Tololy's Box

Exotic spectacles at the U of J

Paying the campus of the University of Jordan a visit today was a refreshing, although exhausting, trip.

I had some paper work to do and for that cause I suffered in the heat of this dog day, and I walked too much while entertaining a splitting headache and a case of severe blues (I bought a book and even that did not help. This is how grave the situation was).

Nonetheless, as I was making my way from point A (being one of the portals of the campus), to point B (being some centre of some sort located, conveniently, at the other end of the globe) to have my year book picture taken, I encountered the most eccentric thing. An old black train on display, permanently, on campus. Look at the pictures provided for a visual account of the meeting.

With today’s too much sun, and the conditions aforementioned, I did not bother to change the settings of the camera. Therefore, do pardon the awkward coloration of those shots.

There were two lovers seated right behind the beautiful black train and, respecting their privacy, I opted for the funny positioning of the tree to the left to “conceal” their “identities”. One never knows who is reading one’s blog, and I would hate it if someone gets shot as a consequence.

Finally, the jewel of this post, and evidence of my (only?) act of public property vandalism. A street light base with my name carved into it using a wooden stick that had fallen from a nearby tree. It was a regular morning where I was going, again, from point A to point B, and I noticed that this base of cement is still fresh and accepting of any artistic additions. Now Tololy will forever remain in the U of J, the picture is proof of this romanticism.

Mysterious Petra

Such joy! I logged on today to Webshots, to download a new wallpaper, and I found glorious Petra featured right on the main page. It felt good seeing that this beauty is appreciated worldwide.

“Located in Jordan and dubbed the “treasure of the ancient world,” Petra is a city hewn from living rock. “

Impersonal jotting down of thoughts

I was just browsing the archives of my Box, and I often do that to return to former times when the experience of blogging was different from what it is now. I return to my previous blog, too, sometimes, to find out how my way of expressing myself has changed over time. It is an eye-opening journey, definitely.

You’d be surprised if I told you I debate shutting down the Box, on a daily basis. It’s this pressure of life in general that makes me think such “horrible” things, these things that are both crazy and perfectly logical. Do I hear you tagging that as a crime against humanity? Nay, that is just my imagination.

Why I debate shutting down the Box, every single day, is quite a complicated deal. It is true that many a time I meet a very nice muse who guides me from darkness to light, and that this self same muse helps me generate the very interesting concept of the term “original content”, but I get bored of this muse quickly, too. Creating this blog was, in principle, a challenge of commitment, with what difficulties I face with the latter word and,now that I have reached the point I desired, this motivation is growing thinner by the minute.

I have had some people contacting me about the quality of my entries, and their content. Be their comments positive or negative, I thank them sincerely for slicing out some minutes of their days to voice their opinions, which I hold nothing but respect for. This said, I should have formed some alternative sources of motivation to keep the Box up and running. Maybe I have, I am not sure, maybe I just do not know it yet.

I believe the nicest part about this Box of mine is the chance it offers me to really pick my brains. This is a tedious task, rest assured, and it is time consuming. Particularly when you have two jobs, two projects,a family you wish to be with, friendships to maintain, languages to polish, study programs to search for, a cat to trick into a shower, a book to write, and yourself to worry about. I was reflecting on the frequency of posting, perhaps publishing an entry every other day, but that could absolutely murder my thoughts. My brains operate in a funny way that I do not expect others to understand, you see.

Sitting here, with my yellow blouse and pants, a detail you did not ask for, I am asking myself “Why am I telling the world all of these things?”. Good question. Because I can, and because I feel it is my readers’ right to be informed about the happenings in Tololy’s Box. I think I am not flattering myself when believing that there are some minds out there who enjoy reading some things I write at times, I think I would be endlessly honored if I found out that some smart and totally uncalled-for remark here or there made someone smile, and that is part of the reason why I made this Box public. I respect my readers, therefore I want them to learn what is going on in here.

This is such a depressing entry. I never intended it to be so, believe it or not. The answer could be “doing less”, and yet that seems very difficult. The other day I decided I wanted to cut down on the length of posts in the Box, but to satisfy my insatiable appetite for letters, I created UTN. So much for less work. Now I have two blogs to look after, it’s nobody fault, really, don’t blame it on anyone. The funny bit about UTN, in comparison with Tololy’s Box, is that the author over there never mentions this place. UTN is somewhat like the family secret everybody knows and yet nobody wants to talk about, but that’s what makes it special. I want it to be that way.

It is getting late, I should end this entry and, what better way to terminate it but by delivering mushy, yet very honest, thanks for the support from the supporters, and the demolition squad’s efforts to turn the Box into nothing but a wrinkled paper in a trash can. I am indebted to all of my readers, and the “my” is too posh, don’t you think?

Allah, God, etc

Notwithstanding one’s religion, or the lack thereof, sense dictates that people should try to live in harmony. Perhaps not all of them, that would be putting it too naively.

The rush that has been spreading faster than avian flu, is the combat between the so-dubbed “good”, and the so-dubbed “evil”. A rather dangerous battle but interestingly, a must in this age. I am not precisely the most timely person, therefore I realize that the news are now old concerning Ed Callahan, a random individual, trying, and failing to, register with Yahoo for an e-mail account due to the absolutely shameful inclusion of the word “Allah” in his last name.

Perhaps Yahoo had, and they did have, plausible reasons to try to explain the absurdity of the whole situation. But the problematic bit about this, as far as I can perceive, is that there are hundreds of thousands of people who so happen to have the word Allah in their names. The catch here is that they are not all Muslim. Quite a point, no?

Mr.Callahan, whose religious inclinations cannot be possibly derived from his last name, eventually managed to register for an e-mail address, with Yahoo. Commenting on the crooked policy, he noted “The war on terror is becoming a war on Muslims”.

For the sake of casual argument, suppose the word Allah exists only in names of Muslims, and that this unmistakable combination of letters only coincides with Muslim names, that should be a sight; to see whether or no large e-businesses, and some faces of the world, would show some decency and/or respect.

Should you wish to read the full story, kindly follow this link.

Arabic/English entry: Be a sport

Weblog ethics

I have just stumbled upon a quiz concerning weblog ethics and etiquette, and I previously had no idea such a game existed. Nevertheless, taking the quiz was interesting enough for me to dedicate an entry for it. It relates to several aspects of blogging that one sometimes seems to miss out on, such as linking, commenting, proper discussion policies, and so on.

If you would like to try it out, and I suggest you do, click here. Oh and I scored 90%, is that not something to be proud of?

My brother's pants

Metablog: Boss friendly content

Blog-related tales have it that a decent number of individuals have been fired due to keeping blogs about their bosses. The why and how behind such stories are not what this entry deals with.

How does one post boss-friendly entries, and at the same time prove one’s ability to criticize one’s boss? I make no claims that I have any clear solution but I say, avoid mentioning names or, alter names if you have to.

If your blog runs under your birth certificate name (also known as a real name, as opposed to an alias), then you might want to cut down on excessive blog URL sharing with colleagues, particularly when your superior is not exactly nice.

Let me be a bit democratic here for this instance, I would like to learn of readers’ views and suggestions about boss-friendly content; how does a blog author deliver sharp observations and not get sacked? What do you think?

Useful links:

Metablog: Exposure

Metablog: Up close and business-like

Metablog: Blog fashion

Unveiling Metablog

The power of good offers

… is that they make you buy things you did not plan on buying. Many a time did a decent offer intrude on budgets and helped accumulate product upon product of no daily use in the collections of buyers.

But isn’t that the point of marketing? To make you feel absolutely in need for something you probably can do as perfectly well without, and to lure your purse into generating the cash to purchase this item or that? Most people, myself included, fall for things just because they’re “new”, add to that a nice slice out of the price and the offer is irresistible.

It often happens that one tries to prioritize on monthly spendings, and to set a definite limit and a rule on what to buy, and how much to invest in shopping crusades and outings. But more often than that, one is faced with an attractive 70% or a “buy one get two free” bright sticker on some display window that renders it impossible to ignore and to move on with life, and with one’s agreed-upon budget plan.

After an incident of this sort, the buyer may feel exalted at first, for having gotten the same item for less, but then he or she might feel a bit guilty for having contradicted their budget plans. I am not sure why this feeling is sometimes present, shouldn’t thrill and a sentiment of I-am-money-smart prevail? Perhaps it should, I make no guesses.

Should we blame the magnet of an offer, the salary that does not afford us everything, or the self that just cannot say No ?

Personal Entry: The ATM ate my money

How upsetting! I tried to withdraw some money today (A nice chunk) from a certain ATM, and, well, the machine ate my money! I waited for the sum to come out and then to adorn my purse to no avail.

I, naturally, freaked out. Then I instantly called my personal advisor who assured me all is well and that this sometimes happens (Why?) and is generally solved the next day once the technicians open up the machine and such.

I must say this lady from the bank is very pleasant, I can imagine anyone’s reaction at hearing my voice through the phone with that sharp tone, almost about to burst out of the receiver and to have a nice bite of the other end’s ear. Yet she was composed herself, and that is probably the best face of this bank I have come to explore.