Dusting Off, Already??

Picture taken today

Good morning!! How's everyone doing in this time of year? ;D

The time of dust and (soon) Sarrayat??

In the past few days, I've locked myself at home (not deliberately; I just didn't have anything to do outside), so I missed most of the worst of the dusty weather, but even with staying home, I could still face the outcomes of those tiny little specs of dust!!

It's just AMAZING how dust covers everything in what seems like the speed of light! Freshly wiped surfaces quickly swift into surfaces that seem to have not been dusted off in weeks! *cough!*

I could smell the dust everywhere! I could feel it on my face! I feel like dusting off everything in the house just to let all the dust come out! *cough!*cough!*

But if there's one thing I love about dust, is that it smells so incredibly addicting when it's mixed with water.... oh... my... God... I just LOOOOVE that smell!!!!

I always feel it should be made into a perfume! heehee

Picture taken a few days ago

But today seems like a good day! The dust is visibly wearing off (it's still there, though), and hopefully it will be even better in the next few hours.

However, that doesn't mean it's off for good; this type of weather is tricky and unpredictable, so be careful.

I hope everyone takes care during dusty days, especially those with respiratory problems, try to stay away from dust as much as possible.

Aaaaannnd for Allah's sake!!! Stop "complaining" about the weather, people! It's Allah's doing and he knows best! And in case you didn't know, dust has many benefits! Go educate yourselves!

Peace!!!

Purina Ad Made Me Cry :'(

I'm in tears now...

I never expected to be crying while watching this:





I miss having cats around!!! :'(((((

Event: The Graffalo, Children Reading at GUST

يدعوكم قسم اللغة الإنجليزية في جامعة الخليج لحضور قراءة قصة "الغرفول" (للأطفال دون العاشرة) باللغتين العربية و الإنجليزية  و ذلك غداً الساعة الواحدة ظهراً بقاعة W1-010 بمبنى الجامعة بمشرف .

The English Department at GUST invites young reading lovers* to attend a fun reading of The Gruffalo, in both Arabic & English! (Isn't that exciting?! ;D)

Time:

Monday, March 5, 2012, at 1 P.M

Location: 

GUST university, W1-010

* Up to ten years old


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Links:

• GUST

EVENT: 3D Projection Mapping: Wattana We Adore it عرض ثلاثي الأبعاد: وطنا إحنا عشقنا

  بمناسبة الاحتفالات الوطنية سوف يقام عرض فيديو ثلاثي الأبعاد خاص بتاريخ الكويت

 الليلة الساعة ٧ و ٩ و ذلك بالريجنسي

!!لا يطوفكم

Don't miss out on Wattana's special 3D video mapping event tonight! 

!!جيكوا عالبروفات 

Check out the teaser!!!

!حدي متشوقة! راح يكون في ألعاب نارية بعد!! وناسة

Really looking forward to it! There shall be fireworks too!!

منو بيروح؟؟؟ 

Who's going??? ;D

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Links:

• Watanna: Event Page on Facebook

Happy National Spirit Continues + Special Thanks

Happy Liberation Day! 

Hope everyone is having fun celebrating! 

How's everyone celebrating the national holidays? :D Where did you do yesterday? What are your plans for today? I wished to attend the Maseera yesterday, but due the rainy weather it was canceled, so we stayed indoors. Saturday is our weekly family gathering, so for sweet time we made sure to celebrate with special patriotic delights!

For those of you who follow me on twitter, you might have read that I've been craving some Chocolateness!! Yep, those super delicious pieces of love! So, I HAAAAAD to have some for today! I just loooove those yummy little monsters! In celebration of the country's beloved festivities, Chocolateness is having a wonderful offer, for any 10 K.D transaction, you get half a dozen FREE! Isn't that awesome, or isn't that awesome? ;Pp Perfect for gatherings indeed!!

Mmmmm... Mmmm.... Mmmmmm!!!!! Aren't your mouths watering just by looking at the picture? 

*heart-drop*

Besides those killer monsters, we also had two cakes, one from Mr Baker (الخباز) and another from Cake'n'Bake. I'm not a big fan of Mr. Baker's (since I've had enough of it each and every week for yeeeeeaaaars), so I was eager to try the Cake'n'nBake's for a change, (especially since it was decorated with the flag baring the symbols our beloved countries, God bless 'em ^_^). It was good. But I'm not a cake lover to begin with, so I cannot really judge.

Even though I didn't go out (as I wished), I still enjoyed the day. I was too busy snapping pictures and sharing my humble writings around. My previous post received great feedback, thanks to Allah, which highly encourages me to keep practicing and write more in Arabic. But the most AWESOME moment of the day definitely has to be the special surprise I received from my all-time favorite magazine, Bazaar! I was completely taken aback by their little bomb-drop! hee hee They featured my special national celebration post on The Bazaar Daily!!! ;D I was super ecstatic; I literally started screaming of joy!! So, again, thanks to the wonderful team of Bazaar, you guys ROCK!

And thanks to all of you my beloved silent readers, and those of you who share their thoughts with me either here or elsewhere; you help a great deal in making an aspiring writer step even faster on the ladder of her dreams! God bless you all!

So what are your plans for the today? Going out? At the chalet or desert (or Dubai)? Staying indoors watching TV coverage? Whatever your plans are, be safe and sound, and remember that the true celebration of love for our country lies in the true service for it through out the whole year and not just on its national days.


Peace & Love!

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I'm sure lots of you have watched this amazing skydive video already, but have you read Khaleejesque's special article about the guy behind the jump? ;)



His name is Mohammad Al-Refaie and you can learn more about him and his love for skydiving on the special article on Khaleejesque: [click here]


That is just AWESOME! Wouldn't wanna try it for real, though! Ha!

Would you??

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P.S: What do you think of my photography? 

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Links:

• كل عام و أنت بخير يا وطن النهار
• Chocolateness
• The Bazaar Daily
• Bazaar Magazine
• Khaleejesque
• Alrefaie's Youtube Channel 

كل عام و أنت بخير يا وطن النهار

عاشت لنا الكويت .. الكويت

و عاشوا أهلها

و اللي يحب الكويت .. الكويت

يضحي لأجلها

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أنا كويتي أنا

أنا قول و فعل

وعزومي قوية

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ياحماة العرين

لقنوا المعتدين

درسنا باليمين

ضربة لن تلين

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عيدي يا كويت يا أحلى بلد

أنا لج رديت بروح و جسد

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وطني

وطن النهار

أنت النهار

يا وطني

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تلك مجموعة بسيطة من الأغاني الوطنية التي تربيت عليها ، كلما تبادرت إلي مسمعي مقاطع منها (لاسيما "أنا كويتي أنا" و "وطن النهار") تختلج مشاعري و تتبعثر أحاسيسي معلنة مراسم إحتفال بتراقص ذكريات متناقضة ... فأجدني تارة أبتسم أو أضحك ، و تارة أتنهد أو تدمع عيني (و قد أبكي) ...

ف"عاشت لنا الكويت" كانت من الأغاني الأكثر ترديداً في صغري ، كذلك "أنا كويتي أنا" و "حماة العرين" اللتان تثيران فيَّ الحماس فأجدني ، في خيالي ، أقف كالمجندين أحيي العلم و قلبي يقفز فرحاً ، تماماً كما كنت أفعل في طفولتي ... (إلا أني كنت أقوم بالغناء و التحية فعلياً حينها) . أما "عيدي يا كويت" فدائماً تذكرني بالأعياد و بهجتها . 

لكن "وطن النهار" لها مكانة خاصة في قلبي ، فهي تتربع على عرش كل الأغاني الوطنية التي أحبها ، لوقعها المجلجل على نفسي ... فقد نحتت آثاراً أبدية ، اختلطت بمشاعر طفلة في حالة عدم استيعاب كلي ، ثم انتقلت إلى غور شجون قلب شابة مبعثرة روحها ... فكانت دائماً تنادي أعماق روحي سالبة تلك الدموع المختزلة التي عادة لا أحس بوجودها ...

قبل عدة أيام كنت في السيارة أستمع للمارينا أف أم ، أترقب برنامج "الديوانية" الذي عادة ما يسهم في رسم البسمة على محياي مشكلاً عامل نجاح في تسهيل عملية السياقة في ذلك الوقت العصيب من الظهيرة ، فتفاجأت بأغنيتي المفضلة تصدح ...  كالعادة ، امتزجت مشاعر الفرح و الألم و تراقصت في داخلي ...

لكن ، و لأول مرة ، كلمات الأغنية كان لها صدى جديد:

... ياللي انولد من جديد ... غصب على الآلام ، ترجع وطن من جديد

أحسست و كأن هذه الكلمات تحاكيني بالذات ... فإني أمر بمرحلة حساسة في حياتي الخاصة حالياً ، فكانت تلك الكلمات بمثابة قلب حنون يواسي و صوت عقل حكيم يناشد و يشد من ازري مذكراً بأن "مع العسر يسراً" ... فعلاً ، إن مع العسر دوماً يسراً ... فلا بد من أن تشرق الشمس بعد العاصفة و لا بد للظلام أن ينجلي و للضباب أن ينقشع . فمهما تكالبت علينا هموم الدنيا و تشابكت ، لابد أن نستذكر القوة الكامنة بداخلنا ، و لا نترك لشبح الخوف و القلق مجال ليترعرع في أنفسنا ، فلابد أن نتحلى بالإيمان دائماً و نستمر في المقاومة و الدفاع ، حتى "نولد من جديد" .

تماماً كما ولدت الكويت من جديد مرات عديدة ، فاليوم و غداً تستذكر بلادي يومين من أروع الأيام في تاريخها ، فبعد إحدى و خمسون سنة على إستقلالها و بعد إحدى و عشرون سنة من التحرير لا يجب أن أستسلم لألم بعض الذكريات الحزينة ، بل يجب علي أن أديم الابتسامة على محياي و أرفع رأسي عالياً ، فلو لا لطف العلي القدير لربما ما كان حالنا كما هو الآن ، ننعم بأمن و أمان قد نحسد عليه كثيراً ، فيجب علينا جميعاً أن نديم السجود لله شاكرين و نرفع أيادينا للكريم راجين منه أن يديم علينا نعمة الأمن و الاستقرار و أن يمن على جيراننا و إخواننا المسلمين بالمثل ، آمين ...

و كل عام وأنت بخير يا وطن النهار ، يا أرض المحبة و السلام ...

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هذا مقطع بسييييط جداً من الاغنية أثناء استماعي إليها في السيارة ، عذراً لقصره الشديد فلم يتبادر لذهني تصويره إلا مع قرب نهايتها... أعجبتني مشاهدة الأعلام ترفرف و كأنها تستمع معي و تستمتع ...

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كالعادة ، يتحفنا Google بابداع جديد :)

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وطني الكويت سلمت للمجد

و على جبينك طالع السعد

Literature World Celebrates Charles Dickens 200th Birthday: My Personal Thoughts

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of the most celebrated writers in the world, Charles Dickens. As an English Language and Literature student, I have the privilege to indulge in learning more about such authors whose works have surpassed generation upon generation only to become an essential part of any English literature student or fan's journey of learning and enlightenment.

Whenever I read such wonderful creations by authors such as Dickens, I cannot help but feel the "awes" and "wows!" escaping my thoughts. I guess, anyone who enjoys writing knows what I'm talking about. I often wonder if those authors knew the amount of impact their creations would have on the literary world while they were creating them; would they have produced them differently? What if the Brontë sisters knew how truly passionate readers can get over their beloved novels (I just adore Wuthering Heights), or if Dicken's Oliver Twist would be played in thousands of theaters around the world, or if Shakespeare knew he'd be the iconic symbol of the English literature?

I can only imagine!

I wonder if any of today's writers would be as symbolic as Shakespeare in the far future. I wonder if Arab writers would leave an infinite impact. I wonder if Kuwaitis would leave such a historic trail.

I wonder if I will ever leave this world with a timeless classic that would be taught to generations to come.

I wonder...

*****

So, it fascinates me when I see other countries proudly and continuously acknowledging and celebrating their writers, even if centuries go by since the day they were born! (Check out Dickens2012.org and be inspired!)


And as usual, Google celebrates with a special Dickens doodle! (Read more about this on Los Angeles Times)

Will Kuwait celebrate me 200 years from now? ;D

We will never know... 

(but if there's anyone from the future, they can answer me! ;P) 

*****

So, what's your favorite Charles Dickens novel? 


Share your thoughts! :)


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Links:

• Dickens2012.org
• Los Angeles Times
• Literature11.pbworks.com (Picture credits)