All those who want a quality education, say 'I'

I



So.
Two more days to my finals.

Have I learned anything new?
No.

Was my money for this semester well spent?
No.

Have I done all the necessary research for my classes and tests?
Yes.

What now?

Three more days!

It's not the media. It's you.

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I write the post with monotheistic faiths in mind, but I refer to Islam because I am a Muslim and can relate to it better than other religions.
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I recently met with someone helping a friend on a spiritual search who thought coming to the Middle East would be a good place to learn about Islam and immerse herself in the Arab culture.

Unfortunately, due to the double standards that I've personally seen being practiced in this country and several other neighbouring countries, the Arabian Peninsula is perhaps not one of the better places to learn about Islam, or see it in action firsthand.
Why, you may ask? Because it's not Islam that's being observed here. It's HISlam.

People over take it upon themselves to be 'keepers of the faith' merely because of the geographical significance of the Middle East in this religion (and other monotheistic faiths). This is true for many Muslims in the region, despite their cultural background, and this breeds a vicious cycle of arrogance and the mindset that:

"I live in the Middle East, so whatever I know about Islam MUST be right and therefore I must enforce MY understanding of it whenever it suits me best."

As always, there are exceptions.

But do most of us realise the implications of our own skewed visions of Islam have on forming the general opinion towards Muslims on a global scale?

Being a Muslim, I understand the responsibility of being a spokesperson the faith I follow, especially when media today portrays such a horrid picture of most religions.

(I dislike it when people assume that Islam is the only religion under attack. Granted, there may be more hatred, for lack of a better word, geared at our religion in light of what is actually happening across the globe today.)

People who follow any belief system are subject to being called evangelistic sheep who aimlessly and blindly follow a book that was written centuries before their time, especially by those who have no faith of their own to follow.

I don't blame the latter.

Think about it, we're each ambassadors of our families, country, culture and faith. Little munchkin representatives of the whole doughnut, if you will.

What are we doing to show them the true essence of our religion?

I'll be the first to admit that I don't follow this principle. I'm a Muslim but nobody could tell just by looking at me, my actions, and even by reading a few of my other blog posts. In high school, younger kids found it hard to believe that I even was a Muslim. But see, it's not just me that's the problem. It's the culmination of those of us who aren’t doing the right thing as a religious society that forms the consensus.

And how are we, as individuals, trying to change those negative stereotypes created not just by the media, but by our own ignorance and lack of drive to do anything about it?

It's so convenient to sit down on our couches and get exposed to ideas and images of religion that are laughed at by the rest of the world.

I'm so sick of people blaming the damn media for everything.

"Media's glamourising violence."
"More teens are sexually active thanks to the media."
"Media makes fun of my race."
"I somehow managed to simultaneously gain weight and shrink my brain's mental capacity because I watch too much tv."
"Music drove my son to suicide."

While there may be a link with media in the aforementioned examples, we're (by we're I mean society as a whole, and does not pertain to Muslims only.) also to blame for the overall decline of decency and values in society. Our morals are deteriorating, and this statement holds true no matter where you live, what you do, what you watch, hear, see or what you believe in.

But are you going to blame the media, which, by the way, IS a social construct and not some otherworldly being, for ruining your life?

Is that an excuse for our own laziness?

iMeme, you meme, we all meme

This is called 50 FIRST REACTIONS. Type what comes to your mind FIRST whenever you see these 50 words. Don't think and don't go back and change. Doesn't matter how random it is, just type it!

Consider yourself tagged if you are reading this!


1. Beer: looks like piss.

2. Food: Love

3. Relationships: 80's love ballads (I'm listening to Pat Benatar RIGHT NOW)

4. Your Crush: Lilt Pineapple Grapefruit Crush!

5. Power Rangers: Red

6. Life: Lhjunkie

7. The President: [Student Council] won because he has a penis Sonovva...

8. Yummy: Nerds

9. Cars: Jay Leno [y'know...cos of the movie. I haven't even watched it]

10. Movies: 3-D glasses

11. Halloween: has forever been ruined.

12. Sex: education

13. Religion: grounding

14. Hate: *draws a blank* for once.

15. Fear: choking on a glow in the dark star and falling off a bridge.

16. Marriage: OH.GOD.MY.DISTANT.RELATIVES.BETTER.NOT.BE.TRYING.TO.SET.ME.UP.WITH.SOME.VILLAGE.BOY.

17. Blondes: dye

18. Slippers: havaianas

19. Shoes: 47

20. Asians: Natalie

21. Pastime: using my buckteeth to pierce holes in water bottle caps. So far two.

22. One night stand: Bed-side table

23. My cell Phone: charging

24. Smoke: alveoli

25. Fantasy: warning

26. College: red-tape

27. High school life: Mrs Ibrahim

28. Pajamas: leave elastic marks on your body [Only chubby people will understand]

29. Stars: gas

30. Center: It's centre.

31. Alcohol: mouthwash

32. The word love: shave my legs

33. Friends: are push up bras

34. Money: fees

35. Heartache: gives you a migraine.

36. Time: clock

37. Divorce: Separation of Church and State

38. Dogs: Alpha

39. Undies: SCHMUNDERPANTS

40. Parents: Babies

41. Babies: David Bowie

42. Ex:trapolate

43. Song: A Hundred Kisses

44. Color: colour without a 'u'?

45. Weddings: commitment.

46. Pizza: ground beef, chilli and pineapples.

47. Hangout: Can be avoided with appropriate undergarments.

48. Rest: room

49. Goal: plan

50. Inspiration: courage

I hate summer holidays.

Because I eat uncontrollably and complain when I gain five kilograms and have my waist size increase by three inches.

Cellulite-y bingo wings look good on no one.

Luckily I have a busy summer semester scheduled for me, consisting of six straight hours of international relations based theory to keep me from binging.

While I may not have a thick layer of subcutaneous fat (yet), I'm sure all my vital organs are fighting for the day I stop eating burgers just to prove a Goddamn point.


The fun starts in TWO WEEKS, BABY!


Sigh. All my fatty tissue gets in the way of my thinking.

I've been procrastinating and now I feel like jelly

For those of you I spam on a daily basis on Twitter, you would know that this week is finals week.

'Ah, one more week to freedom,' you think. Sadly, you couldn't be more wrong. Yours truly has enrolled in summer courses, like the idiot she is.

She gets perverse pleasure from clicking on online banners which require her to press a big red button so she can do 'push ups' faster than the computer. She also hates it when she speaks in third person.

But she digresses.

I'm supposed to be studying, but judging from the fact that I write this post in the wee hours of the morning, I think it's safe to say that I haven't been living up to my self proclaimed geek status.

In fact, I've been doing everything but. And have been documenting it, too.


The day before my CIT for Business and Fundamentals of news exam, I decide to treat myself to a trip to the salon. I cut my hair, too. Have a look at the before and after pictures:

Before.

Okay, fine. That picture isn't entirely accurate.


I was wearing a wig.


Once I left the salon, I noticed an optician store nearby that was having a 70% sale. I bought two pairs of glasses. They look exactly like the other three pairs I own. I don't have pictures yet because they're still at the store getting fitted with my prescription lenses. YAY!


Upon reaching home and before taking my 'After' picture, I decided to embark on a little experiment. I dyed my hair. By Myself. Less than 24 hours before my final. Below are a few pictures.

The colour of the hair dye scared the living daylights out of me at first.

It was upon application that I realised that it takes time to develop [Ah! So THAT'S why it's called 'developing cream' ] and darken.

And voila!
You can barely see the difference in hair colour.

What a wonderful way to procrastinate.

But wait, I wasn't ready to start studying just yet. I still had to paint my nails a grotesque colour. I can't remember the last time I did them at home. Fortunately, I don't have a picture of my gorilla hands with frosted (ew) nails.


So it was roughly 10PM when I decided to start studying. Needless to say I had a(n almost) sleepless night. I take down stupid notes when I'm sleep deprived.






I do realise that this post wasn't as witty as it was in my head. (What, really?! I couldn't stop giggling while typing it out)
Also, I see red squiggly lines under a lot of words in this post. I couldn't be arsed to change it. I will tomorrow, though.

NIN Interview

I am swooning over the awesomeness that is Trent Reznor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBxhxVIiwaA