nice stuff is nice stuff too :P

The night was really nice overall. One thing I miss about being home in Canada is that I have so many friends back home. And family of course. My family and so many of my cousins. And I have different groups basically that I hang out with, almost always someone or something. Not so much here, though I've tried hard to establish that...its a slow process. Anyhow, last night, I had the dinner thingy and lots of ppl were there, and during the night, my mom called, my cousin saara called, my cousins rasheed and hafsa txt'd me, zaina called, caitlin called. I felt more talkative at the dinner than I have in quite sometime (I'm usually pretty quiet...and still was...but less so). And it was just a good fun night. Afterwards they went for hookah but I decided to head home though. I was kinda tired and just wanted to do nothing at home.

Today, did 94875937 loads of laundry and started to clean my room....um....I got my desk done...I think i'll do a bit a day and finish cleaning by tuesday :p

hmm...anything else that I wanted to say? um....Congratulations Caitlin on the promotion! Thats awesome!

um....oh Anojan and I saw The Prestige today. Not what I expected actually. But its alright. Solid but middle of the road to me, I'll give it a 3/5.

I didn't take any pics at the dinner but several others did, I'll get some soon probably and put those up....still need to put up pics from when Rasheed came down as well....and then update the picture archive...thats a few picture posts out of date now....

Oh wait, I remember what else. I was talking to my mom. And it was strange b/c she brought up something that I was thinking myself lately. If you want something, if you have a goal, you need to belive in yourself. Don't aim low, aim high, and believe. and have faith, have belief. She was giving examples of wanting to go to ohmra, visit my nani-ma (great grandmother), and now going for hajj.

And in my head I was thinking I was looking for more halal food near work, and I found 2 restaurants and a masjid.I wanted to start praying regularly, and finding that masjid along with some inner resolve has helped me greatly there. I wanted to get a lil book of prayers and it came to me (and on a rainy day where i didn't feel like going to the masjid, i went anyways and they were giving them away for free!). I had this 1 project I was working on and I was worried about a meeting I had on it, but a sudden shift in priorities caused that to get pushed back giving me ample more time to get it done the way i want to. I had a very important meeting I was very nervous about which I was praying a lot about and it went even better than I expected! I was praying about doing well on the gmat and ppl sent me tips on studying, where to study, and well wishes. And then I did do well. I think I posted this before maybe....or at least talked to some about this before. We are blessed and lucky ppl.

so yeah, I just found it cool how my mom was talking to me about things like this that were already in my head. And just saying you need to belive and work hard and inshallah everything will work out well. =) anways, this message is getting to be too much like a childrens afterschool special....remember kids stay in school and say no to drugs =P haha

Todays post has been brought to you by the letters A, I, B, and the number 8.

2 more days!

2006-10-26T14:07:00.000-04:00

2 days to go. 2 days more days. I feel good about the math. And for english.....I'm alright. I'm not terribly confident about the sentence correction portion to be honest. But Inshallah all goes well. I'm scared to give myself expectations for a gmat score. But thats more about giving myself an out. Bah to that. I know what I want, its up to me to work for it and get it. Just inshallah I perform to the best of my abilities and I'll be fine.

Whats pops to mind is something my Econ prof said one time. He was speaking about Olympic atheletes and he said it much more eloquently than I am about to. But basically he said. Do not wish them luck. That is an insult. These are people that have worked long and hard. They have spent endless hours and energy on their goals. These are professionals. Do not wish them luck, wish them success in performing at the highest of their abilities.

Ok, now back to me. Yo, wish me luck, =p I'm cool with that haha. No, but inshallah I do fine.

I'm really looking forward to having some free time again. Well I'll be busy with other things but it'll be 1 big thing out of the way. I could read again! I'm so behind in reading. I don't read nearly as much as I'd like to...or as much as I may make it sound like I do. But it is so much fun. To get engrossed and so lost in a book that the outside world fades away to oblivion, so nice so nice.

Writing is fun too. I tell a lot of my friends, hey you should start blogging. And they are like, nah, I can't write. And I'm boring. I'm like...um...look at my blog, its far from a masterpiece. Its just fun. And at times very therapeutic.

So EID was Monday, at least here, for me it was. EIDs not quite the same w/o family, but come to think of it...I haven't had EID w/ my family in like (was in ny this year and last, india 2 years ago....waterloo the year before...that) wow, it has been awhile. Anyways so what was my EID like this year? Well sir, I went to work, prayed at the masjid, came home and studied. So dull. BUT I honestly did enjoy that it was EID. I was in a good mood. I was feeling happy. So its not ideal, but I can't complain.

AND
ok, so I'm talking to Zaina and she's like
Z: My mom made some Biryani, I'll bring you some Tuesday.
Me: Oh thank you, but actually....I'm not a big biryani fan (yes yes, everyone else loves it....I duno. i prefer to mix my rice and meats myself). But thanks anyways.
Z: Np, are you sure?
M: hey.....actually......did your mom make shir kurma (sp?) the milkly sweet thingy.
Z: Yep, you want some?
M: Yes, that would be awesome!

Going to peoples houses and having shir kurma and chai are something I'll always associate with EID and I do miss that so it was awesome to get some. Thanks Zaina! (And Mrs. Bari! hehe).

Wednesday I went to an EID dinner at NYU. It was meh. Food I enjoyed, but it wasn't a social event in which I could really mingle and meet ppl. Had to just sit at the table and watch the show. Which wasn't bad. but I'm working on expanding my circle so not what I was hoping for. But dah well. Right after my exam on saturday I'm meeting some friends for our own eid dinner and eid exchange (like a secret santa) that should be fun.

2 more days! eeep! ack! Bring it on! :P

oh ps. added 3 new blogs on the side over
<-------- there. Check them out. Its Ms. Almira, Ms. Hanna, and Mr. Jeff.

2006-10-23T00:54:00.000-04:00

Eid Mubarak!

Eid Mubarak Everyone! =)

My San Fran trip w/ Pictures!

2006-10-22T19:59:00.000-04:00

Friday:
I arrive at SFO and Omar picks me up. We go to his house and talk for a few hrs.

Saturday:
I spend the morning with Omar, his wife Lubna, and their kids Alina & Daniel (Danyal, not sure). And we go to....Costco! haha. But it was fun. Afterwards played with the kids at home for awhile. So much fun! They're really nice and really happy kids. A little shy at first but they quickly warmed up to me and we had a lot of fun playing. Later we went to Alina's soccer game. I didn't catch all of it as Omar took me around the city (Foster City a it south of SF is where they live).

We went this water area (1st pic) and Shell beach and just around the city a bit. Then returned to the game. Alina scored 4 goals! I should get her autopgraph now hehe. Though she was a bit cross with me for not watching the whole game...sorry kiddo, inshallah next time (like she reads this, hehe but oh well).

OH! Guess who I saw at the game! Tim Robbins! Or at least a guy sitting on a lawn chair with shades that looked just like him! And there was a ferrari in the parking lot....soo.....I choose to believe it was him. :)

They then dropped me off at the train station and I took the train into SF. The ride didn't take long and I spent the time looking outside. The scenary looked more like what I'd imagine for Nevada than Cali but it was still nice.

I met up with Brian from work and we setup the booth and then I walked from Moscone centre randomly looking around. Going through Chinatown and ending up at Fishermans Wharf where I had dinner. Shrimp and scallops good stuff! The rice and pasta were bleh. Went back to the hotel and just crashed...not feeling well, I threw up a bit later that night =( But sunday I felt fine.

Sunday:
Sunday morning, Sharmin drove up from Mountain View to come pick me up and show me around the city. First we went to Lombard Street, I don't have a good pic showing the whole thing but basically its on the top of a hill and its this curvy road going all the way back down. Its just 1 turn after another so you basically have to drive at like 5-10km/hr to go down. It was pretty neat.

Next up was the Golden Gate bridge. It was red, I knew that. But it was huge. Much bigger than I imagined. Reminded me of the Williamsburg bridge Rasheed and I kept crossing but, this was bigger. After the bridge we went to the Palace of Fine Arts. It looked kinda kiddy inside so walked around outside and it was amazing! The place when you just stop and look at it is like out of painting (in fact several artists were just sitting around painting landscapes of the area). It was really really nice. I heard later that the inside is actually really cool, and very nice interactive science centre so maybe I missed out. Next time.

We then went to the Ocean. The ocean is massive! I got my shoes and feet wet when a wave went farther up the shore than I expected. Sharmin laughed at me and then was like "oh yeah, I should have warned you about that." It was cool though. To see the ocean right there. You kind of just want to stop, look at it and you get lost in your own thoughts. There were some cool kite flyers on the beach as well. And some of those things were you ride a bike pulled by a kite. I'm going to have to try that someday.

After that Sharmin dropped me back at my hotel and I scrambled to get ready for day 1 of the show. Got ready, got to the show. And its massive. Like MASSIVE! Over 10,000 people at least. And really, it was kinda scary at first. Talking to these ppl about the businesss and company and products. Particularly the products I don't deal with often. But I quickly got the hang of it and it became quite fun.

That night we went out to dinner with 1 of our competitors who is also a business partner, kinda. It was a lot of trash talking going back and forth and was pretty entertaining.

Monday:
Long day. Standing on my feet. All day. Sigh, so tiring. Really really tiring. But fun. But after the show. We went to the Expiron party. Like companies have dinner and receptions and parties and stuff afterwards in the evening. And Expiron throws the biggest. Well first we went to the Hoovers reception and that was ok. Then we went to Expiron. Expiron had got this giant tent in the heart of downtown San Fran in Union Square. They had a live band. They had vanilla fountains, chocolate fountains, chefs cutting and serving roast, multiple desert tables (with multiple deserts), a huge sushi area, open bar (blah), and bunch of other stuff. It was crazy! Like easily a million dollar plus party. But it was fun. It was interesting seeing older ppl dance around and stuff but they were having fun and no one was lewd or anything so it was really nice. And its nice listening to kinda older fun music too. I enjoyed it.

Tuesday:
Another long day at Moscone Centre. Then after it was done we packed it all up and shipped it to NY. Then I rented a car and drove around SF! Woohoo those hills man, I love it. After driving around there for a bit, I drove down to...Redwood to meet up with Sharmin for dinner. She was running late so I went grocery shopping hahha. Cereal man! So cheap there. So then we went to Dennny's. Man the most ghetto Denny ever. Good choice there Sharmin! I barely ate my food. So we just chilled for a bit and then I drove back to SF.

Wednesday:
Wednesday I was feeling really out of it. See the below post. So I started calling ppl on my phone. Talked to quite a few ppl by the end of the day actually. Rasheed, Omar, Caitlin, Zahra, Saara, and later on Alia, Dania, Farheen, Zaina, Darrin, um...can't remember who else now. Anyways during the day I drove down Lombard Street for myself. Did some more hills. Went to the Pier but just walked around, didn't have time for Alcatraz unfortunately. Checked out the Sony Matrenon which was pretty cool, an interactive place with some free video games. And just walked aroudn the city. I had to return the car by 7 so I just drove to the airport and returned it and then I was there pretty early so i just went online and talked to ppl and thats about it. Overall a great trip and I look forward to visiting again sometime. Ok, this took longer than I thought so back to studying! sigh....

Omar standing on the F of the Foster City sign

Shell beach, its all shells everywhere. So strange but neat.

My neice Alina all ready for her soccer game. Lil superstar scored 4 goals :)

Omar & Alina drop me off at the train station

Scenary on the way to San Fran...its more how I'd picture Nevada.

Walking the streets of SF, there are some cool buildings here.

The hilly roads.

Fishermans Wharf

SF by the wharf with Coit Tower in the back

SF is known for Ghiradelli chocolate and...you know, its pretty good.

And they're also known for their sourdough, which comes in many shapes

View of a hilly road while sitting in the car

Going down Lombard St

The Golden Gate Bridge

And from the other side

And with me in the pic. Even w/o flash my eyes are still closed! But I still blame the picture taker!

The Palace of Fine Arts

Sharmin, by the water near the Palace.

Here swan, come here swan

Another swan pic

And me by the water.

The whole area by the Palace of Fine arts looked So nice!

The Ocean! Its Huge!!

Lets go fly a kite, up to the highest height, lets all go....fly a kite!

Ok, so here's a pic of me at the conference/tradeshow thingy.

Here's some football guy...I hear he's kinda famous.

Alcatraz!

Jaws! well prehistoric jaws.

Pier 39, bunch of restaurants and buskers and stuff.

And just 1 more of the city's roads. So much fun to drive on...not so much fun to walk.

In the middle of the night.

2006-10-20T11:59:00.000-04:00

I'm back. And the trip overall was great. There was some bad along with the good but overall I really enjoyed it and Inshallah I'll go visit there again soon some day. I took pictures and I have stories, but that will come on the weekend. Right now I just wanted to post.

I thought about starting a new blog for this. I didn't know if I wanted to put this here and really I'm still not sure. I may make a new blog for such thoughts later...we'll see. Basically, the last couple days I was really feeling down. I feel really alone in NY sometimes. Sure I know some ppl. I have made some friends. But (no offense to any of them) I haven't become very close to any of them yet. And when I feel sad or down and even when I'm not sad and just want to talk, I end up calling my friends and family back in Canada, or Caitlin who's in CT.

I just get really tired of not having ppl here sometimes. I am so lucky for all that I have. Am I being ungrateful? Should I just be happy and content with what I have? Well I know I should be grateful. I am. But I guess the answer is that I shouldn't stop striving for more. You know, dinner and food is always nice. But it'd be really nice to just really get to know ppl. To be able to just sit at home with some friends and talk and laugh just playing a board games. Just enjoying simple things.

Its hard to keep trying, I have tried. I've tried so many different things. And things are much better than before. I can to a degree understand why so many ppl do so many bad things sometimes....its an escape...but its temporary. And I'm thankful I havent fallen so far down.

Sometimes I wonder or think, I should just be a hermit. Really, just live alone and be alone and then you don't have the pain of leaving ppl. But really thats not me. I'm out of my funk...sort of now...out of the worst of it. I won't stop now, cause I cant stop. I will try new things and enjoy life and meet new people and things will be awesome. Why? Because I am Preston Burke err.....I mean Ahmed Siddiqui....and i can do anything. This is really a bit of a jumble of thoughts and its a bit hard to organize...i won't try since it doesn't really matter.

Maybe it would have made more sense the other day when I was down. Now i'm back to....meh status? hehe.

I was talking to Dania yesterday and its interesting. I am an idealist and optomist, least in the long run. And I can almost always always find energy to be optomistic and encouraging and supportive to others. I wonder why I find it so much more difficult to do the same for myself.

Another thought that occured to me a couple weeks ago is. Sometimes I talk to people and I can relate exactly to what they are going through. Which often catches them by surprise, you ahmed? really? how do you know. And I just feel like for a lot of things I've been there done that. And i've moved on to varying degrees. And I dont' mean this to sound conceited nor to make myself seem like i'm "oh so wise". I'm definitely not, hehe, quite the opposite much of the time. I just mean, I wonder if in 5 years I'll be able to look back and be like wow, this was all such a big deal and confusing and whatnot but really, its all so simple now. Does life always follow that pattern? I suppose it does.

Things are never as good or as bad as they seem.

My friend said I'm going through an existential period. I just looked it up. I think...I always am. I feel that I use to be a Robot. I was very shy about things. And wasn't very expressive. Very reserved and well giving a very robotic appearance to others. I've improved in that sense. I smile more now. I talk a bit more. I'm a bit more outgoing. I know I can handle myself with others. I dont care what ppl think usually (only those I care about). Still, I keep a lot hidden. Bottled up, not just the negative stuff. But sometimes the good too. I can smile more. Laugh more. I know one day the side of me that sings and dances (um....if i do...i admit nothing!) will feel free to do so infront of others. I suppose posting this so publicly is a step in that regard....though I feel a bit embarassed to do so. A new semi-private blog may be on the way...

This post is too long now, let me just say thank you to my family and friends and even the randoms that i've talk to online, that comment on this blog, that i've met in person. You've helped me.......keep sane. I don't think people realize the help and kindness they offer in small things. Its why smiling is a good deed.

I promise the next post will be lighter. And it'll have pictures! Thats always fun. =)

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
And its a wonder to my sight
All the things that I do keep

I wonder if it'll come
Everything that I do seek
As I pray in my heart
From its valley to its peak

I know there be a day
A day where everythings okay
And as sad as I may be
I still look at life with glee

As I go walking in the night
And I'm searching left and right
Theres only I thing that I need
And then I see you all there with me.

BRB - Gone to San Fran

2006-10-13T15:48:00.000-04:00

Ahh, such a hectic day. I hope I packed everything I needed. Last minute deliveries at work stressing me out too. I need to take off like.....now.

Not sure if i'll have internet accesss....or if i do if i'll blog with it.....so happy birthday to Zaina now. um.....k thats it

I'm leaving on a jet plane....don't nkow.......actually i'll be back thursday. laters.

This turn.

2006-10-09T17:50:00.000-04:00

Less than 3 weeks til the test...my nervousness is rising. I still have a ton of material to go through. And this week I have to prep for my San Fran trip and then I'll be there for about 5 days so I only have 1 week left before the test when I get back....well...inshallah it all goes well.

I'm excited about San Francisco but at the same time...I'm kind of not. It'll be fun going to a conference there. Interacting with people. It'll be nice to see my cousin and his family. And my friend down there. But thats the weekend (well the conference is the week but whatever) but then what? Well I'll explore the city I suppose. Its too bad I don't know more people there. I'm really rather tired of not knowing ppl. Been there done that in Chennai and when I first came to NY (somewhat still actually). Its tiring and draining and hard and overall just sucks. But hey, I have the oppurtunity to go someplace I've never been and I will enjoy myself. And.....I'll take my books to do a bit of studying as well :P

I wake up. I'm tired. I brush my teeth and wash my face. I start to feel energetic. A million thoughts race through my head. Oppurtunities, memories, ideas, plans. I'm happy. I'm eagar. I look forward with anticpation. Something happens. Someone bugs me, I do something less than perfect. Things go wrong. I feel down. I get blah. I don't care. I ignore. I bottle in. I decide this is dumb. I will continue. Only because I dont want to give up. One foot forward, after the other. I remember something, I talk to someone, I eat some chocolate, I go to sleep. I'm ready to be happy again.

Prison break = my latest addiction. I have to be careful with it. Its a major study distraction.

I think I almost caught a cold. I'm still fighting it but I refuse to be sick. Too much to do right now. I think its b/c the weather got really cold last week. And now its slightly warm again...at least during the day. But also I haven't been sleeping or eating much....well sleeping part can't be fixed right now.....but I'll try to make myself eat more in the evenings. I want some pizza and fries right now actually....hmmm..almost time for iftar now....i'll should go buy something to open roza with.

To leave the thread of all time
And let it make a dark line
In hopes that I can still find
The way back to the moment

I took the turn and turned to
Begin a new beginning
Still looking for the answer
I cannot find the finish

Its either this or that way
Its one way or the other
It should be one direction
It could be on reflection

The turn I have just taken
The turn that I was making
I might be just beginning
I might be near the end.

What are you doing with your time?

2006-10-06T23:06:00.000-04:00

I feel so out of it tonight. I don't know why. Nothing in particular has me upset. Even the word upset is not quite accurate. I just feel.....blah. Maybe I should eat something....what do I feel like...I'll have a peanut butter sandwich...don't really have much else at home right now anyways....

Its weird cause I was in a good mood early today. I like fridays. End of the week. Weekend is here. And I enjoy hearing the speeches by the Imam as well. I always learn something or at least am reminded about something. Today was be grateful and don't be ungratfull.

If you had 1 year left in your life. What would you do? Be a better person? Spend time with the ppl you care about? Give to charity? Smile and laugh more? Be more caring? Pray more? Read the Quran more?

If you are reading this, chances are you well off in life. You have money or your family does, you work or you study. The simple version of it is, on average people with money will live 20 years longer than the poor ppl of this world. What are you doing with your time?

Anyways, I'm still feeling rather blah. But after my own little spiel...I think I'll go study for a bit.

Return to innocence & riddle

2006-10-04T23:05:00.000-04:00

Dont be afraid to be weak
Dont be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence.

At times I feel quite old. I always have been in a sense. Just by personality. But there is that side of me, that comes out, hehe actually it comes out quite often, thats just a goofy kid. And its fun I enjoy that. Its good to be happy and enjoy life. I am a glass half full type person. But I'm losing track of where I set out to go in this. What was it that I wanted to say...I guess over the last few years, I just feel I have lost some innocence. Could I say I'm even cynical? No, I don't think I'm that far gone. But there are so many reasons why this has happened. Sometimes things happen and it just makes you grow up. It takes you away from whatever world you were in. Ok, I'm losing myself now. And now I'll contradict myself. Despite all this, and whtever innocence I may have lost. I choose to hope and dream and believe. So vague, I know. Let it be. I choose to smile.

If you want, then start to laugh
If you must, then start to cry
Be yourself dont hide
Just believe in destiny.
Dont care what people say
Just follow your own way
Dont give up and use the chance
To return to innocence.

I've been so tired the last few days. Its hard, you work for 9-10hrs then come home and study for 3-4 hrs more. So tiring....but my test is on the 28th....and i'm starting to worry. Thats not that far away :S . If anyone wants to pray I do well, its most welcome :) I haven't been going to the gym either b/c I haven't had time and I just don't have the energy. I can tell I'm smaller. But not smaller in the lost fat, smaller in the lost muscle :(

Thats not the beginning of the end
Thats the return to yourself
The return to innocence

Ok, so here's a funny story. I was heading out the other night to Ben&Jerry's. And I go downstairs and try to leave but the front door of the building is locked. I look back and the doormans not at his desk. Ok, makes sense. He probably went to the bathroom and they are suppose to lock the door when leave so no stranger walks in. Although I didnt know it locks me in as well. But anyways, the funny part is that. My neighbours, a couple with a new baby, come by from the outside and are struggling with all their stuff and come to the door. And the woman looks at me to open the door and I kind of just shrug a sorry. She doesn't quite understand but the guy starts to laugh. Takes out his key and opens the door. And then is like, do you want us to let you out? I'm like hehe, yes please =) . I duno maybe you had to be there it was funny.

I have an apartment key (obviously) and the mail key, but never made a building key copy b/c didn't think I had to. Over a year now and its the first time its happened so....I think i'll keep taking my chances.

Oh, I deleted Brent, Illia, and Jenise b/c their blogs are pretty much dead. But I added Madiha and Sarah (she actually has like 4 blogs! but i only added the main one, you can find links to the rest from there) in the left column. I asked my other friend Farheen, but she's being shy. So maybe if ppl read this, and comment encouraging her, she'll change her mind =P .

K, let me leave off with this riddle. Lets see if anyone can figure it out =)

It's brighter than the day, darker then the night. If you eat it it's haram, if you drink it it's halal. A woman uses it once in her life, A man three times a day. It's mentioned in the Holy Quran five times. The word starts with the letter "M" and is....?

Pakora, Pakora

2006-09-28T14:28:00.000-04:00

People up in here tonight
No fighting, no fighting
We got the roza up in here
No fighting, no fighting

Pakora, Pakora

I never really knew that it could taste like this
It makes a man wants to eat that dish
Como se llama (si), bonita (si), mi casa (si, Pakora Pakora), su casa
Pakora, Pakora

Oh baby when your fried like that
You make a person go mad
So be wise and keep on
Reading the signs of my......

...recipe =P

=) Good day, Tag, & A Basket of Water

2006-09-27T22:27:00.002-04:00

Today has been a good day, nay (I just felt like saying nay, how many times do I get use that? haha) a great day! I mentioned in an early post I had something scary coming up. And I thought it would happen tomorrow. But I was surprised and it ended up happening today. And...it was scary! But it went well. Better than I thought actually. =) I'm happy.

What else? I know there was something else...things have just been going well lately. I've had good luck. And I realize how much I've been blessed with. And I'm enjoying a lot of litttle things. Small things that go my way, but make me smile. I've still had a few moments of unhappiness, but its ok. I'm ok. Its too bad I can't recall some of these small things right now...but oh well. Its ok, its alright, ...I don't remember the rest of the song...haha.

I added a new section to my blog. Its on the left. A tag it thing, or shoutbox or whatever you'd like to call it. Basically allowing comments on the blog level instead of post level. Try it out, let me know what you think.

I came across this story, which I'm posting below. Its nice overall. Except I believe that not only should you read, and believe. You should try to understand. You'll gain the most benefit that way. And that holds true for most anything.

A basket of water
An old American Muslim lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Quraan.
His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa, I try to read the Quraan just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Quraan do?"

The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water."

The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house.

The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.

The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house. The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.

Out of breath, he said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!"

"So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different!. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.

"Son, that's what happens when you read the Quraan. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Allah in our lives."

Its a BIG universe

2006-09-26T00:19:00.000-04:00

I'm so weak. I went to the gym to workout today and could barely do anything. I stopped after 5 excercises. And trust me, those 5 excercises did not go well :( Well....I havne't gone for a week so...maybe thats part of it? We'll see...I just hope I don't gain (bad) weight during ramadan.

I found these pics on another blog I stumbled upon and I'm stealing them and putting them up here :P I just found it really cool. And they don't make me feel small or insignificant or anything. Rather, I find it unimaginable how big these things really are. But I do find it amazing that such things exist in this universe. Its incredible.

Oh and Antares is only the 15th brightest star in the sky and more than 1000 light years away!

I just ate some chicken and hummas and argh...I feel so full....like too full :(

Speaking of argh, that just reminded me. I did all my laundry last night. and then I went to my bathroom and Argh! my towels, i forgot to do my towels....man...sigh.

Does anyone want survivor? I admit I'm a fan. This season they were divided by race. Ok...its dumb but yes it did get me interested as well. Though really, 5 ppl do not a race represent. Nor could any 5 ppl. Really, I'd have liked to see a team diversity, I'd cheer them on. Anyone, with 6 odd billion ppl on earth. and 1 billion plus in china. and another 1 billion plus in india. Thats like 1 out of 3 ppl. Yet on survivor none of the 20 ppl are from either of these places? in fact, no brown ppl at all. whats up with that? Still, i'm enjoying the season so far, and i'd say my favourite team is the asian team. but thats just b/c they seem like competent players that are nice ppl.

k, i'm tired, thats all for now.

Ramadan Mubarak!!!

2006-09-23T23:59:00.000-04:00

Ramadan Mubarak!

Its Ramadan already, wow. That came fast. Thankfully I'm here for it. :) I've talked to a few people about this already but I thought I'd put it up here as well. I feel that last year compared to previous years, I really felt the spirit of Ramadan more. I think its because in previous years I've been busy with exams or I've had friends and family around me and you just take so much for granted. Even when I was in India I at least went to Hyderabad for Eid and some ppl at work took me for iftar (when we open our fast) sometimes.

Last year was quite different. I felt a lot more alone. Wake up and have sehri alone (food before starting the fast) and then at the end opening it alone. No iftar parties to go to, no family to visit every weekend. But I did quite a bit of reading on Islam then and I did meet some ppl in the city for an iftar dinner and an Eid dinner. And I guess b/c I was looking for it more or maybe b/c when you starve for something it tastes better, I don't know. I just enjoyed Ramadan. I also read a lot of other ppl talking about enjoying it and smiles and happiness are contagious. :)

And you know what, last night (or was it this morning) I felt really happy again. Which was awesome. I just felt like, Yay, its Ramadan.

And last year, I didnt' know if it Ramadan started today or tomorrow or what was going on (its a lunar calendar and depends on the spotting of the moon). And I didn' t have anyone to ask. And same deal with Eid which was really confusing too. But this time I did! And afer i found out, i had plenty of ppl to txt and call and say Eid Mubarak to. And that felt great too.

Oh and thursday i wanted some food with salan (soupy sauce) b/c normally the restaurants I go to are dry, spiced well, but dry. And then friday. Soupy! Yes! Such small things, but it makes me smile and happy. Sometimes we need to stop and remember how truly blessed we are for all the things we have in this world. :)

How to save a life

2006-09-22T00:13:00.000-04:00

Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
And you begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same
And you'll begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

How to save a life
How to save a life

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

How to save a life
- The Fray

Ahhhhhhh...eeeep! ...oooh chocolate

2006-09-20T15:29:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'm about to do something very scary. I've only done it once before. It was scary then. Nerve racking. And some good came out of it, but not as much as I hoped. Maybe this time will be different. Its still as nerve racking as ever. But yes, we'll see. Just got to say Bismillah and hope for the best.

On a lighter note (ending on a heavier note =(....well hopefuly not). I was hungry at lunch. At lunch? Noo.....but yes! at lunch! hehe. anyhow. So I was hungry and I went to the atm cause i only had $3 in my wallet. But atm wasn't working boooo. And then I was running late. So I went to the masjid. and then just went to the restaurant and got 2 shish kebab and a naan for $3. Not a bad deal eh? But...sigh, I was still hungry. So I went to the closest other atm which is a nearby cafe. I didn't want to go there....b/c of temptation....but I also...sort of did....b/c of that temptation. And tempt me it did! I caved. I got the double chocolate muffin....AND it was good. Just as I remember. Hence me alluding to ending on a heavier note :( I haven't lost any weight.....though I do feel...less wide. But then I've been sick lately so thats thrown a wrench into my routine.....we'll see. I aim to be at the gym again by saturday.

I watched Chocolat last night. Movie wasn't as good as I hoped. The chocolate in the movie however looked fantastic. I was cravign some soo much! I guess this cures my cravings for awhile....at least it better.

A Fair weekend.

2006-09-19T15:56:00.000-04:00

I didn't get a chance to post the last few days. I haven't been feeling all too well. My heads still a bit hazy and I'm not at 100% yet but I'm still feeling much better today. A few days of actually getting proper rest can do wonders. :)

So the weekend I didn't do too much. I don't remember friday. Saturday I went down to the Hilton in midtown b/c the World MBA Tour thingy was going on. Basically a lot of schools are setup with stations and you can go around and collect info from them and talk to them. So yeah, I get down to the Hilton and....shoot..its on Sunday. I just wasted so much time coming down here. hehe oh well. There was a street fair going on so that was kinda nice. The typical one you see in the streets in ny sometimes. Same stores and food stands and whatnot. Nothing very exciting as I've seen it a few times now.

What was weird was, while on the train to midtown my mind wanders here and there. And I was remembering my friend Manpreet who I met in Rome. And I hadn't talked to her in aa couple months. And i get out of the train and 30 secs later, she's calling me! Crazy coincidence. Anyhow, she's doing well and is coming down to Hartford, CT later in Oct so thats cool I met meet up with her. And she said she's planning a trip to Costa Rica and wanted to know if Rasheed & I were interested, but sadly I have no vacation days for that...oh well.

oh Friday I got a postcard from Vivian. She's in Thailand right now living it up and enjoy herself.
Thanks for the card :) It was really nice!

Ok, so back to Sunday.
Me: Anojan, you want to go check out the fair?
Anojan: What fair?
Me: Haven't you looked out your window?
(There is a big fair going on right outside and down atlantic ave for several blocks in each direction).
Anojan: um......no. haha

So Anojan & I checked out the fair. This wasn't like the one in midtown this was much larger. And it had performers. Drummers, rock and blue singers, belly dancers, other bands, dancers. balloons, and of course plenty of food stalls. It was pretty cool. Oh and the ny transit museum had several of their old buses throughout the years on display. I got a nice chocolate and banana crepe there too :)

Then it was off to the mba thingy, again. I talked to a lot of ppl from a lot of schools and well I'll apply for some schools for sept 2007 and see how it goes. The annoying part is most mba programs want several years of experience. And the 2 yrs of co-op doesn't really count as a part of that. And the average age for these is.....like 29-32....sigh....well we'll see what happens. The good thing is that, you know there are a lot of cool programs out there and really i've just scratched the surface of whats out there. Too bad I'm not a super genious and then I could have my pick of which one i wanted to pursue hehe

Lets see what else. Well actually, i'll just stop here.

How the world works.

2006-09-15T12:06:00.000-04:00

This is a converstaion between an All American Dad and All American Kid!!

Q: Daddy, why did we have to attack Iraq?
A: Because they had weapons of mass destruction, honey.

Q: But the inspectors didn't find any weapons of mass destruction.
A: That's because the Iraqis were hiding them.

Q: And that's why we invaded Iraq?
A: Yep. Invasions always work better than inspections.

Q: But after we invaded them, we STILL didn't find any weapons of mass destruction, did we?
A: That's because the weapons are so well hidden. Don't worry, we'll find something, probably right before the 2004 election.

Q: Why did Iraq want all those weapons of mass destruction?
A: To use them in a war, silly.

Q: I'm confused. If they had all those weapons that they planned to use in a war, then why didn't they use any of those weapons when we went to war with them?
A: Well, obviously they didn't want anyone to know they had those weapons, so they chose to die by the thousands rather than defend themselves.

Q: That doesn't make sense Daddy. Why would they choose to die if they had all those big weapons to fight us back with?
A: It's a different culture. It's not supposed to make sense.

Q: I don't know about you, but I don't think they had any of those weapons our government said they did.
A: Well, you know, it doesn't matter whether or not they had those weapons. We had another good reason to invade them anyway.

Q: And what was that?
A: Even if Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein was a cruel dictator, which is another good reason to invade another country.

Q: Why? What does a cruel dictator do that makes it OK to invade his country?
A: Well, for one thing, he tortured his own people.

Q: Kind of like what they do in China?
A: Don't go comparing China to Iraq. China is a good economic competitor, where millions of people work for slave wages in sweatshops to make U.S. corporations richer.

Q: So if a country lets its people get exploited for American corporate gain, it's a good country, even if that country tortures people?
A: Right.

Q: Why were people in Iraq being tortured?
A: For political crimes, mostly, like criticizing the government. People who criticized the government in Iraq were sent to prison and tortured.

Q: Isn't that exactly what happens in China?
A: I told you, China is different.

Q: What's the difference between China and Iraq?
A: Well, for one thing, Iraq was ruled by the Ba'ath party, while China is Communist.

Q: Didn't you once tell me Communists were bad?
A: No, just Cuban Communists are bad.

Q: How are the Cuban Communists bad?
A: Well, for one thing, people who criticize the government in Cuba are sent to prison and tortured.

Q: Like in Iraq?
A: Exactly.

Q: And like in China, too?
A: I told you, China's a good economic competitor. Cuba, on the other hand, is not.

Q: How come Cuba isn't a good economic competitor?
A: Well, you see, back in the early 1960s, our government passed some laws that made it illegal for Americans to trade or do any business with Cuba until they stopped being Communists and started being capitalists like us.

Q: But if we got rid of those laws, opened up trade with Cuba, and started doing business with them, wouldn't that help the Cubans become capitalists?
A: Don't be a smart-ass.

Q: I didn't think I was being one.
A: Well, anyway, they also don't have freedom of religion in Cuba.

Q: Kind of like China and the @!#$ movement?
A: I told you, stop saying bad things about China. Anyway, Saddam Hussein came to power through a military coup, so he's not really a legitimate leader anyway.

Q: What's a military coup?
A: That's when a military general takes over the government of a country by force, instead of holding free elections like we do in the United States.

Q: Didn't the ruler of Pakistan come to power by a military coup?
A: You mean General Pervez Musharraf? Uh, yeah, he did, but Pakistan is our friend.

Q: Why is Pakistan our friend if their leader is illegitimate?
A: I never said Pervez Musharraf was illegitimate.

Q: Didn't you just say a military general who comes to power by forcibly overthrowing the legitimate government of a nation is an illegitimate leader?
A: Only Saddam Hussein. Pervez Musharraf is our friend, because he helped us invade Afghanistan.

Q: Why did we invade Afghanistan?
A: Because of what they did to us on September 11th.

Q: What did Afghanistan do to us on September 11th?
A: Well, on September 11th, nineteen men, fifteen of them Saudi Arabians, hijacked four airplanes and flew three of them into buildings, killing over 3,000 Americans.

Q: So how did Afghanistan figure into all that?
A: Afghanistan was where those bad men trained, under the oppressive rule of the Taliban.

Q: Aren't the Taliban those bad radical Islamics who chopped off people's heads and hands?
A: Yes, that's exactly who they were. Not only did they chop off people's heads and hands, but they oppressed women, too.

Q: Didn't the Bush administration give the Taliban 43 million dollars back in May of 2001?
A: Yes, but that money was a reward because they did such a good job fighting drugs.

Q: Fighting drugs?
A: Yes, the Taliban were very helpful in stopping people from growing opium poppies.

Q: How did they do such a good job?
A: Simple. If people were caught growing opium poppies, the Taliban would have their hands and heads cut off.

Q: So, when the Taliban cut off people's heads and hands for growing flowers, that was OK, but not if they cut people's heads and hands off for other reasons?
A: Yes. It's OK with us if radical fundamentalists cut off people's hands for growing flowers, but it's cruel if they cut off people's hands for stealing other people’s bread.

Q: But I thought you said 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11th were from Saudi Arabia.
A: Yes, but they trained in Afghanistan.

Q: Who trained them?
A: A very bad man named Osama bin Laden.

Q: Was he from Afghanistan?
A: Uh, no, he was from Saudi Arabia too. But he was a bad man, a very bad man.

Q: I seem to recall he was our friend once.
A: Only when we helped him and the mujahadeen repel the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan back in the 1980s.

Q: Who are the Soviets? Was that the Evil Communist Empire Ronald Reagan talked about?
A: There are no more Soviets. The Soviet Union broke up in 1990 or thereabouts, and now they have elections and capitalism like us. We call them Russians now.

Q: So the Soviets, I mean, the Russians, are now our friends?
A: Well, not really. You see, they were our friends for many years after they stopped being Soviets, but then they decided not to support our invasion of Iraq, so we're mad at them now. We're also mad at the French and the Germans because they didn't help us invade Iraq either.

Q: So the French and Germans are evil, too?
A: Not exactly evil, but just bad enough that we had to rename French fries and French toast to Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast.

Q: Do we always rename foods whenever another country doesn't do what we want them to do?
A: No, we just do that to our friends. Our enemies, we invade.

Q: But wasn't Iraq one of our friends back in the 1980s?
A: Well, yeah. For a while.

Q: Was Saddam Hussein ruler of Iraq back then?
A: Yes, but at the time he was fighting against Iran, which made him our friend, temporarily.

Q: Why did that make him our friend?
A: Because at that time, Iran was our enemy.

Q: Isn't that when he gassed the Kurds?
A: Yeah, but since he was fighting against Iran at the time, we looked the other way, to show him we were his friend.

Q: So anyone who fights against one of our enemies automatically becomes our friend?
A: Most of the time, yes.

Q: And anyone who fights against one of our friends is automatically an enemy?
A: Sometimes that's true, too. However, if American corporations can profit by selling weapons to both sides at the same time, all the better.

Q: Why?
A: Because war is good for the economy, which means war is good for America. Also, since God is on America's side, anyone who opposes war is a godless un-American Communist. Do you understand now why we attacked Iraq?

Q: I think so. We attacked them because God wanted us to, right?
A: Yes.

Q: But how did we know God wanted us to attack Iraq?
A: Well, you see, God personally speaks to George W.Bush and tells him what to do.

Q: So basically, what you're saying is that we attacked Iraq because George W. Bush hears voices in his head?
A.Yes! You finally understand how the world works.

Now close your eyes, make yourself comfortable, and go to sleep. Good night.

The Quitter

2006-09-14T11:03:00.000-04:00

Holden is really starting to bug me. I need to hurry up and finish this. I want to start the other book I bought. A Brief History of Nearly Everything. I'm pretty sure thats the title of the book I picked up...

I'm slowly improving myself. At least in 1 way. And I'm glad. Hopefully it will continue and only gain momentum. Inshallah.

Finished 6 degrees of separation. Not at all what I expected. Had some good moments. But overall meh. I got Chocolat. I think I'll like it. I like the name at least :)

I made keema last night. Turned out alright. I've made better. But I got this new pot from my mom. I love it! Nothing sticks at all. I was able to clean it so fast it was awesome. And its bigger so I can actually cook enough for a few days at a time. Anojan made chocolate pudding. Or at least tried to. He burnt it again. hehe, thats what happens when you're too lazy to stir. Haven't tried it yet, but who knows. Hopefully some of it is edible.

I need to study more. I'm distracted by a lot of things lately. Good distractions, but still I need to focus. Or set aside time where there can be no distractions.

From within a darkness rising,
Running in circles, almost falling
Going deeper and deeper
I can not sleep

The Quitter -- Edgar A. Guest

Fate handed the quitter a bump, and he dropped;
The road seemed too rough to go, so he stopped.
He thought of his hurt, and there came to his mind
The easier path he was leaving behind.

Oh, it's all much too hard, said the quitter right then;
I'll stop where I am and not try it again.
He sat by the road and he made up his tale
To tell when men asked why he happened to fail.

A thousand excuses flew up to his tongue,
And these on the thread of his story he strung,
But the truth of the matter he didn't admit;
He never once said, I was frightened and quit.

Whenever the quitter sits down by the road
And drops from the struggle to lighten his load,
He can always recall to his own peace of mind
A string of excuses for falling behind;

But somehow or other he can't think of one
Good reason for battling and going right on.
Oh, when the bump comes and fate hands you a jar,
Don't baby yourself, boy, whoever you are;

Don't pity yourself and talk over your woes;
Don't think up excuses for dodging the blows.
But stick to the battle and see the thing through.
And don't be a quitter, whatever you do.

hehe
So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive.....
...Its the Eye of the Tiger

Wedding Pictures!

2006-09-13T09:01:00.000-04:00

Ok, long overdue I've finally put Alia's wedding pictures up.

But first a couple of quick side items.

1) AAAHHHH!!!!!!!! The day has been set (Oct 28th), the count down begins. So I have to really start preparing seriously now....sigh. Any prayers for me are welcome, if you forget I'll remind when the time comes =p

2) So I'm reading Catcher & the Rye. And such a coincidence that I rent Six Degrees of Seperatation and its crazy. Theres a whole scene discussing the book and possible meanings of the book. And when thinking of those things the book is cool. Other than that though, I'm really annoyed by Holden, like many of said maybe if I'd read this in highschool I would have enjoyed it.

Anyhow, on to pictures!

My Parents

Umber, Mom, Myself, Nana

Myself & Afroze

Umber & I

Alia

Alia & my Mom

Mom, Dad, Alia, Umber, Myself

Some of the cousins at Alia's house

Alia and her parents

Farah and Saara

Sohail, Farah, Hafsa, Alia, Saara, Myself

Arsalan, Myself, Rabia, Alia, Saara

Rabia, Hafsa, Myself, Hajra, Saara

The Bride & Groom

Saara, Umber, Hafsa

The Husband and Wife

Rasheed and Alia

And now Alia just acting silly =)

A story of Fate

2006-09-12T11:08:00.000-04:00

I woke up today feeling kind of sick. But I made myself get up. Not only get up but go down and do some cardio. And then I had a nice long shower and well a very quick breakfast. And the sky was bright, the air was fresh, the wind was a bit chilly but thats ok. And I had my music going and I feel great.

And a bit hungry. =P

I feel that these days when I talk to others I am very calm. And peaceful. Its interesting what impressions people get from that. But I'm happy that people trust me and talk to me when they need help or just need to talk. I hope that outward calm and peace will describe my internal state more and more.

Fate
King Solomon's servant came breathlessly into the court, "Please! Let me borrow your fastest horse!" he said to the King. "I must be in a town ten miles south of here by nightfall!"

"Why?" asked King Solomon.

"Because," said his shuddering servant, "I just met Death in the garden! Death looked me in the face! I know for certain I'm to be taken and I don't want to be around when Death comes to claim me!"

"Very well," said King Solomon. "My fastest horse has hoofs like wings. TAKE HIM." Then Solomon walked into the garden. He saw Death sitting there with a perplexed look on its face. "What's wrong?" asked King Solomon.

Death replied, "Tonight I'm supposed to claim the life of your servant whom I just now saw in your garden. But I'm supposed to claim him in a town ten miles south of here! Unless he had a horse with hooves like wings, I don't see how he could get there by nightfall . . ."

Accept Change with a Smile......

2006-09-10T03:24:00.000-04:00

Do you have the courage to be yourself? Although sometimes it can be hard and there are many things that can help you get lost. Its never too late to change. Never forget who you are. And who you are, is really who you choose to be.

Sooner or later a crisis comes in your life,
And how you meet it determines your future happiness and success.
Since the beginning of time,
Everyone has been called upon to meet such a crisis.

A closer look will show you that most "crisis situations"
Are opportunities to either advance or stay where you are.
Indeed most changes in your life will take place out of either "inspiration" or "desperation".

Whatever comes your way,
Give it meaning and transform it into something of value.
Your personal growth is the process of responding positively to change.

A precious stone cannot be polished without friction,
Nor humanity perfected without trials.

Forget about your worries;
Go lay out in the sun.
Forget about your mistakes--
They're over and done.
Take the time to give yourself
Some praise every single day.
Take some time to appreciate
The flowers along the way.
Let your troubles slip away;
Forget the many burns
Even the waves that caress the beach
Know the tide will turn.
Forget about what people think,
And focus only on love;
Someone is watching over you--
Someone from above.