Following is Beckett’s play Endgame in lego terms. I haven’t read this play yet, but if it’s anything like Waiting for Godot then I am positive I will fall equally in love with it.
Archive for August 2008
Peek: Sign of Thyme
In Culture Arabia on August 31, 2008 at 9:52 am
I like this picture I took of Sign of Thyme during their last concert at the Royal Cultural Center. The event itself was enjoyable and made me realize that I am biased to traditional/semi-traditional Arabic musical sounds. Surprise, surprise.
I have two videos of the performance but they’re very, very fat and YouTube won’t take them. I must use some sort of video editing software to resize them. Speaking of which, does anyone know of a reliable video editing software for Ubuntu? I hate going back to use my brother’s Windows to edit my videos. Help will be rewarded with positive vibes.
شعر عربي: عنترة العبسي
In Literature, عربي on August 30, 2008 at 8:24 amتباعاً مقطع من معلقة عنترة العبسي التي كنت أحفظها كاملة و لا زلت أفضلها على باقي المعلقات, التي حفظت مطالعها هي الأخرى لأتبارز مع والدي و أخواتي شعرياً في السيارة! … نعم, نحن جماعة تحب الشعر و الشعراء يتبعهم الغاوون
هلا سألت الخيل يا ابنة مالك
إن كنت جاهلة بمــا لم تعلمي
يخبرك من شهد الوقيعة أنني
أغشى الوغى وأعف عند المغنم
ولقد ذكرتك والرماح نواهل
مني وبيض الهند تقطر من دمي
فوددت تقبيل السيوف لأنها
لمعت كبــارق ثغرك المتبسم
ومدجج كره الكماة نزاله
لا ممعن هربــا ولا مستسلم
جادت له كفي بعاجل طعنة
بمثقف صدق الكعوب مقــوم
فشككت بالرمح الأصم ثيابه
ليس الكريم على القنـا بمحرم
لما رآني قد نزلت أريده
أبدى نواجذه لغيـــر تبسم
فطعنته بالرمح ثم علوته
بمهند صــافي الحديد مخذم
في حومة الحرب التي لا تشتكي
غمراتهـا الأبطال غير تغمغم
ولقد هممت بغارة في ليلة
سوداء حــالكة كلون الأدلم
لما رأيت القوم أقبل جمعهم
يتذامرون كررت غير مذمـم
يدعون عنتر والرماح كأنها
أشطان بئر في لبان الأدهـم
ما زلت أرميهم بثغرة نحره
ولبانــه حتى تسربل بالدم
فازور من وقع القنا بلبانه
وشكى إلى بعبرة وتحمحـم
لو كان يدري ما المحاورة اشتكى
ولكان لو علم الكلام مكلمي
ولقد شفى نفسي و أبرا سقمها
قيل الفوارس ويك عنتر أقدمي
والخيل تقتحم الغبار عوابسا
ما بين شيظمة وأجرد شيظم
ويكيبيديا:يوم ويكيبيديا العربية الرابع
In عربي on August 29, 2008 at 6:21 pm
ويكيبيديا هي مشروع تطوعي يعمل على كتابته والتعديل عليه آلاف المتطوعين حول أنحاء العالم، يهدف المشروع إلى جمع المعرفة البشرية في مكان واحد على شكل موسوعة، وفي الوقت الراهن هناك موسوعات في المشروع لـ 264 لغة عالمية. بدأت النسخة الإنجليزية من المشروع في 15 يناير 2001، أما العربية فتأخرت لتبدأ في يوليو من عام 2003، منذ ذلك التاريخ إلى اليوم قام مئات المتطوعين من متكلمي اللغة العربية بإثراء الموسوعة بمختلف المقالات في مختلف المجالات وقد وصل عدد مقالات النسخة العربية في أغسطس الحالي إلى أكثر من 71,052 مقالة بالإضافة إلى الكثير من المقالات التي تصنف على أنها بذرة -أي بحاجة إلى تطوير- لكنه مع ذلك تبقى نسبة الأعضاء النشيطين فيها ضئيلة مقارنة بعدد الحسابات المسجلة في الموسوعة. ومن هذا المنطلق تم اقتراح عمل يوم كامل للقيام بنشاط كبير في الموسوعة وهذا اليوم هو السبت 30 أغسطس 2008. لذا يسعى الأعضاء في ويكيبيديا لجمع أكبر عدد من المتطوعين معهم للمشاركة في هذا اليوم، وتكون المشاركة سواء بإضافة معلومات إلى مقالات موجودة مسبقا أو إنشاء مقالات جديدة.
متى؟
السبت 30 أغسطس 2008
أين؟
1. مكتبة الإسكندرية و الأكاديمية العربية للعلوم والتكنولوجيا والنقل البحري حيث يقوم فريق بتدريب مساهمين جدد على أسلوب التحرير في ويكيبيديا العربية في كلا المكانين في نفس الوقت.
2. قد تكون مجموعة في بلدك قد نظمت حدثا ورتبت مكانا للتحرير فانضم إليهم.
3. من منزلك باستخدام حاسوبك.
4. من مكتبة جامعتك أو مدرستك حيث تتوفر الحواسيب المرتبطة بالإنترنت.
إن أردت المشاركة بمعرفتك يمكنك القراءة عن المشروع من خلال الوصلات التالية:
* للقراءة أكثر عن طبيعة المشروع يرجى زيارة الصفحة الرئيسية له
http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/ويكيبيديا:يوم_ويكيبيديا_العربية_الرابع
* للاستفسار عن هذا المشروع أكثر يمكن السؤال في صفحة نقاش المشروع على
http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/نقاش_ويكيبيديا:يوم_ويكيبيديا_العربية_الرابع
* للمحادثة حول المشروع أو حول أي قضية تخص ويكيبيديا يمكن الوصول إلى غرفة الدردشة الخاصة بها على سيرفر irc://irc.freenode.net باستعمال أي خادم IRC واسم الغرفة هو wikipedia-ar
* أما للاطلاع والتعرف على موسوعة ويكيبيديا نفسها فصفحة الميدان فيها معلومات قيمة
http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/ويكيبيديا:الميدان
ملاحظة: في ويكيبيديا لا يلزم التسجيل للقيام بإنشاء وتعديل المقالات، وبإمكان أي أحد القيام بذلك، لكن إن أراد المشارك ربط كتاباته باسمه أو لقبه فعندها يتوجب عليه التسجيل.
All Yours: Arabic BDSM Song
In Bizarro on August 28, 2008 at 10:47 pmCheb Douzi has a new song out called “Kolli Laki” (I Am All Yours) which I personally find to be a revolution of sorts. Part of the lyrics goes as follows:
My heart belongs to you
My life and soul belong to you
HabibatiTake me, and imprison me
And bind me
And untie me
And hold me tight
HabibatiMy eyes belong to you
My lashes belong to you
My sanity
My insanity
I am all yours
Very interesting, no? One would think taboo subjects like religion and sex and whatnot are not normally treated in Arabic songs, but here we are with a song that I personally find to be pleasant, and it’s about Cheb Douzi’s masochistic fantasies. How avant-garde!
Shocker vs. Parrots
In Personal on August 27, 2008 at 1:02 pmI was at a familial ladies’ get-together last night, hosted at my sister’s place.
Episode I
Tololy walks around in her high-heeled black patent leather shoes, when a married cousin gasps and stops her dead in her tracks.
Cousin: WHAT are these things in your ears?
Tololy: Earrings.
Cousin: WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MANY?
Tololy: Because I like them.
Cousin: Are they real?
Tololy: Yes.
Cousin: Why, why, why did you mutilate your ears so?
Tololy: Because I like piercings.
Cousin: But, but, your ears have so many holes in them now!
Tololy: So?
Cousin: So…they’re mutilated. I bet getting them pierced was painful too.
Tololy: Yes it was, but that was OK.
Cousin: Why would you do that to yourself?
Tololy (wanting to end the conversation): These are not new by the way. You’ve seen them before.
Episode IITololy sits on a chair and listens to a conversation between two women, now nodding, now smiling. One of her cousins starts a conversation with her.
Cousin: Short hair suits you very well!
Tololy: Thanks!
Cousin: When did you cut your hair? I remember you had really long hair…
Tololy: Oh, it’s been this short for over two years.
Cousin: I haven’t seen you for that long?
Episode III
Tololy’s cousin’s wife is very religious. She stands up at the end of the gathering and distributes religious brochures. Tololy is handed one about Ramadan and fear of god, which she quickly turns into a fan, then a cigarette.
Episode IVLady: What is that in your nose?
Tololy: A nose ring.
Lady: Oh. I see.
Episode V
It is food time. All the ladies gather around the table and start to fill their plates.
Lady: Ooh…who made the cheesecake?
Mom: My daughter x made this and that, and my daughter y made this, this, and these.
Lady: And what did Tololy make?
Mom: Umm…
Tololy: I provided emotional support.
Mom: She acted as our chauffeur, you know, took us places, got the kids home from school…
Lady: Ah.
Naturally, with every kiss I planted on each of the ladies’ cheeks, I heard a wish that I would get married. They wished that the next time they gather, it would be in my house, or that the next “happy event” will be my wedding.
The older ones seemed to be particularly interested in my getting hitched soon, and it’s funny because as far as I know they’re not entirely happy in their marriages or lives in general. For that reason alone, I believe that enthusiastically wishing someone marriage is actually a facade for a malevolent desire to spread one’s misery. In the very best cases, it is a ready-made expression which renders people into annoying parrots.
RIP Rep
In T Play Box on August 26, 2008 at 10:55 amI have a reputation for being eloquent. Allow me to quote a bit of an exchange which took place yesterday between myself and a friend:
Friend: I’m a nice guy.
Tololy: That’s good. I like nice guys. I mean, mean guys are not nice, therefore, I don’t like them.
Friend: Well said.
Tololy: You get the idea.
From this day on, I shall limit all communication with other humans to the written form.
Love in the Time of Cholera
In Literature on August 25, 2008 at 7:33 pmWhat follows is a transcript of what went through my mind as I labored through the novel Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez. Think of this as a review of the book and be forewarned as it will ruin your experience of the story if you have not read it yet:
Yes, so he loves her.
She loves him.
She rejects him.
Meaningless events in his life.
Meaningless events in her life.
Some more events.
His sexual escapades.
Her mundane life embellished with travels.
Blah Blah Blah.
More events.
When will this story ever end?
A ton of GRE words here, good practice. Love Barron’s list.
They both age.
He still loves her.
He consoles her after husband’s death.
They’re old but still “active.”
They hook up on a boat.
The end.
Suffice to say that I did not enjoy the novel. I found the style to be tedious and onerous, and the plot to be an inflated repetition of an overrated romantic notion. What compelled me to read Márquez in the first place was the recent popular fascination with him, which I bluntly found to be uncalled for.
Quills
In Love on August 24, 2008 at 8:21 pmOne of my favorite people gave me the movie Quills to watch, simply saying “I know you will love it.” He was right, I loved it to the marrow of my bones.
The movie revolves around the Marquis de Sade, an aristocratic French writer whose name and philosophy gave birth to the term sadism:
Donatien Alphonse François de Sade, Marquis de Sade (June 2, 1740 – December 2, 1814) was a French aristocrat, revolutionary and writer of philosophy-laden and often violent pornography. He was a philosopher of extreme freedom (or at least licentiousness), unrestrained by morality, religion or law, with the pursuit of personal pleasure being the highest principle. Sade was incarcerated in various prisons and in an insane asylum for about 32 years of his life; eleven years in Paris (10 of which were spent in the Bastille) a month in Conciergerie, 2 years in a fortress, a year in Madelonnettes, 3 years in Bicêtre, a year in Sainte-Pélagie, and 13 years in the Charenton insane asylum. Much of his writing was done during his imprisonment. The term “sadism” is derived from his name.
Joaquin Phoenix, Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, and Michael Caine star in the movie with such stellar performances which are matched only by the carefully-crafted plot and the intoxicating screenplay, to make for a sublimely engaging story.
Quills is now easily one of my favorite movies of all time. Watch it, I dare you.
Off-Topic
In Bits & pieces on August 23, 2008 at 11:39 pmAnd in other news, my vehement opposition to Facebook has finally dwindled to quasi-nothingness. This happened for practical reasons involving cultural events and a peculiar desire to see if my Facebook profile, created on March 2007, was still around. In a fit of paranoia, I had emailed Facebook asking them to delete every single shred of information they had about me, and they said they did. But apparently, they lied.
I also have issues with the name Facebook. A face book? What is that? A book where you keep faces as mementos? Do you skin people out of habit? You like faces? Chubby? Long? What?
That, right there, makes my skin crawl. For this reason, I will test this phenomena for a while and then decide if I like it enough to keep using it. We’ll see.
شو كمان؟
In Literature, عربي on August 23, 2008 at 9:13 amحقيقة: كما أن ليس كل من استلهم الوحي نبياً, فكذا ليس كل من حمل القلم، كاتباً. وجدت أنبياء كثيرين حتى اختلط علي الأمر فما عدت أعلم أيهم يكلم الله و أيهم يتقول عليه، لكنني، و لحسن حظي، وجدت كاتباً جديداً حقاً: هشام البستاني في مجموعته القصصية عن الحب و الموت.
يحملكِ البستاني على نعته بالكاتب و إن لم يعجبكِ بعض التجريد في قصصه التي تسجل لقطات من الحياة عشتها أو رأيتها. تجلسكِ القصص في السرير, أو على الكنبة, أو في مقهى – أينما اتفق – و تريكِ مشاهد تعرفين أنك تعرفينها, و تعرف أنك تعرفينها, و تعرفين أنها تعرف أنك تعرفينها*, و لكنكِ ترينها بمنظار أعمق, بحسِ أشد, بعفوية فنية جميلة يوظفها البستاني في كل قصة و يبثها رسائل عن الوضع الإنساني الذي ما زلنا جميعاً نحاول فك طلاسمه.
تضج القصص بالاستعارات, بعضها مستترة و أخرى قد تبدو فاضحة لأصحاب الأذواق الحساسة, لكنها في كل الأحوال تكشف عن فلسفة راسخة تتلمس الواقع أساساً لها. فعلى سبيل المثال, ترين في قصة عند أعتاب طاغية مرآة لحوار سمعتِه يوماً في ذهنكِ, ربما تكلمين فيه أباكِ،, أو الله، أو رئيسك في العمل. و في ذات يوم في جهنم تدركين أنك لست وحدكِ من ترى أن مفهوم العذاب يهين فكرة الذات الإلهية، إن وجدت، و تستذكرين الملهاة الإلهية لدانته في لحظة و من ثم ملهاة حياتك، و يقول الرجل تحيط به ملائكة العذاب: “أنا هو, أنا القاتل، أنا الكافر، أنا الزنديق، أنا الإرهابي، أنا المتآمر، أنا المندس، أنا الخائن، أنا الجاسوس، أنا ال…”
و في عبر البرزخ ترين نفسك فعلاً, ترين نفسك مكان الشاب العشريني (مع أنك لست رجلاً, حتى و إن لقبك أخوكِ ب “وجيه”) و تستمتعين بلذة الانقلاب العمري في القصة مع أنها تزعجك في نفس الوقت, لأنك، يوماً ما، ستتذوقينها و لن تكون حلوة و لا فنية كما في القصة. و تستشفين في يوسف يزور المدينة للمرة الأخيرة سقوط القناع المنمق للحضارة تحت أنظار يوسف إذ يترك الجب على وقع كلمات محمود درويش.
تظهر التوشيحات الدينية و الميثولوجية بوضوح في قصص البستاني, و يتضمن ذلك الإيحاءات المعتمدة على شخوص يسوع و تموز و محمد و إبليس و غيرهم. يعجبك هذا التحوير, لأن هذه الشخصيات مسلية جداً بتمثيلها لرغبات الإنسان و مخاوفه, و لأن الميثولوجيا طالما أمتعتكِ بلا حدود, و علمتكِ الكثير مما لم يستطع غيرها أن يكشفه لكِ.
تثمنين السطور القليلة الأولى المنسقة إلى اليسار في بداية كل قصة (إلى اليسار، لاحظي)، و التي تفعل فيكِ فعلها: توجه عقلك إلى اليمين (و لو؟!) أو اليسار و تحدد نمطاً عاماً للنص الذي يليها، أو تكون جميلة بحد ذاتها. و تحبين بشكل خاص وصايا البستاني بأن تستعيني ببعض المواد الصوتية و الأدبية لفهم متعمق للنص: يقتبس زياد الرحباني فترتعشين, و يقتبس “ميجاديث” فتتذكرين أيام الجامعة، و يذكر عبد الرحمن منيف و غسان كنفاني و غرامشي فتدركين كم عليك أن تتعلمي بعد.
يبدو لكِ أن هذه القصص تعكس أفكاركِ، و كلما أمعنتِ النظر أكثر، و شحذتِ تركيزك في ما تقرئين، نبشتِ مخبوءات جديدة تجعل القصص أجمل, تجبرك على التوقف و التأمل, و ربما الابتسام, تحملكِ على أن تقولي “و الله مش قليل يا هشام!”
شو كمان؟
…
*شبه-تصرف بإحدى العبارات الوارة في قصة حقاً قام؟
Mirrors
In Quoting on August 22, 2008 at 2:38 pmMirroring my sentiments:
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat, or a prostitute.
- Rebecca West
So long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men.
- Voltaire
I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his [sic] creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious ourselves.
- Albert Einstein
A man can’t make a place for himself in the sun if he keeps taking refuge under the family tree.
- Helen Keller
Pseudo-News
In Bizarro on August 20, 2008 at 8:08 amI found this unidentified pseudo-news item in today’s Al Ghad:
زوجان تتحقق أمنيتهما أن يفارقا الحياة كل قبل الآخر
عمان – تحقق للمرحوم أحمد ما كان يتمناه في حياته ويردده بأن لا يتجرع ويذوق مرارة فراق زوجته وشريكة حياته منى، التي فارقت الحياة قبل ايام من وفاته حسرة عليه لدخوله في غيبوبة تامة محققة بذلك دعاءها بأن يكون يومها قبل يومه.
عاش الزوجان اللذان انتقلا الى رحمة الله تعالى تباعا، حياة اسرية سعيدة فيما لم يذق اي منهما حسرة فراق الطرف الآخر كما كانت امانيهما بالحياة، ولكنهما تركا بعدهما ولديهما يتجرعان حسرة فراقهما.
كانت المرحومة دائمة الدعاء ان “يبقى زوجها بصحته وان لا يحيجه لها ولا حتى بشربة ماء” وقد تحقق لها ذلك، كما يقول ولدا المرحومين ان والدهما اصيب بجلطة قلبية ادخلته في غيبوبة تامة بقي بعدها اسيرا لأنابيب التنفس والتغذية الى ان فارق الحياة ولم يحتج ان تعطيه شربة ماء كما كانت تتمنى.
قلب الزوجة “منى” المرهف بالحب والحنو، لم تحتمل نبضاته رؤية جسد زوجها وهو مسجى على سريره في المستشفى دون حراك لتصيبها جلطة قلبية ادت الى وفاتها اثناء غيبوبة زوجها مانحة اياه فرصة عدم تجرع حسرة فراقها كما تمنى.
يتساءل ولدا المرحومين بعد ان فقدا والديهما عن معجزة القدر والصدفة التي حملت دعاء والدتهما الى الفراق الابدي عن والدهما الذي يرى في ذلك اختصاصي الطب النفسي الدكتور جمال الخطيب ان تحقق دعاء واماني الانسان في ذلك محض صدفة، ولا تفسير علميا لهذا الامر، فيما ان غالبية الناس لا يرغبون باللوعة وتجرع الم الفراق والحسرة لفقد الاحبة او فقدان الصحة والعافية وعدم القدرة على الحركة والعطاء وعيش الانسان عالة على الآخرين فيكثرون من الدعوات بأن لا يكون ثقيلا على احب وأقرب الناس اليه.
يفسر رئيس المركز الثقافي الاسلامي بالجامعة الاردنية الدكتور احمد العوايشة ان لصاحب الدعاء ان يتحقق له واحد من ثلاثة، بحسب الحديث الشريف، “اما ان يعطيه بمقدار ما سأل، او يدفع عنه السوء بمقدار ما سأل، او ان يدخر له ذلك يوم القيامة” مشيرا الى ان غالبية هذه الادعية تكون من قبل الآباء والامهات نظرا لحبهم الشديد لأبنائهم فيتمنون الموت قبلهم لأن حسرة الابناء عظيمة، حيث بشر الرسول عليه الصلاة والسلام الآباء والامهات المكلومين بأبنائهم بالجنة اذا صبروا، مبينا ان دعاء احد الزوجين للآخر بأن يفضله ويقدمه على نفسه في طول العمر امر من باب المداعبة او المحبة بين الزوجين.
ويحذر الدكتور العوايشة من تصرف البعض بالدعاء على انفسهم بالهلاك او تمني الموت حيث لا يجوز ان يدعو الانسان على نفسه الا بالخير ولا يجوز ان يدعو على نفسه بالشر او على ولده او ماله حيث لا يدري في اي ساعة تكون الاجابة مشيرا الى ان الانسان عليه ان يقول “اللهم اجعل الحياة زيادة لي في كل خير، والموت راحة لي من كل شر”.
(بترا- سهير جرادات)
Be7yat allah? I am scandalized by this. This “item” above is a romantic story with a religious tinge (of course) and it does not even mention the full names of the “protagonists” for it to remotely qualify as credible. For all we know, it could be a story invented by the “journalist” who wrote it.
How, exactly, is the above a news item? And since it isn’t, why was it published by Petra and in Al Ghad? Whatever happened to quality assurance, or say, simple logical judgment?
Misfit
In Salon on August 19, 2008 at 9:53 amHow do you know where you “fit” in the society of your peers, elders, and The Man, where everyone seems to know exactly where they’re headed, exactly what they want, and they’re out there seemingly making it all happen?
I’ve been feeling awkwardly out of place lately in almost everything I do. Am I the only person out there with a defective compass? Your answers might provide a thread of guidance.
دعوة لحفل توقيع المجموعة القصصية لهشام البستاني
In Bits & pieces on August 18, 2008 at 12:38 pmI’m going:
برعاية رابطة الكتاب الاردنيين
نتشرف بدعوتكم لحضور حفل توقيع المجموعة القصصية
عن الحب والموت
لِـ هشام البستاني
والصادرة مؤخراً عن دار الفارابي – بيروت
متحدثون:
القاص سعود قبيلات
الناقد نزيه ابو نضال
الشاعر يوسف عبد العزيز
موسيقى:
طارق الجندي – عود
معن السيد – ايقاع
وذلك تمام الثامنة من مساء الاثنين 18/8/2008في قاعة الرشيد – مجمع النقابات المهنية – الشميساني
Bustani is a personal friend of mine and a talented writer, as well as a prominent activist. If you’re interested in meeting a ton of lively, eccentric, and engaging characters, come to the book signing tonight and get your copy of Bustani’s book signed by the author himself!
Caucasus
In Bits & pieces on August 18, 2008 at 11:23 amDuring the past couple of weeks, I made a conscious effort not to follow up with the Georgian-Russian war. In truth, my following up with it would have given birth to numerous lugubrious posts and much personal sorrow. I do not know the details of the war except for this: Russia is a world power, and Georgia is a marginal country in the Caucasus.
Georgia’s proximity to where my ancestors came from, and indeed the similarities between the situation it finds itself in these days and what they faced, and their being united by the same aggressor, Russia, make me uncomfortable.
This is the same Russia which waged wars against Circassians and forced most of them out of their homeland and on to wander south with their cow- and ox-driven wooden carriages, men, women, and children, who were unable to speak the language of their hosts and who faced difficult times adapting to their new cultures and warding off native hostility. Russia then was Czarist, and now it is a Republic, but little else has changed in its logic of power.
It is a bold historian who writes a history of the Caucasus, as events of the past week have made all too clear. The region may not be much bigger than England and Wales, but its history involves three unrelated indigenous groups of people – the Abkhaz and Circassians in the north-west, the Chechens, Ingush and Dagestanis in the north-east, the Kartvelians (Georgians, Mingrelians and Svans) in the south – and representatives of many Eurasian groups (Iranian, Turkic, Armenian, Semitic, Russian) who have settled there over the past 2,000 years.
Some forty mutually unintelligible languages, of which a handful are established literary languages and several others have only a precarious recent literary status, are spoken. Worse for anyone trying to present a coherent narrative, these disparate peoples have very different histories, and only two, the Georgians and Armenians (some would add the Azeris), have a history of statehood consistent enough to be retold as one would retell the history of a West European country.
On why I always bring up my Circassian roots, it is because people always marginalize maternal ancestry in favor of paternal lineage. I find that not only profoundly ignorant, but also an act of grave ingratitude. I may not carry my mother’s name for now, but I carry her genes and her history, and even if Circassians on this side and Arabs on the other don’t like my saying so: I am as much of her as I am of my father. Nay, even more.
و…جاهة
In Literature, Wonder Woman, عربي on August 15, 2008 at 9:52 amفي الصالة الواسعة يجلس ما يناهز الأربعين أو الخمسين رجلاً يرتدون البدلات السوداء و يضج بحديثهم المكان كأنما هم سرب عظيم من النحل لا تستطيع لحديثهم تأويلاً. في المنتصف تقريباً يجلس الرجال المهمون, أولئك الذين لوجودهم معنى أكبر من وجود كل الرجال الآخرين. هم الممثلون الرئيسيون في هذه الحلقة الاجتماعية.
يرتدي أحد الرجال المهمين بدلة رمادية اللون, يقف و يعطي تعليماته للشباب الصغار الذين يقومون بواجب إكرام الضيوف, تارة يأمرهم بإحضار الماء لهذا و تارة بتشغيل المراوح الموزعة في زوايا الصالة. ثم يجلس و يجامل من حوله من الرجال و يهتم على وجه الخصوص بالرجال الذين لم يرهم قبل في حياته: لا بد أنهم من جماعة العريس.
في لحظة يدب صمت تام على الحضور, يتململون في جلساتهم, يتوقفون عن الكلام و ينظرون بترقب إلى جهة الرجال المهمين, يتوقعون أن تصدر عنهم إشارة ما لبدء الفعاليات. يأتي شاب بالقهوة العربية في بكرج مذهب, يسكبها في فنجان صغير و يقدمها لأحد الرجال الطاعنين في السن يجلس مع المهمين. يأخذه الأخير منه, و بحذر شديد و بحركة مسرحية يضع الفنجان على الطاولة الصغيرة أمامه. يشنف الحضور أذانهم و تتعلق أعينهم بالرجل و كأنه يقبض على أرواحهم. تكاد لا تسمع نفساً في الصالة المكتظة, و يتكلم الرجل.
يقف و يخاطب الحضور بصوت جهوري, يقول لهم ناظراً باتجاه أقرباء العروس بأنه, و رجاله معه, لن يشرب قهوتهم حتى يتحقق له, و لرجاله معه, مطلبهم.
بحركة دراماتيكية مماثلة, يقف رجل كبير السن اخر يسأله ما مطلبه.
يرد الأول بأنهم (بصيغة الجمع) يطلبون الفتاة الفلانية لتصبح زوجة للشاب الفلاني.
“اشربوا قهوتكم, و اللي جيتو مشانو ابشروا فيه”
و تنتهي المسرحية المحبوكة مسبقاً فيجلس الرجلان كأنما هما ملكان متوجان, و يعود الحضور للحديث بحماس غير مسبوق. بذلك يتحقق الهدف وراء هذه الحلقة الاجتماعية, فكما الرب أعطى و الرب أخذ, كذلك الرجل يعطي و الرجل يأخذ, و تبقى المرأة وراء الكواليس تدبر و تعالج, ثم نقرأ “إن كيدكن عظيم.”
في القسم الداخلي من المنزل حيث النساء متمركزات في المطبخ يعنين بشؤون إعداد الضيافة للرجال, تسترق بعص الفتيات, و من بينهن العروس, السمع على ما يحصل في الصالة. لسبب ما تشعر الفتيات بالأهمية, و بالأخص العروس, لأن الرجال من عائلتين أو أكثر يتحدثون بموضوعها. تشعر بأن قيمتها تضاعفت لأن رجالاً كباراً في السن, و مهمين, قد أتوا إلى رجال عائلتها يطلبونها للزواج من صديقها الذي عرفته سنة أو أكثر. لا تعرف لم تشعر بالأهمية المضاعفة. أذلك لأن الرجال لا يتحدثون عن النساء بشكل علني كهذا إلا في مناسبات محددة؟ أم أنها تستشعر قوتها كأنثى بأنها استطاعت أن تحشد هذا العدد من الرجال من أجلها؟ هل اجتمعوا من أجلها, أم من أجل أنفسهم؟
على كل حال, هي تشعر بسعادة بالغة مع أن دورها معدوم في هذا الاجتماع الذي تظنه من أجلها. تزهو بين فتيات العائلة لأنها استطاعت أن تحصل على جاهة كبيرة و فيها رجال مهمون جاؤوا خصيصاً لطلب يدها. تستمتع بهذا الشعور لدرجة الغثيان و تتهامس مع الفتيات خلف الأبواب الفاصلة بين العالمين.
في هذه الأثناء, تناديها أمها من المطبخ أن “تعالي, نشفي الفناجين, و حتى لو كانت جاهتك, الزلام برّة أهم و لازم نقوم بواجبهم.”
و تزغرد النسوة خلف أحاديث الرجال.
24, and counting
In Personal on August 13, 2008 at 10:18 pmToday was my 24th birthday, and despite my usual habit of moping and reflecting on the passage of time and trying to populate my “feats” to justify my age, I didn’t do any of that today.
Today I enjoyed myself and I enjoyed life. I didn’t for a single moment let a negative thought creep into my head, and I had a blast like only a Leo could.
I am lucky to have wonderful friends who love me for who I am and who never judge me no matter what improprieties I commit. I am lucky to have an amazingly insane family who, even though we drive each other up the wall on a daily basis, love me and are proud of me underneath it all. Maybe when I turn 25 they will come out and say it out loud! They threw me a very nice party yesterday, complete with home-made cupcakes and flowers and everything.
Since last year, numerous events sculpted my meaning today. I went through revolutionary times, then through mortally depressing times, then through anticipatory times, then through experimental times, then, eventually, now, I am going through another rebirth. I feel liberated but my freedom is not yet complete and I must fight until I have it all. I am at a crossroads in my life, and luckily, I am still alive to take the route I desire.
It’s an outside-self experience for me to say that I am 24. It will take me about 6 months to digest the thought, then it will be time to change the number again. But who’s counting, anyway?
JOCR8: Creating An Artistic Jordan
In Jordan on August 12, 2008 at 1:25 pmI’ve been to JOCR8 by chance a couple of weeks ago and I was deeply impressed by the sheer energy that powers the portal, only to be contacted by the people behind it soon afterwards to write a review of the site.
About JOCR8:
JoCr8 is a portal to connect visual communicators in Jordan. This includes everyone who practices any of the visual arts disciplines; from the traditional painter to the designer to the 3D artist. It’s also a magazine with interviews and articles on visual media whether in Jordan, the region, or beyond.
There really isn’t much one can add to that except to note that the portal not only bestows a “community status” on the otherwise scattered visual artists in the country, but it also does a laudable effort to publicize their works, and it even lists available job vacancies for the people in the field!
One word: Bravo!
Sunday’s Readings
In Bits & pieces on August 10, 2008 at 12:04 pmI found a ton of things worth reading today because my RSS reader had been collecting them like little treasures since last week. Hoping you will enjoy the following:
1- Typically Twisted: An article in Psychology Today about aberrant individuals and how they perceive their deviations, and how they’re actually not so unusual. By Kathleen McGowan.
2- BitTorrent Speed Tips: The title says it all. By Ernesto.
3- Daniel Dennett’s Autobiography (Part I): The man in his own words. Taken from Richard Dawkins’ website.
4- A nightmare of shattered lives: An artist’s account of The Nakbah Project and her interaction with Palestinians and their sufferings. By Jane Frere.
5- Voices of Victims: A review of the book My Guantanamo Diary; an accidental quest of truth in Guantanamo Bay by a student translator called Mahvish Rukhsana Khan. By Jeffrey Rosen.
6- Let’s get clear about materialism: An eloquent argument about materialism. By Edward Slingerland.
Read all of the above and you will be instantly enlightened.
Darwish
In Culture Arabia, Literature on August 10, 2008 at 8:22 amMahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet and activist, passed away last night.
To a reader: Do not trust the poem –
The daughter of absence
It is neither intuition nor is it
Thought
But rather, the sense of the abyss…(State of Siege)
حــــالة حصـــار
(مقاطع)
هنا، عند مُنْحَدَرات التلال، أمام الغروب وفُوَّهَة الوقت،
قُرْبَ بساتينَ مقطوعةِ الظلِ،
نفعلُ ما يفعلُ السجناءُ،
وما يفعل العاطلون عن العمل:
نُرَبِّي الأملْ.بلادٌ علي أُهْبَةِ الفجر. صرنا أَقلَّ ذكاءً،
لأَنَّا نُحَمْلِقُ في ساعة النصر:
لا لَيْلَ في ليلنا المتلألئ بالمدفعيَّة.
أَعداؤنا يسهرون وأَعداؤنا يُشْعِلون لنا النورَ
في حلكة الأَقبية.هنا، بعد أَشعار أَيّوبَ لم ننتظر أَحداً…
إلي قارئ: ف لا تَثِقْ بالقصيدةِ ـ
بنتِ الغياب. فلا هي حَدْسٌ، ولا
هي فِكْرٌ، ولكنَّها حاسَّةُ الهاويةْ.
How do you mourn a poet?
You don’t. You mourn the world without him.
Hamster Lovin’
In Life on August 9, 2008 at 10:50 amIn line with other strange happenings in my life, I discovered last night that Jongar is not male. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Jongar is female and now I am confused as to how to refer to her/him. I must change her/his name into something feminine.
This revelation was unexpected because the pet shop said that both Hazza3 and Jongar are male, and they even said that they don’t ever sell female hamsters because they don’t want people to breed them. So you understand my astonishment in light of this discovery.
How did I find out, you ask. Let’s just say that determining the sex of a hamster is tricky business until they start doing things with their cage companions that make their sex a whole lot clearer to us humans with no experience whatsoever in rearing the baby hamsters which we expect to have within 16 days.
Initially traumatized by my doubts, I googled hamster mating and whatnot, and I even looked for videos on YouTube to compare the “events” and make certain it was not all a male fight over cage territory. Hours into my research, I realized that there is no information about male hamster fights which corresponds to what I was seeing, and I eventually gave in to the bitter truth. I even shot a video of the whole affair to document it and show it to my family, and also to upload it to YouTube. I won’t embed it here because my sister thinks that would be in poor taste, and quite frankly I don’t want a reputation as an animal porn producer. It’s true.
So there. Jongar is a girl, any suggestions for a new name? And are you a nice person who loves animals and would like to have a young hamster soon?
Street Prophets
In Life on August 8, 2008 at 12:55 pmThe following conversation took place yesterday when I was using the ATM:
Child seller/beggar: Ya khalto ya khalto ishtari menni… (Please please buy something from me)
Tololy: La shokran. (No thanks)
Child seller/beggar: Allah yjawwzek, ya rab tetjawwazi… (I pray that you get married!)
Tololy: Ma beddi atjawwaz. (I don’t want to get married)
Child seller/beggar disappears.
Woman passing by: ?!?
And two days ago when I was backing up with my car, a gypsy man jumped on my driver’s window, stretching his arm in front of my face with a small booklet the size of a matchbox:
Gypsy seller: Fi b 7ayatek zeyara la qabr el nabi, qareeban. (You will visit the prophet’s tomb soon)
Tololy: Huh?
Gypsy seller waving small booklet in my face: Zeyara la qabr el nabi, inshallah. (You will visit the prophet soon)
Tololy: Ma3lish tzee7 la2ini msakkreh el share3 o beddi aroo7? (Can you please move out of my way?)
Gypsy seller: Ana shayef zeyara lal nabi, bas fi 7asad. Fi 7ASAD o 3een! (I see a visit to the prophet but there is an evil eye set on you)
Tololy: Ah Mashi. Tb zee7. (Right. Now move away.)
Then I stepped on it with his arm still hanging inside my car and him trying to keep up, but he eventually disappeared as well. Amman is now full of street prophets, and this is how they spread their religions.
Basshunter
In V for Video on August 7, 2008 at 11:05 pmI like to share music/videos which I enjoy, so now I am going to share with you my everlasting admiration for a Swedish artist called Basshunter. This guy is not only ridiculously beautiful, but he’s also a genuine geek AND his music is so awesome.
At first, there was Boten Anna, a song he made about a bot called Anna over at IRC. I technically grew up on IRC, so it’s only natural for me to appreciate the geekiness of the Basshunter phenomena. Here’s the original video, he sings in Swedish but there are English subtitles:
This song was among my brother’s collection and for the longest time I was in love with it. You can see in the comments section of the video that some people don’t know what a bot is, well, what can I say? n00bs! Basshunter released the song in English under the title Now You’re Gone. I am sure you’re all familiar with it:
Then there is DotA which was another of his early super-hits, it’s about a computer game. Here’s the original video of that one:
And the new video is:
How awesome, no? You can actually see how Basshunter kinda grows in these videos if you compare the old with the new. Not only do the videos improve technically, but he improves as well and he seems to be more into it. I am deeply in love with this guy’s style, and now I want to learn Swedish!* Maybe Rami can help with that.
*OK. I am a nerd but his is really good music.
Thanks, Human Mom
In Love on August 6, 2008 at 11:07 pmThe kids as they get a treat for being brave enough to eat out of my hand…
Jongar..
Hazza3..
Thanks, human mom, they tell me with their eyes.
What Sex Are You?
In Bizarro on August 6, 2008 at 6:38 pmMy friend Yoda sent me a magical link which can determine the sex of its visitors by studying their browsing history. It is so freaky and I recommend you try and see if you were born into the right body or not.
I tried it, and it said that I am 67% likely to be male and 33% likely to be female. I was THRILLED because this meant that I am not imagining things when I frequently feel/think like a guy.* How funky!
*I am referring to certain situations only. In general, I am very female.
So what about you? Boy or girl? Hear it from the experts!
Jongar and Hazza3
In T Play Box, V for Video on August 4, 2008 at 10:26 pmTo assuage my deep desire for animal companionship that does not have the shape of a cat, I bought a hamster today and called him Jongar. Jongar, in case you do not know, is an anime character sort of like iron man in a show called Astroganga. The word itself, Jongar, is nowadays used in Jordan among the young to mean “cool, strong, or good at something.” It’s sort of like 7areega back in the day.
Jongar is identical to Ebichu, the famous anime hamster who keeps the house for her mistress. The only real difference between Jongar and Ebichu is that Jongar does not talk or do household chores, and he is male. He also did not have his own show, up until now.
My brother got a hamster too, and called him Hazza3. In the following video which I created tonight, conveniently titled Jongar and Hazza3: The Wheel is Mine, Bitch!, you will see the two fighting over the wheel until they learn how to share. The choice of music is not that perplexing if you know that my brother and I think that our hamsters are gay and have a thing for each other, which would explain why they use the wheel at the same time…and other things as well.
Beam Me Up, Scotty
In Life on August 3, 2008 at 11:34 amThis is the most spectacular news I have read in a long, long time:
Study revives six degrees theoryA US study of instant messaging suggests the theory that it takes only six steps to link everyone may be right – though seven seems more accurate.
Microsoft researchers studied the addresses of 30bn instant messages sent during a single month in 2006.
Any two people on average are linked by seven or fewer acquaintances, they say.
The theory of six degrees of separation has long captured people’s imagination – notably inspiring a popular 1993 film – but had recently seemed discredited.
One of the researchers on the Microsoft Messenger project, Eric Horvitz, said he had been shocked by the results.
“What we’re seeing suggests there may be a social connectivity constant for humanity,” he was quoted as saying by the Washington Post newspaper.
“People have had this suspicion that we are really close. But we are showing on a very large scale that this idea goes beyond folklore.”
And it’s true. It is true because I have found out that I am way too close to people I did not want to be close to via a channel of random acquaintances. The world is really small because we’re only humans, and this idea disturbs me in general because I don’t like it when people who know people end up knowing me when I am eager to come across as fresh as possible. Cyberspace is a replica of the real world, that’s how you end up knowing bloggers you have never met.
And now, I would like to know which one of you knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows Craig Ferguson. Please leave a comment stating your degree of separation from the late-night talk show host. Beam me up, Scotty.
Shuffling Back to Work
In Life on August 2, 2008 at 9:34 pmLike all good things in life, my vacation has ended and tomorrow I will shuffle back to work to sit on my extremely uncomfortable chair and be glued to my monitor all day then take in wafts of second-hand smoke after 3 PM and consequently get a splitting headache and rush out of the door at 4:30 like my life depends on it.
Worst of all is what usually happens when I am away from the office: people take my stuff! I once went to work to find that someone stole my mouse and plugged in a dead one, and another time I found that someone took my chair and gave me an even crappier one, then there’s always the fight over the limited electric slots, which normally means that I go to the office after being away and find that my computer is completely unplugged and that there is not a single free electric slot to plug it back in.
Well. Whatever. It’s all time I am paid for, no? That notwithstanding, I’d like it if people respected my office space, but honestly I am not even half bothered to make an issue out of it. I’m so blah about it. The perks in the office where I work are as follows: the occasional verbal cat fight, the very kind receptionist, and the fact that there are some vague office politics going on which I still to this day do not understand and do not want to make an effort to explore. I have this massive lack of interest in what’s going on as long as my work gets done. I’m not anti-people per se though, only anti the people who don’t interest me, you see.
I need to look for a new job. Anyone hiring?
For The Record…
In T Play Box on August 1, 2008 at 11:50 pmNot only did we find out that we are, like, neighbors, but we also had a ton of fun a couple of days ago. Omar is one of the most creative people I have ever met, and he’s funny and friendly and everything entertaining. If you’re thinking of meeting a blogger, and you’re a single girl under 20 (but over 16, please), email him.
He did not pay me to post this, and he doesn’t even know that I am posting this. Don’t nobody tell him.
SexEd Up
In Culture Arabia, Jordan on August 1, 2008 at 12:29 amEducation about sex and reproduction needs to be taken seriously in our culture so we can avoid many of the problems we face today: the “taboo” nature of sex which renders it all the more alluring and at the same time degrading in nature, the relatively high birth rates, young marriages, honor crimes, dumpster babies, and all sorts of other evils.
My only exposure to sex education during school was when in 6th grade a friend of mine had a Q&A booklet about the issue with her in class. We “sort of” enjoyed reading the booklet until our Islamic Religion teacher busted us and confiscated it, but did not inform the headmistress of our misconduct. Then in around 10th grade, we got acquainted with the very technical names of our reproductive organs, all drawn out in color in biology books. The teacher blushed during the two classes when she “sort of” explained some things to us like ovulation, menstruation, and how babies are made.
My point is this: none of the above “lessons” was memorable or useful in giving us, the mothers of the future, any sort of well-founded understanding of this pivotal aspect of our lives. The problem with that approach to sex education, being all biological because the culture does not permit further boldness, is that girls and boys will get their information elsewhere. Trust me, they will listen to anyone willing to talk about sex and they will get a really, REALLY demented version of it. I was in an all-girls public high school and I know what I am talking about. The things and stories girls told each other were unhealthy, untrue, and entirely grotesque.
On a relevant note, read this article about sex ed mostly in America.
