Honored Guest
In every country where I have lived, we have felt like honored guests. This week, I have been truly honored, my blogging friend Hilaliya has asked me to be an occasional guest blogger on his revamped blog, now featuring a Kuwait Blogging Diwaniya. Pretty cool, huh? I have to admit it, I have a smile from ear to ear.
The revered blogger Don Veto led the way with an article yesterday, and I jumped in today.
In honor of my ear-to-ear smile, it’s called Smile for me Baby – Let Me See Your Grill but fair warning – it’s political polemic, about parliamentary gridlock, so you will see a grittier side of Intlxpatr.
Pecha Kucha Night at the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah
Thank you, Little Diamond for sharing news of an upcoming event in Kuwait that sounds like a pretty cool evening, full of creatives sharing a small part of their vision. It sound like an evening full of energy, to me. Thought you might want to go, too! 🙂
Dear All,
I would like to invite you to Kuwait’s first Pecha Kucha Night at the
Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah
Date: Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Al-Maidan Cultural Centre ‘Abdullah al-Salem School, Maidan Hawalli, Near al Sha’ab Leisure Park.
Pecha Kucha Night, devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham (Klein
Dytham architecture), was conceived in 2003 as a place for young
designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. Pecha Kucha
Night is a not-for profit event, conceived, inspired, and performed
solely to strengthen creativity whether it be famous or famous-to-be
talents.
But as we all know, give a mike to a designer (especially an
architect) and you’ll be trapped for hours. The key to Pecha Kucha
Night is its patented system for avoiding this fate. Each presenter is
allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each – giving 6 minutes
40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps
presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show.
Pecha Kucha (which is Japanese for the sound of conversation) has
tapped into a demand for a forum in which creative work can be easily
and informally shown, without having to rent a gallery or chat up a
magazine editor. This is a demand that seems to be global – as Pecha
Kucha Night, without any pushing, has spread virally to over 160 cities across the world.
It comes to Kuwait for the first time on 11th of March.
Speakers for PKN #1 will include:
Lubna Saif Abbas: LB o J?zzaz
Ghadah Alkandari: Artist
Adlah Al-Sharhan: Chef
Maha Al-Asaker: Photographer
Mai al-Nakib: Kuwait University
Thomas Modeen: smArchitecture
Abdulaziz al-Humaidhi: Najeeb Al-Humaidhi Consultants
Khalid al-Hamad: American University of Kuwait
Waleed Shaalan: BrainStorm
Amera al-Awadhi: Amar International Real Estate Co.
Fatma al-Hamad: Amar International Real Estate Co.
Warmest regards,
Asseel al-Ragam
Asseel al-Ragam PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Architecture
Kuwait University
Office: +965 24987595
Cell: +965 99761150
alragam@gmail.com
Masks: Quote from AWAD
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. -Oscar Wilde, writer (1854-1900)
Interesting thought, especially to those of us who are hiding behind a mask of anonymity. What do you think? Are we more free to tell the truth when we blog anonymously? Do we tell the truth? Or does anonymity encourage us to stretch the truth? embellish the truth? strain the truth?
Hmmmmmmm. What do you think?
Kuwait Independence / Liberation Holiday Treat
My friends, run to the nearest newsstand and pick up a copy of today’s Arab Times. On page 3, one of Kuwait’s most eminent bloggers, Amer al Hilal, has a full page article; his diary as a soldier during the Liberation.
It is an awesome article. He brings the liberation period, with its thrills and challenges, to life. He is a very readable writer, and his story is compelling. Now! Right now! Go read the paper! Its YOUR history!
La! La! La! (No! No! No!)
Re: Don’t Trash My Kuwait, NBQ found this adorable video from the Keep Kuwait Clean Campaign – looks like maybe 2003? (update: Oops, no, nbq says the ’80s!) Oh! These children are so cute! This song is so good!
Just in time for the trash-filled holidays coming up! La! La! La!
LOL Catz Funny for Today
more animals
There is nothing so aggravating . . .
My son was telling me that I Can Has Cheezburger started with a bunch of people who once a week would publish funny cat photos, and they called it “Caturday.” Look at it now – an idea that lives on and on and on. It must be me, but I check it about once a week, and it always makes me laugh.
Recently, in the US, a kid posted a video of himself beating up the family cat. Bloggers were able to track him down, even though he had posted under a bogus name, and report him to the authorities in his home town. The cat (who is fine, by the way) has been taken from the home and is with a vet, looking to rehome him. My son says he is sure that cat will have many many offers. The kid, meanwhile, is meeting with the district attorneys.
Mistreating animals is a classic symptom of a person who will later abuse people. I wonder if there is hope that this young man can be rehabilitated? Who would think torturing a helpless animal is fun???
This is one hodgepodge of a post, isn’t it?
Some days, it just makes me happy to think there is a blogging community with a sense of community and responsibility.
3baid, Today’s Sweetheart
Have you seen the Friday Kuwait Times? If not, run right out and buy it now, or go to the blue link where it says Kuwait Times. There is a FULL PAGE story in the Friday Times on PaperDump, the eco-friendly blog where all kinds of menus, schedules, telephone numbers, etc. are stored, saving paper.
You can go to PaperDump by clicking on PaperDump, although most of you already have it stored on your blog favorites. I learned, reading the article, that they get 10,000 hits a DAY. Now that is public service.
Wooo HOOO, 3baid, you are getting just a small portion of the recognition you deserve for the great public service you are making, donating your time and energies to this valuable service. Woo HOOO!
Seattle Equivalent
My sister Sparkle sent me this photo in an e-mail, saying these are the Seattle equivalent to the perky electric palm trees Adventureman so loves. Thank you, Sparkle!
They are from a Seattle blog where they post a new photo of Seattle every day: Seattle Daily Blog Spot. Right now, they have some Valentine’s Day photos, interesting, and not what you would expect.
This is the photo that inspired Sparkle:
I have to admit, these are pretty cool. Do I want them in my yard? I think not. 🙂
Life Lessons from a 90 Year Old
Thank you, Momcat!
Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio
To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90, in August, so here goes:
1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first p aycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry
13. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: ‘In five years, will this matter?
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.
“It seems before Truth sets you free, it puts you through the wringer…”
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