War of the Worlds .. In Kuwait !

To My Beloved .. Laptop (RIP)

Dear Laptop,

It's been a wonderful four years. We've had our ups and downs. Sometimes together and sometimes against each other.

I broke you today. I swear it wasn't intentional. Although I was going to salvage you very soon, that wasn't the way I intended for our farewell.

I didn't know what to write exactly for this elegy. Should I cherish the good times we had together? Or should I curse the hell out of you for the down times?

Remember when you ruled? When I bragged about you everywhere. That was when Pentium III was da man! And XP was the new kid on the block. Not anymore. Not since I'd been having to format you every four months just so you stay alive. It was like keeping you up on life-support. You deserved being faithful to though. I tried my best to extend our commitment to each other. Today, though, was the ultimate ending. You couldn't take it anymore, and I couldn't either.

I still brag about you. It is indeed very rare to see a laptop still functioning alright after even three years, keeping in mind how many new processors were released after yours.

I am not going to salvage you anymore. I'm even going to fix you then place you on my Shelf Of Fame. I need some stuff inside you anyway, so you better be fixed! Also, just so you don't get surprised, I'm going to bring in a new one. However, out of respect to our years, I'll always make sure you're in a different room.

Tell me. Is it only a myth that a car, machine, or just anything breaks when the owner plans on getting a new one? Honestly, did you hear me asking friends for recommendations? Or was it easier to figure out since I've been using you to research labtop makers sites? If I hurt you by doing so, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. Please, forgive me.

It broke my heart when it happened today. I was helpless. I only had a few minutes to say goodbye before your battery ran out. I didn't use these few minutes to save whatever I can save. Instead, I just stared at you, remembering all the glory days we had between us. You've been a great companion. You were with me at home, in the classroom, in the lab, on the train, on the airplane, in the hotel, and every where I went.

You've been great. So long, partner. I'll meet you in heaven.

Jandeef's Shorelines I

Finally things have settled in Kuwait for me ... sort of. Sleeping is sorted out, work load is a little less, and I finally went out and hung out with friends and family. Once again, I feel like a stranger.

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Speaking of free time, I need a weekend in a chalet alone. No computer, no phone, and nobody! The thing is I don't have a chalet that I have so much control over. I can't ask my uncle to dedicate his chalet just for me.

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A lot of repair work is going on in our house, and it's irritating. Strangers walking in and out, paint smell, noise and Mr. Jack hammer above my room, grandpa not liking their work almost all the time, and it's taking longer than it should.

By the way, did I tell you that I'm getting my own semi-apartment at home? :D I demanded at least a bedroom, living room, and bathroom, and my demands were peacefully met. I'm sick of white walls, so I decided I'll paint the living room light beige with darker spots, but it wasn't a perfect finish. Since I didn't like how the color looked anyway, now they're repainting it very light grey-bluish background with blue and dark grey spots. (Blogger's color collection wasn't very helpful).

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I made a new real-life friend. I met a fellow blogger for the first time in my short blogging history. We had a conversation about our careers over coffee for her, snapple for me, and an Oreo cheese cake that I didn't like. We're picking up the conversation today as we'll be meeting a guy who's going to talk to us about his career, which is related to mine.

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Miami's "Ya Booya" is hillarious! "Oo Shooo Sawwa?"

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Girls here are getting more gorgeous by the minute! Crush rate is at an all-time high.

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A friend of mine is going through "sexual frustration." Help him please. 9a3ban 3alay.

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Finally, I know I've been posting personal things about me that have probably revealed my identity to you, so I'll repeat Mobi's pledge: if you know me, please don't tell me! I too don't want to know. And keep it to yourself, will ya? Don't go spread it around, please. Worse than that is someone trying to trick me, either on purpose or just double checking that it's actually me, like asking me whether or not I read some posts (especially on Sa7at Alsafat), and these posts all happen to be written by Jandeef!

JetLag .. Dust .. NBN

I arrived a while ago and still battling jetlag. Last night I slept at 8 pm and woke up at 4 am :/

Anyway. I haven't been able to post anything because I've been a little busy and nothing to post about. Here are a couple of things.

It appears that I came to Kuwait and brought the dust with me :/

Not being able to sleep, I was flipping through TV channels at around 4 am, and I came across this channel. It's called NBN and I have no idea as to which country it belongs to. The show was an audience-participation quiz, and they get prizes. Poor hostess. She spent about 30 minutes begging viewers to call in and participate! She was saying "Yalla ma bedkum etza3loonee .. yalla etti9looo! .. badna musharik wa7ed 3al a'al" I was like OMG is this real! Hehe I laughed my head off. Not only that. Do you see the circle in the middle that has like a timer clock? That's a timer for the current quiz. Once time is up, she moves on to the next quiz. Time ran out on this quiz but she stopped it at 2 minutes "to give viewers a chance to still call!" Hehe. How dumb can you be to broadcast a quiz show early in the morning :/ Still I couldn't believe that no body called.

We'll Never Forget

Courtesy of Sarah

Raِmadhan Visiting Early This Year

I know I know. Too much red and yellow, but what the heck. All I could find in my fridge was potatos and tomatoes, and three thighs. Chicken thighs that is.

Bel Janna Inshalla

Inventor of Jeans

Inventor of Ketchup

Inventor of Automatic Transmission

Inventor of Corn Flakes

Inventor of Deodorant

Inventor of Dayquil/Nyquil

Inventor of Vaseline

Inventor of Vicks

Inventor of Kinder

Creator of Tom and Jerry

Inventor of Pepsi/Coke

Inventor of Pizza

Inventor of Chay 7aleeb

Irritating ... Can't Stand 'em

Geraldo

Nancy Grace

Shepard Smith

Sean Hannity

Christiane Amanpour

Carlson Tucker

Greg Anthony

Magic

(Only when he's on TNT's Inside The NBA)

Got Un-Tagged!

I've been a little busy and away from blogging recently that I'm out of date. All of a sudden I find myself "Untagged" by Mobi, and I'm like "what the hell does tagging mean?" Anyway, after some blogger-research, I figured it out, and here I am honoring Mobi's untagging. Don't expect any Fahad Al3askar-type stuff though.

- First long book that I read:

"Into Thin Air" ... By Jon Krakauer.

When I was assigned to read this 400-page book in language school, I was like "oh no, please don't force me to read a book about MOUNTAIN CLIMBING." After I finished it, I developed a better appreciation for this kind of adventure. It's a true story about the deadliest Everest expedition ever, on which the author himself was and survived.

- Book I was inspired by:

"Code Name Ginger" ... By Steve Kemper

I was inspired by the Segway inventor - Dean Kamen. The author was hired by Kamen to chronicle the development of Segway. Excellent read!

- Books that I enjoyed a lot:

"Opening The XBox" ... By Dean Takahashi.

Another product biography. This time it's about Microsoft's mission to conquer the video game market with its XBox. Very enjoyable.

"The Silicon Boys" ... By: David Kaplan.

All about the lives of the heroes of Silicon Valley. One interesting fact the book mentioned was that Yahoo! gained as much capital as Kuwait's annual budget on its IPO day. Very amusing read.

By Dr. Michael Baden.

He used to be cheif NY medical examiner. He talks about crimes he investigated or knows very well about including JFK and O.J. Very interesting if you're a crime junkie.

- Book that wasted my time:

"Who Moved My Cheese?" ... By Spencer Johnson.

Too bad my first self-help book was a disappointment. I wonder if I'll ever read from this genre again.

- Book I was like "Duhh!!" after finishing it:

"The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd" ... By Agatha Christie.

I read a few more crime novels that weren't special enough to post about.

- Last book I read:

الكويت ... مثلث الديمقراطية ... للمؤلف: محمد الجاسم

This read was motivated by the fuss being made by and about Mr. Aljasem's mood/ideology swings, so I said let me come up to speed with everybody. It's an excellent read.

- Book I started and forgot to finish:

"A Child Called It" ... By Dave Pelzer.

- Book I have on my shelf and yet to be read:

الكويت ، الرأي الآخر ... للمؤلف د. عبدالله النفيسي

From skimming through it, basically an Al-Sabah bashing.

"Apple Confidential 2.0" ... By Owen Linzmayer.

I bought this last year when I bought my iPOD and almost switched to a MAC. It's about the history of apple. I was inspired by Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple) too, so I'd like to read more about him.

- Useful Resources:

مدخل للتطور السياسي في الكويت ... للمؤلف د. غانم النجار

سلسلة د. فلاح المديرس عن التوجهات السياسية في الكويت

مذكرات خالد سليمان العدساني

A treasure, not only a memoir!

- Book that gave out interesting info, but you get a sense that it hid more:

الدبلوماسية الكويتية بين المحنة والمهنة ... للمؤلف سليمان ماجد الشاهين.

Written by someone who witnessed it all first-hand, the book chronicles Kuwait's diplomacy during the Iraq-Iran war and Iraq's occupation of Kuwait. Nice one.

- Book that I read countless times (dedicated to you Mobi :P):

الوتر والدان في حياة محمد جمعة خان

A compliation of all the songs composed by his greatness :P

- Books I want to read:

Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code"

Bill Clinton's "My Life"

Jon Stewart's "America (The Book)"

فهد العسكر حياته وشعره

محاضر لجنة كتابة الدستور

Johnie Cochran's "A Lawyer's Life"

Well folks, here was my untagging. I just wish I have more time and better mood for reading.

Open-Minded II

This is a follow-up on the previous post. I asked the "open-minded" question because I've been hearing about people dubbed "open-minded" for reasons that I think are as far away from open-mindedness as can be.

A while ago, a friend of mine got asked by an american guy why she wasn't wearing a Hijab. She answered "I come from an 'open-minded' family and my parents never talked to me about it." What the hell does wearing a scarf or not have to do with being open minded!

I also hear not-so-religious people being called "open minded." Can't you be religious and at the same time open minded? I'm not talking about religious fanaticism or politics. I'm talking about simple Kuwaitis who practice religion moderately (multazmeen). Can't you wear a scarf and still be open minded? You sure can!

I heard private school studnets being generalized as "open minded;" students called "open minded" because they study abroad; girls dressing up provacatively being called "open minded." If someone makes a judgement based on such shallow matters, then they couldn't be more closed-minded in my opinion.

The moral is: generalization is no good. You can't pick a segment of the population and say they're open-minded.

Now to answer my question, well ... I can't say it any better than what you guys said. The best definition, I thought, was Sloth's (min gaddich:P): "listen and learn." No matter how much disagreement you have with a certain situation or person, just watch, listen, and learn for yourself. I also liked Rasheed's "everything's relative."

Shurouq asked: "is there absolute open-mindedness?" Well, I think there isn't anything absolute. I think it's in in human nature to have some contradictions. It's like Mobi's قصمصم. You can be open-minded and objective, but at the same time be blindedly biased towards something. Nevertheless, let's hear everybody's answer.