Green Eggs and Ham

A question that buzzes in my mind all the time is: is there a way to prepare little children, step by step, so that by the age of 18 they would be ready to be involved in politics? I asked some people around me. Some said that political education should start at around 15. Some thought that it should start gradually after the age of 18.

Some of you may know that my latest obsession is Dr. Seuss’s children’s books. One of them is “Green Eggs and Ham”. The story revolves around a conversation between two characters. One of them is trying to convince the other to try and taste green eggs and ham but the other just won’t. They both insist. In the end, the character tries green eggs and ham.. and likes them very much!

Other than the light-hearted conversation and the cute illustrations, a child might perceive the message that we shouldn’t say no to anything before trying it. You shouldn’t say no to broccoli before tasting it, and years later, you shouldn’t say no to a person or idea before listening.. and listening very carefully.

This convinced me that preparation for political life does not have to be learning facts and figures only. It can be helping kids acquire qualities that are essential for anyone who wants to get involved. This could be the first stage. Then comes learning history and gradually getting deep into it. Then watching the news and reading the newspapers. Then.. voila! You’re almost ready to be politically active.

So if you have kids

or are like me – a kid :P – we know how to start now.

I’ll start by “Green Eggs and Ham”!

<3ashan ana masry msh ha2ool lel bamya ya333!!> ;)

 Please don’t crticise me for using “ham”. I’m a Muslim. I don’t eat Ham. I don’t encourage people to eat Ham. My message is very clear and very NOT related to ham vs. beef. I’m just copying Dr. Seuss’s expression.

Cinderella's Stepsister

You never saw my tears.

You never knew my fears,

As I gazed at the moon

My only friend, and even though

Some nights, left me alone.

You never thought how I felt,

A young flower doomed to wilt,

While all flowers swayed along,

With Cinderella’s cosmic song.

The golden lochs of hair,

The angel’s face so fair,

The ocean-deep, sky-blue eyes,

The wondrous warmth of sunrise,

How can all this compare

To the average brown hair?

To the average beauty of mine?

To me…

Less charming,

Less amusing.

Cinderella had no mother, no father.

But I was no better, no further.

I had a mother whose only hope in life,

Was making me the prince’s wife.

‘I love you’ was never to be heard

A motherly moment rarely occurred.

I had to win the fight

Though knowing it was not right;

The fight for a man

I hated him not,

Yet loved him not.

This battle was all about

Not being the odd one out,

About satisfying everyone,

Silencing everyone,

Silencing myself,

My tears,

My fears.

But that was not my fate.

And I have to sit and wait

For the story to be retold

Without me viewed as evil and cold.

Kindness not magnified,

Angels not glorified,

Beauty not appreciated,

They all vanish away..

Kindness into evil,

Angel into devil,

Beauty into… me.

Cinderella is immortal.

Even her shoe is immortal.

And I…

Am either remembered, as the villain,

Or forgotten

My name,

My mere existence

Is forgotten.

I am hurt… and forgotten

Whenever the story is told again.

Hurt and forgotten

Again and again

And again.

Bittersweet

Dear Life,

Stop pretending to be pretty. Remove the mask and show me your ugly face! You're nothing!

You suck me into your black hole.

You make me lose sight and control.

You fool me to think you're my friend.

No! You're my foe till the end.

You're not the life before the afterlife.

You're the pre-life before the only life.

You're just a demo, an explanation

To God's power and creation.

Though joy to joy does not compare,

And pain to pain will not compare,

I used to live like you were all

That mattered, till the wake up call.

Years pass by leaving us behind

In the whirl yet we keep in mind

After this bittersweet trial

Everlasting heaven...

Or hell so vile.

Enas Khaled Alyaldin

Whispers of an Assassinated Star

I stared at their faces,

Those assassinated stars that shone,

So bright, lighting the dark night's sky,                             

But disappeared at the break of dawn.

While I cried, I heard faint whispers:

"That's what stars do, don't they?

Why are you crying?

Be happy! We found our way.

Rise up fellow Egyptian!

Give up your fears!

How will you see your tomorrow,

When your eyes are wet with tears?

My role was to turn the page,

To a new one, clean and white.

Now comes your turn to draw the future.

Make sure, this time, you do it right

This is the only way that will make me feel,

That my blood and my soul were not in vain.

I'll know that my voice still echoes,

Although I'm lying there slain.

If life had a rewind button, believe it or not,

I would never press it. How crazy of me?!

No! I'd aim for the fast forward,

Because I saw hope smiling, don't you see?

Oppression has no home in our land.

It's become history, now that we're freed.

No more silence. No more blind eyes.

Freedom and love is our new creed.

So you pay effort as I paid my blood.

Only this way will this nation rise.

I hope my name will always make you strong.

Not crying for me,

But a beautiful EGYPT will truly be my prize."

Although I don't like this song but the clip collects many valuable scenes

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejsQEV9mBlE

Photos and names  of the martyrs

 http://1000memories.com/egypt

Don't forget to pray for those who made our dreams come true!

It's Complicated..

Don't you sometimes get fed by the way some people use the phrase "It's complicated!" only in a messed up romantic relationship?

I do!
And I have a different interpretation...

It's complicated.. when a father knows he's going to lose one of his children because his pockets are not that filled. He can't do anything about it. Yet, he watches the walking moneybags get their treatment for free since they are VIPs. Ironic! How rich people get everything for free while poor ones have to pay for their least rights.

It's complicated.. when you know that a mother out there is crying for her son, and Vivian is crying for her fiancée, while we can still hold the people we love. We try to ignore that their blood was shed for our sakes, so that the guilt will not make our own blood freeze in our veins. We sigh, pray for them and then laugh at the joke our loved ones crack. And the laughs are followed by silence... in a time when silence becomes our own tool of oppressing ourselves.

It's complicated.. when you tell a friend a lie, fearing that you might hurt him/her, but knowing that later on life is going to show them the truth in the form of a blow in the face. Which is going to be more painful? Will they forgive you if you tell them now? Will they forgive you when they find out you were lying? And frankly, are you lying for their sake, or for your sake?

It's complicated.. when you see a 7-year-old child, selling. You wish to buy from them so that you do not disappoint those hopeful eyes. But then, if you do, you'd be encouraging child labour. You might be destroying his life with the few pounds you pay. And you have less than a minute to make a decision.

It's complicated... and it's not love that makes it complicated..
It's the combination of feelings that make us human..
Love. Hate. Happiness. Sorrow. Fear. Loneliness. Sympathy.
We're human.. so it's complicated.

4 teens: Love

[4 teens]

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Many are not going to like what I’ll say but not getting my thoughts out causes me a headache so…
Let's talk about LOVE! ^_^
Some are already starting to blush...
Anyway...
Frankly, honestly, truly and basically, I was beginning to hate the word...
But then after long long conversations and contemplations, we (the heart and the mind) have reached to the following:

♥ Coffee in the morning can make you wake up. Coffee at night will make you sleepless. It is as sweet both in the morning and at night. Likewise, love is lovely, but is now really the time for it? Will it increase your production or will it just make you a helpless fellow?

♥ I don't want to be the kind of person who spends the first 20 years of her life waiting for love, the second 20 years trying to define it or to apply what the romance movies dictate then the last 20 years mourning the loss of beauty and ‘love’.

♥ Regarding the first 20 years (my phase :D ), I could spend my time daydreaming and listening to love songs and just wasting my emotion here and there… and then when I reach a certain degree of experience in life, I’ll figure out that I wasted the energy and the youth of my life in following a mirage. I live only once, so I gotta plan well for it. As a teen, it would be hard to apply that, but always keep yourself busy. You can’t think about 2 things at the same time. Believe me, it helps!

♥ Why do we make this word only for the boy-girl love? Where’s the mother who stays up all night when you’re sick? Where’s the father who works all day just to make a living for you? The sisters? The brothers? The friends who can stay with you for hours to cheer you up? Isn’t that all love? 

♥ And then there’s God’s love.
Let’s be quite honest, your boyfriend will ‘love’ and will give you a teddy bear in your birthday. If God loves you, He will send you to paradise. So yeah! “Love is all we need.”

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

In conclusion, love is a universal emotion that includes caring, sharing and respect. The word is misused, but we’re smarter than to fall for it. My heart and mind would like to thank you for reading. Please accept their apologies if the subject is not your favourite.

I Love Noise

I swear by Almighty God that I will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

At a certain point in my life I used to adore sitting alone. I loved the quiet. But now, it's different. I usually surround myself with people... and might as well ask them to make noise.

Why? What happened? 

Well, when I go into a quiet room, my conscience court begins, where I am the attorney, the defendant and the judge. They all speak in the exact same moment. Their voices are so loud. I close my ears and the noise just gets louder and louder. The verdict is pronounced. I must change. I run into a noisy room where I can pretend I did not hear the judge.

Aaand that is why I love noise; because I can't stand the noise inside my own head.

The court adjourned...

Lament

This is a really sad thought... so if you're not ready for a dose of sadness DON'T READ.

One of the phrases I truly hate: "I used to like 'someone'. May he/she rest in peace."


Used to? You mean you don't anymore?


Loved ones die... but they leave memories and lessons that live with us till the last breath. It's a blessing from God that we are able to forget... so that the pain of the loss would not be constant. But sometimes when we remember, we relive with them, as if we're replaying scenes from a previously performed play. You feel extremely happy at first, but as soon as the curtains go down... pain!

It is a fact that we all know. All that lives... shall die. Whatever has a start... comes to an end. Perhaps there is a child that lives in us forever and gives us faith that miracles DO happen. Maybe they won't die. Or maybe those who die will come back. Miracles happen.
Then reality strikes... Miracles do NOT happen. It's over!
You regret the mornings you did not tell them you love them
or the days you made them feel angry or sad
or the days you spent without them...
Death is fate. We do not have the right to object, but we have the right to mourn. We are, after all, human.

I write this in the beloved memory of my grandmother who has taught me many things, very deep, that I myself 
can't express. Most importantly, she raised the man I take pride of being his daughter. I do not remember telling her that I love her.

I won't say "I used to love my grandmother". I say "I love my Grandmother".
May Allah forgive her and send her to Paradise. Please read AlFateha upon her pure soul.

اللهم ارحم موتانا و موتى المسلمين

Too Early to Tell!

In the 1950s
Mao Zedong was asked by a journalist
whether he thought the Great French Revolution (1789)
had been a success...

His answer was:

"It is too early to tell!"

1789 - 1950... too early? I believe yes!!!

So please, don't start passing judgments on the revolutions of the Arab countries.
Do the work. Leave the talking to some other people - some other time.

F.Y.I.
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung, and commonly referred to
as Chairman Mao (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976), was a Chinese
Communist revolutionary, military strategist, poet, political philosopher, and
leader of the Chinese Revolution.

Buy books?!

Another Dutch spokesman caught my attention. Actually she was a spokeswoman!
Her name was Aiaa. She was only 23 years old and was already the big
boss of some organisation called the Blue Mosque.

She was definitely different from most 23-year-old ladies I’ve met.
I frankly asked her: “Is it quite normal that a very young female like you would
reach to this high position?”

She laughed out loud and said: “No! But they couldn’t find a man who could beat
me!”

Wow! Confident! Woman power! ;) :D

We had a long enjoyable conversation about youth in both countries and it ended
by me asking: “Do you have a piece of advice for me?”

She said: “Yes! Read! Read! Read!”

The next day, I felt so excited and so hungry for books that I bought 8 books, 6 of
which are unopened on my shelf.

Thinking again, Aiaa said: “Read! Read! Read!”
She didn’t say: “Buy books! Buy books! Buy books!”

So I learnt my lesson…
One book at time…
Read it then buy another.
Closed books on the shelf do not increase your knowledge, not a tiny bit. So it’s
just money in vain.

But Someone Has to Know

My memory sent me into a flashback… to summer 2010.

I was attending a conference at Bibliotheca Alexandrina discussing the relationship
between the Arab World and Holland.
Everyone was able to notice at a glance that all the Arab spokesmen were above 40
years old while all the Dutch spokesmen were under that age. Actually, the eldest
was only 34 years old.

After the conference was over, the Arab spokesmen disappeared! Just like that!
They were nowhere to be seen.
The Dutch, however, started to mingle with the audience talking with them and
answering their questions.

Anyway…

I truly admired the knowledge of one of the young spokesmen so I asked him what
he studied and his answer was “Political Sciences”.

My friend spontaneously shouted out: “Yeee! That’s hard!” He looked at us with a
smile and said “But someone has to know…”

“But someone has to know…”

That word echoes in my brain till now…
I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I say that this word changed me…
Nowadays, whenever I come across a piece of information that I wouldn’t
normally care about, I remember that someone has to know.

Why wouldn’t that someone be me?

Why wouldn’t that someone be you? ;)

Only for Girls

One of my friends just started wearing the Hijab! I felt so proud of her and
thought…
Each girl should have her Hijab Anniversary. Each girl should record the day that
she decided to wear the Hijab, so that every year she will remember…

♥ That she was strong enough to give up something she really loves just for Allah!
♥ That her love to Allah outweighed her desire to be the most beautiful among her
friends!
♥ That she has taken another little step on the long path to Heaven!
♥ That she does not care about what people will tell her!
♥ That she knows that when outer beauty is covered, inner beauty outshines! If the
whole world was blind, they’ll all see her beautiful!
♥ That she chose to preserve her dignity!
♥ That she is precious!
♥ That she is… a princess!

Since I don’t remember my Hijab Anniversary, I think I will celebrate it on 29/05
with my friend Farah G. Elamrawy ♥

Ferry! This was inspired by you!

pV=nRt

If you’ve studied chemistry then you must have studied the Ideal Gas. If you
have studied the Ideal Gas then you must know pV=nRt. However, if you haven’t
studied Chemistry then you’re one lucky fellow :D
I was sitting with loads of homework to do and answering a question about the
Ideal Gas equation, and all of a sudden I thought…
For a gas’s behaviour to be ideal, the temperature must be very high and the
pressure as low as possible. (Never mind that… just go on :P). Well, doesn’t that
kind of apply to us too? If we say that the temperature is our motivation –the heat
that moves us, and the pressure is the stress put on us externally; so with maximum
motivation and minimal stress we’d get the ideal results, right?!
So I listed the reasons why I want to do this homework (boosting my motivation)
and then breathed in, breathed out, moved more than 14 muscles in my face to
smile and wrote the answer:
“Increase temperature and decrease pressure ;)”
Funnily enough, I actually drew a wink in my chemistry book :P
N.B. I’m sure some of you would criticise me saying that I should have mentioned
HOW to boost your motivation and release stress technically. But I’m not a
specialist. I’m just an 11th grader writing her thoughts and I hate pontification (i.e.
El Efta). :D You’ll definitely find many useful articles on the Web.

The Valley of the Lost Horizon

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/confusion-michelle-barlondsmith.html


I was born in some place
So diverse, so hard to analyse.
It’s called the Valley of the Lost Horizon,
Full of love and full of despise
I saw bravery, I met cowards,
I saw honesty, I heard lies.
I saw traitors who sold their conscience
And sold their souls like merchandise.
I saw patriots who’d do anything
Just to witness the nation rise.
I saw blind clowns mimicking ridiculously,
They called me, “Yo alien! Come globalise!”
In the valley, only money made power,
Not knowledge, not dignity, not otherwise.
People kill each other for cash
The rich man lives and the poor one dies.

In a remote corner of the valley,
I found a building so old.
There was no one around.
It was scary and cold.
I entered the building.
“Anybody here?”
A man there called,
“Come here my dear,
We have sights to behold!”
It was an old library,
Or so I was told;
Dusty papers on the shelves,
And black spiders crawled.
The old man showed me a book.
I held the book and began to unfold.
I then shut the book angrily.
I thought I was being fooled!
The book said that this valley
Was once the lighthouse
For the entire world!
The man frowned and said
“Ha, you were brainwashed my dear.
Come back again some day,
There are millions of stories to be told.”

I walked and walked
At a very slow pace,
Then saw a heavenly garden
Oh! What a place!
I saw a sign that read
“Democracy and Human Rights
For the Human Race."
I kept on walking
With a beaming face,
Then saw something terrible
Made me feel the menace.
A Geyser of Hatred!
Where does it come from?
No clue! No trace!
But all I could see was that
It poured “hatred” on my valley
Yes! I’ll say it with pride!
My Valley!
Oh! Millions of memories to reminisce!

I ran back to the old man
And asked him to explain.
I noticed he was bleeding
He was stabbed… but answered again
“You’ve visited the land of the enemy”
Was the answer to sustain.
The enemy? But they said… Oh God!
I feel I’m insane
“I can say no more
I have to abstain
For the walls have ears
And I’ll lose everything
I had or wanted to gain”
He limped into the darkness
And the sky began to rain.
In tears, I asked God for mercy
And to relieve my nation’s pain.

LIFE vs. life

Some people spend the first 20 years of their life in "education", and the second 20
years in "building a career", and the third 20 years enjoying their "achievement"
and then they meet death... Death and not "death". After all the "life" they've lived,
death was the one and only real thing they met.
Try not to be one of them, sucked into the black hole of "life"...

♥ Wake up in the morning and introduce yourself to yourself.. "My name is James
Bond and I fight bad men" :P A little exaggerated?! Ok! Another example: "Good
Morning, Aicha! I would like you to meet Aicha! A student! A warrior who won't
rest until she's the best. Won't take no for an answer and won't cry if she falls.
Vicious and ambitious!" :)

♥ Give some time for your hobby. A picture you draw or an article you write can
absorb loads of frustration from you and clear your vision. It can give you a fresh
start or a starting push. ;)

♥ Expand your circle. Give more time to people. Making yourself happy will not
make you happy. Ironic, eh? :D Care about people more because you'll find out
that what will truly make you smile is making other people smile. =)

♥ Always stay close to Allah because only He (SWT) can light your path and give
you the patience and peace of mind to live and love your life. Remember "One
Ayah a day... keeps shaytaan away... and lightens your way."

♥ Drink green tea. It's beneficial... and delicious. ;)
♥ Learn a new language. It makes you tres content. I have no idea why! :P
♥ Read something everyday, even if just a couple of sentences. Broaden your
horizon.
♥ SMILE!

This is how I turn my "life" into a LIFE! :)

Broken Glasses

At school I saw a little boy sitting aside watching his friends play football. Every now and then a half-smile lightened his face followed by a dark air of sadness -
and a little envy perhaps.
"Why aren't you playing?" I asked, and his answer was "The last time I played I broke my glasses so Mom got angry and told me not to play again..."
Dear Mom,
Broken glasses can be repaired or replaced. Deformed personalities cannot. He might be obedient now but later he might not. He might love you now but later - he might not. And guess what?! The biggest loss will be yours. I am sorry for being so harsh but -My God!- you should have seen his face.