My Seven Deadly Links...

So, last week I had nothing to blog about and my partner - in -crime Janine Ripper helps me out. Yes, she gives me this "challenge" and nominates me in this My 7 links project. Well, this isn't like any other award but it's way more scarier. I had to rate my own blog posts! But each one is like my lil baby... all precious but I had to pick it anyways - like Roy says, Janine made me do it! 


My Most Beautiful Post: I couldn't understand what beautiful meant to me. But my nephew and niece had come over for an amazing vacation and I wrote a post about Why Babies are Better. That was lovely and my nephew complimented me beautifully... he always does!


My Most Popular Post: I wish all. But in terms of statistics the one that did really well was the One about Study Habits (because it got over 70 comments and over 400 page views!) 


My Most Controversial Post: I don't think I write controversial posts... maybe because I am a little scared to do that here! But something I thought would have a lot of mixed reactions was when I was targeting people on what they really mean when they use these cliches. But then it didn't create much controversy anyway!


My Most Helpful Post: None! I just do a lot of Yikkity Yak! But a lot of students got back to me when I wrote about Study Habits and could actually apply it to their study patterns and how much they could relate. So I was very happy after that! 


A Post whose Success Surprises me: Just last week when I wrote about nothing to blog about. I loved the support and what every blogger thought that they could relate. I thought they would go like this "Oh, so this is the blogger who doesn't know what to blog about!" Didn't happen!


A post I feel didn't get the attention it deserved: Many! LOL! But the post which I enjoyed writing and din't get the attention I thought it would was this - What is your three something bad?


The Post I am Most Proud of: All! Yes. I love all my posts very much. They liberate me, make me happy and I just love them all. But then I have to pick one... the one which talks about finding my identity! And I loved the response too! 


So, Phew... I thought it would be easy. But this was the TOUGHEST blogging thing ever. So, now for the evil act of nominating four lovely people... (Evil Laugh!). I wanted to trap Bill Dorman and Roy Ackerman but seems like others have already done that! So here goes...

• Samantha Bangayan: Her energy would do loads of justice!
• Muriel Jacques: A blend of British and French links would be lovely!
• Melanie Kissell: Lol... her sense of humor would be so much fun to read!
• Thom Brown: Because he is such a pleasure to read! 

Looking forward to your posts! Also, others, do leave your seven links.. would love to read them! Good Day!

Fridays will be different…. Thankfully!

Ok, enough of kvetching! Oh, no, no, I ain’t shutting my blog….just decided to add a new twist to it! Though I try to “kvetch” at least twice a week…life is happening pretty darn fast for me to catch up (there you go again….) so I thought we could crib and cry once a week and try to be thankful on Fridays!

Yes, everywhere I go I see people talking about how life is treating them bad, how they need to be inspired and motivated; how they feel the constant urge to prove themselves right, how plans are going crazy wrong and how everything is messed up. So although, all that holds true; we could still come by every now and then and kvetch! We could also, end the week on a happy and in your face laughing note on why the next week will be better!

So starting this Friday; here are my top reasons of why and what I am thankful for during recent times!

From my trip to celebrate weight loss!

1. I am thankful the world didn’t end as was “suspected”. I got to meet my nephew and niece. I would have missed that if the world decided to shut down.
2. I am thankful I came up with this idea to blog. Otherwise another week with no post!
3. I am thankful that I lost some weight this week; no not running, jogging and all that; just really bad summer is sweating it all off. I treated myself to ice cream to “celebrate”!
4.  I am thankful that humidity still hasn’t struck its high in my good hot city. July will be a month where I kvetch about humidity!
5. I am SO SO SO thankful that only one of my friends got engaged in the past five months. Yes, many of my friends are married or engaged to be married and that makes us not-ready-to-commit types feeling a bit “left out”. So thank God, just one “I am happy for you but OMG-not-you-too” situation!

So there, my top five for the week! Want to join in, comment below or get in touch with me! I might want to feature yours next Friday! Yes, saves me the trouble of coming up with a post and you do all the “writing”!

AS KREATIV AS I CAN BE!

It’s been less than a year and thanks to Janine, I get my second “blogging award”! It came as a pleasant surprise, I don’t think I am creative but the lovely Janine thinks otherwise, so guilty as charged! She just bestowed me the Kreativ Blogger Award!

So conditions with this award is that

• I needed to pass on the Kreativ Blog Award to 10 bloggers and notify them; and
• I needed to tell you all 10 things about me that you don’t already know.

Both really tough tasks because I have more than 10 bloggers I would love to acknowledge and I really don’t know what ten things of mine would interest you. But I am doing it anyways!

So for the top ten I would love to acknowledge:

1. Janine Ripper at Reflections from a Red Head: I know we aren’t supposed to pass it on to those who passed it to us but she is and will always remain my No.1 blogger!
2. Heather Fonseca at Style Confessions: I am no fashion crazed but a chance meeting (through LinkedIn) introduced me to the lady who believes in weaving style and simplicity!
3. Samantha Bangayan at What Little Things: I love the way she has an opinion and a voice about the life in Peru.
4. Bonnie Copeland at My Rivendell: She actually has wonderful tips to get around in life!
5. Roy A. Ackerman, Ph.D., E.A. at Cerebrations: Undoubtedly, the man with the most intelligent posts…always!
6.  Steve Rice at Karmic Kappuccino: I came across his blog recently and couldn’t get my eyes off the title! Wonderful words of inspiration and if you name it Kappuccino, you are bound to get readers!
7. Melanie Kissell as the Solo Mompreneur: Last I heard, she was telling us all to shorten our emails to 140 characters!
8. Veronica Campos-Hallstrom at Club Creative Studio: Where there is creativity, there is Veronica!
9. Cathy Jones at Just My Thoughts: A wonderful photographer… and beautiful posts!
10.  Linda at Talk Therapy Biz: Last time I gave her an award she wrote a post called 7 Bloggers I want to share my Couch with!

And now for the tougher part, ten things about myself:

1. I am a big foodie; to say “No, I am not hungry” is like a crime in my life.
2. My all time favorite movie remains Forrest Gump, though I watch tons of movies, Forrest Gump remains my No.1!
3. As a kid, I was so naughty that my parents were scared I would be kicked out of school. But surprisingly that never happened.
4. I hate getting my photos clicked. I always end up with the most awkward smile.
5. I don’t understand the Vampire craze that has gripped the world. I watched Twilight movies and vowed to never do it again.
6. I take a lot of time to make decisions. The only snap decisions I make are in a shoe shop!
7. I just spent my last salary on books, almost all of it!
8. I am as lazy as lazy can be… my mom thinks that spiders will make webs around me someday.
9. I am very bad at learning languages. I stayed in the UAE almost 17 years and made it without learning Arabic. I know how to read and write, but I still find it hard to speak. Contrary to belief, everyone here manages fine with English!
10. Coming up with these ten things took me the longest than writing any other post. Mainly because I have done the “things about me” posts twice already!

So, there you go, thanks to Janine once again! And to the ten of you… pass it on guys!

Has Life Made a Fool Out of You Yet?

So the world “celebrated” April fool’s Day. Apparently is all started because of a misunderstanding and thus the prank and practical jokes. What I really don’t get it is this: doesn’t it all start with a misunderstanding. I mean we really don’t need a day to let others make a fool out of us. Every, every day of our lives is life’s April fool prank on us. Everywhere we go there is something (not someone, but something) which is waiting to pound on you and have the best laugh possible!

 Don’t believe me, I can give you reasons!

• We are always cute as a baby and somehow it just vanishes as we grow up
• You are never the “coolest”, “hippest” kid in school / college. And even if you are “the one”, people have branded you as the “snob” or the “b***h” or the playboy!
• Family reunions will happen the day when you look the chubbiest, have the bout of acne attack, have run out of proper clothes to wear and your hair has gone all frizzy.
• By the time you figure out what you “really, really” want in life or from life, you are already on your second high paying but the most depressing job ever!
• The fat kid from high school is suddenly in the glamour industry and you can’t fit into the jeans from last month.
• Everything yummy has three figure calories.
• Everything really yummy has four figure calories! (I know it is repeated, but I am trying to stress the point!)
• Your waist! It has a mind of its own and a size of its own!
• The prettiest girl in town always lives right next door. Yes, just rub it in my face.
• The day your car decides to have a breakdown, it chooses the most crowded, god damn awful place to have its heart attack.
• All great looking men (great, I am not talking about good) are taken, dating impossible-to-beat girls, live on the next continent or are King in the making, getting married!
• If you speak your mind you are called brash, if you are being sweet you are diplomatic, if you have an opinion you are judgmental, if you don’t have an opinion you are just a dork. What’s with the branding? Who actually came up these words?

Image from Madonna Fans

See, isn’t everything just a big fat joke? Is life just lurking in some corner and laughing at us? What do you think is life’s biggest joke? And yes, what did you do on April Fools? 

HAPPY OLD YEAR!

Come December and the pessimist in me gets into the super active mode. The year is ending and so are my hopes of keeping up to promises I made (to myself mostly). Promises and plans that include resolutions change of habits, commitments to family and friends, weight loss regimes, promises of being a better, refined and different being. I mean, who keeps resolutions....they are for the weak and I was too strong to give in to that pressure the first eleven months.

So tired of evaluation and re-evaluation and feeling low, I decided to change the whole pattern of looking at the month of December. Instead of Happy New Year and going through the trouble of “planning ahead” I decided to take my own course and have a celebration of my own.  And I named it “Happy Old Year”.

This is how it works, no matter how miserable the year has been I will end it on a happy note. I will do things I like and enjoy, not caring whether they fit into my plan of action.

So this December I got a hold of a bestseller that I have been planning to read since January 2010 and actually finished it within a week! That was week one.

Week two and three saw me travelling, not something extravagant, just a change of city. That plan included visiting all the touristy places, doing all the touristy things, eating to all heart’s content (not necessarily heart harming). And yes, laptop doesn’t figure in the plans of Happy Old Year. That makes Happy Old Year real angry.

As for the last week, that has me winding up the year, a little sour, a little sweet but at least I am ending happy. The sweet taste lingers and as for the New Year.... I will take it as it comes. There’s always a next December!

So how are you celebrating Happy Old Year?