Mid-Week Pick me up

Last week a group of people and I were talking about how Muslims are portrayed in the Media humorously and what is and isn't tasteful. Someone brought up The Simpsons episode "Mypods and Boomsticks." It's about a Jordanian boy named Bashir, whose family recently moved to Springfield. Homer's friends convince Homer that the Bashir's family is a terrorist and he sets out to investigate.

I just watched it and thought it was pretty funny and wanted to share it in case you haven't seen it. It's worth a watch. Let me know what you think. :) click HERE to check it out.

El oh el!

Laughing is refreshing. It's fun to do. It's a helluva lot better than sulking.

Occasionally me and Chuckle have laughing fests. I'll laugh about something, she'll laugh at my distinctive laugh. And next thing you know, we have tears streaming down our face and we're holding the sides of our stomachs from pain.

We also used to lie down next to each other, in an upside down position, and talk to one another. The way your mouth looks in this position, while you talk, used to crack us up! It just looked so dumb and funny to see your mouth move from an upside down angle.





So after watching the recent CNN special on "Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door", I was in a state of panic and worry and disgust and anger and just an overall upset mood. If you haven't watched it or didn't hear about it, it's basically about the city of Mursfreesboro, Tennessee, enraged that the Muslim residents of the city decided on relocating and constructing their mosque to a larger space. There were many people for and OBVIOUSLY against the building of the mosque and many protests over it. So much controversy surrounded it that it was taken to court. Just a lot of tension, bigotry, and ignorance in the city of Mursfreesboro. It was very disheartening to watch and take in.

However I got an email today from one of our former authors, Artistic Logic, that has kept me laughing all day. Instead of getting upset and outraged, Artistic Logic, more or less, pointed out the ridiculous things people say, ludicrous things people do, and even the outrageous things people wear. Not to mention the lack of knowledge people have about a lot of things these days, particularly that of Islam and Muslims. Don't get me wrong, the special presented by CNN is a very serious issue and impacts many people, myself included. And I applaud CNN for taking the initiative and raising awareness about this. But after some time, if you really look back on it, and listen to some of the stuff and watch the actions of people, it really makes you guffaw at it all.

While talking about subject and predicate parts of a sentence with my class, I randomly thought of it, and I suppressed a giggle. And then again when I was yelling at my students for shouting out during instruction, I had to force the smile away that was creeping up on my lips. And while driving home from work, I was grinning from ear to ear, while thinking about it.

I dont know about you, but I just love to laugh. I feel like my whole day was much nicer cause of that email that had me hooting since dawn.

Not to mention that LOL-ing is much more fun and better,then say, FML-ing.

I love you Mommy

Every once in a while you run into something where a stranger bares their soul for the world. And then this stranger will touch something deep inside us. Inspire us. And cause a reaction to take place.

And it comes in a lot of forms.

And it can come on youtube.

And it can be from people like 15 year old Brittany whose mother is diagnosed with Alzheimers

My grandmother had dementia as well. I watched dementia take my grandmother away before she was even gone.

And while I've been too scared to confirm it, I know that the likelihood of this disease can increase through genetics. That is not a possibility I want to be faced with when I look at my own mother.

What Brittany is doing, is something I'm too scared to even find out if I have the strength to handle.

This young woman inspired another. A 13 year old girl in another powerful and touching video on youtube. And the title of her video is dedicated to her inspiration, Stay strong, Brittany.

To be honest, I don't know who actually started this. At first I thought it was just these two gals, then I clicked on another video that looked similar and I felt like I opened the flood gates. God knows how many videos by different individuals, mostly teenagers, some even telling their deepest darkest secrets and most of them ending with a positive note to live on.

In the half hour I watched the videos I tried making my way to the video that started the 'tumblr secrets' videos. Then I remembered I had life and death exams this week and stopped. Watching some felt like a slap to my face, WAKE UP. LOOK AT THE THINGS PEOPLE ARE GOING THROUGH AROUND YOU.

Just a reminder, what you see isn't always what reality is

CC out

The Hermit Kingdom

Disclaimer:This post is all over the place, so bear with me.

The only thing I've ever known about Korea and the Korean people are they make some interesting dramas that Controlled Chaos likes to watch/talk about.

And occasionally I'll join her and watch them too.

That's pretty sad, isn't it?

(My knowledge of the place is sad,not the fact that I watch the dramas.)

My friend, M, recently told me about a documentary about North Korea. Some of the stuff that she was talking about just seemed unrealistic and downright primitive that I had to watch the documentary myself.

So that's what I did this past weekend.

I watched the documentary National Geographic: Inside North Korea, reported by Lisa Ling.

A doctor from Nepal, Dr. Ruetz, was traveling to North Korea to perform cataract eye surgery on approximately 1000 inhabitants of North Korea. He was going treat cataracts of people from the age range of 5-70. All in one week. Lisa Ling joined this doctor, under the ruse of working for the medical team and filming the surgeries. Along with filming the surgeries she was also able to capture, interview, and document the life of people in North Korea.

North Korea is a communist country and is currently under the rule of Kim Jong Il. It is known as the "Hermit Kingdom", because of the government's successful attempt at keeping out anything foreign and allowing anything foreign to come in. The internet is banned. Cell phones are banned. And North Koreans teach their children to hate Americans and America. In the documentary, we see a mother singing a nursery rhyme with her young daughter that goes something like " The pathetic Americans kneel on the ground. They beg for mercy....." The country is basically isolated from the outside world. And Americans are not welcomed. North Koreans still blame America for the divide between North and South Korea. During her time there, Lisa Ling was the one and only American in the whole country.

People worship Kim Jong Il in a god-like way, that it's frightening. After successfully completing 1000+ cataract surgeries, the doctor that performed it was not thanked once. Instead each patient, ran to a picture of Kim Jong Il, praised him, thanked him, and vowed to do anything that he wanted them to do, and continuously talked about how indebted they are to him. I know a large part of it is due to fear. Many people fear the government, the soldiers, and fear for their lives and their family's lives and everything that at stake if they say anything against the ruler.

But the immense gratitude and loyalty that some people show their ruler makes you question and wonder sometimes what they are really feeling.One government minder that was escorting Ling and her camera crew around was extremely offended when one of the photographers laid on the ground in order to capture the full image of a statue depicting the "great" leader. He demanded that the photographer leave the country the next day.


What surprised me the post about the documentary (besides my lack of awareness) was how blinded, both literally and figuratively, the people of North Korea are. They have been brain washed to a remarkable extent that when questioned whether Kim Jong Il could do any wrong in their eyes, many stared baffle eyed at Lisa Ling, and said "We dont quite understand your question." Because in their eyes, he could do know wrong. The question made no sense to them. And I am well aware that there is only so much that they can do for themselves without putting their lives in danger. And when you are only being fed one thing over and over and over, after a certain period of time you become immune and accustomed to it. It becomes your life. Your only chance at survival, sometimes, is to accept it.

This documentary was filmed four years ago in 2006. The state of North Korea now? Probably still the same.

So as not to make this post super long, I just want to end here by saying that it's most peculiar that people are so quick to point fingers and accuse others of oppression/being oppressed. It makes one wonder why those same people dont raise more awareness of things like this, governments like this, rulers like this, that openly and belligerently restrict and suppress their people.


P.S. You can watch the full documentary here:

Is Ignorance Really Bliss?

You will always have racist/prejudiced/hateful people in the world. No matter how much a group of people will try to prove themselves against a stereotype or how much they will try to teach people about themselves, their beliefs, and their culture, there will always be that one group of ignorant individuals that refuse to accept it.There will always be that one Caucasian that abhors African Americans. Or that one U.S. veteran who cannot stand the Japanese. Or that one Black panther that hates the White man. Or that one man who thinks that women should stay at home and cook and clean. Or that one group of people who think that Native American Indians should go back to where they came from. Or the group of people who think that all Mexican immigrants should learn to speak English.

And while most racist bigots keep their thoughts to themselves and only express it to certain people, you still have your fair share that explicitly state and talk about how much they hate a group of people.

Most of, if not all, the time, these thoughts and opinions sound extremely ignorant and only show the lack of education people are willing to seek for themselves because they are so blinded by their hateful thoughts.


The latest act of hate: A Church in Gainesville, Florida is planning to burn the Qu'ran, the holy book of Islam, on the 9th anniversary of September 11. They are honoring and remembering the victims of 9/11 by burning the holy book and declaring Islam, to be "religion of the devil".

(click on the picture for the full story)

I dont know how many times that Muslims will have to say time and time again, that the acts that were carried out on September 11th were not what Islam teaches. I dont know how many times Muslims have to defend themselves because of a horrendous act that was carried out by a group of people that claimed to be Muslims and were following what Islam told them to. I dont know how many times Muslims will have to say that what happened on 9/11 had nothing to do with Islam. I dont know how many times Muslilms will have to face the backlash of the acts that were carried out that day. I dont know when the world will accept Islam as a religion of peace and the actions of Muslims do not necessarily reflect the teachings of Islam.


I do know that a time should come where Muslims should stop having to do/say these things. And the rest of the world, the non-Muslims, should take the initiative and go out and learn these things on their own, so they can truly be able to understand the practices of Islam and what it really teaches.

i kill you!

"So you're a terrorist?" "Yes. I'm a terrorist" "What kind of terrorist?" "....A terrifying terrorist...Are you scared?" "Not really, No" .... "God dammit! ...Oh oh I mean, Allah Dammit."

Recognize the lines? If you're an avid comedy fan, you'll recognize them from Jeff Dunham's stand-up comedy act with "Achmed the dead terrorist"

The first time I watched the act on youtube, it wasn't hard to guess that the puppet named Ahmed (Achmed) is supposed to be a Muslim. And how did I feel about this supposed puppet Muslim being portrayed as 'the dead terrorist'? I don't really know, I was too busy laughing. The comedy act was funny, like LOL kinda funny. I didn't take offense it, nor did any of the Muslims who my brothers and I shared the video with.

Muslims, if you are one, you know this very well through you local college's MSA skit, make fun of themselves all the time. And we see others making fun of us, alot actually. Some are taken in the LOL manner like above, others can cause us to cringe and become uncomfortable.

But some jokes, regardless of whether they're funny or how liberal a Muslim is, sits in an uncomfortable manner, at the very least.

As some of you know, facial depictions especially of all the Prophets and of God are not allowed in Islam. Period.

But only when a kind of depiction of the last Prophet, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) i.e. the Prophet of Islam, comes out that you may notice noise being made.

Clear point and case, South Park's creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, were given a warning by a group called Muslim Revolution, to be careful or they might end up well...dead. They wrote in their online post , " This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them."
The crime? The Prophet was shown in one of their episodes buttt mindful of Islam's strict position on that, they kept him concealed in a bear suit or a U-Haul truck.

In comes Muslim Revolution's threat or umm... warning . Comedy Central decides better safe and happy. So on a new episode with the depiction of the Prophet they placed the word CENSORED to block the original concealment of the Prophet (the bear suit) and even censor any mention of his name and even some dialogues.

And the world is in Uproar!

Muslim Revolution faces the wrath of South Park's fans who hack their website and have it redirected to a picture that the fans know Muslim Rev's groupie will find offensive.

Jon Stewart sings an entire song dedicated solely to Muslim Revolution consisting of the words: Go bleeep Yourselves!!

(FYI I would die from happiness if Jon Stewart sang a song just for me, just a nice one)

Islam haters find themselves refueled, rearmed, and set out to make their own noise on forums and through comments.

"Hey MUSLIMS, WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?"

Well if you really wanna ask it like that, the answer would be you. But besides that lemme answer some of you questions.

"Chrisitians and Jews are made fun of all the time. So why do you think you are the exception?!"

No we don't think we're the exception. Like I said earlier, there are more than plenty of jokes out and about on Muslims and Arabs.

And we're made fun of and mocked even when it's not a comedic setting (sigh...Hollywood).

But noise erupts when the Prophet is mocked. Here's what it is: Jesus, Moses, Ibrahim etc. (peace be upon them all) while there may be some discrepancies with our beliefs in them, we respect them, we love them, we honor them.

We would not, should not, and could not mock them. When we see shows mocking them (in America) it doesn't settle well with us, but not much is said. Generally America is a Christian country and this is what America's mainly Christian population chooses to allow. Yes I know, separation of Church and State. But God Bless America.

And here we come, where facial depictions aren't even allowed of our own Prophet. Descriptions of him are only through words.

Mocking that is done on Jesus (and I could be wrong here) may also have less of an effect because Christianity has religious pictures and depictions of him everywhere.

While we, don't dare. So not only do we see a depiction of him that we have clearly said NO to, but a mocking one. And you expect a Muslim to be okay with that?

Sorry. That's enough to get a Muslim pissed off.

Enough to get annoyed but would Not excuse a Muslim to take a life or react destructively . The latter half, some Muslims, who are further egged on, turn deaf, dumb and blind to.


"Is that what your REligion reaALly teAches yOu? VIOLENCE? kIlL eveRy peRsoN that upSets You?"

"Um. No it really doesn't. Assuming what Muslim Revolution did was just a warning. It was still messed up. Even the time the Danish cartoons depicted the Prophet, some Muslims acted out violently from anger, keeping in mind there's more than 1.5 billion Muslims out of a 6.7 billion world population, there's a lot more of us that didn't act from that anger.

Some people, like me sit and wonder what would the Prophet had told us to do. Definitely not go and randomly burn buildings and cause chaos or destruction to retaliate against ignorance.

I've heard people say some pretty disgusting stuff to my face or indirectly to me about my beliefs or my Prophet and sure I've wanted to punch people really, really hard. But I don't. Because that's what my religion DID teach me.
It's told me again, and again, and again, and sometimes even to my deaf ears not to act out in anger.

Did you know that extreme anger is even considered unlawful in Islam?

Oh and if I ever do slip, it's not because I've been taught violence through my religion."


So you're probably really pissed of with South Park too? You're probably applauding that radical website?

Uhh Actually no. I actually appreciated the creators attempts at, in their own funny way, trying to adhere to Islam's prohibition against depicting the Prophet. I'm not going to applaud them but I did appreciate it.

And notice that those other times when the depiction was made, it never made it to the media? Not that any of it makes it okay for anyone to publicly mock prominent figures of another's religion. (But we're not here to address that).
But no, I don't applaud the website. Posting up a picture of a dead man and using that as a 'warning' is disgusting and wrong. And as Snake Charmer points out also, that pisses many Muslims out even more.

Anyways, those are my two cents in a 100 dollar bill. Comments, questions are welcome. And on a side note, I apologize for not giving better insight into the whole thing. I don't watch South Park and nor am I ever planning on it. So I have no idea what happened in the episodes in exact details. Nor am I an expert in any form.

Using another's words, it's an unfortunate situation and we can't enforce what is said about Islam but can voice our concerns. "In any case, in the end, it comes down to the problems associated with the creation of mass media in general, and things can & potentially will get much worse as a result of it"

CC, out.


i kill you! From Achmed the dead terrorist:

What if ??

I was watching the trailer for Adam and it really got me thinking. Actually I was talking to a friend about it.

The question: What if?

What if you went against all odds and made the decision to be with someone you love even though everyone says he's not right for you?

What if you decided to go into a career path that no one was supporting you through because they thought you could do better?

What if you finally quit the job you hate and pursued your wildest dream?

What if you spent all your savings and finally took that vacation you've always wanted?

Fear.

It's whats stopping all of us from leaping into the unknown. From jumping into what we've always wanted to do but have always been afraid of the question... what if it doesn't work out?

But what if it does?!? The last thing I want on my conscious for the rest of my life is questioning my decision and always asking myself what if it did work out? Where would I be then?

The World is Never Ending

I think I'm obsessed. Honestly, I am. With traveling. It's like I have a traveler's itch. I've been back from my ventures across the Middle East for only 3-4 months now and I'm ready to fly out somewhere else.

So I bought the Lonely Planet Europe on a Shoestring. This book is over 1,000 pages of pure amazingness. I asked my parents if I could get permission to go backpacking across Europe for my college graduation. They would pay for my flight and I would pay for everything else. My mom gave me permission so long as she knew my completely itinerary. Then my dad just last week told me some old Asian fable at the dinner table about this man dreaming about something that would never be. Something about goats, milk, and land. I think he was trying to hint something at me but I'm currently choosing to ignore it.

Anyhow here's the list of countries I want to tackle at least: UK, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, and Turkey.

I keep highlighting places I'll go and the buses I'll take from country to country. I should probably stop but I can't help it.

A girl can dream can't she?

In other news...I started reading graphic novels. My sisters and I discovered a plethora of them at the library and ended up borrowing about 10 all together. We're crazy. Ohh and we watched the movie 'Up' which was one of the cutest movies ever. When the wife died in the beginining I was so upset that I almost stopped watching it.

Anyhow, this is random but I came across this awesome video on this website I absolutely LOVE.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Yay or Nay??

First things first, HAPPY EID EVERYONE!!!!!!

May God bless us all with many more great eids insh'Allah (God willing) Ameen.

Ok so I watched this video and had a question for all of you, that someone brought up in the comments.
There's this guy that tackles a robber to the ground. And Kudos to him.
But then this lady comes over and kicks the robber.
Do you think what she did was okay?
I'm not asking whether or not she should be arrested for kicking the guy (but you can include your opinion if you want to share)
I'm asking whether you think what she did was fine or whether you think it was wrong?

Okay yeah. Her kick is pretty weak. But if it was a much stronger, painful kick, would that change your decision???

Yay or Nay?

All of the Above

You know those people that love and adore animals?

Well, I'm not one of them.

I don't despise them or anything like that. And I'm not some animal hater.

I'm just scared of them and I really don't have the best time with them. (Yes, I know. I seem to be scared of everything. Sometimes I feel like I'm the crazy aunt from A Series of Unfortunate Events that wouldn't leave her house because she was terrified of the world. Or something of that nature.)

One of the first things we did when we got to New York was go to the Bronx zoo. I was not amused. I wanted to leave before we even parked the car. Everyone else was fascinated with a camel that just stood there and pooped.

Was I missing something?

And when walking to middle school everyday, stray dogs got a real kick out of chasing my sister,Chuckle, and me. One day while being pursued by one, my sister made a prayer to God, begging for the dog to get hit by a car (My sister is not cruel, she was just terrified and the pit bull would not relent).

Her prayer was answered. Subhan'Allah.

Today when the elevator door opened, and two of my friends tried to get on, a blind man with his guide dog, the size of a bear, walked out. Mrs. Cullen, who is also afraid of dogs , pushed me in front of it, thinking that if it attacked, I should be the one that gets attacked first.

Idiot.

My uncle used to have this white cat. Name was Tiny. Supposedly if you put your legs up when she was around, she wouldn't bother you. I tried that all the time. It was a fail. She still came by me and brushed up against me.

Mrs. Cullen's sister, who lives in NYC, has a cat. Her names Anya. CC became BFF with her during our trip. She's a cute cat. If you like cats. She jumped on the bed while I was trying to sleep though. I tried to suck it up the first time she did it and not let it bother me.

But I just couldnt.

When she jumped on the bed the second time, I freaked out, jumped out of the bed, went into the living room and told Mrs. Cullen that I would sleep in the bathroom if I had to. Mrs. Cullen called me a drama queen and locked Anya out of the room. Score 1 for me. (Even though, I'm sure CC and Mrs. Cullen would have preferred the cat over me)


We pet sat for my uncle once. Either that or they let us have the bird. The bird chirped all night. My mom felt sorry for it, and let it loose. I thought we were doing it a favor, until everyone said that it was probably one of those birds that wasn't used to the "wild". Whoops.

My sister had guppies. We didnt know what to feed it. So we fed it rice. Poor guppies didnt survive a day at our house.

And when I was in high school, there was this stray cat that would return to our backyard because my mom fed it consistently. I was convinced that it was a reincarnated version of this one guy that had a crush on me. It used to just stare at me and follow my every move. Creepy.

I'm not a freak. I promise.

Basically the only animal I've ever been fond of and kind of adore is CC's cat. She's a cutie. Masha'Allah.

And the only reason that is, is because her cat doesn't like people and stays as far away from them as possible.





P.S. Something irrelevant I'd like to share: I'm currently obsessed with this song, All of the above. My sister, Mynah, is annoyed because apparently, I "play out" songs that she likes. Whatevs.

Because I have nothing better to talk about...

...here's some pointless thoughts:


I'm currently obsessed with this song by Rihanna and Lady Gaga.



I like some of Rihanna's songs (Silly Boy and Take a Bow) because they aren't filled with mushy crap that everyone seems to adore. The lyrics are funny. Point in case:
"You look so dumb right now"
"You're so ugly when you cry"
"Silly boy, Get out of my face"

I hate when babies cry. And not in that "Aww poor baby" kinda way, where I want to make them feel better. But more in a "Just shut up" kinda way.

I dont mind being bored at all. I would much rather be bored than be stressed.

I've never been so relieved to have something done or semi-done, like I was today.

I love summer vacation. It truly is the best part of teaching. I don't miss my kids. But I do miss two of my friends/colleagues though. The three of us have gotten pretty close in these past couple of months. And we always have really in-depth conversations about each of our faiths. Neither one of them follows an organized religion but their lives are so focused on their spirituality and their faith. Nothing else seems to matter and everything they do revolves around God. I just love that about them.

I had a horrible nightmare about my new classroom. The kids would not listen to me and they were running around the classroom like a bunch of animals.

I like getting tanned. It makes me feel exotic.

My phone is a piece of crap. I spilled apple juice on it and now it keeps hanging up on people.

You know that feeling you get when you get treated like crap by someone you look up to and respect a great deal? Well, I've had that feeling for the past couple of days now. I'm trying to brush it off, but I cant.

I've been reading this one book for about a month now. And I've never taken that long of a time to read any book. I don't think it's me. I think its the book. But I have to finish it.

I had gold eyeshadow on today and everyone said that it made me look anemic.

For some reason a lot of people in my family don't like to talk about others in the family being pregnant. I don't know if it's like this with other families but I will never understand why.

Michael Jackson's death was a huge shocker. I really thought my friend and I were the first people to hear about it and I wanted to be the first one to break the news to others. That didnt work.

M.J's funeral is probably going to be as big, if not bigger, than Princess Dianas was.

I'm going to NYC in three days. (Insha'Allah)

I asked my sisters to help me pack for my trip (Insha'Allah) and they kept telling me to wear things that were "outside of the box" and nothing "teachery". And everything I suggested they screamed "No!" to.

This is my first plane ride.

And I'm terrified.

So So So SOO

FINALS ARE DONE!!!

And. And . And ANDDD I'm graduating!
Actually a couple of the authors are/will be graduating this year. So WE-irdddd

(F.Y.I That's my new way of saying weird. I feel as though you get the most out of the word when you say it that way...You're thinking that I'm weird, aren't you? Don't be thinking I'm all We irddd until you be trying it. Shoot)

So of course one of the first things I do is come to blog. But I have nothing blog about!
I'm a blogger FAIL!

Oh FAIL!
That reminds me of this really funny, fail jumping jacks video. They were jumping, but they wern't doing the jacks part. Or they were doing the jacks, without the jumping. (And yes, I am ignoring the other thing the word fail is reminding about. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm not telling you. Because if I tell you, I'm not ignoring it.)

Um. How about I just show you the video? Promise it's funny. In a sad way.




Oh and there's this other fail video that's more shocking then funny. Like I would just DIE if I were in that situation. Well...at least pretend to die. You will be shocked. Unless you've seen it. In which case, you'll just find it WE irddd.



And here's a jingle bell fail (Actually it's not a fail video. But we can pretend). I don't know if you'll find it funny unless you're south asian. Unless maybe if you knew Indians really well and knew what Bhangra music was.



It's not that funny the first time, but it gets funnier every time. I would know since I played it at least 8 times while cramming for my final.I blame Simply Me for all my lost time...
........
.................. AHHH !!! I SAID IT! I SAID it ! So much for ignoring IT! I failed at studying and doing even remotely well on that final. And all these STUPID people kept coming out of the final saying, "OH it was easy" .
OH Screw YOU and your La di da , I'm so smart..blah blah blah. Go die happy somewhere.

And no it didn't help to find out that my professor left his microphone on while using the bathroom and everyone who was still taking the final heard every detail. (Actually this has happened to me before with another Professor). Which is also WE irdd since normally we can't even hear what he's saying when he's speaking INTO the microphone.

And did you know that around every exam cram time I start tackling a philosophical dilemma? The last time, I was trying to decide which of my friends would be the best contestants for the show, The Amazing Race. I decided on Mrs. Cullen and Simply Me.

This time I couldn't figure out if Peter (NBC tv show Heroes) and I would make a good couple. And we could save the world together!

I wish we could, but sadly I decided that we couldn't. Our personalities wouldn't hit it off. He's too broody.
But the real Milo Ventimiglia doesn't drink alcohol. And I don't drink alcohol since it's forbidden to drink in Islam. So maybe.. Milo?
But I don't know Milo, and I don't like him. But I know Peter and I like Peter. Not some random dude named Milo something.
So annoying.

WHY?!


P.S. Since I'm done for now, I'll be making my way around to your blog. Yay! You may faint from happiness.

Carry on Singin'

Over the past couple of weeks, approximately a billion people have told me that I'm a passive person.

Pushover.

People pleaser.

Someone who can never say No to others.

Etc.

So, I have only one thing to say to all of them:

DUH!


Do you think I'm stupid and don't realize this?

(Don't answer that. It was a rhetorical question)

I think I know myself better than anyone else. So obviously I already know that I can't say "No" to people.

(Unless you're like super close to me, in which case, you can't get a favor/question out before I say no.)

The reason for this could probably be traced back to my elementary days. In second grade I had a bully by the name of Ikeisha. (Her name now reminds me of Ikea) And she was SO mean to me. Physically and emotionally.

She used to always make me do her spelling tests. We used to switch papers. She would take mine, and I would take hers. That way neither one of us wouldn't look like we were not working. You would think she would try to help me out just a little by writing the words that she knew how to spell on my spelling test. Nope. At the end of the spelling test, I would have to rush and write down all of my words too while the teacher collected everyone's papers. I was basically stuck doing two spelling tests.

Whenever we had snacks, I had to give her mine.

She shared a piece of gum that was in her mouth with another girl. I gave them a disgusted look. And later had to pay the price for that look.


One time the teacher asked us who would like to switch group seating, and I was the first one to shoot my hand up. I did not want to sit by her anymore. She sent me a threatening note after that.

She punched me in the stomach and arm this one time. And I started crying. When the teacher asked me what was wrong, I said the boy that sits next to us hit me. Poor guy.

When third grade rolled around, I talked myself into trying to stand up to her. And told myself I wouldn't take ANY CRAP from her.

To my luck, she transferred schools.

I don't even know why I was scared of her. I'm sure I could've taken her down.

And I'm not writing this post to bash on her. Nor am I looking for any sympathy.

I'm just trying to figure myself out.

I guess.

And all this bullying talk made me want to share this video with you all.(A video that I've wanted to share for a long while) Andrew Johnston competed on the British version of "America's Got Talent" also known as "Britain's got Talent". (Go figure)In school, he got teased because of the songs he chose to sing and what not. When asked how he dealt with it, he said, I just "Carried on singin' ".

He has such an awesome voice.

It gives me shivers.

Anywho, check it out :D

Dance Around the World

To those of you who care (which is probably no one) I am sidetracking from my usual Student Teaching post..

Currently all of us Symphonic-discord authors are overwhelmed and stressed to the max with upcoming finals and presentations and papers and endless last minute assignments that professors like to torture us with. How we are going to survive the next two weeks, I have no idea.

Most of us get depressed. Some have anxiety attacks. And I want to say all of us even shed a tear or two (million).

It gets that crazy around finals and exam time.

Sigh.

One way I relieve stress is by watching the following video that my sister shared with me. It's a video called "Where the Hell is Matt?". It was put together by a couple of people. And it's about a guy named Matt who traveled to 42 countries in 14 months. And he takes (or someone else does, I think) a video of himself dancing in each place he's visited. It's so cute to watch. So yeah, just watch it..so you know what I'm talking about it.

(I hope everyone hasn't watched it already. Because I always end up being the last one to watch these youtube videos.)

So when I'm down in the dumps and freaking out about my final portfolio presentation or exams, I watch this.

(But it also makes me envious of Matt, because he's been to 42 freaking countries!!!)

(And I love the song too. It's called "Praan", or "Stream of Life". But I have no idea what they are saying. Even though, I think its in my native language: Bengali/Bangla)

It always, ALWAYS makes me smile though. :)

Anyways, hope it brings a smile to your face too.

Please keep us all in your prayers during these torturous two weeks.