music
Someone in the neighbourhood is playing some hardcore Umm Kulthum. Yum.
I've been on the computer for ages, and now I'm pretty dehydrated.
Sad to think that I only have six weeks to go in Egypt.
Thank you to Cairo, the crazy city in which I effortlessly lived the life I want.
Thank you to the boys and men of Egypt for being so lovely to look at.
Thank you to the people for being so sweet and warm and kind and human.
Thank you to my neighbour for leaving the internet on most of the time. I wish the signal was stronger so I could watch live streaming of tennis.
I won't miss: the cigarette smoke. Here is a country that clearly does not believe in lung cancer. 80% of people in a typical social gathering smoke. Most of them smoke continuously. I learned to stop socializing after my second party in Egypt because it's sheer misery trying to find oxygen.
I would propose: Culinary Arts. Learn from the Maghreb, the Levant, Nigeria: Feast daily and be not afraid of spices and sauces.
Speaking of the arts: Cairo is cosmopolitan. It doesn't live pure old art; it has fusion instead with every influence imaginable - from Arab and Pharaonic to Turkish, French and American. It is the city of floating, yuppie restaurants and the hip, if adulterated, Egyptian-Arabic dialect after all.
Whereas most people would prefer Cairo to Sana'a, my heart won't let me forget...Sana'a made me drunk with a place-love that maybe will never be matched.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Not retired, but burnt out
music
Source: MensTennisForums.com, translated from Richard Gasquet interview with l'Equipe.
Richard Gasquet, severely defeated by Seppi don’t want to hear about tennis anymore. But he hopes he will play Roland-Garros.Already beaten by Querrey (Monte Carlo) and Horna (Rome) Richard Gasquet suffered a new harsh setback against Andreas Seppi. More about the style, of an infinite sadness than about the substance. Amorphous, passive, lacking of inspiration, he allowed the Italian to shine without much efforts. (27 winners) “How long it lasted? One hour? Woouah, that’s not bad…” Richard said making fun of himself before delivering his states to mind in all sincerity.
Did you feel it was a remake of your defeat in Rome?
No. Here, at least I fought. With my means, which were poor though. But there is just one word to summarize the situation: I am totally burn out. I haven’t recovered from last year’s efforts. I felt it would happen. I pay them off now. I am totally in the red. Some players, like Nadal or Djokovic, can do it, I don’t, it’s hard for me to follow on.
When you say “burn out”, do you mean physically or mentally?
Both. I have trouble to make efforts during practices, during matches. Physically, I don’t hold on. The mental is follows the same decline. I am not able to play tennis.
Concretely, how do you feel on the court?
Running, moving, everything becomes difficult. I have no energy, the strokes don’t head off, the ball doesn’t come out of the racket. I feel I am strung out. Less in the head for that matter than in the legs. But both go together certainly.
You have no desire to be on the court?
At Rome, not really but today, I had desire. I was there. But the first set didn’t work in my favour… That being said, it’s not easy to take pleasure when you are like this.
What is the solution to your problems?
I am going to have a break from tennis during a week. It won’t hurt me to forget the racket a bit.But, there is an important tournament coming..For Roland-Garros, we will see. Don’t expect a good tournament from me. If there is one..
Do you consider not playing Roland- Garros?
I don’t consider anything. Now, I am going to leave the racket for a week. Then, I will go back to training and we will see then. It’s been almost 2 years I haven’t got some break. I miss it. I have troubles to overdo it. Imagine I do this in Roland-Garros.. it won’t be pleasant for anyone…
But could you totally skip Roland-Garros?
There is a possibility. But a tiny one.
“Taking a break”, what does it mean? Going far away from France?
I don’t know. I am going to try to take some rest, to recharge my batteries. I have to find energy back. Today, that’s what I am missing the most. Well, there is still 2 weeks left before RG. It gives me time. It’s clear I won’t come here really in very good shape. But who knows what can happen…
So, do you give up the idea of playing Casablanca?
Yes. No tournament for me next week. Anyway, at the moment, I can lose to anyone. Eric thinks the same. I don’t accept the defeat but the facts are there.
Do you think, you shouldn’t have come here?
No, I don’t think so. Because now, I really know what my problem is. And I am sure about my diagnosis. It’s easy to draw a conclusion: I have to say stop. I have no other choices. I will take the racket back only when I will want it.
Even if it’s only one day before Roland-Garros?
Nothing is ruled out.
Source: MensTennisForums.com, translated from Richard Gasquet interview with l'Equipe.
Richard Gasquet, severely defeated by Seppi don’t want to hear about tennis anymore. But he hopes he will play Roland-Garros.Already beaten by Querrey (Monte Carlo) and Horna (Rome) Richard Gasquet suffered a new harsh setback against Andreas Seppi. More about the style, of an infinite sadness than about the substance. Amorphous, passive, lacking of inspiration, he allowed the Italian to shine without much efforts. (27 winners) “How long it lasted? One hour? Woouah, that’s not bad…” Richard said making fun of himself before delivering his states to mind in all sincerity.
Did you feel it was a remake of your defeat in Rome?
No. Here, at least I fought. With my means, which were poor though. But there is just one word to summarize the situation: I am totally burn out. I haven’t recovered from last year’s efforts. I felt it would happen. I pay them off now. I am totally in the red. Some players, like Nadal or Djokovic, can do it, I don’t, it’s hard for me to follow on.
When you say “burn out”, do you mean physically or mentally?
Both. I have trouble to make efforts during practices, during matches. Physically, I don’t hold on. The mental is follows the same decline. I am not able to play tennis.
Concretely, how do you feel on the court?
Running, moving, everything becomes difficult. I have no energy, the strokes don’t head off, the ball doesn’t come out of the racket. I feel I am strung out. Less in the head for that matter than in the legs. But both go together certainly.
You have no desire to be on the court?
At Rome, not really but today, I had desire. I was there. But the first set didn’t work in my favour… That being said, it’s not easy to take pleasure when you are like this.
What is the solution to your problems?
I am going to have a break from tennis during a week. It won’t hurt me to forget the racket a bit.But, there is an important tournament coming..For Roland-Garros, we will see. Don’t expect a good tournament from me. If there is one..
Do you consider not playing Roland- Garros?
I don’t consider anything. Now, I am going to leave the racket for a week. Then, I will go back to training and we will see then. It’s been almost 2 years I haven’t got some break. I miss it. I have troubles to overdo it. Imagine I do this in Roland-Garros.. it won’t be pleasant for anyone…
But could you totally skip Roland-Garros?
There is a possibility. But a tiny one.
“Taking a break”, what does it mean? Going far away from France?
I don’t know. I am going to try to take some rest, to recharge my batteries. I have to find energy back. Today, that’s what I am missing the most. Well, there is still 2 weeks left before RG. It gives me time. It’s clear I won’t come here really in very good shape. But who knows what can happen…
So, do you give up the idea of playing Casablanca?
Yes. No tournament for me next week. Anyway, at the moment, I can lose to anyone. Eric thinks the same. I don’t accept the defeat but the facts are there.
Do you think, you shouldn’t have come here?
No, I don’t think so. Because now, I really know what my problem is. And I am sure about my diagnosis. It’s easy to draw a conclusion: I have to say stop. I have no other choices. I will take the racket back only when I will want it.
Even if it’s only one day before Roland-Garros?
Nothing is ruled out.
Good luck, Richard.
Retired, not retiring
music
Searching for answers on heels of Henin's stunning retirement
Source : Inside Tennis on Sports Illustrated
In the wake of the news that Justine Henin is retiring, SI.com caught up with tennis writer Jon Wertheim to get his reaction.
Q: What do you make of today's announcement?
JW: It is, at once, stunning and not all that surprising. Any time the top-ranked player -- who's 25 years old and the three-time defending champion of the next Grand Slam -- abruptly retires, it's obviously a bombshell announcement. At the same time, Henin has really struggled this year. She's shown very little resemblance to the player who dominated the second half of 2007. She's never been motivated by the trappings of celebrity. I think in her mind, if she's not winning or playing to her expectations, there's little incentive to continue on.
Q: What's happened to her this year?
JW: You know, something just seems to have gone out of her. For as much as people rave, rightfully so, about her one-handed slingshot backhand or her well-rounded game, I always thought her biggest asset was her guts. She was just such a courageous player. Yet this year, she wasn't just losing but she was playing with a noticeable absence of fire and confidence. Most recently I saw her get blown off the court by Serena Williams in Key Biscayne. The score was 6-2, 6-0 and it wasn't that close. In the postmatch interview, Henin owned up to a lack of courage. I thought this was a stunning admission from her. Particularly given the opponent.
Q: Is it mental or physical?
JW: I think in sports today, it's increasingly hard to divorce the two. Tennis can be an excruciating sport mentally; all the more so when you're rehabbing injuries or favoring certain muscles or worrying about rationing your energy. It's easy to see how a player such as Henin, who has been curtailing her schedule for years now and has battled all manner of injury and ailment, just a reached a point where enough was enough.
Q: This is a player who had a childhood filled with tragedy, who missed last year Australian's Open because of her divorce, who recently reunited with her family. How much do you sense the personal drama has impacted this decision?
JW: Her coach, Carlos Rodriguez, said repeatedly last year that he had never seen his protégé so content and so happy, and it translated to her success on the court. So who knows? I think there's a temptation to play pop psychologist and say that either her personal drama exacted an inevitable price on her game. Or else, the perspective she's picked up having to endure so much personal hardship has diminished the importance of tennis. But honestly, who knows?
Q: What does the WTA Tour do about this?
JW: Well, this has been a rough stretch for the women's game. Kim Clijsters, a recent No.1 player, retired roughly a year ago. Barely six months ago, Martina Hingis retired. After years of inactivity, Monica Seles officially retired in February. But this is different. Here, we're talking about the No.1 player in the world who, notionally anyway, should be in the prime of her career. The good thing about tennis -- sports in general, I suppose -- is that there's always another athlete ready to fill a void. But, yes, this is a real loss for the WTA.
Q: Will we see her again?
JW: Tennis is starting to rival boxing in terms of comebacks. It's the rare player who stays "retired" these days. When Lindsay Davenport can retire, have a child and then return, it speaks volumes about: a) just how addictive competition can be and b) how possible it is for the top players to return to prominence in a short period of time. Again, Henin is an interesting case because she's always had such unique motivations and rhythms. But it's very easy to envision her taking even a year or two off, returning at age 26 or 27, and resuming her success.
Q: With Henin out of the picture, who do you see winning the French Open in a couple of weeks?
JW: That's one of the ironies. Even given her dismal year, Henin would have likely been the favorite. It's hard to bet against a three-time defending champ. As it stands, the field is wide open. Serena and Maria Sharapova are both obviously strong picks but neither is at her best on clay. Dinara Safina won in Germany last weekend -- beating both Henin and Serena -- but she has a modest track record at Majors. Last year's losing finalist, Ana Ivanovic, is a credible pick and so is Jelena Jankovic. But, really, this field is up for grabs now.
Bon chance Justine, et felicitations.
I like this story 'cos I am retired too.
Two days later, in her own words
Source
16/05/2008: This past Wednesday May 14 at 16:00 hrs Justine held a press conference at her tennis club (Club Justine N1). In a packed room Justine took the microphone and bared her heart - serene, happy with conviction.
It's a great day in my life, I believe that you can call it that. I'm here today to announce to you that I am putting a definitive end to my tennis career. I know that it is a shock for many people and a surprise, but for me it's decision I've thought about for sometime now. It is not a decision which I made because of a simple defeat in Berlin. I've thought about it in my head for sometime, for a few months already, since the latter month of 2007. It's an end to a beautiful adventure.
Perhaps, people will think that I am still young, but there are no rules. I invested enormously in my sport, since the age of five. I always lived for tennis, and it's without regret because I lived emotions which I will never forget. Images engraved in my heart and my memory, and I am sure it's in the heart and the memory of many of you too. Today a page has turned.
I don't feel sadness, but rather a delivery, a relief, a glance towards the future. I always seek to build and change, and not only by tennis. I believe that tennis gave me many beautiful things, but I want to do it by returning to the essentials. I based my life on the relationships, the love and all that I could give to tennis. But I couldn't manage to express it anymore these past months. I thought about it alot. I made this decision by myself in my little corner, with the support of my family, off course. But I wanted to make the decision for me. I am very, very proud. You need courage to arrive at this conclusion.
I felt that six months or even one year later I would have a harsh bitter taste if I continued, and that things won't get better than what happened these last few months. But today, I can speak about my sport, all that I lived with a smile, very beautiful things happened and they are in my heart. I have a desire to create new things. The future for me is to live with my decision, and to realize my new goals. To assume it and breathe again.
There are no bad things ahead for me. I feel that I have the qualities and capacities, to communicate and raise many new projects. I'm sure I will see things much more clearly when the time comes. The first is my Foundation. It's really very important for me to be able to continue to help these children, to live precious moments with them. To continue to give them a chance to dream. We're here at my home. Right in my tennis academy. This is something which I will continue to support, off course with Carlos. He'll be stronger and valuable here. I have confidence in other future projects. There are peak performance workshops and seminars with Carlos and Nexum/Nexp in the area of human resources.
Off course, there are gratitudes to give. The first of which is to Carlos - I say thank. You are once more at my side. It's 12 years together that we lived , and you held me up. 12 years to believe in me. You never abandoned me. He was always very discrete and standing in the shadows when I won because he didn't want to intrude on my family and friends. But at other times, the difficult moments he made his presence known. He always respected me, and I must say since last week Thursday he still impresses me. The calm and patience he gave me. The incredible amount of support. I know he will always be strong and at my side. I am really very proud of this because tennis is a solo sport. It is undoubtedly my most exquisite thing of pride - the human adventure that I lived with him. And I believe that if Carlos had said to me one day, "Ju for family reasons or some other reason. Please don't feel obligated. You can let me go". It was obvious to me that we would still continue as a team even if my tennis career stopped. We're powerful together, and this is why it worked so well.
Our relationship was much bigger than coach and a player. We passed all the tests, but from now on it will be different, it will be more beautiful. I'm grateful to his family - his wife and children who will get more of their father. And the thought of this makes me smile today. It's also a relief to know there won't be these difficult moments, these separations. They really have a big place in my heart.
I would like to, off course, thank my family - my parents, Dad, Mom, because I'm here today only because of you. Everything is fine thanks to you. My brothers and sister too. I have to admit that my role as older sister makes me very happy. There are great things which await us. My friends here today. It was great spending time with you and I'm sure there's more ahead for us, bigger things, more honest and stronger. My Godmother is here. Gene, thank you for your role in my life it was very important. My staff obviously. You can only build something large with a faithful team. And they were always available and believed in me. Thank you for being there. It wasn't an individual sport, but a team sport.
Thank You to all my sponsors, the current ones and those from the very beginning because without people who believe - you cannot get there. Thank You to the AFT, the WTA, the COIB and all the people who counted on me.
Thank You to all my fans. I'm happy to have had the opportunity to give them excitement. I hope I brought a little sunshine in their lives. We spent such great moments together. I hope that everyone can understand and that everyone will support me in the beginning of this new life...
Thank you very much
Searching for answers on heels of Henin's stunning retirement
Source : Inside Tennis on Sports Illustrated
Story Highlights
* Henin's play thus far in 2008 foreshadowed her announcement
* Hard to determine how much personal drama impacted decision
* Serena, Sharapova among favorites to win French Open
* Henin's play thus far in 2008 foreshadowed her announcement
* Hard to determine how much personal drama impacted decision
* Serena, Sharapova among favorites to win French Open
In the wake of the news that Justine Henin is retiring, SI.com caught up with tennis writer Jon Wertheim to get his reaction.
Q: What do you make of today's announcement?
JW: It is, at once, stunning and not all that surprising. Any time the top-ranked player -- who's 25 years old and the three-time defending champion of the next Grand Slam -- abruptly retires, it's obviously a bombshell announcement. At the same time, Henin has really struggled this year. She's shown very little resemblance to the player who dominated the second half of 2007. She's never been motivated by the trappings of celebrity. I think in her mind, if she's not winning or playing to her expectations, there's little incentive to continue on.
Q: What's happened to her this year?
JW: You know, something just seems to have gone out of her. For as much as people rave, rightfully so, about her one-handed slingshot backhand or her well-rounded game, I always thought her biggest asset was her guts. She was just such a courageous player. Yet this year, she wasn't just losing but she was playing with a noticeable absence of fire and confidence. Most recently I saw her get blown off the court by Serena Williams in Key Biscayne. The score was 6-2, 6-0 and it wasn't that close. In the postmatch interview, Henin owned up to a lack of courage. I thought this was a stunning admission from her. Particularly given the opponent.
Q: Is it mental or physical?
JW: I think in sports today, it's increasingly hard to divorce the two. Tennis can be an excruciating sport mentally; all the more so when you're rehabbing injuries or favoring certain muscles or worrying about rationing your energy. It's easy to see how a player such as Henin, who has been curtailing her schedule for years now and has battled all manner of injury and ailment, just a reached a point where enough was enough.
Q: This is a player who had a childhood filled with tragedy, who missed last year Australian's Open because of her divorce, who recently reunited with her family. How much do you sense the personal drama has impacted this decision?
JW: Her coach, Carlos Rodriguez, said repeatedly last year that he had never seen his protégé so content and so happy, and it translated to her success on the court. So who knows? I think there's a temptation to play pop psychologist and say that either her personal drama exacted an inevitable price on her game. Or else, the perspective she's picked up having to endure so much personal hardship has diminished the importance of tennis. But honestly, who knows?
Q: What does the WTA Tour do about this?
JW: Well, this has been a rough stretch for the women's game. Kim Clijsters, a recent No.1 player, retired roughly a year ago. Barely six months ago, Martina Hingis retired. After years of inactivity, Monica Seles officially retired in February. But this is different. Here, we're talking about the No.1 player in the world who, notionally anyway, should be in the prime of her career. The good thing about tennis -- sports in general, I suppose -- is that there's always another athlete ready to fill a void. But, yes, this is a real loss for the WTA.
Q: Will we see her again?
JW: Tennis is starting to rival boxing in terms of comebacks. It's the rare player who stays "retired" these days. When Lindsay Davenport can retire, have a child and then return, it speaks volumes about: a) just how addictive competition can be and b) how possible it is for the top players to return to prominence in a short period of time. Again, Henin is an interesting case because she's always had such unique motivations and rhythms. But it's very easy to envision her taking even a year or two off, returning at age 26 or 27, and resuming her success.
Q: With Henin out of the picture, who do you see winning the French Open in a couple of weeks?
JW: That's one of the ironies. Even given her dismal year, Henin would have likely been the favorite. It's hard to bet against a three-time defending champ. As it stands, the field is wide open. Serena and Maria Sharapova are both obviously strong picks but neither is at her best on clay. Dinara Safina won in Germany last weekend -- beating both Henin and Serena -- but she has a modest track record at Majors. Last year's losing finalist, Ana Ivanovic, is a credible pick and so is Jelena Jankovic. But, really, this field is up for grabs now.
Bon chance Justine, et felicitations.
I like this story 'cos I am retired too.
Two days later, in her own words
Source
16/05/2008: This past Wednesday May 14 at 16:00 hrs Justine held a press conference at her tennis club (Club Justine N1). In a packed room Justine took the microphone and bared her heart - serene, happy with conviction.
It's a great day in my life, I believe that you can call it that. I'm here today to announce to you that I am putting a definitive end to my tennis career. I know that it is a shock for many people and a surprise, but for me it's decision I've thought about for sometime now. It is not a decision which I made because of a simple defeat in Berlin. I've thought about it in my head for sometime, for a few months already, since the latter month of 2007. It's an end to a beautiful adventure.
Perhaps, people will think that I am still young, but there are no rules. I invested enormously in my sport, since the age of five. I always lived for tennis, and it's without regret because I lived emotions which I will never forget. Images engraved in my heart and my memory, and I am sure it's in the heart and the memory of many of you too. Today a page has turned.
I don't feel sadness, but rather a delivery, a relief, a glance towards the future. I always seek to build and change, and not only by tennis. I believe that tennis gave me many beautiful things, but I want to do it by returning to the essentials. I based my life on the relationships, the love and all that I could give to tennis. But I couldn't manage to express it anymore these past months. I thought about it alot. I made this decision by myself in my little corner, with the support of my family, off course. But I wanted to make the decision for me. I am very, very proud. You need courage to arrive at this conclusion.
I felt that six months or even one year later I would have a harsh bitter taste if I continued, and that things won't get better than what happened these last few months. But today, I can speak about my sport, all that I lived with a smile, very beautiful things happened and they are in my heart. I have a desire to create new things. The future for me is to live with my decision, and to realize my new goals. To assume it and breathe again.
There are no bad things ahead for me. I feel that I have the qualities and capacities, to communicate and raise many new projects. I'm sure I will see things much more clearly when the time comes. The first is my Foundation. It's really very important for me to be able to continue to help these children, to live precious moments with them. To continue to give them a chance to dream. We're here at my home. Right in my tennis academy. This is something which I will continue to support, off course with Carlos. He'll be stronger and valuable here. I have confidence in other future projects. There are peak performance workshops and seminars with Carlos and Nexum/Nexp in the area of human resources.
Off course, there are gratitudes to give. The first of which is to Carlos - I say thank. You are once more at my side. It's 12 years together that we lived , and you held me up. 12 years to believe in me. You never abandoned me. He was always very discrete and standing in the shadows when I won because he didn't want to intrude on my family and friends. But at other times, the difficult moments he made his presence known. He always respected me, and I must say since last week Thursday he still impresses me. The calm and patience he gave me. The incredible amount of support. I know he will always be strong and at my side. I am really very proud of this because tennis is a solo sport. It is undoubtedly my most exquisite thing of pride - the human adventure that I lived with him. And I believe that if Carlos had said to me one day, "Ju for family reasons or some other reason. Please don't feel obligated. You can let me go". It was obvious to me that we would still continue as a team even if my tennis career stopped. We're powerful together, and this is why it worked so well.
Our relationship was much bigger than coach and a player. We passed all the tests, but from now on it will be different, it will be more beautiful. I'm grateful to his family - his wife and children who will get more of their father. And the thought of this makes me smile today. It's also a relief to know there won't be these difficult moments, these separations. They really have a big place in my heart.
I would like to, off course, thank my family - my parents, Dad, Mom, because I'm here today only because of you. Everything is fine thanks to you. My brothers and sister too. I have to admit that my role as older sister makes me very happy. There are great things which await us. My friends here today. It was great spending time with you and I'm sure there's more ahead for us, bigger things, more honest and stronger. My Godmother is here. Gene, thank you for your role in my life it was very important. My staff obviously. You can only build something large with a faithful team. And they were always available and believed in me. Thank you for being there. It wasn't an individual sport, but a team sport.
Thank You to all my sponsors, the current ones and those from the very beginning because without people who believe - you cannot get there. Thank You to the AFT, the WTA, the COIB and all the people who counted on me.
Thank You to all my fans. I'm happy to have had the opportunity to give them excitement. I hope I brought a little sunshine in their lives. We spent such great moments together. I hope that everyone can understand and that everyone will support me in the beginning of this new life...
Thank you very much
Monday, May 05, 2008
Playing with fire
music
Today was dad's birthday.
My father is funny. Nowadays he sometimes almost gets angry with me (like for not phoning)...then he melts and starts to laugh.
My mum told me a story, she doesn't tell me many stories, about when I was really little and reaching out to touch the candlelight. Back then, candles and lanterns were our only defense when NEPA worked its magic...in the many years before we could dream of affording a generator.
Anyway, as you can imagine, this chubby black baby was hugely fascinated by the light of the candle. My mother was losing her cool because...what if I knocked it over, what if I burned myself...so she kept warning me away from it. I kept crawling back until my father appeared and solved the problem: he took my hand and helped me touch the flame for a second. :)
I can just imagine the scene - me crying at the top of my lungs, my mother mortified at my father's tactics of harming the baby, my father laughing and explaining I just needed to learn for myself.
He's always been a good teacher.
By the way, I still enjoy playing with fire.
Happy birthday to my smiling and dearly loved father.
Today was dad's birthday.
My father is funny. Nowadays he sometimes almost gets angry with me (like for not phoning)...then he melts and starts to laugh.
My mum told me a story, she doesn't tell me many stories, about when I was really little and reaching out to touch the candlelight. Back then, candles and lanterns were our only defense when NEPA worked its magic...in the many years before we could dream of affording a generator.
Anyway, as you can imagine, this chubby black baby was hugely fascinated by the light of the candle. My mother was losing her cool because...what if I knocked it over, what if I burned myself...so she kept warning me away from it. I kept crawling back until my father appeared and solved the problem: he took my hand and helped me touch the flame for a second. :)
I can just imagine the scene - me crying at the top of my lungs, my mother mortified at my father's tactics of harming the baby, my father laughing and explaining I just needed to learn for myself.
He's always been a good teacher.
By the way, I still enjoy playing with fire.
Happy birthday to my smiling and dearly loved father.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Lend me some sugar, I AM your neighbour
music
FINALLY went out of Cairo last weekend, to Fayid for an AIESEC conference. It was the most extroverted and amazing time hanging out with a hundred driven, screaming, university kids. Finally, dancing!
Though the Pyramids are in nearby Giza, I still haven't visited. The other day I reached the entrance and saw a golf course and skipped the Pyramids for a golf lesson, and hung out with my teacher/caddy and his family afterwards.
One day I checked out the Egyptian museum near my house. The museum is rich and grand with hundreds of large statues and mummies and countless objects. The mummies are a special experience: you can hear their stories if you listen closely - the dead child, his disconsolate young mother, the enterprising, the princess...they walked the earth and now they're done and must lie, only lie, in death.
Only a couple of months to go in this city, so I'm eager to soak up the fun. I also need to do tourist things - Pyramids, Alexandria, Luxor, Red Sea (Dhihab or Sharm El-Sheikh), shopping or whatever. Some friends may visit in Egypt soon so I'll show them around. Living is more fun than touring...Surprised at how much I've fallen in love with crazy Misr.
Now I really want to go to Oman and of course back to Yemen. And next year to check out Dubai.
FINALLY went out of Cairo last weekend, to Fayid for an AIESEC conference. It was the most extroverted and amazing time hanging out with a hundred driven, screaming, university kids. Finally, dancing!
Though the Pyramids are in nearby Giza, I still haven't visited. The other day I reached the entrance and saw a golf course and skipped the Pyramids for a golf lesson, and hung out with my teacher/caddy and his family afterwards.
One day I checked out the Egyptian museum near my house. The museum is rich and grand with hundreds of large statues and mummies and countless objects. The mummies are a special experience: you can hear their stories if you listen closely - the dead child, his disconsolate young mother, the enterprising, the princess...they walked the earth and now they're done and must lie, only lie, in death.
Only a couple of months to go in this city, so I'm eager to soak up the fun. I also need to do tourist things - Pyramids, Alexandria, Luxor, Red Sea (Dhihab or Sharm El-Sheikh), shopping or whatever. Some friends may visit in Egypt soon so I'll show them around. Living is more fun than touring...Surprised at how much I've fallen in love with crazy Misr.
Now I really want to go to Oman and of course back to Yemen. And next year to check out Dubai.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Birthday Suit
music
OK OK I'm 27. No need to be all dramatic about it. It won't shock me, I guess, to look up and see that I'm 46, or 97. That's coming soon too.
Remember when I was 2 or 3 and learning nursery rhymes from my uncle B "my head, my shoulders, my knees, my toes, they all belong to Jesus" and watching TV in 1985 when Nigeria was 25
...or in the car moving to TinCan at 5 and reading out loud EVERY sign on the way. I can still hear myself: "Snake Island Dockyard. TinCan Island Port. Bush." Over and over
...the night before Queen's College with mum writing my name - in Kandahar ink AND oil-based indelible marker - on all my new things while our neighbour who had been to boarding school advised on what to take and I was too excited all night to finish my dinner of yam pottage.
I remember almost everything in between too.
Anyhoo, same kid.
Being grown up ROCKS.
Happy birthday to all you May 1st kids.
Happy Worker's Day too to everyone. Be FREE.
OK OK I'm 27. No need to be all dramatic about it. It won't shock me, I guess, to look up and see that I'm 46, or 97. That's coming soon too.
Remember when I was 2 or 3 and learning nursery rhymes from my uncle B "my head, my shoulders, my knees, my toes, they all belong to Jesus" and watching TV in 1985 when Nigeria was 25
...or in the car moving to TinCan at 5 and reading out loud EVERY sign on the way. I can still hear myself: "Snake Island Dockyard. TinCan Island Port. Bush." Over and over
...the night before Queen's College with mum writing my name - in Kandahar ink AND oil-based indelible marker - on all my new things while our neighbour who had been to boarding school advised on what to take and I was too excited all night to finish my dinner of yam pottage.
I remember almost everything in between too.
Anyhoo, same kid.
Being grown up ROCKS.
Happy birthday to all you May 1st kids.
Happy Worker's Day too to everyone. Be FREE.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Checking Stats
music
I'm getting older. Very soon I'll understand my mother, that's what they say.
In her office, my mother has calendars with pictures of the African Nobel Prize winners. Well, today I checked online and here are the Africans awarded Nobel Prizes in the last eight years.
2005: Mohammed ElBaradei of Egypt/ The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
2004: Wangari Maathai of Kenya
2003: John Maxwell Coetzee of South Africa
2001: Kofi Annan of Ghana/ The United Nations
If you go as far back as the 1990s, then you find
Egyptian Ahmed Zewail for Chemistry
South Africans F. W. de Klerk / Nelson Mandela for Peace
South African Nadine Gordimer in Literature
Zewail is a Caltech prof., and there's a street named for him near my work in Cairo.
Before that, there were Naguib Mahfouz, Wole Soyinka, Desmond Tutu, and Anwar El-Sadat. KhalaS. I think that's it.
There have been more USA Nobel prize winners in Economics alone from 2000-2007, or in Physics alone in the same period.
I do understand my father. When I was a kid, he loved being a fan - of Sugar Ray Leonard and black boxers, of his daughters, of Nigerian football. My father believes that, in competition, there should be a hefty ass-whooping, and YOU should be the one giving it - end of story.
(Love you dad, sorry I haven't called. It's been quiet time around here.)
It's birthday season again and I wonder if my busy little friend - the one I was in love with circa January 2005 - will win the physics prize someday. While I can attest that winning a Nobel Prize is far from "the measure of a man" it's still really cool, you know? Me, I'll get a few. Girls would win more if they cared to.
I'm getting older. Very soon I'll understand my mother, that's what they say.
In her office, my mother has calendars with pictures of the African Nobel Prize winners. Well, today I checked online and here are the Africans awarded Nobel Prizes in the last eight years.
2005: Mohammed ElBaradei of Egypt/ The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
2004: Wangari Maathai of Kenya
2003: John Maxwell Coetzee of South Africa
2001: Kofi Annan of Ghana/ The United Nations
If you go as far back as the 1990s, then you find
Egyptian Ahmed Zewail for Chemistry
South Africans F. W. de Klerk / Nelson Mandela for Peace
South African Nadine Gordimer in Literature
Zewail is a Caltech prof., and there's a street named for him near my work in Cairo.
Before that, there were Naguib Mahfouz, Wole Soyinka, Desmond Tutu, and Anwar El-Sadat. KhalaS. I think that's it.
There have been more USA Nobel prize winners in Economics alone from 2000-2007, or in Physics alone in the same period.
I do understand my father. When I was a kid, he loved being a fan - of Sugar Ray Leonard and black boxers, of his daughters, of Nigerian football. My father believes that, in competition, there should be a hefty ass-whooping, and YOU should be the one giving it - end of story.
(Love you dad, sorry I haven't called. It's been quiet time around here.)
It's birthday season again and I wonder if my busy little friend - the one I was in love with circa January 2005 - will win the physics prize someday. While I can attest that winning a Nobel Prize is far from "the measure of a man" it's still really cool, you know? Me, I'll get a few. Girls would win more if they cared to.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Watching Al-Jazeera in Arabic
music
This guy just came on. He's Tariq Al-Nasir.
Yikes, it's hard not to write an Egyptian spelling like Tarek El-Nasir.
He's in Oman on an Al-Jazeera video-conference interview. He's wearing a beard and a black turtleneck.
I surmise that he's a terrorist, or at least someone unfriendly to the US.
Yes, I've been programmed to think sober-faced bearded men only go on TV to speak their resolve to take on the West.
It turns out he's a composer, ta'alif musiqa. Also on the screen the words musiqiya taSwiiriya - photographic music? I don't understand.
He's speaking now, he says something about Gustavo Santaolalla. Says something about the sounds of the music, says it's great music. Whatever else he's saying, it sounds so beautiful and I lost myself in the sound of it.
This guy just came on. He's Tariq Al-Nasir.
Yikes, it's hard not to write an Egyptian spelling like Tarek El-Nasir.
He's in Oman on an Al-Jazeera video-conference interview. He's wearing a beard and a black turtleneck.
I surmise that he's a terrorist, or at least someone unfriendly to the US.
Yes, I've been programmed to think sober-faced bearded men only go on TV to speak their resolve to take on the West.
It turns out he's a composer, ta'alif musiqa. Also on the screen the words musiqiya taSwiiriya - photographic music? I don't understand.
He's speaking now, he says something about Gustavo Santaolalla. Says something about the sounds of the music, says it's great music. Whatever else he's saying, it sounds so beautiful and I lost myself in the sound of it.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Things I've learned in Egypt
music
Vitamin C
When you feel the first symptoms of a cold, get a very high dose of Vitamin C. I don't mean a few oranges or a multivitamin tablet, I mean 30 times the recommended daily intake of Vitamin C, like in these 1g Ascorbic Acid effervescent tablets. It's magic.
Clocks
Don't use a tick-tock clock in your bedroom, get a digital one. The noise can be annoying when all else is silent at night.
Egyptians need to raise their African cred
Sure, they're really African - beautiful people with that regal carriage who love football. But they don't like messy, peppery food and they worry the sun will make their skin dark. Also, they don't dance enough.
Vitamin C
When you feel the first symptoms of a cold, get a very high dose of Vitamin C. I don't mean a few oranges or a multivitamin tablet, I mean 30 times the recommended daily intake of Vitamin C, like in these 1g Ascorbic Acid effervescent tablets. It's magic.
Clocks
Don't use a tick-tock clock in your bedroom, get a digital one. The noise can be annoying when all else is silent at night.
Egyptians need to raise their African cred
Sure, they're really African - beautiful people with that regal carriage who love football. But they don't like messy, peppery food and they worry the sun will make their skin dark. Also, they don't dance enough.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Am I missing something?
music
My take on the Spitzer case? He's guilty of breaking a law when he persecuted lawbreakers with great vigour. He's an ambitious guy who did great at his job, and now is the best time for political opponents to beat the crap out of him.
But on the personal level, though, what's the big trauma in him having paid for sex with a professional in a clean and controlled environment? Can someone remind me why prostitution isn't legal in the US?
My take on the Spitzer case? He's guilty of breaking a law when he persecuted lawbreakers with great vigour. He's an ambitious guy who did great at his job, and now is the best time for political opponents to beat the crap out of him.
But on the personal level, though, what's the big trauma in him having paid for sex with a professional in a clean and controlled environment? Can someone remind me why prostitution isn't legal in the US?
Friday, March 14, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Potpourri
music
Rajon
Raj wrote about me, again, on his blog at rajonsprithvi. The guy knows me.
Ah, God!
I loved that gay cowboy movie.
But Heath's dead.
What's awesome in Cairo life?
Tennis in Arabic on cable channels ADSport, DubaiSport...
Rajon
Raj wrote about me, again, on his blog at rajonsprithvi. The guy knows me.
Ah, God!
I loved that gay cowboy movie.
But Heath's dead.
What's awesome in Cairo life?
Tennis in Arabic on cable channels ADSport, DubaiSport...
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
How many times have you walked across the Nile?
music
The answer here is three, so far. I can imagine the Nile bridge and banks will be crowded tomorrow with Cairene blokes showing their ladies gorgeous low-cost dates.
Happy Valentine's day, y'all.
The answer here is three, so far. I can imagine the Nile bridge and banks will be crowded tomorrow with Cairene blokes showing their ladies gorgeous low-cost dates.
Happy Valentine's day, y'all.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
The other side of Cairo
music
I had just noted how "there's no rhyme or reason" to the architecture in Cairo when I started seeing the beauty in all the tall buildings. They may not be designed to harmonize with the neighbouring buildings, but individually many of them are in grand style with ornate detailing, especially on the balconies.
My first weeks in Cairo have suffered in that I compare with Sana'a and find it a little less - less clean, less harmonious, less serene, less simple, oh and let's not forget: less warm. Much less. Today it's warmed to a high around 20 degrees Celcius (sixty-something Fahrenheit) and I call it a taste of the beautiful things to come.
I'm usually terrible with pictures...
I had just noted how "there's no rhyme or reason" to the architecture in Cairo when I started seeing the beauty in all the tall buildings. They may not be designed to harmonize with the neighbouring buildings, but individually many of them are in grand style with ornate detailing, especially on the balconies.
My first weeks in Cairo have suffered in that I compare with Sana'a and find it a little less - less clean, less harmonious, less serene, less simple, oh and let's not forget: less warm. Much less. Today it's warmed to a high around 20 degrees Celcius (sixty-something Fahrenheit) and I call it a taste of the beautiful things to come.
I'm usually terrible with pictures...
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Holy Cow
music
You know those times when everybody you meet falls in love with you (and vice-versa, to be honest) like you're a cow in heat or something? I wonder why that happens: maybe it happens when you're really happy, like in the past week in Lagos and now Cairo.
Guess what astrology has to say about this?
Wow, I could never get married - except to you, Rafito.
You know those times when everybody you meet falls in love with you (and vice-versa, to be honest) like you're a cow in heat or something? I wonder why that happens: maybe it happens when you're really happy, like in the past week in Lagos and now Cairo.
Guess what astrology has to say about this?
Wow, I could never get married - except to you, Rafito.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Munchkin Land
music
Dispatch from Lagos where the weather is Puerto Rico warm and the mosquitoes have evolved into weapon-resistant giant mutants of the 20th century species. They've also evolved to not itch while they bite, a development I appreciate.
The internet is pay-as-you-go so I have to hurry. Liked arriving in Lagos, it reminds me a bit of Sana'a, though the latter is simpler, more serene. I'm enjoying it - the food, my brother and family, the flight...Looking forward to Cairo.
I'm to "do something" with my hair tomorrow, because my folks can't stand it not done in some fancy way. Better than last time, when I had to get it done within 24hrs of arrival; next time I won't oblige at all.
Happy New Year.
Dispatch from Lagos where the weather is Puerto Rico warm and the mosquitoes have evolved into weapon-resistant giant mutants of the 20th century species. They've also evolved to not itch while they bite, a development I appreciate.
The internet is pay-as-you-go so I have to hurry. Liked arriving in Lagos, it reminds me a bit of Sana'a, though the latter is simpler, more serene. I'm enjoying it - the food, my brother and family, the flight...Looking forward to Cairo.
I'm to "do something" with my hair tomorrow, because my folks can't stand it not done in some fancy way. Better than last time, when I had to get it done within 24hrs of arrival; next time I won't oblige at all.
Happy New Year.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Truth be told
music
I'm wearing a bra today. A real, heavy, American, Victoria's Secret best-selling bra. I mean, I own many bras and wear them about half the times I go out in public, but I favour comfortable faux-bras. The most abandoned of my bras have been the pair of padding, lifting, veritable braces I purchased from VS years ago: this orange one, and a green one.
Ladies in America, I don't understand what all the fighting is with the breasteses. Let them be.
The same goes for panty hose/tights. I own a few of those too. I wore them about nine years ago, once this year for an interview, and a few times in between. The decision process for buying those is either buy thin, so you can breathe, or buy thick so it can last more than one day before getting snagged. Once I had the good fortune to buy thick and over-sized, with them I can breathe AND re-use. It has also proved a welcome added layer of clothing in the cold weather.
I assume women wear tights to "control-top" as much as to appear formal, otherwise panty hoses would be designed as true hoses without tops or feet. You want proof? Recently, one woman invented "spanx," which I'm very sorry to advertise since it's useless to cut out the foot of the panty hose when the main pain center is around the tummy. I saw they market a pregnant spanx too, which looks criminal: you're pregnant and squashing your mid-section? Why?
Anyway, about the bras, the last time I wore one was weeks ago to go to the movies. Raj took me to see that sappy dribble about 53 years of solitude or something. Yes, it was Love in the Time of Cholera. By the way, that was probably the last time I stepped outside the house too, because it has since become really cold out there.
The bra in question was relatively light, yet before the movie theater filled for the movie, I took the stupid thing off in the darkness. In case you were wondering how one removes a bra without taking off shirt and jacket, that's one of the Houdini-esque skills girls have, especially girls who attended a boarding school without private corners.
Today I'm wearing the big one, haven't tried it in years, wonder how long it will last before I take it off since it hurts already. This is the one that I've heard from girls and advertising is the most comfortable bra - as comfortable as what? A boot on your throat? - that's the only reason I gave it a shot against all visual evidence. Well, it's a piece of junk.
Meeting with a friend from out of town today, and lest you think I'm trying to impress her with boobs that have lift, point, immobility, and control of roll, pitch, and yaw, I'm not. There'll be layers of clothing over it and I might as well not wear it. Actually, I won't wear it. End of experiment. Less than five minutes.
Aaah that feeling - I just unhooked the bra - the blood flows again, I started breathing and stopped pouring sweat in my tender armpits.
I'm wearing a bra today. A real, heavy, American, Victoria's Secret best-selling bra. I mean, I own many bras and wear them about half the times I go out in public, but I favour comfortable faux-bras. The most abandoned of my bras have been the pair of padding, lifting, veritable braces I purchased from VS years ago: this orange one, and a green one.
Ladies in America, I don't understand what all the fighting is with the breasteses. Let them be.
The same goes for panty hose/tights. I own a few of those too. I wore them about nine years ago, once this year for an interview, and a few times in between. The decision process for buying those is either buy thin, so you can breathe, or buy thick so it can last more than one day before getting snagged. Once I had the good fortune to buy thick and over-sized, with them I can breathe AND re-use. It has also proved a welcome added layer of clothing in the cold weather.
I assume women wear tights to "control-top" as much as to appear formal, otherwise panty hoses would be designed as true hoses without tops or feet. You want proof? Recently, one woman invented "spanx," which I'm very sorry to advertise since it's useless to cut out the foot of the panty hose when the main pain center is around the tummy. I saw they market a pregnant spanx too, which looks criminal: you're pregnant and squashing your mid-section? Why?
Anyway, about the bras, the last time I wore one was weeks ago to go to the movies. Raj took me to see that sappy dribble about 53 years of solitude or something. Yes, it was Love in the Time of Cholera. By the way, that was probably the last time I stepped outside the house too, because it has since become really cold out there.
The bra in question was relatively light, yet before the movie theater filled for the movie, I took the stupid thing off in the darkness. In case you were wondering how one removes a bra without taking off shirt and jacket, that's one of the Houdini-esque skills girls have, especially girls who attended a boarding school without private corners.
Today I'm wearing the big one, haven't tried it in years, wonder how long it will last before I take it off since it hurts already. This is the one that I've heard from girls and advertising is the most comfortable bra - as comfortable as what? A boot on your throat? - that's the only reason I gave it a shot against all visual evidence. Well, it's a piece of junk.
Meeting with a friend from out of town today, and lest you think I'm trying to impress her with boobs that have lift, point, immobility, and control of roll, pitch, and yaw, I'm not. There'll be layers of clothing over it and I might as well not wear it. Actually, I won't wear it. End of experiment. Less than five minutes.
Aaah that feeling - I just unhooked the bra - the blood flows again, I started breathing and stopped pouring sweat in my tender armpits.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Advice
Follow your heart.
If you are on a quest to find yourself, continue. It's a pleasurable thing to learn the answers to the questions of you.
What's the big deal about failure?
If you ever find yourself failing, fail, fail, fail. And survive, smile on your face. It sucks, I know.
Don't hate. Emulate.
This goes for "love" as well as "success" - rather than be jealous of something beautiful, find your own something beautiful.
If you are on a quest to find yourself, continue. It's a pleasurable thing to learn the answers to the questions of you.
What's the big deal about failure?
If you ever find yourself failing, fail, fail, fail. And survive, smile on your face. It sucks, I know.
Wanda Sykes on Gay Marriage
Don't hate. Emulate.
This goes for "love" as well as "success" - rather than be jealous of something beautiful, find your own something beautiful.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Flattery from my friends
music
Ran into a friend last week, clean-cut black guy, native Arabic speaker. He told Raj in the introductions that I speak Arabic. Yes, he did. Liam, I will love you forever for saying that. Thank you. I try to live up to it.
A month ago I met another clean-cut black guy, family migrated to the US from Liberia during the war in the 1980s I suppose. We talked the entire 4000 kilometers from Dulles Virginia to Oakland California. Joe, dude, you were supposed to email me. I know the chic for you, you've got to meet her, y'all will be going happily ever after in no time.
My old friend, who has been (very) black all his life, and who I can only suspect is still clean-cut, may go the way of happily ever after one of these years soon. I think it'll hurt when he does. It's usually a little sad when my gorgeous boy friends off-n-marry like that.
Last night I went to a Nigerian restaurant and was around gaggles of nice-looking Nigerian blokes. They were sorely in need of a center of attention and were Raj not there I'd have inserted myself in their happy conversations. My wonder was "where are the girls" when boys assemble like that? I mean the girls want to marry these guys, so how come they're not hanging out together? Manners, maybe?
Ran into a friend last week, clean-cut black guy, native Arabic speaker. He told Raj in the introductions that I speak Arabic. Yes, he did. Liam, I will love you forever for saying that. Thank you. I try to live up to it.
A month ago I met another clean-cut black guy, family migrated to the US from Liberia during the war in the 1980s I suppose. We talked the entire 4000 kilometers from Dulles Virginia to Oakland California. Joe, dude, you were supposed to email me. I know the chic for you, you've got to meet her, y'all will be going happily ever after in no time.
My old friend, who has been (very) black all his life, and who I can only suspect is still clean-cut, may go the way of happily ever after one of these years soon. I think it'll hurt when he does. It's usually a little sad when my gorgeous boy friends off-n-marry like that.
Last night I went to a Nigerian restaurant and was around gaggles of nice-looking Nigerian blokes. They were sorely in need of a center of attention and were Raj not there I'd have inserted myself in their happy conversations. My wonder was "where are the girls" when boys assemble like that? I mean the girls want to marry these guys, so how come they're not hanging out together? Manners, maybe?
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving
Your assignment is to jijo Shina Peters!
That means DANCE to the music. Dance dance dance and forget your sorrows. Please clear the floor.
In grad school, I always wanted to have a dance party with all the best of Shina playing and the videos projected on the screen. The music video with the opulently-figured dancers would push us all to go for it, shake that body, shake that everything. I looked and found the video for sale, but never digital, so no Shina party. Today, with youtube, well:
THE SIDE A of ACE by Sir Shina Peters.
SIDE A continued, ends at 7:50.
SIDE B is slow at first so you can catch your breath
Bobo mi Americano...Afro Juju lo gbode
This was the official Health Plan for Lagosians. After chopping jollof rice, fried chicken, dodo, moin-moin elemimeje and salaad, followed by iyan and edikaikong and egusi and "assorted" and goat and snail and pomo and liver and isi ewu pepper soup and drinking coke, fanta, and malt (and small beer/stout/wine/palmwine/imported shak for the older ones) for weddings, naming ceremonies, people's birthdays, thanksgiving and memorials, Jesus' birthday...then you get up and dance Shina, which as you've noticed is no 3-minute dance number. Then you do a set of disco, then repeat the Shina...
My goal is to practice and get the shoulder flap dance going again. My dance skills have gone soft, y'all.
More Shina and more party gist after you've digested this.
That means DANCE to the music. Dance dance dance and forget your sorrows. Please clear the floor.
In grad school, I always wanted to have a dance party with all the best of Shina playing and the videos projected on the screen. The music video with the opulently-figured dancers would push us all to go for it, shake that body, shake that everything. I looked and found the video for sale, but never digital, so no Shina party. Today, with youtube, well:
THE SIDE A of ACE by Sir Shina Peters.
SIDE A continued, ends at 7:50.
SIDE B is slow at first so you can catch your breath
Bobo mi Americano...Afro Juju lo gbode
This was the official Health Plan for Lagosians. After chopping jollof rice, fried chicken, dodo, moin-moin elemimeje and salaad, followed by iyan and edikaikong and egusi and "assorted" and goat and snail and pomo and liver and isi ewu pepper soup and drinking coke, fanta, and malt (and small beer/stout/wine/palmwine/imported shak for the older ones) for weddings, naming ceremonies, people's birthdays, thanksgiving and memorials, Jesus' birthday...then you get up and dance Shina, which as you've noticed is no 3-minute dance number. Then you do a set of disco, then repeat the Shina...
My goal is to practice and get the shoulder flap dance going again. My dance skills have gone soft, y'all.
More Shina and more party gist after you've digested this.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Sociable? Test yourself.
music
MBTI
On the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, I scored -1 on a -30 to +30 Introversion scale. Today, I took a different extroversion test at Queendom.com and scored 51%.
So basically, both times (four years apart) I was judged to be on the knife edge between introverted and not...and placed in the Extrovert bin - phew.
In Myers Briggs, the only significant signal is that I'm "Perceiving" not "Judging": +12 out of 30. Makes sense: Biologists bug me. Super-organized folks too. My mother is a J - trust me. Hillary Clinton? Give me a little flava.
Similarly, I was judged a moderate N, with Intuition score of +8 out of 30.
I'm barely an F on the Feeling-Perceiving scale, with a +1 score there.
So I'm an ENFP, but really a ?N?P.
LSI
I re-take the Learning Style Inventory (info) once or twice every year.
It's cool to watch how life events change my orientation. Like how my AC (Abstract Conceptualization, or Thinking) score was off the charts at the start of grad school - highs above 95th percentile in the second year, and how though still dominant, it stopped being hyper-dominant by the third year or so.
The CE (Concrete Experience, or Feeling) score has darted between 60th and 90th percentile with no particular pattern. My AE (Active Experimentation, or Doing) score has always been miniscule - often in the single-digit percentile rank - and even now at its height is under the 40th percentile score.
The surge in RO (Reflective Observation, or Watching) around the third year of grad school, probably one of the most pensive periods I've known. In these six years, it went from below the 20th percentile to 90th and steadily back to below 20th today.
Another cool story is how my first foray out of the "Assimilator" quadrant came in my fifth year, upon my return from Yemen. I had become clearly a Diverger, your ideal actress-ideator. Half a year later, I had bounced back to "Assimilator" only to return the next year to Diverger land.
Divergers are the artists, creatives, and touchy-feelies mostly. I usually lived near this quadrant yet squarely in the neighbouring Assimilator quadrant of theories, models and plans, and abode of teachers, researchers, religious ministers, and (oddly enough) financiers.
Now I'm completely lost to dorkiness it would seem...classed an "Accommodator." Accomodators are like salespeople, managers and politicians - the all-too-boring, get-it-done people-people.
I never visited the Converger quadrant, home of engineers/technologists. It makes sense, although I am an engineer.
I like astrology too, think it's pretty fun and useful for learning about people - self and others. Birthday astrology is really cool too, like sun sign astrology, but with more detail. I like.
MBTI
On the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, I scored -1 on a -30 to +30 Introversion scale. Today, I took a different extroversion test at Queendom.com and scored 51%.
So basically, both times (four years apart) I was judged to be on the knife edge between introverted and not...and placed in the Extrovert bin - phew.
In Myers Briggs, the only significant signal is that I'm "Perceiving" not "Judging": +12 out of 30. Makes sense: Biologists bug me. Super-organized folks too. My mother is a J - trust me. Hillary Clinton? Give me a little flava.
Similarly, I was judged a moderate N, with Intuition score of +8 out of 30.
I'm barely an F on the Feeling-Perceiving scale, with a +1 score there.
So I'm an ENFP, but really a ?N?P.
LSI
I re-take the Learning Style Inventory (info) once or twice every year.
It's cool to watch how life events change my orientation. Like how my AC (Abstract Conceptualization, or Thinking) score was off the charts at the start of grad school - highs above 95th percentile in the second year, and how though still dominant, it stopped being hyper-dominant by the third year or so.
The CE (Concrete Experience, or Feeling) score has darted between 60th and 90th percentile with no particular pattern. My AE (Active Experimentation, or Doing) score has always been miniscule - often in the single-digit percentile rank - and even now at its height is under the 40th percentile score.
The surge in RO (Reflective Observation, or Watching) around the third year of grad school, probably one of the most pensive periods I've known. In these six years, it went from below the 20th percentile to 90th and steadily back to below 20th today.
Another cool story is how my first foray out of the "Assimilator" quadrant came in my fifth year, upon my return from Yemen. I had become clearly a Diverger, your ideal actress-ideator. Half a year later, I had bounced back to "Assimilator" only to return the next year to Diverger land.
Divergers are the artists, creatives, and touchy-feelies mostly. I usually lived near this quadrant yet squarely in the neighbouring Assimilator quadrant of theories, models and plans, and abode of teachers, researchers, religious ministers, and (oddly enough) financiers.
Now I'm completely lost to dorkiness it would seem...classed an "Accommodator." Accomodators are like salespeople, managers and politicians - the all-too-boring, get-it-done people-people.
I never visited the Converger quadrant, home of engineers/technologists. It makes sense, although I am an engineer.
I like astrology too, think it's pretty fun and useful for learning about people - self and others. Birthday astrology is really cool too, like sun sign astrology, but with more detail. I like.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Al Gore, Panel on Climate Change, share Nobel Peace Prize
music
Global warming is the Nobel Peace Prize issue...
...now will you release my friend?
William (Billy) Cottrell had the foresight, enthusiasm, and energy to speak up about Global warming years ago when Hummers seemed poised to take over the world and before Electric Vehicles became cool. His big plan was to bumper-sticker cars with the message: SUVs promote Terrorism.
My car at the time was my dream ride, a Jeep Cherokee. So I agree there are people more apt to challenge convention than I, yet we must all feel blessed that people like him see a new way and alert all the rest of us to it. Society would be horrid without the elements that move for change. It's in fact our responsibility to change the world for the better, even if the hordes are wrong wrong wrong. I also appreciate the stability-drivers of society. They may be bored to tears, not to mention boring, but this yin and yang world needs all kinds of people. I wouldn't have minded the bumper sticker or the message.
I thought Billy suffered mostly from poor timing in being picked up for a crime labelled terrorist so soon after the shock-and-awe invasion of Iraq: FBI careers depended on nailing him. President Bush's Americanism required everyone to close ranks against these anti-war and anti-oil folks. There was even insurance cash to be reaped by a few lucky mercenaries after the arson attacks. Yin and yang baby. Fun stuff.
Now that the climate has changed :) maybe it's time to free Billy. For reals. It may even be time to free thousands from the cruel pressures of gaol. Please don't waste their time.
Global warming is the Nobel Peace Prize issue...
...now will you release my friend?
William (Billy) Cottrell had the foresight, enthusiasm, and energy to speak up about Global warming years ago when Hummers seemed poised to take over the world and before Electric Vehicles became cool. His big plan was to bumper-sticker cars with the message: SUVs promote Terrorism.My car at the time was my dream ride, a Jeep Cherokee. So I agree there are people more apt to challenge convention than I, yet we must all feel blessed that people like him see a new way and alert all the rest of us to it. Society would be horrid without the elements that move for change. It's in fact our responsibility to change the world for the better, even if the hordes are wrong wrong wrong. I also appreciate the stability-drivers of society. They may be bored to tears, not to mention boring, but this yin and yang world needs all kinds of people. I wouldn't have minded the bumper sticker or the message.
I thought Billy suffered mostly from poor timing in being picked up for a crime labelled terrorist so soon after the shock-and-awe invasion of Iraq: FBI careers depended on nailing him. President Bush's Americanism required everyone to close ranks against these anti-war and anti-oil folks. There was even insurance cash to be reaped by a few lucky mercenaries after the arson attacks. Yin and yang baby. Fun stuff.
Now that the climate has changed :) maybe it's time to free Billy. For reals. It may even be time to free thousands from the cruel pressures of gaol. Please don't waste their time.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Pro Sport. Passionate Lifestyle.
My TV Channel nowadays is The Tennis Channel. I can't stop watching. What's on now? The Madrid Masters tournament.
What's new in tennis video on youtube?
It's Part 2 of a Rome-themed work featuring Roger Federer, Ana Ivanovic, and Rafael Nadal. You may also watch Part 1, catch Pussycat if you missed it, and see more cool Roger y Rafa videos.
What's new in tennis video on youtube?
It's Part 2 of a Rome-themed work featuring Roger Federer, Ana Ivanovic, and Rafael Nadal. You may also watch Part 1, catch Pussycat if you missed it, and see more cool Roger y Rafa videos.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Who are you wearing?
music
If I can, will be wearing a lot of eleVen and Aneres, whatever the designers come up with. Something fun to do :) since Serena is a superstar, and Venus is so cool in so many ways.
Venus: I'd like to win Wimbledon as many times as anyone could win it. More than any woman, man or junior did.
Interviewer: What about the other tournaments?
Venus: I'll get a Grand Slam. (Read More)
Hang Out with Serena
If I can, will be wearing a lot of eleVen and Aneres, whatever the designers come up with. Something fun to do :) since Serena is a superstar, and Venus is so cool in so many ways.
Venus Williams at age eleven
Interviewer: Venus Williams is 5 feet 4 inches tall. She's eleven years old. She's a black girl from the hood who walks her puppy dog...Venus: I'd like to win Wimbledon as many times as anyone could win it. More than any woman, man or junior did.
Interviewer: What about the other tournaments?
Venus: I'll get a Grand Slam. (Read More)
Hang Out with Serena
Friday, September 14, 2007
There will never ever be another you
music
Like when Peter Boyle died, somehow Luciano Pavarotti's death seems unbelievable. Who will be Pavarotti now?
I don't know a lot about opera, I'm getting there, but such beauty and tradition and warmth and goosebumps he gave in his art...You know when you watch/hear something you literally don't understand and yet understand deeply?
My life with opera music began long ago when I watched Fatal Attraction, a movie not for kids but hey I turned out just fine. In the movie, Michael Douglas was with Glenn Close and one or both of them said "I love Madame Butterfly." Years later I was at the antique book/music store in DuPont Circle in DC with other brand-new Howard University freshmen (Sona, Moe, Funmi, and Alicia?) and saw a CD with Puccini: Madame Butterfly - Highlights. The movie people loved this music? Good enough for me. I bought it and have listened a gazillion times since.
I didn't actually go to watch an opera until last year. I saw La Traviata (Futral, Calleja) at the LA Opera, because in Match Point (great movie), Jonathan Rhys-Myers' on-screen brother-in-law delivered the line: it's La-bloody-Traviata.
Beautiful, beautiful, was Traviata - not just the robust voices and the cheesy, simple story line, but definitely the highly stylized acting. The artists communicate so much in the exaggerated poses, the light-and-colour changes, and the actors' painted faces that you don't really need to follow the translations to know belle from prostitute, or love-struck from power-hungry, and ultimately to cry when - all at once - a thousand and one memories soar to the top of your mind on one drawn-out high note, crashing in one rapturous truth - a wave against rock. Lesson learned, opera done, you whisper your thanks and go home. (Maybe you wish you could be the one in make-up serving up drama.)
Soon after, I took a friend to Don Carlo - he loved it a lot more than I did. Another friend thinks I should try Wagner. I'll like to see a couple of more Verdi, and of course Butterfly.
Now let me tell you about the people-watching at the opera: rich people, funny fashion sense - that's the basic idea. It beats reading tabloid magazines. Opera houses are often ornate and spectacular, if a little stuffy/snooty and intimidating.
Ask me or call the opera for suggestions if you're poor :) but interested in watching a show or two. Fortunately, you can access the arts on a limited budget if you know where to look. Caltech even has an Opera Club which gives away cheap or free tickets. When you're rich, be cool and sponsor the arts too.
Pavarotti is dead. I dreamt about him once: a benign conflation of The Three Tenors and a bizarre movie trailer in which black men tended large babies. I was probably listening to Rigoletto (Milnes, Pavarotti, Sutherland) a lot at the time.
Read a soothing tribute to Luciano Pavarotti in Time Magazine.
Like when Peter Boyle died, somehow Luciano Pavarotti's death seems unbelievable. Who will be Pavarotti now?
I don't know a lot about opera, I'm getting there, but such beauty and tradition and warmth and goosebumps he gave in his art...You know when you watch/hear something you literally don't understand and yet understand deeply?
My life with opera music began long ago when I watched Fatal Attraction, a movie not for kids but hey I turned out just fine. In the movie, Michael Douglas was with Glenn Close and one or both of them said "I love Madame Butterfly." Years later I was at the antique book/music store in DuPont Circle in DC with other brand-new Howard University freshmen (Sona, Moe, Funmi, and Alicia?) and saw a CD with Puccini: Madame Butterfly - Highlights. The movie people loved this music? Good enough for me. I bought it and have listened a gazillion times since.
I didn't actually go to watch an opera until last year. I saw La Traviata (Futral, Calleja) at the LA Opera, because in Match Point (great movie), Jonathan Rhys-Myers' on-screen brother-in-law delivered the line: it's La-bloody-Traviata.
Beautiful, beautiful, was Traviata - not just the robust voices and the cheesy, simple story line, but definitely the highly stylized acting. The artists communicate so much in the exaggerated poses, the light-and-colour changes, and the actors' painted faces that you don't really need to follow the translations to know belle from prostitute, or love-struck from power-hungry, and ultimately to cry when - all at once - a thousand and one memories soar to the top of your mind on one drawn-out high note, crashing in one rapturous truth - a wave against rock. Lesson learned, opera done, you whisper your thanks and go home. (Maybe you wish you could be the one in make-up serving up drama.)
Soon after, I took a friend to Don Carlo - he loved it a lot more than I did. Another friend thinks I should try Wagner. I'll like to see a couple of more Verdi, and of course Butterfly.
Now let me tell you about the people-watching at the opera: rich people, funny fashion sense - that's the basic idea. It beats reading tabloid magazines. Opera houses are often ornate and spectacular, if a little stuffy/snooty and intimidating.Ask me or call the opera for suggestions if you're poor :) but interested in watching a show or two. Fortunately, you can access the arts on a limited budget if you know where to look. Caltech even has an Opera Club which gives away cheap or free tickets. When you're rich, be cool and sponsor the arts too.
Pavarotti is dead. I dreamt about him once: a benign conflation of The Three Tenors and a bizarre movie trailer in which black men tended large babies. I was probably listening to Rigoletto (Milnes, Pavarotti, Sutherland) a lot at the time.Read a soothing tribute to Luciano Pavarotti in Time Magazine.
There will never ever be another you.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Djokovic's imitation of fellow tennis players
This one is cool, includes impressions of Ramirez Hidalgo, Roddick, Agassi, Nadal, Sharapova, and Federer. Watch.
Find more here.
Find more here.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Heading home Part 2
music
Eight weeks ago, I was all set to go home to Nigeria. Now I'm still living in the States and look to live here for a while longer. What happened?
The pull - Family and support system, living in a place with sunshine, the thirst for shared values, doing more meaningful work, appreciation. In Nigeria, nobody is in a class higher than you - our constitution may not be explicit about this, but the practice of pride is alive and well.
One day in July I tried to go home, having accepted that I wouldn't be able to come back due to the fierce gate-keeping by the Immigration authorities. We got tickets (thanks N) and packed for the airport where I was told that I couldn't fly without a transit visa to cover my one-hour stopover (for flight-change) in Europe. I couldn't get a transit visa without a few days of embassy palaver. Transit visas are only required by people from selected countries, whereas until recently Americans could travel overseas for weeks without a passport. Siooma.
Anyway, this taught me that bureaucracy is not as rational as I thought; it would work to keep me from going back to Africa as well as block me from coming in. Oh well. I returned home. Home is in Berkeley (a guy named Raj.)
My new cynical take on the whole thing is: they want you to go, they want you to stay. Do what you want. You may need to get a lawyer. Nobody understands chaos like a lawyer.
Eight weeks ago, I was all set to go home to Nigeria. Now I'm still living in the States and look to live here for a while longer. What happened?
Why I wanted to go in the first place:
The push - Mostly the completely impossible travel and visa situation. It's related to the class stratification in the US, and the fact that being black doesn't confer many advantages here. Raising children requires help and community to a degree that most Americans do not even aspire.The pull - Family and support system, living in a place with sunshine, the thirst for shared values, doing more meaningful work, appreciation. In Nigeria, nobody is in a class higher than you - our constitution may not be explicit about this, but the practice of pride is alive and well.
What changed:
EVERY TIME I have traveled internationally, it has followed a nerve-wracking bureaucratic drama: I've been detained and strip-searched, paid hundreds of dollars in transit visas and thousands in canceled tickets. Further, roughly every weekday I've spent in Nigeria has seen me at the embassy lobbying to get in (pushing and shoving and then pushing fellow Nigerians some more, keeping up with the rumours about the ever-changing application or entry or passport photo or payment "system") or lobbying for a visa. Naturally, I surmised that "they" don't want "us" to stay. As a dear racist friend of mine used to say "Go back to Africa." No problem.One day in July I tried to go home, having accepted that I wouldn't be able to come back due to the fierce gate-keeping by the Immigration authorities. We got tickets (thanks N) and packed for the airport where I was told that I couldn't fly without a transit visa to cover my one-hour stopover (for flight-change) in Europe. I couldn't get a transit visa without a few days of embassy palaver. Transit visas are only required by people from selected countries, whereas until recently Americans could travel overseas for weeks without a passport. Siooma.
Anyway, this taught me that bureaucracy is not as rational as I thought; it would work to keep me from going back to Africa as well as block me from coming in. Oh well. I returned home. Home is in Berkeley (a guy named Raj.)
My new cynical take on the whole thing is: they want you to go, they want you to stay. Do what you want. You may need to get a lawyer. Nobody understands chaos like a lawyer.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
ValleyWag is Good and Bad
music
Virtual Estate
Must commend the old media for taking this blog thing and making it their own: Time, The Atlantic Monthly, USA Today, etc.
Trop Gauche
Boo to the new gossip media for being so mean and distasteful: Perez Hilton, Gawker Media...I prefer the less innovative, but far kinder old-school celebrity-gossip-peddlers.
Drink for health?
Wondering: did people always drink water? How did they find fresh water?
Poor soldier no more
Crush on Wesley Clark. No crush on Obama. It's not business, it's hormonal.
Questions for Rafa
on TIME.com
Tennis Player, Rafael Nadal
Thomas Niedermueller / Getty
Drama has returned to the top rung of men’s tennis, and much of the credit belongs to Rafael Nadal. Nadal has proven himself to be the undisputed master of clay courts, but has not let up in his pursuit of world number one Roger Federer on grass or hard courts. The upcoming U.S. Open will be a prime test of both men. Use the form below to submit your questions for Rafael Nadal—in Spanish as well—then look for the upcoming interview in TIME Magazine.
...No questions from me. Just admiration. (understatement)
Power and Light
Once again, I have a chunk of my life planned out. It sort of needs a job.
Virtual Estate
Must commend the old media for taking this blog thing and making it their own: Time, The Atlantic Monthly, USA Today, etc.
Trop Gauche
Boo to the new gossip media for being so mean and distasteful: Perez Hilton, Gawker Media...I prefer the less innovative, but far kinder old-school celebrity-gossip-peddlers.
Drink for health?
Wondering: did people always drink water? How did they find fresh water?
Poor soldier no more
Crush on Wesley Clark. No crush on Obama. It's not business, it's hormonal.
Questions for Rafa
on TIME.com
Tennis Player, Rafael NadalThomas Niedermueller / Getty
...No questions from me. Just admiration. (understatement)
Power and Light
Once again, I have a chunk of my life planned out. It sort of needs a job.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Mo' Power to Mo'Nique...and that Mark tennis player guy
music
Watching the celebrity gossip show, EXTRA. According to them, Monique's beauty contest show for fat women has taken the beauties to France for a glam photo shoot in which they're wearing only body paint.
Mo'Nique is spunky, positive, and super-empowering.
What else do I watch on TV nowadays? AGE OF LOVE - the reality dating show with 20-something and 40-something year old women vying to be the girlfriend of this guy Mark Phillippoussis who's 30 and has been to the Wimbledon and US Open finals.
...Can't wait to see what happens next Monday. Last episode's elimination was delicious: the woman was catty, toxic really, and the cut was swift as soon as he detected her "competitive" ways. I like the show, but don't like the terms "cougar" and "kitten" - eewww.
The Science of Love, an hour-long "experiment" (and promotional machine for some dating site I've forgotten now) was super-cool too.
You guessed it, I also enjoyed the many incarnations of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. One of the big cultural adjustments when I came to America: men sitting pretty with women striving to bag them. In Nigeria, a show like The Bachelorette would have much greater appeal than The Bachelor. Men competed for chics, not the other way around. Oh well.
Watching the celebrity gossip show, EXTRA. According to them, Monique's beauty contest show for fat women has taken the beauties to France for a glam photo shoot in which they're wearing only body paint. Mo'Nique is spunky, positive, and super-empowering.
What else do I watch on TV nowadays? AGE OF LOVE - the reality dating show with 20-something and 40-something year old women vying to be the girlfriend of this guy Mark Phillippoussis who's 30 and has been to the Wimbledon and US Open finals.
...Can't wait to see what happens next Monday. Last episode's elimination was delicious: the woman was catty, toxic really, and the cut was swift as soon as he detected her "competitive" ways. I like the show, but don't like the terms "cougar" and "kitten" - eewww.
The Science of Love, an hour-long "experiment" (and promotional machine for some dating site I've forgotten now) was super-cool too.
You guessed it, I also enjoyed the many incarnations of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. One of the big cultural adjustments when I came to America: men sitting pretty with women striving to bag them. In Nigeria, a show like The Bachelorette would have much greater appeal than The Bachelor. Men competed for chics, not the other way around. Oh well.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
The Art Teacher
Listen to Rufus Wainwright's The Art Teacher with unofficial video:
I just made a picture to the theme of that song. All was drawn in an interface on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website.
The Art Teacher
Second picture in 2007?
First came the Executive Company Head in the center of the paper. He's pot-bellied, in his home with a crucifix on the wall - there should be a Turner there somewhere too according to the song. Then there's little "I" looking at (and up to) the art teacher.
I used to Paint (using Microsoft Paintbrush) on breaks from work at Chrysler back in the day. (That was an awesome internship. Didn't know how lucky I was to be surrounded by such happy people.) The pictures were nicer than this one: I had better control over the "pen" since I used a proper movable mouse, plus I had an eraser, colours, spraypaint, cut-and-paste...
...really loved the copying and pasting - built an army, a field of flowers - pretty autistic. Don't worry it wasn't straight copy-paste, there was some realism: perspective, variety. Still, using a computer to draw wasn't the best way to relax from hours of using my eyes and a computer to "sequence processes for F1 build of the 2001 minivan" and my head really hurt from the strain.
I just made a picture to the theme of that song. All was drawn in an interface on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website.
The Art TeacherSecond picture in 2007?
First came the Executive Company Head in the center of the paper. He's pot-bellied, in his home with a crucifix on the wall - there should be a Turner there somewhere too according to the song. Then there's little "I" looking at (and up to) the art teacher.
I used to Paint (using Microsoft Paintbrush) on breaks from work at Chrysler back in the day. (That was an awesome internship. Didn't know how lucky I was to be surrounded by such happy people.) The pictures were nicer than this one: I had better control over the "pen" since I used a proper movable mouse, plus I had an eraser, colours, spraypaint, cut-and-paste...
...really loved the copying and pasting - built an army, a field of flowers - pretty autistic. Don't worry it wasn't straight copy-paste, there was some realism: perspective, variety. Still, using a computer to draw wasn't the best way to relax from hours of using my eyes and a computer to "sequence processes for F1 build of the 2001 minivan" and my head really hurt from the strain.
Couple of Cravings
music
I just ate some left-over pasta - not just any leftovers, it's Bertagni, this stuffed pasta line at Trader Joe's. It makes me eat more. It makes me lick my own palate. There's something in the stuffing that I guess my body's been needing. I just finished the ricotta and reggiano cheese tortellini one. Before that there was "gorgonzola and walnut." Waiting in the fridge is an unbelievable pumpkin ravioli - the reason I now like pumpkin - and more .
The pasta takes less than five minutes to make.
My past Trader Joe's addiction: they had this bag of salted fluffed peas in a pod. I couldn't help myself against an open bag of Calbee's SnapPea Crisps, even though each was 2.5 servings of high sodium stuff. I took a picture of the bag last year intending to write about it, then I found that someone else had written a blog post about The new "Crystal Meth" of the Snack Food World.
I just ate some left-over pasta - not just any leftovers, it's Bertagni, this stuffed pasta line at Trader Joe's. It makes me eat more. It makes me lick my own palate. There's something in the stuffing that I guess my body's been needing. I just finished the ricotta and reggiano cheese tortellini one. Before that there was "gorgonzola and walnut." Waiting in the fridge is an unbelievable pumpkin ravioli - the reason I now like pumpkin - and more .
The pasta takes less than five minutes to make.
My past Trader Joe's addiction: they had this bag of salted fluffed peas in a pod. I couldn't help myself against an open bag of Calbee's SnapPea Crisps, even though each was 2.5 servings of high sodium stuff. I took a picture of the bag last year intending to write about it, then I found that someone else had written a blog post about The new "Crystal Meth" of the Snack Food World.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Jean-Lou Chameau
music
I love this guy, and not just because he attends Caltech theater:
Go to the story source in Caltech News
“A New Kind of World”
I love this guy, and not just because he attends Caltech theater:
Go to the story source in Caltech News
“A New Kind of World”
Growing up in northern France, in the province of Normandy, Jean-Lou Chameau seems to have discovered his principal affinities early in life: hard work, working with people, new experiences, and, last but not least, mathematics and science. He brought this outlook with him when he left the Old World for the new in 1976 to pursue graduate work in engineering at Stanford, and it has served him well throughout a career that has included faculty positions at Purdue University and Georgia Tech, time spent running a company, and, over the last decade, a move into the upper echelons of academic administration. In 1997, he was appointed dean of the college of engineering at Georgia Tech, and four years later he became the university’s provost. Last summer, he was named the ninth president of Caltech. Chameau assumes the job at a time when issues that he has long championed—forging interdisciplinary and institutional collaborations and promoting global sustainability, to name two—have emerged as major themes on both the national and international stage. It’s an environment in which, as he says, scientists and engineers have an increasingly complex and vital role to play, and to which Caltech, through its faculty, students, staff, and graduates, is poised to make unique and far-reaching contributions. He talked about these topics, and a variety of others, in an interview with Caltech News editor Heidi Aspaturian.
The Making of a President. Clockwise from left, Chameau as a pensive youngster in his native Normandy; as a young Purdue University professor in the 1980s; and as a newly appointed president waiting to be introduced to the Caltech community last summer.
Read Full InterviewWednesday, June 13, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
A directory of wonderful things
music
1. Music Theory Online at www.dolmetsch.com
2. French Money Talk at www.blogCFA.blogspot.com is the newborn counterpart to UpNaira / Money Talk.
Also wanna know:
James Joyce via Ulysses
Poincaré via his writings
1. Music Theory Online at www.dolmetsch.com
2. French Money Talk at www.blogCFA.blogspot.com is the newborn counterpart to UpNaira / Money Talk.
Also wanna know:
James Joyce via Ulysses
Poincaré via his writings
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Promiscuous
music
When will you marry? This year? Next year? Sometime forever?
Who will you marry? Rich? Poor? Beggar? Thief?
Which car will you enter on your wedding day? Wheelbarrow? Bicycle? Danfo? Mercedes?
I think the good answers were Mercedes, rich, sometime forever,...actually i was never really sure what "sometime forever" or "lailai forever" meant, or if we were saying something else that actually made sense. This was the song for a skipping game, so for example if you stopped/tripped on poor, then I guess the other kids had a good laugh. Or if you answered "this year" - a little too young.
The sun is back, and the hopefulness and happiness of the season makes me think about who I will marry. So many exciting choices, it's ridiculous that you're expected to stick with one forever.
So...
I'm building a marriage team
One Rufus, one Nadal, maybe Nadal AND Federer. I dumped Tiger years ago, before he dumped me thank-you-very-much. My boyfriend Raj reminds me that Rufus is "flaming gay." Hmmm.
I saw de Villepin on TV the other day - brilliant guy. He'll be the "seasoned" one in my little fraternity.
Might as well throw in a physicist. They have sharp minds and know something I want to know. I know a few hot physicists. Maybe a good mathematician for the same reasons.
I still like my Portuguese/Angolan João Ricardo from last year...why isn't his career as stellar as his World Cup showing? Well, I would love to help him figure that out - on the coast of Portugal.
There really should be a Nigerian on this list for the whole shared homeland and possibly shared language thing, but I like never meet them.
Who did I forget?
I have baby names too.
A number of Yoruba names - WURA (treasure/gold?) and AYO (joy) as in Ayokunnu/Ayokunu - I knew lovely girls by those names when I was a kid. I like the fact that Yoruba names are largely gender neutral.
FELA is another, as in Fela, although I still don't know what it means. (Let me know if you do.) There's also INULEWA from family lore. It was my grandfather's nickname, and means inside + is + the value.
In non-Yoruba names, there's ANNELISE - a complex character from my favourite film - and ALEXANDER/ALEXANDRA of course.
There's COCO - not just the name of a fashion icon, "Aunt" Koko was a super-cool neighbour when I was a kid living in one of the world's most beautiful places.
I must really like light, because I also have CLAIRE, LUMIÈRE, and CANDÈS in my top-ten.
My runners up are
LUDWIG, AMADEU,
ANNA,
APRIL, MAY,
NERO, NEO,
NEHRU, SUPRIYA,
UMA, MALA,
AMEERA, SAMIRA/SAMEERA/SAMIR,
FARDOOS/FARDOWS - I'll have to be feeling really high to name my kid "paradise, as in the Muslim's afterlife" but giddy happens.
I've always thought Daniel was such a good, fortright person's name, Goke a very pretty boy, and Jonathan a good and loyal boy - this comes from David and Jonathan when I was a kid, I think I was the narrator and, thanks to my mum, the best dressed narrator ever in my pink butterfly dress which I just loved. The tall boy in my class, a complete sweetheart named Efanga, played Goliath. There were "crowds" of Philistines and Israelites. Anyway.
When I was more Christian, my favourite names were Jonathan, Joshua, Joel. I knew their meanings. I don't know if I picked girl's names. Oh cool, I was really young, so those were possibly names for the love-of-my-life, not the kids. I still don't know why people promise to marry only one - that can't be easy.
It's important that all the names don't mean something silly in a major world language; they may have to go to school somewhere exotic and I want to be kind. It's not easy to find names that fit the bill actually: if you try to exclude all the words that translate into giggle-worthy words in say 10 major languages - no funny body parts, no unpronouncable letters.
Nick is a big joke of a name in Arabic. The Norwegian Kora and Tone were small jokes. Kora is a (sports) ball, Tone is tunafish.
Rufus would need to sell more records (opera or whatever) to get people to start naming human children that again, since it seems to have taken hold as a dog's name - why oh why?
The letters "gb" and "kp" in Southern Nigeria, nobody in the West has those. And the Arabs make "p" into "b" - there were two blackbirds sitting on a wall: one named Bita, one named Ball.
As the joke went when we were in school, the phroblem with the pheephle phrom the northern phart oph Nigeria is that they do not know how to phronounce the letters eph, phee, and phee. So f, p, and v, are sort of dangerous letters too.
Wow, I need to get a job.
When will you marry? This year? Next year? Sometime forever?
Who will you marry? Rich? Poor? Beggar? Thief?
Which car will you enter on your wedding day? Wheelbarrow? Bicycle? Danfo? Mercedes?
I think the good answers were Mercedes, rich, sometime forever,...actually i was never really sure what "sometime forever" or "lailai forever" meant, or if we were saying something else that actually made sense. This was the song for a skipping game, so for example if you stopped/tripped on poor, then I guess the other kids had a good laugh. Or if you answered "this year" - a little too young.
The sun is back, and the hopefulness and happiness of the season makes me think about who I will marry. So many exciting choices, it's ridiculous that you're expected to stick with one forever.
So...
I'm building a marriage team
One Rufus, one Nadal, maybe Nadal AND Federer. I dumped Tiger years ago, before he dumped me thank-you-very-much. My boyfriend Raj reminds me that Rufus is "flaming gay." Hmmm.
I saw de Villepin on TV the other day - brilliant guy. He'll be the "seasoned" one in my little fraternity.
Might as well throw in a physicist. They have sharp minds and know something I want to know. I know a few hot physicists. Maybe a good mathematician for the same reasons.
I still like my Portuguese/Angolan João Ricardo from last year...why isn't his career as stellar as his World Cup showing? Well, I would love to help him figure that out - on the coast of Portugal.
There really should be a Nigerian on this list for the whole shared homeland and possibly shared language thing, but I like never meet them.
Who did I forget?
I have baby names too.
A number of Yoruba names - WURA (treasure/gold?) and AYO (joy) as in Ayokunnu/Ayokunu - I knew lovely girls by those names when I was a kid. I like the fact that Yoruba names are largely gender neutral.
FELA is another, as in Fela, although I still don't know what it means. (Let me know if you do.) There's also INULEWA from family lore. It was my grandfather's nickname, and means inside + is + the value.
In non-Yoruba names, there's ANNELISE - a complex character from my favourite film - and ALEXANDER/ALEXANDRA of course.
There's COCO - not just the name of a fashion icon, "Aunt" Koko was a super-cool neighbour when I was a kid living in one of the world's most beautiful places.
I must really like light, because I also have CLAIRE, LUMIÈRE, and CANDÈS in my top-ten.
My runners up are
LUDWIG, AMADEU,
ANNA,
APRIL, MAY,
NERO, NEO,
NEHRU, SUPRIYA,
UMA, MALA,
AMEERA, SAMIRA/SAMEERA/SAMIR,
FARDOOS/FARDOWS - I'll have to be feeling really high to name my kid "paradise, as in the Muslim's afterlife" but giddy happens.
I've always thought Daniel was such a good, fortright person's name, Goke a very pretty boy, and Jonathan a good and loyal boy - this comes from David and Jonathan when I was a kid, I think I was the narrator and, thanks to my mum, the best dressed narrator ever in my pink butterfly dress which I just loved. The tall boy in my class, a complete sweetheart named Efanga, played Goliath. There were "crowds" of Philistines and Israelites. Anyway.
When I was more Christian, my favourite names were Jonathan, Joshua, Joel. I knew their meanings. I don't know if I picked girl's names. Oh cool, I was really young, so those were possibly names for the love-of-my-life, not the kids. I still don't know why people promise to marry only one - that can't be easy.
It's important that all the names don't mean something silly in a major world language; they may have to go to school somewhere exotic and I want to be kind. It's not easy to find names that fit the bill actually: if you try to exclude all the words that translate into giggle-worthy words in say 10 major languages - no funny body parts, no unpronouncable letters.
Nick is a big joke of a name in Arabic. The Norwegian Kora and Tone were small jokes. Kora is a (sports) ball, Tone is tunafish.
Rufus would need to sell more records (opera or whatever) to get people to start naming human children that again, since it seems to have taken hold as a dog's name - why oh why?
The letters "gb" and "kp" in Southern Nigeria, nobody in the West has those. And the Arabs make "p" into "b" - there were two blackbirds sitting on a wall: one named Bita, one named Ball.As the joke went when we were in school, the phroblem with the pheephle phrom the northern phart oph Nigeria is that they do not know how to phronounce the letters eph, phee, and phee. So f, p, and v, are sort of dangerous letters too.
Wow, I need to get a job.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Release The Stars
Release The Stars, the latest music album by my beloved Rufus is available as (free) streaming audio on vh1.com. News courtesy of usatoday.com "Pop Candy" blogger Whitney Matheson.
My first pop concert ever was Rufus Wainwright, last month at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. My groupiehood while now concert-certified remains at a comfortable orange intensity, since I feel like I know him so well already. Next time I'll make more of an effort to talk to him or something.
Before l'arrival de Rufus on stage, I'd started to warm up to the opening act Teddy Thompson, who's much younger/hotter than I imagined - he's a country musician after all, and they're not supposed to be so metrosexual. He plays awesome guitar, lovely voice too, and is an old family-friend of El Rufus. His music is so modern, it barely qualifies as country.
Rufus is a totally stylish guy. He had this sash or something around his hips, stripes and colours all around, and great new cowboy boots as he sashayed on stage. He's so look-at-me. He played mostly the new stuff, backed by a very energetic percusssionist and four/five others.
Try I'm Leaving For Paris and more, while I try to find video footage of him channeling Judy Garland.
11 days later: No Judy Garland video yet, but there's this and hundreds more on youtube. Rufus make great success.
My first pop concert ever was Rufus Wainwright, last month at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. My groupiehood while now concert-certified remains at a comfortable orange intensity, since I feel like I know him so well already. Next time I'll make more of an effort to talk to him or something.
Before l'arrival de Rufus on stage, I'd started to warm up to the opening act Teddy Thompson, who's much younger/hotter than I imagined - he's a country musician after all, and they're not supposed to be so metrosexual. He plays awesome guitar, lovely voice too, and is an old family-friend of El Rufus. His music is so modern, it barely qualifies as country.
Rufus is a totally stylish guy. He had this sash or something around his hips, stripes and colours all around, and great new cowboy boots as he sashayed on stage. He's so look-at-me. He played mostly the new stuff, backed by a very energetic percusssionist and four/five others.
Try I'm Leaving For Paris and more, while I try to find video footage of him channeling Judy Garland.
11 days later: No Judy Garland video yet, but there's this and hundreds more on youtube. Rufus make great success.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Arab Film Festival 2006
music
Don't forget to follow the links to read official synopses and watch the film trailers!!!
I already mentioned A Stranger in Her Own City, the Sana'ani film about a "tomboy" named Nedjmia. There were seventeen other short films at the festival, arranged into programmes of four to six films each. I missed most of the shorts - sad sad sad. I caught Yasmine's song, La Femme Seule, and bits of Beit min Lahm and Little Beirut.
Yasmine's Song is probably very similar to The Syrian Bride, an award-winning full-length feature film that I'll soon watch. Both are marriage stories focusing on the separation caused by the Israel-Palestine conflict. At the end of the short film, Yasmine and her lover are on opposite sides of a freshly-built fort-quality wall and the image is moving, to say the least.
I enjoyed being able to translate many of the film titles, including Beit Min Lahm - House of Flesh - which thematically resembled a European taboo-sex-lite film. I believe the story was a mum and her daughters in a love web with a man. The images were all in shadow; deliberate, a good and gentle art film.
Little Beirut showed unrest among the Lebanese émigré in France.
La Femme Seule is about a Togolese housegirl. One of the most special and original films I've ever seen. It's a story about a domestic worker that is entirely from her point of view, in her voice, with still pictures. It's in French with subtitles. To all Africans, film-lovers, and especially filmmakers: Watch this one. Trust me.
I wish I had seen many of the others. (That's what I get for being late.)
I saw Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority, remember? By now you ought to have hunted down and hosted a viewing party for this political film. There was a special high-school viewing of this film and discussion with the directors afterwards. A favourite scene shows footage of an Iraqi diva, maybe five years old, animatedly complaining about how the explosions have spoiled her things. Really. I want to see her again.
You also remember Goal Dreams, another poignant Palestine documentary, about hope against all hope? In this case, the hope was to build a Palestinian team and qualify for last year's FIFA World Cup. Little did the coach know that the biggest challenges would have nothing to do with playing ball.
Dam Akhii, or The Blood of My Brother (watch the trailer) was an Iraq death film. A man is killed, for no reason, like thousands and thousands, in Iraq. What is the family feeling, how are they living, how do they cope? That Iraqi communities have been presented with such horror is troubling. One of the surprising moments in watching this film was that a fellow audience person gasped as a ram was slaughtered in a ritual marking the man's death...where was her expression of horror when the man was slaughtered and buried, as his mother beat her chest and cried?
I Know I'm Not Alone is a crowd-pleasing documentary about a crowd pleaser. He's an American musician, a silly man, a deep man, who takes his music to the war-ravaged areas of the Middle East to meet, to greet, to laugh, to heal. He meets undergound Iraqi rap musicians who are inspired by the black struggle in America. He needs no prompting to start strumming his guitar and belting his sing-along song HaBiiBiiBii HaBiiBiiBii HaBiiBiiBii HaBiiBi.
Habibi means beloved, and is to Arab pop music what Corazón is to Spanish pop, or Love to English, that is, the most (over-)used word in the songs of the language. This film follows the adventures of an ambassador.
All these are very highly recommended. Of the documentaries I missed, I would have especially loved to see Linda and Ali, about a cross-cultural couple: Linda is from Arizona, while Ali is Qatari.
Coming Wednesday/Thursday.
For now, I have to get back to preparing for a job interview tomorrow at which I'm not likely to discuss Arab film; I think it will be about statistical data analysis and such. Interviews, finally: there's another on Friday with an electric power company. Yay! Wish me luck.
The filmmakers' panel included the completely captivating actress Meriam Serbah. I mean, I didn't watch Bled Number One, in which she starred, but in person, she had such a dominating strength of presence in a room in which many people had such great strength of presence.
I met Sufyan and Abdallah Omeish, the brothers who directed Occupation 101. They're nothing if not passionate, and it's amazing that such young people have done such important work.
There were also: Maya Sanbar, the très beautiful BBC documentary filmmaker and co-director of Goal Dreams, who not only knows how to make a great film, she knows how to fund and sell; Stephen Olsson, who directed the reportedly psychedelic Sound of the Soul, which was presented at the festival with Improvisations, a film about the oud, which was probably a delicious work.
I met Samir Nasr, who directed Seeds of Doubt (English title of the German Folgeschäden.) I have a few goals as an actress, one of them is to work with this man. I suspect he's that brilliant. He's making a film in Arabic next, and I'll someday soon be fluent in Arabic.
As a film festival volunteer, I met other volunteers, attendees, judges, directors, actors, and organizers. If there's a heaven, the people who organize a beautiful thing like this are definitely going there.
I was a little shy about handing out my newly-made headshot/acting-resume card.
I felt very beautiful in a small-world of very beautiful people. I felt very beautiful at the afterparty - dancing in the gorgeous dress (completely gorgeous, I tell you) that a friend in Sana'a had given me when she learned of my missing luggage. I was the stuff of dreams in that dress. I loved living in French and Arabic, learning about the human condition, being in a social condition, having a brand new boyfriend and many new friends...
AFF has organised several other film events following the wild popularity of the main event last year. How I would love to attend them all. In particular, it's co-presenting films at the 50th annual San Francisco International Film Festival.
I first wrote about some of the films (Occupation 101, A Stranger in Her Own City, Goal Dreams) in this September 2006 post.
I once met a friend of the guy who directed this vegetable animation called T-Day. I just love the filmmaking in T-Day, and though I can't say I understand Lior Chefetz's other films to date, he's clearly a star filmmaker in the making.
Very exciting update:
Found on the myspace page of Occupation 101. Join their myspace!!!
Don't forget to follow the links to read official synopses and watch the film trailers!!!
The Short Films
I already mentioned A Stranger in Her Own City, the Sana'ani film about a "tomboy" named Nedjmia. There were seventeen other short films at the festival, arranged into programmes of four to six films each. I missed most of the shorts - sad sad sad. I caught Yasmine's song, La Femme Seule, and bits of Beit min Lahm and Little Beirut.
Yasmine's Song is probably very similar to The Syrian Bride, an award-winning full-length feature film that I'll soon watch. Both are marriage stories focusing on the separation caused by the Israel-Palestine conflict. At the end of the short film, Yasmine and her lover are on opposite sides of a freshly-built fort-quality wall and the image is moving, to say the least.
I enjoyed being able to translate many of the film titles, including Beit Min Lahm - House of Flesh - which thematically resembled a European taboo-sex-lite film. I believe the story was a mum and her daughters in a love web with a man. The images were all in shadow; deliberate, a good and gentle art film.Little Beirut showed unrest among the Lebanese émigré in France.
La Femme Seule is about a Togolese housegirl. One of the most special and original films I've ever seen. It's a story about a domestic worker that is entirely from her point of view, in her voice, with still pictures. It's in French with subtitles. To all Africans, film-lovers, and especially filmmakers: Watch this one. Trust me.
I wish I had seen many of the others. (That's what I get for being late.)
The Not-Short Documentaries
I saw Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority, remember? By now you ought to have hunted down and hosted a viewing party for this political film. There was a special high-school viewing of this film and discussion with the directors afterwards. A favourite scene shows footage of an Iraqi diva, maybe five years old, animatedly complaining about how the explosions have spoiled her things. Really. I want to see her again.
You also remember Goal Dreams, another poignant Palestine documentary, about hope against all hope? In this case, the hope was to build a Palestinian team and qualify for last year's FIFA World Cup. Little did the coach know that the biggest challenges would have nothing to do with playing ball.
Dam Akhii, or The Blood of My Brother (watch the trailer) was an Iraq death film. A man is killed, for no reason, like thousands and thousands, in Iraq. What is the family feeling, how are they living, how do they cope? That Iraqi communities have been presented with such horror is troubling. One of the surprising moments in watching this film was that a fellow audience person gasped as a ram was slaughtered in a ritual marking the man's death...where was her expression of horror when the man was slaughtered and buried, as his mother beat her chest and cried?
I Know I'm Not Alone is a crowd-pleasing documentary about a crowd pleaser. He's an American musician, a silly man, a deep man, who takes his music to the war-ravaged areas of the Middle East to meet, to greet, to laugh, to heal. He meets undergound Iraqi rap musicians who are inspired by the black struggle in America. He needs no prompting to start strumming his guitar and belting his sing-along song HaBiiBiiBii HaBiiBiiBii HaBiiBiiBii HaBiiBi. Habibi means beloved, and is to Arab pop music what Corazón is to Spanish pop, or Love to English, that is, the most (over-)used word in the songs of the language. This film follows the adventures of an ambassador.
All these are very highly recommended. Of the documentaries I missed, I would have especially loved to see Linda and Ali, about a cross-cultural couple: Linda is from Arizona, while Ali is Qatari.
The Feature Films
Coming Wednesday/Thursday.
For now, I have to get back to preparing for a job interview tomorrow at which I'm not likely to discuss Arab film; I think it will be about statistical data analysis and such. Interviews, finally: there's another on Friday with an electric power company. Yay! Wish me luck.
The People
The filmmakers' panel included the completely captivating actress Meriam Serbah. I mean, I didn't watch Bled Number One, in which she starred, but in person, she had such a dominating strength of presence in a room in which many people had such great strength of presence.
I met Sufyan and Abdallah Omeish, the brothers who directed Occupation 101. They're nothing if not passionate, and it's amazing that such young people have done such important work.
There were also: Maya Sanbar, the très beautiful BBC documentary filmmaker and co-director of Goal Dreams, who not only knows how to make a great film, she knows how to fund and sell; Stephen Olsson, who directed the reportedly psychedelic Sound of the Soul, which was presented at the festival with Improvisations, a film about the oud, which was probably a delicious work.
I met Samir Nasr, who directed Seeds of Doubt (English title of the German Folgeschäden.) I have a few goals as an actress, one of them is to work with this man. I suspect he's that brilliant. He's making a film in Arabic next, and I'll someday soon be fluent in Arabic.
As a film festival volunteer, I met other volunteers, attendees, judges, directors, actors, and organizers. If there's a heaven, the people who organize a beautiful thing like this are definitely going there.
I was a little shy about handing out my newly-made headshot/acting-resume card.
I felt very beautiful in a small-world of very beautiful people. I felt very beautiful at the afterparty - dancing in the gorgeous dress (completely gorgeous, I tell you) that a friend in Sana'a had given me when she learned of my missing luggage. I was the stuff of dreams in that dress. I loved living in French and Arabic, learning about the human condition, being in a social condition, having a brand new boyfriend and many new friends...
More Film Links
AFF has organised several other film events following the wild popularity of the main event last year. How I would love to attend them all. In particular, it's co-presenting films at the 50th annual San Francisco International Film Festival.
I first wrote about some of the films (Occupation 101, A Stranger in Her Own City, Goal Dreams) in this September 2006 post.
I once met a friend of the guy who directed this vegetable animation called T-Day. I just love the filmmaking in T-Day, and though I can't say I understand Lior Chefetz's other films to date, he's clearly a star filmmaker in the making.
Very exciting update:
Found on the myspace page of Occupation 101. Join their myspace!!!
Friday, March 09, 2007
I hate _
music
I haven't been depressed since I got here, six months ago.
Today and yesterday I've been choking with rage. I won't write why on the internet, not today. I just want to go to sleep and not deal with it. I've considered chugging some wine or cough syrup.
Then I found this site:
Two minutes later, I'm sharing the link here and maybe I'm ready to pick myself up and breathe.
I haven't been depressed since I got here, six months ago.
Today and yesterday I've been choking with rage. I won't write why on the internet, not today. I just want to go to sleep and not deal with it. I've considered chugging some wine or cough syrup.
Then I found this site:
Two minutes later, I'm sharing the link here and maybe I'm ready to pick myself up and breathe.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Hermès, schmermès. Buy this scarf.
music
I'm knitting.
Why? I signed up to do a local playreading (in Oakland, tomorrow.) My character is a librarian named Joan, who knits throughout the short play. I could fake-knit on stage, but OF COURSE I drove to Michael's before rehearsal one day and bought some conspicous gold-coloured knitting needles, some yarn and a beginners kit a helpful attendant picked out for me, which includes a how-to-knit book with pictures.
The basics are easy, I've been back to Michael's for more yarn, including a different colour to pattern it, and now the knitting has grown to about 40% of a scarf.
Just now I picked it up to continue and exclaimed "God, it's beautiful." It occured to me that I had more than a stage-prop on my hands, I had a scarf in the making.
First thought: give it to Raj, but he's a man who hasn't learned to wear pink yet. So I'm going to sell it.
You should buy it. See sidebar on the right for Google Checkout button. I'll ship no sooner than a week from today, after it's completed, insha'Allah.
I'm knitting.
Why? I signed up to do a local playreading (in Oakland, tomorrow.) My character is a librarian named Joan, who knits throughout the short play. I could fake-knit on stage, but OF COURSE I drove to Michael's before rehearsal one day and bought some conspicous gold-coloured knitting needles, some yarn and a beginners kit a helpful attendant picked out for me, which includes a how-to-knit book with pictures.
The basics are easy, I've been back to Michael's for more yarn, including a different colour to pattern it, and now the knitting has grown to about 40% of a scarf.
Just now I picked it up to continue and exclaimed "God, it's beautiful." It occured to me that I had more than a stage-prop on my hands, I had a scarf in the making.
First thought: give it to Raj, but he's a man who hasn't learned to wear pink yet. So I'm going to sell it.
You should buy it. See sidebar on the right for Google Checkout button. I'll ship no sooner than a week from today, after it's completed, insha'Allah.
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