2 hours of pure and utter bliss...

were the ones spent watching Pirates of the Carribean at world's end!

After a long long wait - i finally watched it, and the wait was worthwhile!

the saddest thing is that the film had to end :(

uhhh talk about the best 2 and a half hours i have had in a long long time

now i will sleep with a smile on my face

the cook, the winner, the smart one, the clumsy one and the STAR!

Those were the participants of this week's version of scrabble night!

The cook - Mr. Kent Babin

The smart one - Annika with her yummy Jordanian sweets

The clumsy one - she almost broke her ass

The winner - your truly (no surprises there)

and The star - Brit boy Chris P.

The real star of the night was Chris - his effect was evident when Kent almost rolled on the floor with laughter and when my lungs started to object from all the laughing.

I will safely conclude that the reason why i lost the first game is because of Chris's commentary on his almost-ribbon-of-participation-worthy performance.

He even left a heartfelt note for our clumsy little girl who managed to make break a chair and her butt, well almost

Mr. Peace envoy to the middle east!

Ok, i think the news has just become more entertaining than it has ever been.
Yesterday the front page of CNN was filled by none other than Paris Hilton coming out of prison, no no not the other news around the world - no - paris comes out of prison, hard core news!

Today BBC has the most entertaining "Have your say" about Tony Blair - Bliar as some like to call him - being the new peace envoy to the middle east.
For once i am speechless - i will let the masses on have your say speak for me..
I especially want to point out this comment which had me laugh out loud in the middle of the quiet office.

"very amusing! what next. Salman Rushdie to be appointed UK's High Commissioner in Pakistan? George Bush to be offered a Chair in Philosophy at Oxford? Prince Charles to become King of England?"
haward, düsseldorf

Seriously - who needs comedy channels and E!

School was in session!

So we've decided to make Tuesday the weekly Scrabble night.
A strong new comer has emerged: Annika, the first guest at Casa de lulinis.

Kent was schooled! Schooled like never before! Even nisrin beat him. Not a good day for "the babin"

He however was the King of the kitchen - he made my i-want-to-live-till-i-am-a-hundred-diet seem so easy with his italian chicken and peppers and risotto-like rice.
My mom could very well have a shrine and temple dedicated to kent for making me finally eat peppers.

It's sunday,,,,,

the beginning of the week

Bring it on Babin

Ok i said i will say something nice about Kent, so i will keep my end of the bargain..

So we've decided to turn our Scrabble challenge into a league instead of a tournament.
So after i beat him the first time (and i didn't gloat at all!) yesterday it was his turn. Although 1 points and 6 points difference is small it still counts - so i humbly accept the loss of a battle but not the whole war :D

(P.S. nisrin did not stand a chance)

Well i guess kent nailed the night, 2 games of scrabble won, awesome french toast for desert and a colorful apron with a beautiful bow at the back!

Add to that the company of two gorgeous young women and you've got the luckiest guy in the world.
Guys, feel free to envy him ;)

6 flights - 10 days

I just finished that! An interesting conference at work, a refreshing weekend with a good friend and a much needed business trip that i can finally cross off my list.

So I spend the last weekend in Mamlo, Sweden - a beautiful little city that is connected to Denmark with a long bridge. My friend, Sandra, studies there so i paid her a visit.
Sandra, as an encouragement decided to let me take charge of the whole weekend

Now, if you know sandra, you'll know that it's a hard thing for her to do - she's a lot like me. Which also means she's GREAT!

So day one - shopping and talking and eating light, fat free food! Best way to spend the weekend..

Day two COPENHAGEN!

OH i have not had so much fun in a LONG LONG time!

So first we ventured out (an hour late of course) to see the little mermaid,,, my childhood star!

After a good hike in acceptable european weather, beautiful ice cream and loadz of pics we decided to take a boat trip around all the canals.... that was almost perfect! if it werent for 5 loud abnoxious italian guys sitting at the back being.... italian!

Then i FINALLY made it to an amusement park! YAY - roller coasters and swinging from 63 meters above the earth.
I was scared! but i am glad i did it... i did miss the pantomime show - it would have been awesome to see one for real :(
We also saw some sharks,, and my friend thought i was crazy as i sang baby shark all the time


I had been inspired by Jen in this video:

I got home on thursday at 3:30 and had to be ready in party mode in 4 hours. Clean house, shower, look pretty, oder drinks and snacks and make sure surpize welcome back party for nirsin goes as planned.
It was a blast, partly due to the fact that is was FULL of nomadlifers!
superluli, nisrin, dodyg,kent,tom,christhebrit, brodie, arthur, farzina, mustafa, purveya el hindeya, askoura, maidaoud, meyouka, martha, nora,kaitlin.
There were also a bunch of other almost equally as cool as the nomadlifers,,, almost!

Thanks you guys, you were PERFECT!

I dream of..................ABN AMRO?????

yes, i do!
Last week i had the most bizzare dream ever. Now we all know there's been a lot of talk about the take over of the bank ABN AMRO, it's all over the news, and we all know that ABN AMRO is a big partner with AIESEC... other than that i would never ever have anything to say about this bank, i have no further interest or further knowledge about this institution.

So i dreamt i was at a party somewhere, and the people from the Supervisory Group who conicidently were from ABN AMRO as well were there. I look at the ABN AMRO sign and realize that because of the take-over it has changes its name to AOO AMRO, which sounds stupid. So i go find the SG people and tell them that the new name sucks and that i will always call it ABN AMRO
then i leave and go to the party where i pass arthur (who works at ABN AMRO) by at the party and say hello and continue on with my way into the crowd.

now how the hell did that dream happen?!
i woke up thinking WTF?! and it's been a few nights and still WTF?

i need this

a mind of my own?

Recently i have discovered that in a lot of instances i don't have a mind of my own. Contrary to common belief i am not at all stubborn, and i am quite the obliging little kid.
Mainly with my parents.
My new house it basically my mom's house. I let her do everything, structure everything and do everything her way. It was my way of thanking her for everything she was doing. i say " yes mama" "ok mama" "7ader mama"
But now i am having second thoughts!
I have always wanted a punching bag, a walk in closet, a big mirror accorss the wall, an empty house. instead i got a shit load of furniture and 5 beds and 3 wardrobes. and i live alone!
why should i accomodate for the visitors?!

If i am not gona do what i want now, when will I?

The question is how do i take a step back after so much has been done.... and how do i stand my ground and do what i want? and tell my mom to butt out!

A plan is in progress!

Count those blessings

Yesterday I received a very friendly reminder to count my blessings..
So my new house seems to be that of an ant colony as well.
Me - being fully prepared for the worst, i got professionals to spray the house for every type of insect there is so well that you can still smell the spray after a month... yes it's the smell of safety....
But that only solved part of the problem - now, each day i stumble on a dozen or more dead ants.

So while i was getting all worked up about all those dead ants and it's been bothering me for a while now, a friendly visitor crawled out of the drains (i suppose) and decided to wander around the house. The poor bastard didn't make it past 2 meters (remember the srpay!) and it died a slow miserable death.
And while a dead cockaroach sure beats the hell out of a live one, it also reminded me that dead ants are not so bad,, it could be..worse so much worse... especially with my designated cockaroach killer/dispenser hanging out in the hot deserts of america.

So it's 2 am and i realize that this "i have been meaning to" approach i have had towards sealing all the holes and drains is not going work. So i waged a campaign to seal every hole and drain regardless of size and place and finished my task sucessfully at 2:30 with only a little sweat!
Needless to say i slept with a big smile on my face and the sweet smell of disinfectant on my hands :)

P.S. Ant colony, if you are reading this don't think i have given up on you...i WILL find you and eliminate you at the source...i called for back-up (i love u mom)
your end is near, very near...

i know it's evil

but i and very amused by the fact that Paris Hilton's gona do time in prison.
I wish i were there to watch :)

and man the excuses she gives, could she be any more blonde?

New Look

Ok, so my blog's been pink since December 2004.
It's about time i changed it.

I think this look suits the twenty-four year old me - elegant, but cool ;)

Uhm but don't get too excited, pink will be back after a well deserved break (and maybe with a different template if blogger would get on with it ba2a)

Birthday jitters

If you have been hanging out with me lately, you might have noticed how i am getting all psycho about turning 24 in a couple of weeks.

I hate my birthday, it's always a crappy day and i have the worst memories on it! and when i rule the world i will remove the date 29/4 from the calendar.. that's how much i dislike it!
As if i didn't need any more reason to hate my birthday this year i turn 24, TWENTY-FUCKING-FOUR! which makes me old! yes old! no one says a 24 year old kid, or 24 year old girl, it's 24 year old woman! WOMAN!

I remember in a wedding like 10 years ago they asked all the young people to go get their pictures taken. I saw my second cousin and her husband joining us, she must have been 24 or 25 at the time. I looked at her with surprise and told her very innocently "Sherine, they said young people - why are you here?" - i swear i was dead serious, not trying to be a bitch or anything, i like this cousin.
I also remember looking at the mid-twenties crowd and thinking "man their life must be so boring, they are old - they have no fun"

And now nature has taken its course - and i am part of the friggin crowd!!
I still need more FUN! and damn it i don't feel old! i might look old, but i am not! College was a blast, but the fun can't end
..and it won't!

SO! for my birthday i will do something different! I will live a lie, and pretend it's my sweet sixteen that i wasted smoking shisha in a dodgy café being third wheel to my friend and her boy.

So the plan? DREAMPARK! a day at the amusement park where we will laugh and giggle like teenagers, and scream and get wet like kids and hang out and have a good time.It is the year where i will finally get on that Top Spin and enjoy it and maybe i might even try the Rocket... maybe!

Bring on the roller coasters, car races the angry rivers and all that JAZZ!

28th of April 10 am meeting point at Tahrir Square!
BE THERE or BE SQUARE

Pop, goes my heart

can't get the song out of my head...



and the hip action

Two Months

This is how long it's been since i have been to Alex. It's the longest time i have ever stayed away. My busy travel schedule followed by the move has made it impossible for me to go.
And the thing is, i am not going to be able to gofor another 2-3 weeks.
That's kinda crap coz i am missing out on so much......

:(

BBC's have your say

For a few days BBC had a "have your say" about the consitutional changes here in Egypt
It's a really interesting read http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=5913&&edition=2&ttl=20070329134053

The formation of political parties with religious agenda has always been banned, it was inserted here as camouflage, a cover-up for the 2 most threatening ammendments: the first being the so called "anti-terrorism law" which says that if you are a suspect of terrorism then the gov can pretty much do anything to you - this has the exact same functionality of the emergency law - except the emergency law was a temporary thing (even if it lasts a very long time) but an act in the consituion is no longer temporary, it's a fact - and needs another consitutional ammendment to undo.

The second thing that people are not talking about is how the prime minister has been given a lot of importance. We now have two acts in the consitution which state who takes charge if something happens to the president. The old act says it's the head of the parliament or the head of the supreme court, and none of them have a right to run for an election. This act is still there, and there's another act that says that if the perisdent is unable to perform his duties then his VP or the prime minister take his place. And nothing is said about their right to run for presidency. This is a little confusing,,,, and since when can the prime minister fill in for the president?

The BBC thing is interesting because it shows how successfull the government was in covering up the real changes - so many people are focusing on the no religious parties thing, and don't focus or notice the other changes.

I would also like to point out this following comment which deserves an applause:
Till the US and the West keep their eyes closed on the so called democratic set-up in Egypt it will have no impact whatso ever whether rules are amended or not. Hosni Mubarak is going to place his son as his successor and it is all being planned for it. So much for democracy in the ME.
Siraj Ahsan, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

And when was the last time you got to vote for your favorite Emir? BTW its not the USA job to provide Democracy to you or anyone else. Blame game gets real old.
[cynic555], United States

Seriously, Gulfies need to learn to put a sock in it sometimes. Just coz their gov buys off their silence doesn't make them any better.
And i agree with cynic555 - the blame game, enough already....

Moving...

Ok you must have heard, i am finally moving to a new place! The last few days have been super productive, getting all the furniture, the appliances doing all the cleaning and moving stuff from house to house.
And the result? I feel like a truck ran over me, repeatedly - and i am still not done...
I am being a good sport and looking forward to having an elevator, a fully functioning washing machine, a fridge that doesn't need constant defrosting, a tub, and a comfortable couch..finally...

It will be some time till casa de luli is fully functioning, but the essentials are there:
E! Entertainment and Internet (well..almost)

I have also managed to postpone my travels for a couple of weeks so i am actually in the country for two weeks in a row! YAY :)

It's been a good week ... i got to fly business class for the first time (Alitalia business class does not count) and i think i will start buying lottery tickets from now on so i can do this more often

Now all i need to do is get rid of the pink finger i got while voting in the referrendum.
It is a sophisticated system where the government makes sure you don't vote twice by having you dip your finger in some ink after you cast your ballot.... yes very sophisiticated....

Some thoughts

inspired by recent news about terrorism

The human body is a magnificent organism, it takes in its energy from the surroundings, uses it and throws away all the harmful things - by, for the lack of more eloquent wording, shitting for example. The shit is a necessary evil, but it is controlled, cleaned and managed effectively.
When the organism faces some challenges with fullfilling its regular processes and systems, the result is excessive discharge. The human-being cleans it, and tried to fix it using a number of preventative and theraputic measures.

If we think of the Muslim population as an organism similar to the human body - it too has its discharges. One of which being terrorism and violence. Both of which are natural and found all the time, but the organisim deals with them and cleans them out. They are after all a necessary evil. The organism itsself is not evil.

And now this organism is failing to fullfill its regular processes and work effectively and has been having exessive discharge for a while now.
The organism has failed to show any capacity of cleaning its own shit, and therefore others start intervening to clean it, since its starting to make their world stink too.
On top of that the organism is neither capable of taking the necessary actions to fix its processes and systems to stop this excessive discharge nor does it seem to take any preventative measures to stop this from happening in the future.

So like a child the organism has to rely on others to do these things until it can stand on its own two feet. Others will only provide the temporary solution - they will only clean out the excess, but its the organism itsself that will rise to the challenge and end the problem once and for all.

So what i am trying to say is - we created them, they are our product so it's our job to annihilate them once and for all. All efforts by others are just drops of water on thick bricks of stone.

Is this true you guys?! LOL

Your Personality Is Like Marijuana

You're laid back and easy going, so much so that taking a shower is often too much trouble for you! Nevertheless, you're quite popular, and many people enjoy your company. You're rarely turned down. You're prone to giggle fits, paranoia, and forgetting where you are exactly.

What Drug Is Your Personality Like?