A Time to Give Back...VOTE

Ladies... a few more hours, and you will be making history. I urge you to participate in our democratic process tomorrow Thursday June 29th, 2006. We all have a vision of Kuwait, o e7na ilshabab 3indina nafs il ro'ya, naby ilkuwait illy robaina feeha.

Ya shabab! The events of the past few months have proven that we are not the future of the country anymore, we are the present! We can make change, we have and we will continue our efforts.

Mino illy ya7meeeha...mino illy yahdeeeha..mino illy yra3eeeha...mino illy yafdeeha? E7naaa E7na!! E7naaaa E7na...killina e7na..killina e7na...Baladna, baladna liKuwait liKuwaaaaiit!

I know that you will not let me down. We are all restricted to our own districts, some very few good choices, some with more than 2, so I am urging every one of you shabab in every district in Kuwait to vote for illy ya7meeha, yahdeeha, yra3eeha willy yafdeeha.

June 29th is a time to give back a fraction of what it had been giving us.. inqadimlich a7la hadiya ya a7la Kuwait.

Update: Now that's all shot to shit.

Falling Apart

Maly khilg a3sser mokhy le'anna oho already ma3ssoor. So, I'm just gonna at7al6am. Feel free to ignore.

Yesterday was hectic, an unprepared for hectic day. Long day at work, a very long, concentration-required, work-related phonecall during my lunch 30 mins. In which I realized right before I went to bed last night that I forgot to mention the most important issues in our discussion and therefore I probably didn't really get my point accross, what a waste.

Workshop that I had been organizing in which most people decided to show up an hour/hour and a half late (3ady dasheen 3ogob sa3a chinna ma sawaw shay!!) Hung around with the instructor to evaluate, rushed back home, changed (haven't ikshikh'd in a while) but I was invited to a dinner in the honor of my recently engaged friend, which was probably a bad idea to attend cuz I just sat there like a vegetable, but she is a close friend so .. food was good... kint yo3ana.. I even forget to eat. I forget to call back my parents. My friend gave birth like 10 days ago (or something like that) still haven't called her, have been wanting to send her flowers, haven't gotten to that yet...I'll call to send flowers now and then call and visit her when elections are over :(

I need a personal assistant. How hard is it to find one here? And am I too young to have one? Perhaps one of those college freshman girls who are dedicated and are always looking for something to do when theyre not studying, polite, helpful, remind u to eat, find everything that comes out of ur mouth to be interesting... perhaps flyers on campuses? A summer intern? And then if she's really good can get hired for the rest of the year... aaah :) Jessica Simpson ain't got nothin' on me!

Aby old school ice cream.. the one with the bubble gum at the bottom, ya.

The image above is the cover of a book "The Second Assistant" about a girl with a Political Science degree who went from working in Washington DC to the Hollywood industry. Thought it would be an easy, fun read for me when I had my operation done a few months ago, but it wasn't that great and it just put me to sleep, or was it the anesthesia? Anyway, I don't recommend but I figured the cover describes my future assistant.

2 Kool 4 Skool

Definately not a relaxing weekend..but most definately fruitful.

Wednesday: Bring 'em On
A lady in our district invited one of the liberal candidates to her residence for an open discussion with her family and friends. I'm so sick of candidates bashing others, the government and the system!! OK! Fahamna! O ba3dain? Wel 7al?? Hardly any candidate proposes a solution in his agenda (I say his because most female candidates have proposed their agendas). Te3alemaw min the West!! The candidate gets out there with his issues, expresses where he stands on those issues and proposes studied solutions. Anyway...it was an interesting discussion because we got a chance to speak about real issues that can actually be improved, impose new laws, create awareness, such as gender discrimination in the workforce, signing on to environmental treaties, etc. Bs 6ab3an ppl think they're so smart when they ask "ilmostashfa ilflaniya waskha! o ildiktor sawa 3amaliya mo naj7a o kan byethba7 ilmareetha.." Ok I'm sorry for your friend and I'm absolutely repulsed by such terrible facts about our sorry excuse for a system..bs please know who to blame for this, wain wizarat ilsa7a? mafee medical board that monitors these cases?? Know what your MP is capable of, understand their capacity so that you and him/her can acheive better results on your issues.

Thursday: Playing Instructor
A friend of mine and a colleague is a volunteer in INJAZ Kuwait: Junior Achievement who were preparing for the INJAZ Kuwait competition held on Friday between all participating schools. Although I'm not blessed with a business mind, I am an advocate of raising the youth to become more powerful leaders, and I think our obsolete education system lacks key principles in preparing our children for the real world. Anyway, this friend's class, a boys government school who are so hard working but lack organization and public speaking skills. So I told him to bring them on to the office to have our trainer give them a workshop on public speaking, we alternated between me and him, since he's American and they're english is less than perfect. They were rusty at first, had no skills whatsoever in terms of presentations, creativity, confidence, etc. By the 6th hour of the workshop we had addressed all their issues, and all they had to do was practice. Mashalla 3alaihom, even after a 6 hour workshop they were still motivated to work more! They ended up practicing til 4 am!!

Friday: Day of the competition
Thought it would be my day off, but had to go see my kids present, and I promised them I'd wear their T-shirt. So I got there, went around the booths and spoke to the students; there was a powerful feeling of motivation, enthusiasm and determination in those highschoolers' eyes and voices. 6ab3an the American school kids were the only ones in formal gear, gave one hell of a powerful presentation, polite, and confident. This is what the American system teaches you: M.U.N, summers abroad, debate classes and more. In my eyes, they were all winners, they all worked hard, overcame fears and obstacles, and somewhere along the way found themselves.

As I was sitting looking at them interacting, I had the urge to tell them to enjoy their time together, to cherish these friendships they have built along these years, because sooner than they know it they will be seperated and look back at the most beautiful memories they took for granted.

That was my weekend folks, stay tuned for an eventful week ahead...and maybe, just maybe by next week..I'll be doing something for fun!

Adrenaline Rush 2006

Heated elections...
Full-time job...
World Cup fever...
Personal life...
Family feud...
Social obligations...

No drug can beat this adrenaline rush !

The Devil Wears Prada

For those of you who don't know me, I don't read fiction. I mainly read non-fiction books on current affairs etc. But a couple of years ago after I decided to read Candace Bushnell's original book Sex and the City, I started getting into fun, hip, fiction books that are always an easy read, I found they helped me get my mind off personal problems, world problems and work! I mean having Al Arabiya and BBC World on all day at home, as well as reading the newspapers everyday is more than enough. Although it is of my greatest interests and is a priority, sometimes you just need a break from this save the world crap!! So as I was shopping one last time at Barnes & Noble, stocking up on books before moving back to Kuwait, I came accross a best seller called The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger, a book about a girl fresh out of college working as an assistant to the most powerful woman in NYC, fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly. It has been suggested that in this book, Weisberger was dishing about her days working for Vogue editor Anna Wintour. This book is witty, funny, trendy, and a must read for all you fellow fashion junkie, I heart NY ladies out there (and gentlemen with a flavor for style).

Now the best part is ... it was made into a movie!! OK so I have been soooo out of the loop but I just read an article in the Herald Trib. that renowned stylist and former costume designer for the gals on the set of Sex and the City Patricia Field has been working on the costume design for the Meryl Streep's upcoming movie The Devil Wears Prada. It'll be out in U.S movie theatres June 30th, check out the trailer http://www.devilwearspradamovie.com/

And if Patricia Field is taking care of the characters on the set of TDWP then it's definately worth checking out. She has without a doubt created a style icon of SJP in Sex and the City, stepping outside the box in terms of style innovation.

Field's entire fashion life might have been a preparation for the eclectic and whimsical Carrie Bradshaw character in "Sex and the City." Field created mad mixes of vintage and contemporary, of shorts, ladylike coats and romantic dresses. She also whipped up a passion for accessories, from chain identity necklaces through horse-head bags and Manolo Blahnik shoes.
"'Sex and the City' changed the way women dress," Field says. "I helped to empower women." (www.iht.com)

You sure did Pat, can't wait to see you work your magic again.

Brain Dead

OK so in between my crazy schedule, I decided to splurge online but didn't even have time to browse, so I figured I'll just buy what I need real quick one of this season's must-haves: white jeans.
J Brand, my favorite skinny designer jeans was my choice. Chose my size, click click click.. continued getting ready to go to a nadwa..click click ... put on my head band...answer my phone... slip on my Jimmy Choo's ..blah blah... blur blur.... I seriously don't remember. So, the following night after returning home early from exhaustion, I'm in my bed with my laptop on my lap, I decide to buy a pair of white jeans.. J Brand ... click click click... DONE! Check my email... 2 order confirmations..

Ooops! I bought the same item twice, 2 days wara ba3ath!!

Whoever said marijuana kills brain cells has never done social work.