Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
rude
they stare and they laugh...they jeer and they frown...they push through as they desperately make their way to the front of the line, traffic, bar or whatever it may be. their loud, neon lit large boat-cars and fake noses protrude into the setting of an otherwise formerly familiar place...the elders wonder and they talk of this sin unfolding before their eyes. what happened? they ask in disbelief of the vulgar and obtrusive lifestyle their younger and sometimes fellow Lebanese display as they pass by...as though an 18 year long civil war did NOT take place in the country they call home. It was never like this before they say. what happened to the civil code, civics we used to learn at school and now....?
they cut in front of you without a word of regard and they squeeze between you as though you had not been there for 30 minutes already waiting...because after all is life not a long wait to the end...to see how, why, where, and when...we wait often and always. life waits 9 months in justation, we wait for time to heal, experience to teach, and for age to explain...min shouf as they say in a place that has endured time in a most unique fashion. places demolished and rebuilt like history was rewriting itself over and over time and time again.
the service guy has the nerve to charge you a second service ride for the block and a half that he knew he would have to drive you before you accepted to rest on his plastic covered seats underneath a sheath of white leather...IN A TAXI? be ashamed of you own blood you bala zok, we'ih, jahsh, wahsh, and every other negative word connoting an immoral human being. hehe and who am i to judge? yes in Lebanon everything is possible. take Zoo York and add a few loose monkeys and donkeys around here an there and you've got Beirut...our streets are also numbered but nobody pays attention.
they cut in front of you without a word of regard and they squeeze between you as though you had not been there for 30 minutes already waiting...because after all is life not a long wait to the end...to see how, why, where, and when...we wait often and always. life waits 9 months in justation, we wait for time to heal, experience to teach, and for age to explain...min shouf as they say in a place that has endured time in a most unique fashion. places demolished and rebuilt like history was rewriting itself over and over time and time again.
the service guy has the nerve to charge you a second service ride for the block and a half that he knew he would have to drive you before you accepted to rest on his plastic covered seats underneath a sheath of white leather...IN A TAXI? be ashamed of you own blood you bala zok, we'ih, jahsh, wahsh, and every other negative word connoting an immoral human being. hehe and who am i to judge? yes in Lebanon everything is possible. take Zoo York and add a few loose monkeys and donkeys around here an there and you've got Beirut...our streets are also numbered but nobody pays attention.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
HIStory
what is the story, where did it come from, and why is the word derived from his story? he told stories of the past and the anecdotes that the elders would recount over generations were and still are valued. they were often repeated and shared through a man. he was the vehicle ... the form of these stories' disemination. then it became his journal and his letters to loved ones and corespondenses. but how about the rest. the children the women, the poor and those who weren't writing the books and recounting the stories...they were there too and they had a part to play.
it was said while i was at school that 75% of what we read was false. maybe that's because the man who was toiling the land and the millions of those who built the cities that we revel about daily and praise the architect for, never get asked a thing about anything. the guy who put together the house be it made of mud, tin, wood, brick, concrete, wood, or steel...do you know his name? the men who are to thank for the fruits in your basket, the veggies digesting as you read this and the butcher who cut the meat this morning. does anyone ever take them into consideration and ask them how things are going in their lives? what did their ancestors live? if the masses of such people were heard our stories would be very different.
how about the second half of the world's population? where were the woman... in Troy they played a part. isn't it only fair that since the world is made up of 51% females and 49% males the story would be ourstory?
it was said while i was at school that 75% of what we read was false. maybe that's because the man who was toiling the land and the millions of those who built the cities that we revel about daily and praise the architect for, never get asked a thing about anything. the guy who put together the house be it made of mud, tin, wood, brick, concrete, wood, or steel...do you know his name? the men who are to thank for the fruits in your basket, the veggies digesting as you read this and the butcher who cut the meat this morning. does anyone ever take them into consideration and ask them how things are going in their lives? what did their ancestors live? if the masses of such people were heard our stories would be very different.
how about the second half of the world's population? where were the woman... in Troy they played a part. isn't it only fair that since the world is made up of 51% females and 49% males the story would be ourstory?
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
morning cries
I could hear a baby crying early this morning. It wasn’t near but a distant sound. I could sense when it stopped or shrieked or even continued to annoy it’s neighbors with something we once all knew best. The Buddhists believe that there are significant reasons to why we are born crying. Suffering at its onset and the life comes out with tears into a world of service towards gratitude.
It has been scientifically said that women have a tuned ear to hear a baby crying in the middle of the night and the ability to be woken up by it. Otherwise, would so many of us have been feed at instinct’s need or changed once nature called.
It cried and cried and cried and cried at 8 am. Perhaps a biological clock as we now may know on days when our alarm was not set to 7:15 am because it was a labor day but still we rise.
I felt him move and listened to him breath. I though of the possibility of the baby being ours and the idea of me getting up at night, not a budge by the man. The man. What could I say that has not been said and repeated time and time again?
I thought of the possibility of his hard thing entering my wet and dark hole and conceiving yet another life into this overpopulated, underfeed, and uneducated place. I thought of the possibility of being called Mama or Mom, perhaps even maman… HA!
I couldn’t help but think of the disservice I would be doing to the world by bringing yet another life into it. Remembering the countless times I heard the phrase good seed or pure breed. Because your enemy may think himself a better breed my friend. I could only feel a praise for China and it’s strict and regimented ways for this once in my life. One child, and one child ONLY!
It has been scientifically said that women have a tuned ear to hear a baby crying in the middle of the night and the ability to be woken up by it. Otherwise, would so many of us have been feed at instinct’s need or changed once nature called.
It cried and cried and cried and cried at 8 am. Perhaps a biological clock as we now may know on days when our alarm was not set to 7:15 am because it was a labor day but still we rise.
I felt him move and listened to him breath. I though of the possibility of the baby being ours and the idea of me getting up at night, not a budge by the man. The man. What could I say that has not been said and repeated time and time again?
I thought of the possibility of his hard thing entering my wet and dark hole and conceiving yet another life into this overpopulated, underfeed, and uneducated place. I thought of the possibility of being called Mama or Mom, perhaps even maman… HA!
I couldn’t help but think of the disservice I would be doing to the world by bringing yet another life into it. Remembering the countless times I heard the phrase good seed or pure breed. Because your enemy may think himself a better breed my friend. I could only feel a praise for China and it’s strict and regimented ways for this once in my life. One child, and one child ONLY!
Monday, April 7, 2008
success
in Paris today a demonstration of great success took place. these are the FEW times when a leftist progressive celebrates. a massive protest of 'free tibet' supporters blocked the road that the olympic torch bearers were supposed to be running on. good work! keep it up...i'd be there if i could...but always in spirit. may they'll see an even more intense response (though PEACEFUL!!!) in San Fransisco.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
another Monot
This past Sunday i went to Monot, a district in Beirut well known for the nightlife that sprung up there in the mid-nineties. I was surprised and happy to find something that put a smile on my husband and my face. In a large parking lot we found a group of men playing cricket. As this is not a common recreational activity in our country, i was for the first time experiencing what baseball must have been born from, being played right there in front of my eyes. Their shirts said Sri Lanka Criquet, and it was such a pleasure to see this spot transformed, even if so temporarily, into a place of leisure activity rather than the ordinary exhaust filled standing lot that it normally is.
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