Hectic

It has been something these past few weeks... Things have turned up-side-down and/or all the way around...

First off, basic updates since I know some people are really wanting to hear this... A slight comment/observation before the update... It is quite interesting to see people having an arranged marriage... more interesting is when they are Muslims... You see the way it is done from what I understand, Islamically, you are allowed to see and talk to your wife once before marriage... and the rest of the info you have about that girl is hearsay... Obviously figuring out the family helps but there's a major element of mystery about the whole thing... and that I think is the perfect start to a marriage... Anyway, back to the update... Apparently this girl and my friend had a meeting and asked questions trying to find out about each other... And the outcome is that the girl's family like the guy i.e. my friend and his family... However, it is not yet official because they (i.e. the girl's family) have an extended family (i.e. girl's grandmother etc.) who have to be notified and approve of the guy's family... So essentially it will be officially hopefully in a month... or as they say, InshaAllah...

Secondly, work is getting a little more interesting because I have quite a bit of stuff to do. However, this excitement will be shortlived because the deadline for this work is next week and then I will be free like a bird again...

Thirdly, I am in dire need of hard disk space... I've got 200GB+ worth of movies and I'm out of disk space...

Fourthly, I took a GMAT test and scored low... according to my standards anyway... I had believed that my brain stopped functioning long time ago and this test proved my conviction...

Finally, its almost 4 in the morning and I have to go to sleep to be able to function well tomorrow... even though its the last day of the weekend...

Thinking is the first step to learning...

Things I like...

Ok the idea started from my hate list... Where my co-author Princess Donna, the optimist she is asked me to post a few of my favorite things... She posted her list... So I'm gonna post mine...

1. Beach... I've posted before... I can never get enough of the sea/ocean...
2. Solitude... I really want to be alone...
3. Sky... I just love sitting and looking at the sky, no matter what time of the day it is...
4. SUV... I'm in love with the Armada at the moment...
5. Travelling... I love travelling... I wish I could go around the world and back... (one of the reasons I wish I was rich)
6. Movies... I just love 'em.... especially Action movies...
7. Challenges... I wish there was a challenge everyday in my life...
8. Food... All kinds except veggies and fish... Everything else is worth eating (well almost everything anyway)...
9. Chocolate... especially chocolate chip cookies... my mouth's already watering...
10. Rides... roller-coasters and what not... I love 'em...

That's all I can think of at the moment... Hmm... How many times have I used love in this post? More times than since I first started blogging...

Just Bitter

I was just thinking about what things I hate in general... I started off with the basic things then moved on to people, things about people, etc.

Then I wondered if anybody ever created a hate list... Its just amazing how many people have thought of things and done them before you even got around to start thinking about them.. I guess that is a reason why we as a people are not innovative...

Anyway, so I thought I'd create a personal reminder for hating things... and here it is...

1. Hypocrites - I hate two-faced people... People who'd say its wrong and then do it themselves... Double-standard kinda people...
2. Trumpeteers - Not trumpeters but those who blow their own trumpets... i.e. Those who think of themselves as the best people on this earth...
3. Wackjobs - Not sick people... most of the celebrities and snobbishly wealthy people...
4. Wannabes - People who think they know everything about everything... who spent years talking about what they (almost) did and end up talking even more about what they have (not) done...
5. Insecure - People who use loads of makeup... spend hours in front of the mirror or trying out various (costumes) dresses...
6. Indifferent - People who know morality is being degraded and yet they utter not a single word...

Then I guess I am thinking... might as well create a wish list as well... I wish...

1. I never become one of them... never ever...
2. I was rich... not wealthy but rich...
3. My dad was a better man... and I will be a better dad...
4. I was immortal... that way I could live wherever I wanted...
5. All the people of the world know what their purpose is...

And the thought train has run out of fuel...

Matrimony

In a conversation with a friend, the idea of marriage popped up... For some reason, everybody around me is getting married... This friend in question is probably going to meet his mate... For me, I would guess that perhaps its my predictive personality that tends to drive people away (or I drive them away)... Either way I had given up the idea of having a mate long time ago... and recently I revealed this to a friend...

In any case, I was sort of "told off" by the friend who seems to think... and I quote:

Marriage... it's a FuNdAmenTaL need. Not a superficial "want", but an emotional a biological need... which cannot be fulfilled in any other way except matrimony. There are people who choose to remain single though, but unfulfilled needs cause frustration.

I have to agree... Marriage may be a fundamental need... However, it is not a requirement for life to progress... Emotions... that is a topic for another post... Frustration is only effect of unfulfilled need because you have not given up on the need and you refuse to live/love yourself...

Thus we were created... dependant upon each other... and the Creator has placed comfort for spouses in each other. So when the Creator ordains something going against it is hardly a good idea.

Well I really can't argue with that statement... We are created dependant upon each other... Man and Woman; each unique and complete in their own ways... But the Creator did not force it upon us... He gave us an option... And if I decide that I can better worship Him without a mate, so be it...

Those who say that they don't need the enwrapment of affection and that they're better off alone... are LiViNg In deNIaL!!

Not necessarily... everybody definitely needs affection and would love to live in it for their whole lives but the reality of the fact even if you do have affection and love, that is not the only thing worth living for in this world...

Family and friends make our lives beautiful... but cannot fill the blazing void for a companion inside us... you can't fit square pegs in round holes.

Correction, if the hole's big enough, you can fit anything in it...

Previous unpleasant experiences, general aversion or the lack of suitable matches can make us reluctant for a partnership... BUT... none of these reasons are irreversible or beyond rectification!

True but does it really need reversal... Does it need rectification?

Live and let live... Learn to live with yourself and you have the character to live with others...

Trials

I recently listened to parts of a talk given by one of the intellectuals over here talking about trials... From what I listened to, it was a great talk, I just regret that I didn't listen to the whole talk...

In any case, what I wanted to say was that there are trials for each and every person in this world... A rich person's money is his trial... A poor person's poorness is his trial... A proud warrior's defeat is his trial...

Trials can be put forth as simple as a meeting with another person... A well-off person is walking down the street and sees this poor person at the corner... That is a trial...

Trials can be in situations... A single beautiful woman asks a man to approach her... That is a trial for the man...

Trials can be a test of morals... doing the right thing... standing up for the truth... defending the right and stopping the wrong...

But trials are not limited to something that happens to a person... it can happen to a people... Katrina... Tsunami... the earthquake in Kashmir...

Every single minute of every person's life is a trial... Those trials can either make those people or break them... Lead them to the right path or lead them to misery...

Are we on the right path?

People

It happens, sometimes, that you know a person for several years and then you find out something new about them and you get shocked... I bet it has happened to you once or twice...

What really gets me is that people think that when they have known the person for a long time, they know everything about that person... Take wives for example, after years of marriage the wife finds something out that she never knew about the man she spent most of her time on... and this causes frustration and eventually, if they can't cope with that, the relationship ends...

What you have to understand is ... and what you have to find solace with is the fact that you will never find out everything about that person... But you might find out everything there is to know about that person...

The mind is a beautiful thing... but it belongs to that specific person... and the only way to it... is the heart...

On this note, I, with all my heart, welcome the new member Princess Donna. I will probably never find out everything about her or everything to know about her but I think this is the beginnings of a good partnership...

Control

You see/hear so many people talking about controlling your destiny... Life is what you make of it... Decisions are what you make of them... blah blah blah...

But what can you really control if you can't control yourself...

All my life, I have been about controlling myself... And I had done that successfully... until recently... Unfortunately, I was never taught that I should control the situation more than controlling myself... Well maybe I'll teach my children that...

Point being... Recently, I have lost control over myself...

The Criterion

In my previous post, I forgot to mention the criteria... the criteria to differentiate right and wrong...

Every human is born with a soul... a conscience... which eventually moulds itself according to the surroundings... Unfortunately for this day and age, the surroundings seem to be quite immoral... this creates a generation where conscience is no longer consulted and the mind follows a different path than the heart and soul... and this new generation is where the death of morals lie...

Unless... unless we revive morals...

But where do we get the morals... Religion is usually the first place to look... but not right now... let's look at our hearts... our souls.. our inner self... and then let's look at the world... nature... then we'll look at religion...

As young'ins we have a slight idea... For example, the early men even used to hide their privates... It is naturally instilled in us... but eventually the surroundings pressure us and we give way...

Nature has its way of telling us things... but it also lets you do the completely opposite... The only explanation, I think, is that Nature tests us... it tells you something and waits for you to slip up... then waits for others to slip up the way you slipped... And when there are enough people, out of the blue something huge happens and a couple of thousand people die... and those who are left alive have been taught a lesson...

All this leads to religion... Religion builds on these morals... If they are still intact, following a religion is not a problem... If they aren't, you are on a rocky path... Religion builds on that base... And if you have that base, selecting THE religion becomes extremely easy... Because, in your inner self, you are searching for it... It is just a matter of time where you read about the various religions from authentic (authentic because there are loads of texts you can find easily that provide you with false info) books and select the right one... Because that specific religion builds on that base... It gives you that spiritual uplift that has been missing all these years of uneasiness... of emptiness... of frustration... looking at the state of the world... looking at what is happening around you... looking at what has happened... thinking about what will happen...

But in the end, people go astray... they lean more towards people rather than the religious scriptures... they hear more from softspoken people and forget the aggressive ones... they get confused... they listen to the heart more than mind or vice versa... but all that matters is that it should be you who chooses... however, in the end someone chooses for you... and that is why you are at a loss...

Remember... it is easy to go astray... it is hard to stay on the right path...

Death of Morality

What is right and what is wrong? I think this has been asked over and over again everywhere in the world in all times... The first man down to the last this question will keep on repeating itself... With different answers...

But the real question is not this... and people have failed and will continue to fail to realize that the actual question quite obviously is what is the criteria of right and wrong...

In this day and age, there is a very thin, almost transparent, line between these two... I say it as if it were black and white... The thing is, it is black and white... There is no grey area in between... There is no such thing as "okay"... It is either right or it is wrong...

There are some times when things that are normally wrong are right.. such as telling a lie to stop a fight... but it is for a greater good and therefore it is right... It does not fall in the grey area...

I just hope some people will start a revolution for the resurrection of morals...

Another year...

Over a month since I last posted.. Alot of things have happened.. Quite a few things with my life... Quite a few with the world...

Things change.. and will continue to change... who reflects eventually benefits but most of us today are too busy or too lazy... For me, work is a waste... A simple waste... as an application specialist I didn't get enough work... and when I asked for more, I was assigned as a PMO Officer for several projects.. Even then the workload wasn't quite enough... I still had free time and still do... so I gave in to my movie addiction... and I've seen almost all recent and some old movies at work...

Personally, I am a very quiet person and I find it extremely hard to express anything I have to say... I don't know, I never met someone who I could relate to... I always remember being the odd one out... and for some reason, I love being alone... Don't get me wrong... I'm not a sociophobe... but being alone gives me true freedom... and I long for that... all the time...

Festivities?

I was asked whether festivities were around the corner... I had totally forgotten about the following days... I guess I won't be celebrating... Already had a BBQ party last weekend... I did the BBQ... quite fun... Now I'm tired and have a cold... enough festivities till the end of the month...

Simple... To the point... always...

Touched...

So many things happen but we don't stop to realize the essence of each and every thing... sometimes we're busy... sometimes we're not looking... sometime's we just don't care...

But there are things in this life... from the poor person on the street to the rich man in his Bentley that people just cannot ignore...

The thing of the thing is... Each thing is a sign... A sign from the one who created this Universe... A sign telling you something... but most of the time we're tuned to a station of our choice and don't bother tuning to others because we have selected what we want to hear... The static in between stations means something... and that is what we as humans will never bother to understand...

And the heart sinks...

One week makes a difference...

I took one week off work to see if it actually makes a difference... even after my one month vacation... I just couldn't get back to work the way I wanted to... But this week helped me a lot I think...

This week I went to Dubai.. met some old friends and had sort of a good time... watching movies from morning till afternoon then going out with friends or something or the other... and then watching more movies till late at night...

How did that make a difference?

Well I guess it wasn't really the week.. or my timetable... It was the water... Even though I didn't spend too much time on the ocean (I wanted to though but got lazy after I saw the movies)... But I love the white sand... the breeze... the white foam... the sound of water splashing... but most of all I love the endless amount of water that continues throughout your view....

Beach is heaven...

Another year... Another wasted life...

If you have enough free time (which I seem to have quite a lot of)... just sit/lie down under the cloudy sky looking at it... and just think...

Think about your life... What has been done by you... and what people have done... and what you have done about what other people have done... Its amazing... not because you get to use your wasted brain cells in the last year... but because you understand how small you are in this world... Your significance...

It's like comparing the universe with the earth... Loads of different places yet to be discovered... So many people in these places with similar or different feelings... unique experiences...

While people celebrate birthdays, there are others mourning deaths...

Anyway, its quite comforting to have not been wished this year... Innocent deaths in this year have been more than innocent births and I comfort myself in this fact...

Everybody's a comedian...

I'm sure a lot of you have heard that some time or the other.. But here's where the problem is...

Everybody's a scholar...

Its just not true.. I've so many people talk about this or that but they just don't know what they're talking about (this does not necessarily include my guest last weekend)... No.. its a lot of other people that I have met either on the net or in real life...

So many people have degrees and certifications but when it comes to practical information they just don't cut it... They lack simple plain wisdom... My question is... Is there no way to judge a person's wisdom? Not his way of thinking... not knowledge... wisdom...

This world lacks wisdom... that is also a secret of the mind... a secret yet to be discovered by so many people in this world... a secret that lies in the dark... gathering dust... till its lost... completely lost... to ignorance...

Nice Weekend...

Had a great weekend... I had a doc friend come over... We sat and talked about all kinds of stuff... He's quite a talker... something he said:

Nothing is good or bad but advertising makes it so...

I don't care where he got it from it was the first time I heard it and it was perfect for the topic at that time... That made me think.. Why can't I think of stuff like that when I talk... maybe its becuase I'm not a people's person and I don't like to talk too much...

Silence is heaven...

Movie Cravings

I had DSL installed... Although it's not too fast its good enough...

One of my bad habits I have to admit is watching movies... and that too one after another... I used to do that in college and I have been addicted since... I dunno... it just puts me in another dimension... It's my high...

Anyway... I plan to retire early with a collection of movies and travel to China and live in a village with nothing but a generator that runs the TV and DVD player...

Aahhh.. heaven... :)

Death Penalty...

Thousands of civilians have been killed... and they are still dieing... but more importantly... Wicked men have been put to justice...

Or have they?

Recent overseas re-active attacks by the US after 9/11 have crossed the fine line of justice and wickedness... I'm not sure about you guys but we had some mean girls in our younger days who would make hopscotch lines according to their standards (and sometimes would push you over) so that whoever plays with them eventually loses... For some reason, US is very much similar...

Mr. Osama Laden has still not been captured... which was why Afghanistan was attacked... over one person? hmm... started a civil war... WMDs have not been found... which was why Iraq was attacked... over non-existent weapons? hmm... started a civil war... And now they say US policy doesn't cover civil wars...

Saddam was indeed a wicked man... but many others are just as wicked... But Saddam was sentenced not because of his wickedness... He was sentenced to make a statement... A statement made for the elections... A statement that failed its aim... But still he was sentenced... sentenced in quite an unfair trial disregarding sovereign immunity and disregarding the fact that Saddam was indeed financed by the US...

It is quite obvious from history that US has been using many countries for their interests... The thing that strikes me dead is why don't the country's rulers take heed of this fact... Are they so stupid... or so scared to do this?

Death penalty to all wicked rulers... Saddam, Bush, Blair and the rest...

To see or not to see...

1400 e-mails later... another 1000 something mails left to sort... I think its about time I take a break... from both work and personal things... and take some time out to blab a li'l bit...

Some time ago, actually still going on until now... The debate (not really a debate maybe a "talk") sparked by Jack Straw about Muslims not wearing veil because that obstructs communication... Aisha Azmi getting fired... and attacks on innocent veiled Muslim women... shows (i'm sorry to say) the ignorance and ultimate stupidity of the British nation... Especially where there was a time when woman not wearing modest clothes (possibly with a light veil) would have been considered "loose"...

Suck-ups like Shahid Malik (MP hopeful) and others from Muslim Progressive unions supporting them (i.e. the above) shows (again í'm sorry to say) the ignorance and ultimate stupidity of a people who cannot stick to their beliefs... And won't let those who do...

Let us say the veil obstructs communication... Then I guess a moustache and a beard would do that as well - hiding half of the face... I wonder if they are going to ban beards in public places... Or maybe sunglasses - hides the eyes... or worse both together... How am I to communicate with a person who I cannot see...

Oh but a veil is a piece of cloth and the face is an important part of communication... And what difference will it the piece of cloth make if the voice can be heard... What difference? You talk on telephones and cellphones, listen to the radio and chat with people on the net looking at nothing but your imagination... but you cannot talk to a person who has her face covered... Nice...

The question remains... To see or not to see... Or maybe it should be To veil or not to veil...

I sincerely hope those with strong beliefs do not change... It is only our beliefs that lead us through life and will eventually help us in the afterlife... Kudos to you...

It certainly has been a long time...

I can't believe I haven't written since August... Amazing... Maybe this is what they call Writer's Block (in a Blog)...

In any case, a bit of sanity has returned after a month of almost 0% technology... But work never seems to stop and we start another day either hating ourselves for getting us into whatever we have gotten into or loving ourselves for not getting anywhere and still having something to show for it...

Still there is a lot of work to be done... There always is... and for some reason the only thing that is done is not enough or unsatisfactory... But sometimes new is good... Improving yourself is the only way forward... and by improving yourself, you are eventually improving your surroundings...

Well I'll get back to work... More from me in the next few days hopefully... Stay tuned... :-)

Double Standard?

A couple of months ago we had people almost insulting Saudi Arabia for taking steps against the Danes for their "illegitimate" cartoons depicting their religious hero and Prophet...

Now we have people taking steps against a restaurant with Hitler's name... Why the double standard?

Breeding Terrorism...

There are probably thousands or more likely millions of innocent people out there who are suffering torture from other humans... Some in the name of religion, sect or just plain terrorism...

But why are these innocent people labeled as collateral damage?

Israel seems to not care if thousands of innocent people die because these Hezbollah fighters are among these innocents... Let's say that these fighters are among the innocents, what do we do to reduce casualty? Simply don't give them a reason to attack... Now while you are making a bold statement of destroying what Lebanon built over several centuries, you are breeding terrorism... You are making the terrorists stronger by giving them a reason to recruit innocent people and hand them a weapon to go after you...

Hezbollah doesn't care if innocent people do die... It gives them more of a reason to rebel... And if gives them more power... Because it was them who actually built all that stuff that Israel destroyed and they had gained respect of the local people which Israel has none of... Not before and definitely not now...

The same scene with America and Iraq... America and Afghanistan... America and Iran...

Stop breeding terrorism and that's when you will stop being attacked and/or threatened...

A post I made before.. I guess I predicted this war before it happened... Coincidence?

Ultimate Secrecy

So the World Cup's been done with, first time I cheered for a winning team... Buffon was amazing all time around... Zizou was good as well poor guy got a reddie for his headbutt..

Israel's attacking Gaza for a soldier.. I wonder what happened to the SpecOps and other units who could've done a smash and grab job rather than attacking Gaza's infrastructure, killing innocent people and destroying the government...

Anyway, life goes on... We are in our own world and live our own lives not caring about anybody else.. and when we do care we tend to send some money over to a charity which does as it pleases... We don't go out ourselves... We sit around watching TV changing channels from World Cup to Gaza to a Romance Movie to what not... Our conscience is dead... and we have murdered it... We are all guilty of involuntary manslaughter...

But why? We have been brainwashed by this world, this media, this entertainment and everything around us, to believe in our thoughts (their thoughts), act accordingly and to not think... It is our own willful blindness that has caused chaos in this world and it is going to be worse... and that is... the ultimate secret...

Rhythmic Explosion

Quite a lovely blog even though it just started... Rhythmic Explosion... Check it out...

The world keeps on spinning...

Time is uncontrollable... That makes age uncontrollable... but ppl still want to stay young... Why's that? What makes being younger better than being older? And what makes being older better than being younger?

Nothing... Nobody knows the time of their death and yet they strive their best to not think about it... Try their best to stay away from it... It's inevitable... Why bother? Why don't we learn from other's mistakes? We were always taught this as kids.. Learn from others' mistakes.. But we still don't... What does that make us?

We may want whatever it is that we have prioritized but we know that nothing is going with us to the grave... No matter how rich you are... No matter how poor... Mother Nature is going to swallow you...

Oh, and we don't think about Mother Nature... Where did she come from?

So many questions, very few answers... Blind faith is heresy...

Another update

Not that major but me friend Furqan's started a Techie blog... http://psandwss.blogspot.com

Major updates..

Lots of things been happening... *Indian Accent* Thousand Apologies *End Indian Accent* to my readers for not posting.. been too busy with this and that that I never got enough time...

Anyway... Major update #1... I'm taking care of my dad now.. He was down in a hole and couldn't get back up.. so I brought him over here.. Big mistake - yea I know... Anyway.. So my life's almost a living hell... He wants to be a major part of me life when he was nothing but a picture...

Yea so he's li'l out of it.. major head problems.. Wants to hug me for some reason and obviously I keep running away.. he's showed no affection in 23 years now all of a sudden he's my father...

Then he gets angry and accuses me of not having friends and/or girlfriends... Unfortunately he doesn't know its a choice... All my life, I've been befriended or only had friends for a reason.. and the main reason behind that is I'm sort of a predictor type... I tend to predict the person usually by reading the eyes... I sort of know what the person will be like and if I want to keep him/her I keep my distance...

Fortunately my predictions didn't work on 2 and a half people... Let's start with the half...

Indian girl... name's Saher... quite an interesting piece... Quite fascinated by what goes on on her mind.. She was half-predictable... That's why I ended it with her...

Indian guy... name's Sudhir... really nice guy... friend's with everyone... ran off with his girlfriend... got fake married and what not... I'm still in contact with him..

Indian girl... name's Shaina... not really beautiful... but fascinated by her wit and mind... Still in constant contact with her.. Very unpredictable...

Major update #2... You've prolly heard.. Gas prices are down.. do almost 1.5 times the distance with the previous amount for a full tank...

Major update #3... Looking for a good car...

That's all I can think of atm...

Brap...

I just wrote my mind out on a post and it didn't fly... Great.. Now I ain't gonna write it again...

I am worth $2,027,280 on HumanForSale.com

Another one...

Here's another one by Sheikh Hitman..


Down with the Muslims
Down with Islam
Down with Muhammadism
Down with Terrorism

This is what you get to hear
Silently everywhere you steer
What can we do but shed a tear
We're not capable to defend a spear

You get several types of us
Ones who accept the cuss
Feel helpless.. then just... combust
And then there those who discuss
Those who don't know about the fuss
Faith is prone to rust

But Muslims got sickness
Skulls' got some thickness
No quickness
Just depressed
Filled with sadness

World's gone A.D.D.
But you've got the key
Be Proud brothers and sisters
You've got the Creed
We tend to disagree
But our hearts should be free
Of hate for each other's family tree

Don't go on a killing spree
You have to get down on your knee
And pray to the One and Only
Then Unite the Ummah into a family

As a Muslim you've got responsibility
You're a trustee
in His decree
Only He
can guarantee
Your safety
from the sea
of fire, ready to engluf thee

So don't be an escapee
Don't flee
Don't waste time in Virtual Reality
Trying to look busy
looking for a girly
Impressin lots who don't take you to a higher degree

You're a Muslim
This is not your cup of tea
You'll say: "What do you know about me?"
But let's see
Brandishing a goatee
being a vendee
at Versace
Riding a souped up S.U.V.
Listenin to musical MP3

Where's our Modesty
Do we realize our inability
To practice what we are required daily
We just need extensive therapy
to bring us back to Factual Reality

Oh Allah Strengthen our Eman...
Keep us away from Shaitan...
Unite us under Islam...

- Sheikh Hitman

Banned...

Haha.. So my good friend Furqan tells me he's banned from MuslimGlobe just because he had confronted the Admin about something un-Islamic he was doing...

This goes to show the poem Furqan wrote was true.. Not only that.. I've asked him to write something on how Muslims hate each other based on what their scholars say...

Let's hope something will come out soon.. But yeah.. I laughed my head off when he told me what the un-Islamic thing was...

Nice poem..

The world is on automatic drive
Time seems so alive
Life is too short to waste
Mankind will soon be replaced

History repeats itself again
Break free of their mind games
Do they have no sense of shame
No to them its all the same

We Muslims should be a different lot
But we got so many weak spots
Tryin to be like who we are not
All in the name of freedom of thought

We Muslims don't understand
They have nothing to do, nothing to prove
We have to face our Lord
We need to prepare
coz we have nothing in our hands

We're proud to bear the Kalimah
Expressing love for Sahabah
How much do we really put in action
of what Islam teaches but only a fraction

Claiming Prophet's love insatiable
but paradise is unattainable
with only love and no amal (actions)
Muslim is nothing but a label
this life becomes so questionable

Do we really need to survive
When we aren't able to strive
To pray to our Lord
For His love noone can afford

We Muslims cannot see
We have just one enemy
Disbelievers waiting for you to snap
To use your shoulder strap
But we fall into their trap
Petty fights between us
Time to put on our thinking cap
And then start to unite
Not on words
But only truth

There is no God except Allah
and Muhammad's His Messenger (SallAllahu Alaihi WaSallam)

By: Furqan aka Sheikh Hitman

MuslimHipHop

So Muslims have rappers... This is something new...

Check out MuslimHipHop... There are some really good writers there...

And here I thought Music was not allowed in Islam...

Thoughts

Sometimes you reach a point... you don't really want to look back.. but you have to ... coz you have to correct those wrongs...

Fame is shortlived... So is wealth... Why do we strive for it... Because both mean success...

We have our eyes closed to the World...
Evil persists because of the indifference of the Good...
We humans... we stab each others backs... why... for fame... for wealth... for love...
Time's come for us to diminish to dust... just like we were... in the beginning... we were nothing... and we will become nothing...
Insignificant...
Why is it that when we speak truth it comes out as being different...

Me... Cynical.. Don't think so...

The Kid

So I read a book called The Kid by Kevin Lewis... A true story it was... It reminded me so much of my past that I sort of regretted reading it...

But once I started, I couldn't stop till I finished it... A very interesting read... Amazing how the same things happen to different people throughout the world... We are in for a test and we are there to learn from others, yet most of us keep things to ourselves because we think we are more important than the next person...

Hats off to Kevin Lewis...

You are Proffesor X!

You are highly capable of any task and you care

deeply for the ones surrounded by you. Enough

to risk your life for them!


Which of the X-men do you resemble most?
brought to you by Quizilla

Oh and I also belong in Fightclub... lost the code and can't be bothered to do it again..


You're Norro!

A Fun loving dude who can never be stopped! Your

energy and attituade are soo good that only

the best is in your future. It's a good thing

that only a few can keep up to you, or you

wouldn't be in a league of your own!


SO YOU THINK YOU'RE AN ADVENTURE CREW CHARACTER!
brought to you by Quizilla

Beatboxing

So I just recently discovered Beatboxing... It's amazing what people can do with their mouths alone.. If you're really interested in learning this art I suggest HumanBeatBox.. They've got great tutorials... If you're a beatboxer and live in Saudi lemme know..

Also, I came across MC Hammer's blog which prompted me to go and actually read about Tupac and B.I.G.

Quite Interesting... I read MC Hammer's blog coz I used to watch HammerMan as a kid... Liked those cartoons..

Updates

Okay, so the Communications exhibition was sorta crap...

The weekend was amazing... Went to Dammam Corniche... Took no pics unfortunately, but had a good time in the lovely weather over there...

Amazingly enough when I came back to Riyadh, the temperature dropped 10 degrees C... I was amazed to say the least...

And just when you think you've seen everything in this world... I found out about the Toilet Restaurant thanks to Saher Zainab...

Gaming...

For those of you who are online most of the time and have nothing else to do.. You might want to check out KingTuner... And if you are really out of it then you can join my club over there... Essentially what you need to do is buy a car and then race other people to earn money then buy some parts to upgrade your car and then race some more... and it goes on...

Other online games are also there... such as Kings of Chaos... and Fall of Empires...

Talking about online games.. You've probably heard of Gaymers... How icky can this world get?

A quickie...

I've been meaning to blog, but I always seem to forget the topic I wanted to blog about..

Anyway, so there's this Communications Exhibition that I really want to go for some equipment I'm looking for.. I hope to find it there...

There seems to be a problem with the server again... Ima go look into it...

Personality Test

So I heard about the Myers-Briggs test.

I really want to take it. I hear it changes people's lives... I want in for a free makeover.. except that it isn't free...

Try taking this. It's an adapted form of the above. Not accurate at all but still... I am an INTJ:

• distinctively expressed introvert
• moderately expressed intuitive personality
• slightly expressed thinking personality
• slightly expressed judging personality

Or in more proper terms:

• The Portrait of the Mastermind
• Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging

Not bad I guess.. I just need to think more... be less of an introvert and I need to know my strengths and weaknesses...

Introverted - 67
Intuitive - 38
Thinking - 12
Judging - 1

Sic Vis Pacem Para Bellum

"If you want peace, prepare for war"

This is so true... I remember we had a debate on Peace without war or something of the like @ college... Never took part in it.. not much of a debater myself.. but it was useless... Barely anybody had done their research... Didn't put up many arguments either... The Rebuttal was non-sensical.. and in the end we had to just laugh our heads off because noone knew what was going on...

But it is true... If you open a history book, you will find nothing but wars... ranging from basic civil wars to world wars... But why do we have wars?

To keep peace... People tend to group together.. That is how God made us.. in Groups... And we tend to have differences... but we were not created to fight each other... we were created to get to know each other... and develop a deeper understanding of Earth and why we live on it...

But that is not how human nature wants it to be... Humans are envious.. They are spiteful.. and it takes a lot to change this behaviour...

Knockoff Heaven

I went to a place yesterday where they sell Knockoffs... and I was amazed...

You see the same quality stuff you would in a normal store the only problem is they have a slight error... Like this one shirt, Old Navy I think it was... Fantastic material and everything... the only problem was on the size they wrote F rather than an M... I thought it was hilarious...

So yea had a nice shopping spree... Don't really like shopping but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do...

Boycott

Yea so the Muslims are put on the defensive by publishing cartoons against their Prophet... and so the Muslims have taken it upon themselves to boycott Danish products... Too bad I used to like (actually more like addicted to) Danish Butter Cookies...

So here's my depiction of the Muslims in the current world.

Hope you like it...

Business

So I've got an idea of starting a business... Well who hasn't thought about doing their own business... But yea, the idea of waking up whenever you want seems to interest me nowadays more than ever... For some reason the past few days I've been coming to work late, its just that my eyes won't open...

So yea, back to the business idea, I see there's sort of a gap in the community over here and I think I can fill it up... Should be interesting...

I'll probably be around quitting my current job... But let's see what happens... It takes two weeks to get an approval on the business plan by SAGIA and they decide whether they'd like you to continue or whether your plan is BS... I had heard that you have to have around half a million Riyals to start your own thing, but then I contacted them today (from my current office - does that make me a hypocrite?) and the guy said that there is no such limit and I should just put in the application and see what happens... So I'll fill in the application and see what happens...

Hopefully things will work out... (as they say, InshaAllah)...

I don't get it... Why do people promise when they know they're going to break it?

I guess they're used to the feeling you get when you're lying and you know it... The feeling that goes like hope that person forgets about this whole thing...

I'm not a perfect person... There are many things I wish I didn't do... But I continue learning... And hope that other learn from me too...

Patience...

There is a time in everyone's life, when they love something more than what they had ever loved their entire lives...

Everything else seems so un-important.. It doesn't matter what others think... It doesn't matter whether it is right or wrong... The moment is full of purity... The moment is full of enthusiasm... The moment is full of happiness... The moment is full of everything good... The moment is full of all the good feelings one can think of...

Well we know what we were feeling but what were we thinking?

That's the thing... We don't remember... Maybe we don't want to remember... We try to block out stuff from our memory and learn lessons from it... It's definitely easier said than done...

As kids, we're always taught, "Look before you leap" but we, by human nature, want to feel in control... We don't want to think of the consequences...

What is done... is done... and there is nothing you can do to change the past... But...

It's only the wind, and nothing more... Not the end of the world knocking at the door... So close your eyes and dream again... Believe me... It's only the wind...

But do not just dream the same thing all over again... You should have learnt what you did whether wrong or right... This is called experience...

Experience is a comb which nature gives us when we are bald. ~Proverb

And then sometimes things don't go so well...

Even the best fall down sometimes... Even the wrong words seem to rhyme... Out of the doubt that fills my mind... I somehow find... Everything collides...

That's when you need patience...

Bohemian

I recently watch Moulin Rouge coz I had nothing better to do. Their emphasis on Bohemian Ideals caught a bit of my attention.

Now Bohemianism started out in 19th century France. Although it has several meanings... All of them revolve around the 4 basic ideals stated in the movie:

1. Freedom
2. Beauty
3. Truth
4. Love

But isn't there a problem with this pattern?

You have the Freedom to depart from Morals into the lust of never ending Beauty where you start hating underprivileged in beauty (Ugly) - racism? - abiding by being True to your own self even if it means False to others... and Love...

The best thing in life is to love and be loved in return...

Is this really true? Where is the Freedom in being Loved? By default you are bound to the other person once you Love... Or is this part of leaving Morals behind?

The Degringolade of Conscience

Browsing a magazine this other day, I see some of the victims of natural disasters... I feel sorry for them...

I turn the page...

I see beautiful models dressed in very expensive clothing on the catwalk...

What am I supposed to feel?

Death, sickness, poverty on one side of the page...
Glamor, beauty, money on the other...

I figure they're just out there to kill our conscience... It is only our conscience that keeps us human and if that is dead we're no better than animals...

Considering what is going on is several parts of the world, I believe it just a lack of conscience and nothing else.. We are deteriorating (for lack of a better word... darn there's no proper opposite of Darwinism/Evolution)...

I just hope we can keep our conscience in tact... You're being attacked from everywhere... and soon your conscience will die... like it has died for the rest...

A li'l more interesting...

A car is purpose is to take its owner from place to place, and if it breaks down and isn't able to fulfill its purpose, the owner has no use for it. Likewise, if we don't fulfill the purpose for which the Creator and Owner of all created us, then He has no use for us.

Interesting...

You are here to perform a great job -- the greatest and noblest job there is. You are here to know the One Who gave you everything -- everything you have, have had, and ever will have. And then you are to tell others about this One. If you do this correctly, you are successful; if you don't do this, then you have failed to fulfill the purpose for which you were created.

Books

I don't get these people... There are quite a few novels out there that just exploit beliefs...

Useless people in dire need of publicity...

Frustration

I never thought I'd be blogging about work but here goes...

You get to see managers in your lifetime that seem to be quite competitive. Eventually they turn out to worse than you, except that they know a wee bit more than what you know in a specific field.

We have Program Management Officers who seem to be quite qualified, except that they just know that much and that's all they will ever know. No matter how much you teach them or tell them, nothing will change their perception of something.

We had a meeting discussing the ability of Vendor Project Managers to "Publish" their project plans in our portal. Mind you, the first meeting we had regarding this was 3 months ago and we had decided that the Project Owners (i.e. Project Manager from the - our - Company side) should take the plan and publish it, assigning all tasks to the Project Manager so that he can update it.

Now this meeting started off with discussing the drawbacks of having the Vendor Project Managers publish the plan instead of the Project Owner. The debate went on for some time, then all of a sudden, my fav. colleague (NOT), came in the meeting room (although he was not invited), and gave his suggestion, "Why don't we assign all tasks to the Project Manager and let him update the plan in that way?"

Bloody crap, don't you know we already have these permissions implemented.. Forget him, all the other Project Management Officers were like, "Yeah, why don't we do that... GO ahead and implement this, we review this tomorrow, meeting adjourned..."

Today, they tested it out, don't like it... so we go the same route again in the meeting today...

Time's awasting, dudes...

Birthdays

Days come... Days go... Years you look forward to... Years you look back at and remember...

Is life really worth living?

Health: Very limited
Wealth: Just vanishes
Love: Dies after time
Accomplishments: Nobody notices

Why do we celebrate Birthdays? To mark another year in our lives we haven't met the Angel of Death?

Pessimistic one year, Optimistic the next... It's all about living a life for a purpose...

To find THE purpose, the One who created the Universe, provides you with Religion... It is upto us to follow and find the purpose... or just plainly reject it coz we like living the way we live... every breath drawing us closer to darkness... The blinding darkness of old age... The ultimate darkness of the grave... and the final darkness of our soul...

Implosion Due?

"We face the real possibility that the Internet may implode on itself in the coming years, and will ultimately be a nice history lesson for future generations," he said. "I hope we can save it, but the current signs don't point in that direction." - Sachs of the Internet Storm Watch

Haha.. This should be interesting...

Quiet Mornings

For some reason I love quiet mornings... After I wake up till at least I get to work (timespan of 1.5 hours) I like it very quiet... not one word to be spoken to me nor do I like to speak..

Many of my mornings have been spent in complete silence... This helps me get a new perspective of things and helps me to notice things around me... also helps me to sort of plan the day out...

Comeback...

Been a long time... thought about loads of things that I wanted to write about... forgot most of them...

Its amazing how we go about our lives, from the time we were kids and didn't know anything and didn't remember much to the time we will be old and won't know much and won't remember much either. I recently got to meet a grandmother of some very young kids. She used to be a Teacher at a school. Quite a good one at that apparently, now she can't even recognise some of her own children unless she stares at them blankly for some time. Times change...

I used to read alot about mindfulness (noticing things)... quite interesting...

How do you sleep?

I sleep really well... no alarm wakes me in the middle of my sleep... in fact nothing (barely anything) wakes me...

Amazingly enough, I was so tired yesterday I decided I'd sleep half naked... It was fun.. until I felt really cold with AC on full.. so I sorta woke up, turned off the AC then went back to sleep... Then I felt really hot so I sorta woke up, turned on the fan and went back to sleep...

It was fun... well most of it... Thank God I live alone...

Satisfaction=Happiness?

From Finding Happiness at Work
Read the following statements about each basic desire. If they strongly describe you mark "+" if they somewhat describe you mark "0," and if they apply to you very little mark "-":

1. Curiosity. I have a thirst for knowledge. +

2. Acceptance. I have a hard time coping with criticism. -

3. Order. It upsets me when things are out of place. 0

4. Physical Activity. Physical fitness is very important to me. 0

5. Honor. I am a highly principled and loyal person. +

6. Power. I often seek leadership roles. +

7. Independence. Self-reliance is essential to my happiness. 0

8. Social Contact. I am known as a fun-loving person. +

9. Family. My children come first. -

10. Status. I am impressed by people who own expensive things. -

11. Idealism. Compared with most people, I am very concerned with social causes. 0

12. Vengeance. It is very important to me to get even with those who insult or offend me. 0

13. Romance. Compared with my peers, I spend much more time pursuing or having sex. -

14. Eating. I love to eat and often fantasize about food. -

15. Saving. I hate throwing things away. +

16. Tranquility. It scares me when my heart beats rapidly.


Now, look at your "plus" items. These are your priorities, and you should have five or six of them.

1. Curiosity. I have a thirst for knowledge. +
They don't have any crappy piece of way to gain knowledge here with that "Colleague" in front of me..

5. Honor. I am a highly principled and loyal person. +
I do my work as required of me, always go by the book and extremely hate work politics...

6. Power. I often seek leadership roles. +
I like to lead my own self then others... You wouldn't be anywhere without leadership...

8. Social Contact. I am known as a fun-loving person. +
It's nice to have a friendly conversation here and there...

15. Saving. I hate throwing things away. +
I hate wasting... so yea...


Although I totally disagree with:
"To do well in a career and enjoy life, people need to be in a job and work environment that are compatible with their intrinsic desires," concludes Reiss. "By repeatedly doing those things that fulfill your values, there is no limit to how meaningful and happy your life can be."

Repeatedly doing anything gives me the bore... New challenges within these fields are always interesting...

Venting...

I was thinking about writing about satisfaction.. but a few mails changed my mind..


X:
I have reviewed the ***** Workflow functionality and it seems it is exactly what we need. Can you, as a matter of urgency arrange for a live demo form a supplier and forward to us the product cost details.

Me:
I seem to notice that the Workflow is only limited to documents and specific lists provided by the installation. The Workflow cannot be extended to other lists available in Sharepoint. I have contacted *****, and hopefully they will reply with clarifications.

Colleague who is an !@#!@#!:
You seem to have read only about the Workflow for Share Point. Check out their regular workflow engine in their website.

I AM talking about Sharepoint dammit...

Colleague who is an !@#!@#!:
Can you please send me a progress report of what activities you were engaged in on Sunday last and yesterday!

Me:
I have been trying to setup the Failover server which shall be completed Today

We also had a 3 hour communication plan session and User Training. I have to train one PO and one PM today 1:00 pm.

Colleague who is an !@#!@#!:
It is a wonder you want me to guess your activities based on what you projected to do. I am asking about what was done. A mail sent at 10: 46 AM does not tell me what you did until 5 PM.

Managers

As requested by Princess Donna, Ima write sum'in about my Managers...

Well, my first experience with an Egyptian manager hadn't been good. He started off in IT as a Graphic Designer (seems like all managers I hate start with graphic designing)... When I had first joined the company he was the Multimedia Director... I was introduced and everything was fine until he showed me his works... So I thought maybe he just needs improvement and should be fine.. I later found out that 90% of the presentation he claimed he did was done by this other guy... Now I could smell something fishy so I decided to stay away from the guy...

Later on however, I found out that the guy was promoted to Head of the Web Department... I was literally like, "What!! He has no skills.." I kept it to myself obviously and his team... Now, his team hated him as much as I did (or vice versa)... I thought to myself, "I have to do something about this..."

So, the next thing you know, he's promoted as the Chief Technology Officer and he knows crap about technology... Apparently he had learned Oracle in 13 days... *shrug*

I had a sincere talk with my CEO about the future of the company.. and guess what? He promoted me to the Head of the Web Department.... Seeing this, that guy's blood boiled... Even more so because the team had informed the Management personally that I was a whole lot better than the previous guy... So this guy started playing games...

We had a new project... Quite a big one at that.. We had to make a replica of the UEFA site, except completely in Arabic... The CEO obviously consulted the CTO who directly said 5 days... I was like, "WTH (I couldn't use F coz that's considered really bad in this env.)!!!"... I had to convince the CEO with the CTO smiling at me and interrupting me quite a bit... Finally I got the CEO convinced that it would take 15 days... The CTO hated me even more.. He started shouting and screaming...

Rivalry ensued.. He would come and start giving my team tasks without my approval... Start coming and disturbing us very often... Start being picky on every little thing...

In any case, we completed the project on schedule, on time, in budget, complete customer satisfaction etc. etc... That guy started boiling so bad, he would sit late every day (The GM used to come in late every night)... And I started noticing these things and finally I decided I can't take it anymore... I went to the CEO just to tell him I quit.. He asked me to stay till the end of the month and I did... And then I left feeling sorry for the company...

Last I heard about them... They're trying to survive.. The CEO has quit... Several others are planning... But holding on to the last string...

Anyway, I hate work politics...

Recently, the Indi Colleague's trying to tell me that I shouldn't be part of team meetings coz it doesn't concern me... And tryin to impose this on me by CC'ing the real Boss...

Well I guess time has come to change another job...

I hate places with no challenges.. No definite direction... No strategy... No personal development...

What is the point?

I just don't get it.. What is the point of making a website if you don't have something niche? Everywhere you go, you get the same thing... Forums, Blogs, Auctions, Portfolios, etc. Its all there on the web... What more do we need?

Message?

A few words from Al-Qaeda then the response from Bush (didn't have enough time to finish it off)

AlQaeda:

Stick and Stones (missles and bombs) can break my bones but words (Terrorist) can never
hurt me.

You see Mr. Bush, we are a people who have faith. The faith in the right things. History has
proven that the people who have faith persevere. Whether they lose in the beginning they win
afterwards.

We are a people who do not care about this world, since our existence is for a purpose. We are
created for something and that something is to make all worship the Creator and not the
creations. We stay with the pain. We believe that without pain without sacrifice we would have
nothing. Every step you take to try to destroy us, we are enlightened. We know that someday
we are going to die and we have accepted this as our true fate.

We are not a materialistic people. We do not own things except what is truly needed. In the end it is the extra things you own that end up owning you. We have the ability to let things that do not matter truly slide.

Please go ahead and try to attack us. Destroy us with all you can. It is only that when we have lost everything that we are free to do anything.

Predijuce does not show much reason. Your predijuce towards our people (Afghanistan and Iraq) made you kill innocent civilians. Your evil is man's inhumanity towards man.

There are varying degrees of evil, we are due lesser farms of filth, not to push the bounds and crossover, into true corruption, into our domain, but if you do, you will look behind you and you will see us, and on that day you will reap it, and we will send you to whatever God you wish.
Do you possess the depth of faith to go as far as needed? We are warriors, when engaged in combat, the vanquishing of the enemy is our only concern. We suppress all human emotion and compassion. We kill whoever stands in the way. This truth lies at the heart of the art of combat.
Revenge is never a straight line. Its a forest and like a forest its easy to lose your way to get lost to forget where you came in but we have a guide, the only true Guide.. Our God, Allah.

We deserve our revenge and you deserve to die.

We will make you suffer till your last breath, that is our promise.

Bush:

Your attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. Your acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.

This will be a monumental struggle of good versus evil, but good (we) will prevail. This battle will take time and resolve, but make no mistake about it, we will win.

You are an enemy that tries to hide, but you won't be able to hide forever. You think your harbours are safe, but they won't be safe forever. You prey on innocent and unsuspecting people, then run for cover, but you won't be able to run for cover forever.

Your acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong.

Accidents

How many times have you been in a car accident?

Besides the fact that I drive like a wacko most of the accidents I have been in were the other guy's fault...

Accident #1
I'm driving on a straight two-way road and this guy comes and bumps into me.

Accident #2 - Life Threatening...
I'm driving on a highway, real fast, and this guy from my right tries to overtake me. Obviously he hits me and sends me spinning down the freeway till I hit a lamp post. The guy was nowhere to be seen...

Accident #3
I'm driving on the right side on a double road (two roads separated by an elevation with some trees) and this guy with a Cadillac Escalade hits my Corolla 90.

Crazy Drivers... pfft..

Hate

How often do you get irritated? What does it take to irritate you?

I get irritated by constant repitition... doesn't matter what it is.. as long as it is being repeated... it drives me crazy... My boss is the one person I know in my whole life who irritates me not only because of his repitition but because he doesn't want to understand...

For example, we have a problem and I somehow solved it without help from anybody... He just won't "understand"... He would go like, "No, how did you solve it?" - he's no techie and he tells me this himself when he's more sane... and when I tell him, then he goes I don't understand... I feel like saying, "Bugger off you imbicile", which obviously I keep to myself.. try to explain to him some more but no he would twist the question around so somehow HE is the one who solved it..

Bloody Indian... (I'm not generalising, just that this bloody Indian has gotten on my bloody nerves)... Hate the sound of this person...

Jealousy among other things

I just got meself a brand new SE P910i.. Its a bit bulky but its fine... In any case, I could see the fire in the eyes of someone... Its amazing what that fire can do...

I also noticed there are coupla thousand if not millions of dating/matching etc. sites..

In fact there are so many sites that are duplicated... The same information over and over again... And people copying and pasting from one site to another... The web has certainly grown entangled into itself..

Why is this? Is it just another way to brainwash your mind into doing something you wouldn't normally do? Is it to lure you in a round robin tournament where it will be you will lose no matter what you do?

Dreams...

I just can't seem to get rid of this dream. I've had it since quite a bit of time now. I think this might be the third time I'm seeing this... here goes...

The dream starts with 3 guys working to fix the roof of this shed. Apparantly this shed contains lots of shrimps. Its like a normal red-wooded barn type thingy. It starts to rain, first slowly, then harder... Now these guys are a bit confused... The youngest of 'em, probably in early teens, steps inside a broken edge onto something he could stand on and continues fixing the roof properly. All of a sudden, this kid slips and falls into the shrimps.

Now it gets wierd.

The shrimps eat this kid alive. Skin him to the bones, and you finally you see a skeleton with his hands up. The other guys are all talking about how he risked his life to save blah blah blah...

Then it fades out.

The next thing we see is two guys and a girl or two girls in a small boat on a river. Towards their left, is the same barn, deserted and all. The river ends and they get off. These guys definitely know what they're here for. They run, obviously looking around, to the entrance of a small cave which is blocked. After some code playing and trying to break through they're successful and all go in, except one guy who keeps watch. They start searching through this small room and finally come upon a small button. After pushing this button the scenery slides and they can see what they were looking for; The Anti-dote. They pick up the syringe and go outside only to find their friend lying on the ground. They quickly give him some 10-20ml of the anti-dote and he starts to come around. They make him stand and he gathers himself up. They look ahead and...

There are loads of shrimp bees thingy's flying around.

They're like, "RUN!" and start running for the boat. The bees following them and trying to sting them. The girl is the first one to reach near the boat and then this guy steps in front of her. Its the KID. She screams and accidentally she shoots him with some load of the Anti-dote and he faints. They all get in the boat, cover themselves up with a blanket and...

I wake up...

Extremely wierd. More because I love shrimps...

The spammers like me.. for some reason I just keep on gettin these dumb junk mails that I have to delete over and over again...

I saw a Viagra ad the other day... Quite an interesting analogy they used there... Man where do these thinkers come from... I would never have thought of actually using a straw to symbolize what it did and a Coke cup to symbolize what that did... These thinkers may be the only reason creativity still exists... (Just in case you're wondering what kind of cup, the pic's on the right)

Its been quite a bit of time I haven't blogged... Probably because I'm not very particular about blogging anyway... Even so, I have been keeping myself busy. Working 9 hours a day, coming home to an empty house. Preparing dinner (actually lunch since I don't eat anything till 530). Eating. Going window shopping.

I recently got in touch with my dad. He didn't recognize me at first, thinking I was calling him coz he owed me money (I think he was drunk). In any case, he said, "Oh, how you doin son? Been a long time hasn't it? Well son, I have one thing to say to you. You have made me proud."

Me: "How so?"
Him: "You have worked your way up."
Me: "Haven't we all?"
Him: "Sure, but you have done well."
Me: "I don't quite think so."
Him: "Well, I do. And believe me when I say this, you're better than your other brothers."
Me: "Well, I don't really know my other brothers."
Him: "That is another issue..."
Me: "Do you need money?"
Him: "Why do you say that?"
Me: "You thought I owed you money in the beginning of..."
Him: "These people keep on bothering me..."
Me: "Maybe because you really owe them."
Him: "When are you going to visit your grandmother?"
Me: "She has been dead for 10 years."
Him: "Don't get smart on me young man."
Me: "How much do you need pops?"
Him: "About 10 grand."
Me: "I'll send half of that tomorrow."
Him: "Thanks kid, I knew you were better than the others."
Me: "Don't start. Talk to ya laters."

There goes my vacation in the States...

Look at the Time...

I haven't blogged in ages... And though I don't have much to say even now... I would like to say this:

truth is peace of mind and falsehood is doubt

Good luck everybody with the summer... The sun's gonna fry you sooner or later...

So I am there checking my e-mail and guess what advertisement I see?

Its amazing what the world has come to. First there was modesty now there's love. First there was truth now there are lies. First there was knowledge, now we're just a bunch of fools watching movies and advertisements that not only promote materialism but also demote modesty.

Now when you see this advertisement, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Who do you think are the audience?

Since I already mentioned materialism you would like to know where does the materialistic view come around in this ad. Well let's break this ad down to 3 different bits. The top bit with the Logo (True); the middle bit with the picture; and the last bit with the punch line.

The first (top) bit
When you look at the ad the first thing you might look at (depending on where your eyes go first would either be the middle or the top; either case you'd definitely look at the top before going down) would the word True with an underline on the letter u. Some that is True is consistent with fact or reality, or in other words real. The first thing that would pop up in almost every other guy's head would be like "I wish... let me check it out...". Why? because he thinks that this is real. Some other guys would think, who probably have had the experience, "Impossible... never happens..." but then he still go checks the ad. Why? because True does not only symbolise real but it has an underlined U... "It's for You"...

The middle bit
Its a bit self-explanatory so I wouldn't mention too much just the fact that its eye-catching.

The last bit
Now we have the punch line. "What's more fun than love?" Any kid who has gone through his teens most probably knows the meaning of love (which is due to the fact that every normal human has hormones). The kid knows that it was fun while it lasted so the kid wants to feel the fun more. He does not want to be deprived of the "high".

.... Lost my train of thought... That's what happens when you blog at work.

Conspiracy Theory

We are in the midst of a time where technology is advancing to its limits and the state of the world (friendship between countries, etc.) is going down the drain.

Taking a step back we need to look at what is happening... While America used to have investment in other countries, now other countries have investments in America... America's currency is slowly losing to the Euro... Debt is increasing by the minute...

Standing from this place we need to evaluate the present and the possible future. What is in favor and what is not? And how we can avoid whatever is not...

We have so many unsolved problems and they seem to keep on increasing. The fact that time is running out seems to not effect us at all...

While we sit at the TV and listen to the predicted weather which we are quite sure is not going to happen, we don't predict our own future...

President Bush's war on terrorism has been using Ariel Sharon's approach to fighting terrorism which is to find terrorists and kill them. But so far the more terrorists Sharon kills, the more Israelis get killed by terrorists. The current state of Israel which is in a state of horrible insecurity will probably be the future state of America.

What we are going to see (probably very soon) is a war. But this war is not going to be anything like the previous wars that have taken place between countries. This is going to be a huge war... A war of religions...

Why hasn't it happened until now? Well the fact of the matter is... the people are currently looking the other way. For example, Afghanistan was destroyed - Pakistan looked the other way; Iraq was destroyed - all Arab countries looked the other way.

Why will it happen? You see there is only so much you can fear... If you lock a person who is afraid of the dark in a corner of a dark room.. That person will try his best to come to the door and bang it... You can only fear so much when you gain the confidence... And this confidence is going to drive these people...

What will happen to the rest of us?

Ice Cream

Have you ever tried having Ice Cream with a fork? I was feeling bored and I didn't want to wash the piled up dishes since yesterday so I decided, being lazy that I was, to have Ice Cream and fulfill the couch potato legacy...

Only to my surprise I found no clean spoon available... At that second *TING* and idea struck and my eyes were focused on the lovely and lonely fork... ~Tan Ta Ra ra~ Mr. Fork saves the day.. I took the fork and started eating...

You cannot imagine how incredibly fun it is doing something new... And I had my few minutes of extreme fun... The fun although changed into frustation at the end when some of the Ice Cream that had melted just wouldn't get onto the fork... After a coupla tens of times of trial and error I finally decided to drink the remaining part... This is where a new challenge arose..

How exactly do you drink from a plate?

After the whole episode was over I decided that I'd be better off doing the dishes every time I eat.. Since I don't have much to do anyway...

Animal Instinct

I was taking care of a few Goldfishies... very cute... The only problem was cleaning out their aquarium every few days... I would watch them for a great amount of time (lonely as I am) and try to understand what their point in life is... Tiny of a brain they do have which prolly only thinks about where the food is and what this "thing" with big huge face is doing looking at me taking a poo...

I also had birds, 2 finches and 2 budgies... Very noisy the finches... the budgies were okay... white, small, hopping around in their cage... The finches on the other hand would keep on fighting... One day I decided to thoroughly clean the budgies cage... So out of my complete illiteracy of relationships between animals I placed the budgies and the finches together in one cage and went on cleaning the budgies cage in the other room...

BIG MISTAKE

I came back and found that the birds had fought.. was a scene from a terrorist movie.. There was blood everywhere... One budgie badly hurt bleeding from the legs the other budgie was just sitting on the corner... One of the finches had blood on it and the other was in another corner... I quickly separated them and then examined each and every one real close... The budgie that was badly hurt and bleeding from the legs lost 1 leg and the other budgie died a few days after... The finch covered with blood is still alive whilst the other finch also died around the same time as the budgie...

Barbarism?

Recently I just started giving no heed to spoon and fork (forget about using chopsticks). Why has man created these tools when God has created hands? Why not just use your hands to eat rather than using two pieces of carved out metal.

In my experience, while using my hands to eat I feel more satisfied (fuller). On the other hand if I use a spoon I feel I need to more... more to eat... feel unsatisfied.

Am I going against evolution? Heck who isn't?

Forgetful Jones

Its been almost a week since I have blogged.. I had thought about many things to write about but never had the chance to even jot those thoughts down on a piece of paper... Having no thoughts listed out to write about I am sort of empty handed when I start writing this post...
Its amazing how we talk to ourselves and think things over... and then we just tend to forget them... How many times have you thought of something and then forgotten it?

"To forget is human..." - Me (at least I think so)

Its always easier to forget than it is to remember. Remembering requires more effort than forgetting. Apparantly that's common with nature; earming requires more effort than spending; pulling water from the well requires more effort than drinking... etc...

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Work is tiring... Wish I could just do some managerial stuff, earn good money and find peace...

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Hope the people in Indonesia are doing better after the Earthquake... God what is happenin to this world? Tsunami and now this...

My Dream Came True

This is something I came about recently

Detroit-based African American journalist and PR woman, Angelene McLaren, has been a Muslim for six years. Upon conversion she took the new name Sumayyah bint Joan. Here she records her encounter with Islam.

Ever since I was a little girl, I've always had a profound relationship with God. Even though I was raised a Catholic, with all its ambiguities, contradictions and confusion, I did my best to stay God-focused and not to give in to the teachings of the Church, because even to me as a child, they seemed to go against the grain somehow.

During my high school days, I made a conscious decision to apply myself more thoroughly to my faith. I attended mass twice a day, every day, went to the confessional at least once a week, and did all the ritual practices my priest insisted upon; all in an effort to draw closer to a God. The church failed to me to answer all of life's most pressing questions; who am I, who and what is God, why am I here, and what should be my relationship with this superior being who created the universe? How am I supposed to live my life? Who is my role model, and how should I follow him or her? Why does God need to have a son now, when He was alone in the creation of all that is, and need no partner or intercessor before? My priest was unable to answer my questions, beyond stating that I should have faith, and that it did not all have to make sense as long as my faith was strong enough. This did not satisfy me, and on finishing high school, I left the church and set out on a quest to find the correct way, belief and religion.

I investigated a number of religions in an effort to get rid of this internal emptiness. I practiced Hinduism, Taoism, Zen Buddhism, and in later years even dabbled in White Witchcraft. Now, most people may find this crazy, but you have to understand that I was searching, truly searching, but all these left a void, and just never seemed to fit.

Then one day my sister came to see me and what I saw took me by surprise. She entered the house with a very long dress and was covered from head to toe. Her hair was covered by an opaque scarf and came over her breasts to right above her waist. After asking her why she was dressed like that in the middle of summer when it's at least 85 degrees outside, she explained to me that she was a Muslim.

Now of all the religions I looked into, I never thought of investigating Islam, mainly because there didn't seem to be a lot of information readily available, and because I carried a lot of the Islamic stereotypes in my head, that I now have to deal with in other people. So I left my family and moved to California, still without a religion, or a sound relationship with God. In the beginning a lot of stereotypes about Islam kept me from studying about this religion.

At that point I gave up, and just decided to go with flow, and not worry about it. I did this for two years, and although I found love and got engaged to marry to my college sweetheart; something was still missing. In the back of my mind, there was always that nagging voice that kept telling me that my life was out of order, but I would do my best to ignore it, until one fateful night.

Right before I was due to leave California, and return to my home state to be with my fiancé and begin building our lives together, I had the scariest dream I've ever had in my life. In this dream, two very tall men dressed in white were standing at the foot of my bed. As I looked at them, I thought they were either aliens or angels, I wasn't sure which, but I was very afraid and was trying my utmost to get away from them, but the harder I tried to get away, the closer to them I got. Eventually, we ended up on top of a very high mountain, with a sea beneath us as red as blood and as hot as lava. The two men pointed and instructed me to look into the sea.

What I saw will stay with me until the day I die.

The sea was full of naked people, being turned over and over, like meat being roasted over a fire, and they were screaming, "Help us, help us!" Needless to say, I felt I was getting a fist-hand glimpse of Hell, and I was terrified. I told my fiancé about the dream, and he just laughed and said that I had an overactive imagination, but I couldn't dismiss it so easily.

When I returned to Michigan, I found out that my other sister, and my cousin had also embraced Islam during my absence. This made me curious, so I asked my sister to give me some books to read, and one of the first was, Descriptions of the Hell Fire. Everything that was in my dream was in this book. I was floored.

So I began reading and reading, and going to lectures and asking questions, and the more I learned about Islam, the more my head and heart told me that this was what I was looking or all along. I had made up my mind to embrace Islam, but I had one small problem, my fiancé.

He was adamant that he was not going to be a Muslim, so I had to choose between the man I loved, and doing what I knew in my heart was right. Allah, SWT, says that if you say you truly believe in Him and His Messenger, (peace be upon him), He will test you, and this was my test.

Despite the great amount of pain it caused me at the time, I did choose Islam over my fiancé. That was almost six years ago, and Allah has since blessed me with a wonderful husband who loves Him and Messenger, and a beautiful son. Allah says for all who truly want guidance, He will lead them from darkness into light; and I know that is what He did for me.

Sumayyah Bint Joan
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Excerpts from an interview with Sumayyah bint Joan

Your family background
My family is from the island of Jamaica, and they immigrated to the US when I was six. My father, unhappy with the corruption of American society, sent us back to Jamaica to attend school, and I spent the school years there, and our holidays in America.

Education
I attended elementary school and high school in Jamaica. I then went on to the University of Michigan, where I studied Mass Communications. I am currently working towards my Masters in Mass Communications and Journalism. I also hold professional diplomas in Print Journalism, Broadcast Journalism, Photojournalism, Community and Media Relations, Electronic News Gathering and Newspaper Layout and Design.

Family's reaction to your conversion to Islam
I was the third of my mother's children to accept Islam, and although she was surprised, she did not treat me with any animosity, she felt as long as I was happy, she was happy.

A little about your husband
My sister's husband had a very good friend, who in turn had a very good friend (my husband) and he mentioned to my sister's husband that he had a friend who was looking to get married, and that's how it came about.

The books that had major impact on you.
I read many books before accepting Islam, and I had carried a copy of the Qur'an for about six years with me before I actually decided to sit down and read it. The Qur'an, the True Religion by Abu Ameenah, The Description of the Hellfire, The Description of the Paradise, and a slew of books by Ahmad Deedat.

How about your Dawah work?
My dawah efforts have been concentrated on the writings that I do for Islamic magazines like Islamic Voice and Al Jumuah magazine. I feel comfortable doing dawah that way and will continue to do so, insha' Allah.Common stereotypes that you encounteredThe most common stereotypes that I have to deal with, is the myth that because I wear full hijab, I am not educated, I am unsophisticated and I am oppressed. I hate this. But when I speak to people, and they find that I can string together a coherent sentence, they are at first surprised, but then they see the error of their ways. A lot of the problems, is because we Muslims have allowed outside forces to define who we are. Until we take the microphone and start telling people about Islam and the Muslims, they will always carry around the wrong ideas, based only on ignorance.Prospects for Islam in AmericaAmerica needs Islam. This country is so a-moral, that it boggles the mind, but the people are searching. The problem is that the majority of the Muslims who are here, are here for the dunya, and not for dawah, so you'll see the Muslims acting just like the disbelievers. So until the Muslims start loving Islam and come to grips with their responsibility to the rest of the mankind, things will only get worse. But despite our lackadaisical attitudes, Islam is growing here at a tremendous rate, and it shows no sign of slowing down.

Taken from: http://www.islamfortoday.com/angelene.htm

The week has ended and two days of vacation (i.e. no work) have almost begun. Its amazing that we always wait for the weekend to come. Its more amazing that we want it to come more because we don't want to do anything. But of course not all weekends are empty.

Last weekend I went on a road trip. Its sort of my favorite past-time (driving). I sometimes wish there was a road to everywhere in this world and I could be the only one who has driven on every street. Fantasies can be misleading.

That reminds me... I used to play a game called Final Fantasy... Lovely game... Nice story to it too... I wonder if they can make these kind of games more like reality... Or maybe I should start this kind of game...

In any case, weekend seems to be the only time where I can look back on the past 5 days and reflect. Being able to understand and being able to see the past are very important for planning for the future. In other words, you can only know (at least to an extent) what will happen in the future by completely understanding the past.

"The past moulds the future" - Wonder if anybody has already said that...

Accidents

Accidents do happen.. and they seem to happen a bit too frequently... especially when you least expect them...

That reminds me of something that happened quite a long time ago with my cousin... my cousin had destroyed something and when you would ask him he would say no he didn't do anything wrong.... but when you ask him whether he did it accidentally he would accept that he had done it... Quite an interesting statement from a very young kid...

What are the causes of accidents? Most of them have to blamed at human error. Accidents from drunk driving for example seem to top the lists.

Others are just natural disasters such as earthquakes. But most of these kind of accidents are prevented by proper planning.

Some accidents on the other hand are just pure n simple coincidence. The big bang for example quoted by some athiests as being just coincidence.

It is amazing how people believe and disbelieve so fast these days. We believe Osama is dead and then all of a sudden there comes a video/audio clip. We believe that Iraq war is a great war to rid the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction (in the wrong hands) and then we get to know there were never anything of the like anywhere near the place.

Why are people around the world so biased? Why is there hate? Justice needs to be served and the final justice is quite close.

Mea Culpa...

Plans

I had planned to blog in this morning but I guess plans change...

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail" - Forgot who said this

Well I did plan but things didn't quite go the way I wanted them to go... This is a story of most people's lives... Not everything always goes as planned...

But Why?

Planning is always an essential part of life. The depth of one's perception can only be viewed by the person's plan. But how can one develop this depth? One's experience is a mirror of the depth that this person can plan with. The more depth the better the plan... However, there is always something that can go wrong... which is completely out of the perception...

"If something can go wrong, it will go wrong" - Murphy's Law

What can we do to avoid the problems that can erupt?

"Expect the unexpected" - Have no idea who said this either

Faith and belief... Most people say that having faith and belief in oneself is enough to overcome one's problems... I doubt that becuase it is not always true... It is faith and belief in something else that gets us through... Its faith and belief in God...

Have you ever noticed how many times you say God or Jesus or Christ or Pete or holy or any other religious thing for that matter? Its not because you are brought up in a "religious" household but its the fact that you believe (even though you might not act on it) but you do believe and you have faith that if not your plan... then it is definitely God who can help you with the problems that arise...

Wierd as it may seem the word God seems to comfort us... if you haven't noticed yet try closing your eyes and believe that someone powerful is watching you who has the key to everything and then whisper God...

Liked that?

Blackout

Its been a long time since I blogged... Its really because I have been through a phase... A phase that probably everyone goes through at least once in their lives... A phase of blackout...

Now different people experience different kinds of blackouts. For one it might mean a medical condition while for another its just a mood change. For me, however, it was time where I had a chance to look.

I looked at several things... I looked hard and for some wierd reason I felt safe... I felt safe within... and with this feeling I began to reflect... I began to think about my job, my life, my past, my present and my future... I began to think whether all the money I earn and the all the money I spend... what does it mean? I live to earn and spend to live... its a cycle that keeps going on and on and on...

Reminds me of a riddle during my school days... What goes on and on and has an I in the middle?

It is only those people who reflect that can see... The only thing I saw going on in this world was WAR... War on Terror... War on Iraq... War in Afganistan... It reminded me of my college days when we had a debate, the topic "Is war necessary for peace?" or something like that... There were many speeches and rebuttals... The only thing that prevailed in my thoughts was the fact that "War is necessary for Peace" but a war without vision... without faith... without mercy... is in fact not a War but a massacre...

All of us might remember the famous almost-irresistable have-to-watch movie Braveheart... What the guy (Mel Gibson) fought for was FREEDOM which obviously is misinterpreted in many ways. So let me just bring in the picture of Mr. Osama and place it on Mel Gibson... what is so different? Same thought... same vision...

This is getting a bit too far ahead... let me move one step back and go back to the point I originally stated... Not a War but a massacre... A war is usually done with a vision... The War on Terror for example is being carried out (amazingly by several countries - I wonder why they don't call it World War 3) with the vision: "Eradication of Terrorism". That is like saying you want to "Eradicate Burglary". Isn't mugging a for of terrorism? You want to "Eradicate killing of Innocent People"? Since when are the Palestinians not innocent?

A war is also done with faith... As history proves that many a war has been fought with a specific faith/religion being supported in the process...

And finally a war is not a war if there is no mercy... Mercy for the civilians... Mercy for the PoWs... Mercy for the country...

This is just one of the things I saw... and this is what I understood from what I saw... The who understands knows... And I for one... know what the near future lies (although it might not all be correct for nobody can really know the future)... for me and for the world...

I will be starting a new journey... I journey where I will ride on the saddle of patience...