I hit a new landmark on twitter, ’round about 2:43 pm on March the 6th… it went something like this -

Candace made a comment a couple of posts ago that I am well versed, especially when it comes to women. The tweet above came into being because I consistently get mistaken for a gal on twitter – by both gals and guys… A “How you doin?!” at the guys, from me, really does freak them out!

So I wanted to reply back to Candace in the comments…. but maybe it’s time the gloves did come off… my twitter folk assume I am a gal because of how polite I am (supposedly) and because of my mannerisms. Although I am not going to disclose who I am… this is as close as a lot of you will come to knowing about the real me.

So really, why am I nice and polite and what not? What REALLY makes me, me?

First of all, more than anything, it’s my belief in god. I constantly think – if that big guy who has all the powers (including the one to fry my brains out with a lightning bolt) and I were to meet – how would I approach him, appeal to him, communicate with him? It’s an obvious answer! I am so going to be Mr Goody 2 Shoes! For those who don’t believe in God – no worries, just go with the flow for now, ok? So my first fear and motivation comes from the big guy above – he rewards exactly and in proportion to my actions.

The next part is a combination of my parents, family and culture – I am of Indian origin, one of the most giving people you will ever meet. There is one and only one reason why Indian people run 7-11 stores – it is because we are too damn generous – we give 7 days a week! My family has roots in India and through the ages in Afghanistan. One thing which anyone and everyone who knows an Afghan will tell you that when it comes to giving – they will give you their life – NO QUESTIONS ASKED! Another characteristic about the Afghans is their hospitality (and ofcourse the Indians are the same too!); you will never go hungry in either of these two societies!

I am aware of a fair few societies; I was born in the UK and have lived in a conservative Middle East which progressively became liberal to a certain extent. For the last 10 years, I have lived in an uber liberal society which I cannot understand or decipher, I spent 3 years figuring out the Turks, and I still haven’t got a clue – I am destined to move, mix, and fuse… I am the eternal Bedouin.

My parents and family – ah well, like anyone elses – the best. They have kept me grounded and exposed me to the values in which we believe in. There can never be enough said about them.

My religion plays a huge part in my personality. I am Muslim, and I pride myself in that. I love to talk to people about Islam in a way that I can pass on my limited knowledge, yet in a way that it is applied in today’s day and age. Religion for me is something which creates your beliefs. It’s a disconnect from god; religion is a path to righteousness to a great extent.The greatest of ALL things which I have learnt from my religion is patience. Over the last 5 years – this is what I have prided myself on. You can try and break me… it will be a long and fairly welcome stay for you…. but you WILL leave before me!

So – those are the core things which set my foundations…. but who REALLY am I?

I, my friends, am a student of the school of hard knocks; my journey – well, the Rockies have been known to be a smooth surfaced road.

As a kid, and I guess into my early twenties, I have always been described as someone with great potential. I have never delivered. People who know me, and read me regularly know that I call it as I see it; for me – I never made excuses for not delivering, however, there was always someone there to put me down. But I remained me; I stood up, dusted myself, until I was down again.

One thing which I have a great deal of is pride. I take pride in who I am, what I do and where I go. Sure, there has always been support on the way, but I chose not to take it. One thing that the school of hard knocks taught me was to be me; I am an alternative to everything, always have been, always will be. I don’t believe in doing things the way it has always been done – there isn’t anything to be gained or learnt from that, so I do things differently… I do things my way. In all of this – I remember modesty; lack of it – and guess where you end up? You got it – on the floor!

The school of hard knocks has also taught me respect. When you are down, there are a lot of people down there with you. What you learn is to understand and accept them as who they are. When you then stand up, you know how to give others a hand, or how to treat them with the respect that they deserve. This is something which cannot be taught… it just happens.

What the school of hard knocks also teaches you is to let go; not let go of hope, but let go of bitterness. How many grudges will you hold when you keep hitting the floor? How many will you remember? If you kept busy remembering them – when will you stand up again? Life has taught me that letting go of the hatred towards the one who pushed you down is the right thing to do. When you do that, you build up this thing called patience, which is the greatest inner strength of them all.

And finally, politeness. This – I didn’t learn from anywhere except my own self. Treat others the way you want to be treated yourself. Everyone says this – it’s easy to talk. Very few apply this to themselves. Politeness cannot be taught or practiced. It happens. I am not perfect, nobody is – but by using my mind before my tongue, I think I know how truthful I will be to myself.

These are all characteristics – when put together and applied – well, it comes close to making a decent person. I am not a good judge of people…. but I am a great observer. Put me in company of someone for a day, and I will predict accurately how they will react and make decisions in their life time. Don’t believe me? Well, you can’t believe until you try, no? I love to observe people, their actions, their thoughts; accordingly – I react. Each person is an individual, and each person is treated differently – they say that all 5 fingers are not the same, in the same way neither is my love towards all!

From a personal perspective – there are a lot of guys out there who don’t get the credit that they deserve. Their actions go unnoticed, ignored, and swept under the carpet. What everyone needs is a good clean mind, and a clean heart – 24/7 – that’s what makes you a goodfella; whether everyone can achieve this – that is another question.

So to answer your question Candace, neither am I well versed, nor do I have a way of putting forward a view to women. I treat each and everyone of you as I expect to be treated myself – what I do make sure of though – is that I am consistent.

That makes me….. Me.

You have to click on ALL the links to get this.

(sing this to the tune of Fresh Prince of Bel Air)

Now, this is a story all about how
My virtual life got flipped-turned upside down
And I’d like to take 929 characters
So just sit right there
and i’ll tell you how I became the princess of a town called Twit-ter

In the virtual worlds I born and raised
Munching cookies was how I spent most of my days
Chillin’ out maxin’ relaxin’ all cool
Shootin some tweets outside of twhirl
When a couple of gals
Who were up to no good
Startin following me in my twitterhood
I got in one little conversation and it all just flared
They all assumed I was a girl in the land of Twit-ter

I ran to the l’il boys room to make it clear
That I definitely was supposed to be there
If anything I can say it couldn’t be clear-er
But I thought ‘Now forget it’ -- ‘back to twit-ter’

As -- I -- pulled into bed ’round about 10
And I yelled to my tweeps ‘Yo guys, tweet ya later‘
The girls replied -
‘we’re not guys over here‘
A sigh and a smile -- that’s just Twit-ter!

This was inspired by Digital Nomad, Humera and Lili.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=upvweQDrd5c

It’s been a question which has consistently been asked by myself over the last 10 days/ 2 weeks. I feel like I have a million things to do, and nowhere near the right amount of time to actually do it!

At work, I have been turning up atleast an hour early everyday, and staying later for an hour just so that I am on top of what I do best. When I get home, I constantly feel the lack of time to study, blog, read blogs, comment on blogs, and socialise in the real world. It really got me thinking – am I living a cluttered life which requires a lot of time and energy, or is this really the life which I choose to lead?

My constant Friday feeling is that of tiredness. I was never the type to “thank god it’s Friday”, but I think that is changing. I never get stressed about my job or moan about how much I have to do – my belief is that if it is there to be done, then it has to be done! However, for the first time last Friday, I felt some sort of exhaustion at the end of the week. The standard working hours which I am contracted to do is 37 hours; however over the last 2 months, I have been averaging about 43 hours a week – and it was the same last week. However, all day Friday, I felt as if I was dragging myself around trying to get work done; I was definitely running on my reserve supply of energy. When I finally got home at 9:30 pm (I had a couple of things to do after work), I fell straight into bed. The tiredness and pain which I felt the following morning was unbelievable, and I was lethargic all day Saturday.

I really wonder if this is the sign of the times – I really wonder if life is really supposed to be this tricky and tough? I wonder if I don’t manage my time well enough? Or do I try and achieve more than I can in a given period of time? Maybe it is just a phase that I am going through, perhaps it will balance itself out eventually.

Speaking of which – *looks at the time* – I gotta go now!

Red, White & Black -- this has slowly become a passion of mine. It is an expensive passion, mind you, but it was always going to be one which would drag me into the deep deep waters. I remember reading about these colours in the newspapers as a kid. It’s exquisiteness caught my eye; I knew I could never ever afford to be “part of” it, but I wanted to be absorbed by it.

Year on year, I read more, and saw more of Red, White & Black. Then one day, a French element was added to the colours. The arrogance, the passion, sublime nature, smoothness in performance -- it drove me insane. As a kid, I day dreamt about the colours and no matter what the colours were Red, White and Black was all I saw.

The French element was soon nicknamed the King, and became the driving force of the mighty Red, White and Black. Even when the King was pushed down, he came back not only with poetic madness, but with a bang.

“When the seagulls follow the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown in to the sea.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vAOUgmRXsc

The leader of this army bleeds Red, White and Black; and it is his vision, passion, ambition and desire at the ripe old age 67 that pushes the soldiers forward for one more step.

This army begins a push tonight, to achieve something great, to write their names in history. The momentum began at the weekend with this wonderful attempt by a 17 year old.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8S8bpKNMqA

Tonight, the mighty Red, White and Black begin their quest in earnest to retain their title as the Champion of Europe. They are the reigning World, European, and Domestic Champions, and are attempting to retain and add additional titles to their amazing cabinet and win an unprecedented 5 trophies this season.

The Red White and Black are ofcourse -- Manchester United! Welcome to the Theatre of Dreams!

Ofcourse -- my favourite has to be the baby faced assassin -- the one and only Ole Gunnar Solksjaer

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcSt08-Qy50

Ofcourse, when you talk about 1999, you have to mention Ryan Giggs too… right?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=quI_LkMj4HI

Mona, over at Rebellious Arab Girl, posted this meme recently – this is how it goes down for me….

A
- Available: Only while stock lasts!
- Age: 26
- Annoyance: Big mouths, and loud noises.
- Animal: well…. I had a goldfish once…

B
- Beer: umm, no thanks!
- Birthday: July 7th 1982
- Best Friend: One in every decade; current favourite is Mali.
- Blind or Deaf: when I want to be…
- Best weather: Summer ofcourse!
- Been in Love: I think so, yes.
- Believe in Magic: Nope
- Believe in Santa: Nope. Santa-na? Yes!

C
- Candy: No thanks!
- Color: Silver (like mercury or chrome) and Purple
- Chocolate/Vanilla: Chocolate
- Chinese/Mexican Food: Both!
- Cake or Pie: Cake
- Continent to visit: Asia – so much to see, so many difficult cultures!
- Cheese: Totally! In 1994, we bought 15kg of cheese for my cousin’s wedding… dunno why!
- City or Country: Birmingham, UK

D
- Day or Night: Both
- Dancing in the rain: Why not!
- Dreams: I never remember them!

E
- Eyes: Dark Brown
- Everyone’s got: A dark side

F
- First thoughts waking up: Is it morning already!?!
- Food: Lasagne!!!!!!

G
- Greatest Fear: Losing the ability to Love
- Goals: Work hard, and live within my means.
- Gum: My drug of choice.
- Get along with your parents: I get along with EVERYONE!

H
- Hair Color: Black
- Height: 5 feet 8 inches (172cm)
- Happy: I always try to be!
- Holiday: I crave sooooo much!
- How do you want to die: Without giving suffering to anyone around me.

I
- Ice Cream: Chocolate or Cookie Dough
- Instrument: Guitar and Drums

J
- Jewelry: I dont like to wear any.
- Job: Almost a dream job, with the role and responsibilities that I crave.

K
- Kids: I love them, and they love me
- Kickboxing or karate: Karate
- Keep a journal: Umm… you may be reading it… but I won’t get upset that you do

L
- Love: everything!

M
- Milk flavor: Plain
- Movies: Shawshank Redemption
- Motion sickness: is for wusses
- McD’s or BK: Ewww! Yuck, no!

N
- Number: 7 (you know it’s the best number!)

O
- One wish: to have unlimited wishes

P
- Pepsi/Coke: Hmm, neither…
- Perfect Pizza: Mozerella Cheese, mushrooms, tomato, shredded chicken, Jalapeno peppers, caramelised onions – *mouth waters* YUM!
- Piercings: none, and dont want any!

Q
- Quail: nope, thanks!

R
- Reality TV: I hate reality TV… I would rather rub Jalapeno peppers in my eyes than watch that crap.
- Radio Station: Club Asia, BBC Radio Five live, and BBC Radio 4

S
- Song: Smells Like Teen Spirit
- Salad Dressing: Olive oil, Honey and Mustard
- Sushi: YES PLEASE!! I <3 Wasabi
- Shower:  Everyday!
- Strawberries/Blueberries: Neither – allergic to strawberries, never been around the blue variety.

T
- Tattoos: None.. and never!
- Thunderstorms: OOOOOOH! I love the rush from it!

U
- Unpredictable: actually… my nickname is Mr Reliable

V
- Vacation spot(s): Anywhere warm!

W
- Weakness: Now why should I tell you that?!
- Which one of your friends acts the most like you: Read the answer to “Available” – I am a one item product!
- Worst feeling: Heartbreak
- Worst Weather: I love all weather!… As long as I am dressed appropriately!

X
- X-Rays: Thumb and Wisdom teeth. They grow at an angle.

Y
-Year it is now: 2009
-Yellow: Coldplay…. YUCK!

Z
- Zoo animal: Leopard – ROAAAR!

A few days ago, I put up a poll to find out which of the following three topics I should blog about:

(1)manners or chivalry (my personal observations)

(2)terrorism in sport

(3)responsibilities (kinda influenced by the financial crisis – but not actually about it)

Responsibilities is a subject I can write about for days, mainly because I have been and have noticed a lot of irresponsibilities myself!

On Saturday morning, a couple of Jehovah’s witness preachers knocked on my door; there must be a church somewhere close to my house because these guys are now almost a weekend fixture. The sole motive of these guys is to find people and get them to attend church services, and essentially they go door to door trying to convert people. Anyways, so I opened the door, and they handed me the customary mag which had the headline – “Is Money Your Master or Your Servant?”

The guy then proceeded in an attempt to convince me that man is misdirected, and even quoted from the bible (and I have no idea how true his quote was) that god told Jesus that regardless of his teachings and effect, man will remain misguided at times, and only god’s intervention will help man get back on track. I listened to the guy for a full 5 minutes, scratched my chin, and gave him a little something of how I saw it -

Firstly, it is man’s actions which has brought the current “depression”, financial or otherwise, upon us, so why should we depend solely on god to intervene and help us fix it?

Secondly, man was created as the supreme creature on earth, and it is within his means to lead, direct and act upon situations to rectify then, as opposed to rely solely on god to help fix problems.

Finally, from a religious point of view, we as Muslims follow the guidance of the Quran, and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed in an attempt to lead a sensible life. If we lead a simple enough life, in today’s terms ofcourse, then we will not have such massive issues in our life.

The point is, the guy was adamant on relying on God to “fix” things, whereas it is my belief is that although god can inspire, it is still us humans who have to fix what we broke. We have the sense, the ability to think, co-ordinate and lead the recovery. We exchanged views for a good 15-20 minutes at my front door and eventually those guys shook my hand were on their way. I think they wont be coming back.

This encounter with the preachers is something which bothers me a lot. Too many people are willing to rely and put their entire trust in god, and do not “want” to be held accountable for their own actions. If you look at the main scenario, sure, the banks etc have to be held accountable for not foreseeing the risk in the way how money was being lent and leveraged. But on a day to day level, surely we have to look at ourselves, and ask questions – do we chase our “dreams” so desperately, that we lose track of the fine line between necessity and desires? Is it not OUR own responsibility to live within our own means?

Over the weekend, I had a chance to air some views on another pet irritation. Another thing which really really bothers me is people wanting to “rely on god” when their kids start screwing up. Now let me make it clear, I am not a parent so my views may be naive and misdirected; however, when I tweeted this message I was surprised at the responses which I got back (albeit without the full information). Let me explain.

I was at my grandparents’ house at the weekend, and they always have folks coming over to their house to visit, family, friends etc. Now we are also a bunch of people who have big families – which is great because I have so many cousins, and nephews and nieces (I am the biggest child amongst them). For the most part, the kids are pretty decent but even if they weren’t, well they are kids, you always get some behaviour from them which is irritable – but it’s all good.

My problem however, is with some parents who have teenagers who have no manners at all. At the age of 14-15, I would expect these kids to  have some sense and manners. However in my family they don’t. I have an aunt who publicly talks about having more kids, but has a 14 year old who shouts between rooms to his mom or dad to get him a drink. The same kid, sitting 2, maybe 3 feet away from the door, calls out to his dad who is in another room all together to come an close the door. Whats even more shocking is that these parents execute the orders that the child gives them. WTF?!!

My tweet is directed at these types of parents.

In my view, these parents are irresponsible people. When the parents put their interests ahead of the family, it’s irresponsible on their part. When parents who have a 21 year old and a 14 year old, but with manners which are worse than that of an animal, that is the parents irresponsibility. When these parents don’t know why their son has 3 mobile phones at the age of 14 – that is irresponsibility. Furthermore, my “anger” is at those parents who come out and say in public that supporting a household of 7 is hard work, and they are just about making ends meet, but are trying for another kid – that is irresponsibility.

A family is a network of individuals who reflect each other in society. No family is perfect, and there are hidden skeletons in every family, however, at the end of the day, it is the responsibility of the parents to provide, and bring up a child to the best of their ability. Too often today, we hear parents saying “we did our best, but my child won’t listen” – why is that? You have to look very very close at your behaviours as parents and as a family to see what influences are affecting your children. Too many children in too many families are growing up without the understanding of respect and without the understanding of what a family is; to frequently, it is the parents’ who are not fulfilling their responsibilities in making sure what it is.

I guess I have draconian views on responsibility. I have grown up around people who had too many of them, and have had to develop myself to be responsible.

What do you guys think – is responsibility overly important, or is it overrated?

At this current moment in time, there  is a lot of hardship going around. Take the global financial crisis as an example, so many people are losing jobs, or are facing cuts in the hours which they are working, or cuts in pay. We only have to look at the situation in places like Gaza, Sudan, Zimbabwe to name a few to realise life is hard… pretty damn hard at the moment. So keeping that in mind, I keep challenging my nearest and dearest with this – You and I, people of the “free” world, with ample resources available to us (take the internet for starters), do we have a right to complain about how we wish things could be better? Do we need to search for a brighter side when maybe, the sun is shining as well as it possibly can at the moment?

Our desire for better (read rosier) things has many influences. One is based on our observations of what someone else has, or how someone else does things. Observation is an amazing mental ability; everyone observes things, there is always something that will catch your eye and fire up your inquisitive side. It’s a pity then, that in times of hardship or trouble, or even at the best of times, we don’t apply this ability in our lives to make it better.

You and I always want to be like someone… be it that footballer who can run while maneuvering the the ball on his head like a seal, or that genius cousin who got into med school without ever breaking sweat in her schooling career, or maybe just that cool friend who everyone hangs around – we all want to be THAT person, but how many of us make the effort to observe them and emulate them for good qualities that they represent?

Role models have been a huge influence in my life so far. There are far too many real life people to list; infact, I think it is almost impossible to have one human being with all the goodness in every area of life to follow as a role model**. I love observing people in gerneral, but observing their behaviours, qualities, good characteristics, and attempting to apply these withing my boundaries helps me become a better person. Along with the real life characters, there are two fictional characters which inspire me to be who I am as well. Infact, a lot of the characteristics of these two characters can be found in the person that is me.

The first of my fictional role models is the character of Andy in the movie The Shawshank Redemption. Andy’s characteristics of honesty, simplicity, generousity, and helpful nature inspires me. His desire to help the inmates in terms of educating them, organising projects, persisting when options seem bleak to get the necessary books and funding  for the prison library is admirable. What is even more impressive is when he does receive the books and funds to setup the library, he doubles his efforts to make an even greater difference. Even in times of adversity, he keeps his calm, and deals with the situation in a very intellectual and decent manner – that is the person that I desire to be.

My other fictional role model couldn’t be more different. Any guesses? If you couldn’t… well its the character played by Bruce Willis in the Die Hard movies – John McClane. The inquisitive nature, the sixth sense almost which senses something doesn’t seem right, the desire to see the right thing happen are the qualities in John McClane which raise a flag. But greater than any of those – it’s the sense of responsibility, and making sure that the job gets done is what influences me in many ways. You may, at this point, think I have completely gone cuckoo, but you have to admit – these qualities exist, but are probably not noticed at all.

Combining these qualities gives you a pretty diverse range of characteristics to adapt, and encompass. I may not totally agree with the overall portrayal of either of these fictional characters, but these 2 examples of role models stand out for me to see and remember whenever I begin doubting or questioning myself. Adding to these, are the qualities and actions which are portrayed by people around me in their daily life, and these experiences help me understand my destination and direction in life.

Role models are absolutely underrated, and to a certain extent unappreciated. But I don’t think those who stand out to be role models look for any acknowledgement – they simply want you to be the “right” person and do the right thing in the best possibe manner.

Who is your role model?

* For those not familiar with the Die Hard movies – “Welcome to the party pal” was a line used by McClane when he was ‘dealing’ with the terrorists.

** Ofcourse, that statement was made away from a religious context – Prophet Muhammed, Jesus etc etc are the ultimate role models.

So! I’m finally here in my new home… for whatever reason I feel cosy about the blog too!

Firstly, I want to thank everyone who has given feedback on the blog – it helps me keep things simple and user friendly! Although the layout was not my first choice, I am growing to love it; I like dark colours with bright trims, so this one is fulfilling its purpose!

For those who haven’t noticed – I have updated the blogroll; if you don’t find yourself on there, then I obviously don’t follow your blog – drop me a comment, and I will add you to my reader and blogroll!

I have also added a twitter plugin (I really don’t know why!), but I love the concept of tweeting! It’s such a simple idea of “thinking out loud”. I have also made some good friends via twitter, and it goes to prove that it isn’t all that an addiction…. no matter what Mr Tweet, Marwa, and Digital Niqabi say!

I setup google analytics for the blog because unlike wordpress.com, the hosted site requires add-ins to display the stats. I found some of the statistical breakdown amazing, and a touch scary! The amount of data, and the capability which google have to collect this data is just phenomenal. Here is a snapshot of where visitors came from, to this blog yesterday.

Ok, so it’s easy to figure out the locations of each reader (IP addresses), but google analytics actually records the amount of time spent on individual pages – now that I think is an interesting and impressive amount of useless information!

As part of the blog move, I also quietly mentioned that I will be opening the blog to guest posts again. This time, I am looking for you guys to blog about “memories” – these can be good/bad, and all go hand in hand with the blog move. I have my own post lined up, so look out for that! Those of you who have already told me that you would like to participate, drop me a post in a Word Document by email, and I will put it up during the course of the month. For all new readers, do make sure you catch up with 7Pi7D to see how we collaborate on this blog!

Ok… enough rambling for one night… real blogging (after quite a few days) from tomorrow!

So, yesterday started bright and early (too early for my liking since I had had only about 3.5-4 hours of sleep)… we were heading up north for the wedding of AS. Now, AS and I have a little bit of history, and he may not necessarily be my favouritest person in the world; let me tell you the whole story….

In 1998, when I moved over from Dubai, U.A.E to Birmingham, UK, I moved in with my Mom’s sister while I attended school and then university in Brum. At the same time, AS moved in with us as well – AS is my uncle’s (said aunts husband) nephew. AS was a couple of years younger than me, and was starting an important 2 years of schooling life (GCSE) – kinda same as me (A-levels).

AS is one of those guys who very easily gets influenced by friends; he consistently got into trouble at school and outside, and as smart as he was, never gave 2 hoots about school. All he cared about was his friends, and flashy gear. AS was a pretty screwed up kid, and there were reasons for it – his mother (my uncles sister) divorced her husband and married someone out of religion, which caused a lot of friction in the family. Turns out – she’s divorced that guy too. Part of AS getting screwed up is the role of his mother; you have to be SOME person when you let your 15/16 year old daughter have a live in 21 year old “boyfriend”. Whatever you say – that’s just WRONG!

AS’s father is a good friend of mine. I met him randomly a long time ago, and we kinda kept in touch and eventually because good friends. Did I mention – most of my best friends are older than me? I think MalizOMG may be the only youngest best buddy… maybe one or two others

In the 2.5 years which AS and I spent in the same household, I was badly affected by his actions. His actions were never directed at me, but his actions resulted in curfews and bans in the house which had to apply to both of us (so that the situation was fair). There were times, when I tried to help him out (or so I thought) by throwing away his hidden cigarette packets, but ofcourse, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

As the years rolled on, AS was no longer part of the picture. He skipped education, got into trouble with the law, and I guess learned the hard way that life is more than a bitch – it is cruel, sadistic, and harsh if you don’t approach it the right way. At the same time, I got closer to his dad, and for a certain period of time worked for him doing market research for his business. I also get on very very well with AS’s step mom – she is a genuinely nice person.

So, when I found out a few weeks ago that AS was getting married, I was kinda happy for him, but knowing his family situation (his mom’s side and dad – they umm… hate each other) I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to attend the wedding – it would be just awkward (I get on well with both sides *DOH*). I also was thinking of the past; I’m not one to hold on to grudges, but AS’s actions affected me a lot as I grew up, and there was always some negative feeling towards him. However, his dad and step mom insisted that I attend, and I like them too much as people to have avoided the proceedings.

The wedding itself went well, smoothly, and both parties with issues stayed in their corners and enjoyed the wedding in their own right. I saw AS for the first time since 2003-2004, and it was nice to hear something very unexpected from him – he told me “I’m so glad you made it”. I hope he meant it sincerely.

I guess sometimes, taking that step up in life changes a person, and I hope the new responsibility does bring in the change not only in him, but also within the people around him. I don’t think AS’s families can find a middle ground in their divided situation (too many egos involved), but I hope for the sake of the newly married couple they hold back their differences and let them live a new and happy life.

I picked up this meme from Mars, and unlike other meme’s I had to think about some of the answers. I feel miserable at the moment (in bed with flu), so this one cheered me up…. have a read… and why don’t you have a go to? YOU *pointsatyoulikeuncleSam* have been TAGGED!

Part One:
Name: Cookie Monster
Birth date: July 7th (in the early 80′s)
Birthplace: Birmingham, UK
Current Location: London, UK (close to the heart of the 2012 Olympics location – wooot!)
Eye color: Dark brown
Hair Color: Black
Height: 172 cm (5 feet 8 inches?)
Righty or Lefty: Righty, but self trained lefty… well for everything except using a knife!
Zodiac sign: Cancer the Crab – why would you want to be anything else?

Part Two:
Your Heritage: Started in the UK, then the Middle East, then East Africa, then Middle East, then UK, and hopefully the Middle East in 2009…. oh – and my family comes from south east asia…. I am a bedoin… of sorts…..
The shoes you wore today: Beach slippers…. I am in bed with the flu….. wait… why am I wearing slippers in bed?
Your weakness: Chocolate….. no Lasagne.. no Chocolate… no….
Your fears: dissapointing my nearest and dearest, and most importantly dissapointing myself…..
Your perfect pizza: mushroom, chicken, and the tomato base on top of that…. yumsies!
Goal you’d like to achieve: Upto 4 years ago, I have always been told that I have so much promise, but don’t perform to my capabilities…. well, thats changing, and one day I will hit the peak that is expected from me.

Part Three:
Your most overused phrase on AIM: aha… (as in I am listening, keep taking….)
Your first waking thoughts: Physically I wake up at 6am…. at 11am I start thinking “I should really wake up now….”
Your best physical feature: You tell me
Your most missed memory: My first kiss with the person who I have been the most craziest about in life so far…. it was just something else…. (summer 2006)

Part Four:
Pepsi or Coke: yuk!
McDonalds or Burger King: No really…. YUKKKK!!!!
Single or group dates: SINGLE!!!! Group dates are a baaaaaaaaaaad baaaaaaaaaad idea!
Adidas or Nike: Nike…. cos it will let me just do it!
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Ice Teaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (umm, I guess Lipton)
Chocolate or vanilla: hahahaha – ok this is a stupid question! (and its chocolate of you can’t figure it out!)
Cappuccino or coffee: Cappuccino

Part Five:
Smoke: eugh…. hate it! Thank heavens for the smoking ban!
Cuss: used to F and B every other word at university, now it’s reserved only for the roads and highways….
Sing: It’s better that I don’t!
Take a shower everyday: Only on the third tuesday of every month, if the sun is shining…… (what sort of question is that…. ofcourse I shower everyday!)
Do you think you’ve been in love: yes
Want to go to college: Got that t-shirt baby!
Liked high school: LOOOOOOVED IT!
Want to get married: Yup….
Believe in yourself: Most Def!
Get motion sickness: Don’t be silly, i’m a bedoin!
Think you’re attractive: Brad Pitt gets jealous of me….
Think you’re a health freak: I love my food…. ofcourse not!
Get along with your parents: Yup!
Like thunderstorms: The most beautiful experiences ever! We used to sit on the corniche in Dubai, listen to the thunder and watch the lightning on the horizon…… happy days….
Play an instrument: I wish I did…. I would love to play the guitar….

Part Six: In the past month….
Drank alcohol: Eugh…. nope!
Smoked: eugh eugh……. nope nope…
Done drugs: I used to OD on caffeine tablets (legal) and then stay awake for all but 2-3 hours in the final year of my degree…… it was for a good cause!
Made out: Now that would be telling
Gone on a date: Yes…..
Gone to the mall: umm… yea….
Eaten an entire box of Oreos:YESSSSS!!!!
Eaten sushi: Last week – Yes!!! and I lovesssss itsssssss!
Been on stage: In 2 plays in high school…..
Been dumped: Nope (phew!)
Gone skating: Yes, and hopefully again in Jan ’09!
Made homemade cookies: Being the cookie monster – it’s the one thing which I havent done! (doh!)
Gone skinny dipping: Nope! As much as I love the water…. I am scared about fish… well you know…. feeding on the bait…..
Dyed your hair: Once yes – I was Blood red for charity…… it looked horrible!
Stolen anything: (gonna steal Mars’ answer) – no, except hearts….

Part Seven: Have you ever….
Played a game that required removal of clothing: nope…
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: I get paranoid if I am not sane and stable – so nope and will never happen!
Been caught “doing something”: Ofcourse not…. ‘cos i’m goooooooooooooooooooood!
Been called a tease: *shamelessly* Yes
Gotten beat up: By my brothers – yes
Shoplifted: Once, when I was a 13-14 – yes…..
Changed who you were to fit in: Now why would I do that?

Part Eight:
Age you hope to be married: 437…. (it would have been a long wait….)
Names of children: (I don’t know why but….) Maittha, Huda, Safa, Misbah, Humeira, Ismail, Abyad…. One of these…. Something Arabic for sure…
Describe your dream wedding: Something riddiculously simple – totally not a typical Asian wedding.
How do you want to die: However it is meant to be….
Where do you want to go to college: As I said – got that T-shirt!
What do you want to be when you grow up: You calling me a child?
What country would you most like to visit: New Zealand…. because it is beautiful…. and on the other end of the earth….

Part Nine:
Number of drugs taken illegally: Nada
Number of people I could trust with my life: it used to be 4… now down to 2….
Number of CDs that I own: Loads!
Number of piercings: None…
Number of tattoos: Not into body art, so ZERO!
Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: I don’t know… don’t get enough time in the day to scour through each article
Number of scars on my body: a few… i’m almost a walking talking accident…
Number of things in my past I regret: I always think/wish that I did slightly better at uni (maybe 5% better)…. but life has turned out pretty decent with what I have achieved, and I am thankful and greatful to god for that!

Why don’t you tell us more about you?