Almost time to go home!

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. =)

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

=)

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!

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

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!

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!

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.

Eid Mubarak! Eid Mubarak Everyone! =)