Thursday, September 8, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Today we are ALL Egyptians.. I wonder what we'll be tomorrow?!
After reading my friend Mariam Wissam's blog post "Enough circulates" http://mariamwissam.blogspot.com/2011/01/enough-circulates_30.html I suddenly decided that I too want to write down how I feel in these historical times so I could come back to them one day and remind myself how I felt there and then.
My family left Iraq while I was at the age of 3 and have never been back... yet! Since then I have lived in London, Kuwait, the UAE and now Montreal. Such dwelling might have resulted in growing up feeling not belonging to anything or anywhere yet the exact contrary is what had happened. I grew up with a strong sense of belonging to two things: 1. Being an Iraqi & 2. Being an Arab.
This is the result of the upbringing of two people that engraved it in me everyday of my life..From a mother that is as Iraqi as the Euphrates to a father that grew up in Iraq, studied medicine in Egypt in the 60s during the glorious days of Jamal Abdul Nasser & hearing about him being an Arab Nationalist and how all Arabs are one.
In spite of all that, it is no secret to anyone who is even slightly aware of our region that the past 30 years have been nothing but a time of weakness, surrendering, corruption, dictatorships, negativity, divisions & backwardness in MOST Arab nations. People my generations have grew up amid all this and have only heard about Arab glories, strength, honor, dignity, revolutions & victories in history books, Ramadan tv series & our elders to the point where some might've doubted they even happened. On the other hand almost all of us believed that history would not repeat itself & what has gone is gone.
Well... History does repeat itself and we have discovered that the tales we heard and the movies we've seen are not the result of wild imagination but a true spirit that surprisingly have not died and is still very alive in the hearts of the people who witnessed them and passed on to the next generation.
Since mid Dec 2010 in Tunisia where the seed of this awakening was planted & spread out to Egypt I have never been more proud of being an Arab. It's not just because of what our brothers and sisters in Tunisia and Egypt have bravely done (And still doing) but equally because of how my brothers and sisters from all Arab countries inside and outside the Arab world suddenly became one nation again regardless of where we live and whether we live the same situations of the people of Tunisia & Egypt or have been blessed with a better life.
A friend on facebook said "jokingly" that I should become a reporter since I was updating my twitter & FB status every minute with updates on the protests and what we're calling now the revolution. I know I might've sounded like an obsessed political freak like someone else has also said but this was history in the making and regardless of the 7 hour time difference between me and Egypt & my many responsibilities with the kids & all but I was not gonna waste time watching TV or sleeping while knowing that THIS was happening in My world.. I was going to a part of it in any way I know or can.
Call me silly but this is how I feel and it feels damn good.
Last month we were ALL Tunisians, this month we are ALL Egyptians.. I wonder what we'll be next month?!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?
I've been a TED fan for so many years now and this is one of my favorite talks by Sir Ken Robinson about education titled by: Do schools kill creativity?
Sadly I think yes..
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Women that never age
Lately I've been fascinated by observing (sometimes staring) at every single woman I come across and look beyond the make up, concealer, fringes and layered hair and see how "age" is showing on them, or in some cases not. I started to notice how almost every woman from a certain social background have not a single line or in ounce of sagging skin regardless of the age of her children or the number of grandchildren she has. But after I notice the presence or absence of lines I almost always noticed one thing. U can't fake youth. You can hide lines, cover age spots, have plump lips & tight skin but you can almost never fake youth. So whats the point? Why do we put ourselves in alllll the pain of sticking needles in our faces and lips when at the end we can only cure the symptoms but still remain"sick"
The problem is that you're faced with this "option" at a much more younger age than you used to in the past!! As young as in you're mid to late twenties which is not right on ANY level.
I came across a statement by the ever beautiful and radiant Jennifer Aniston who has sworn off Botox after a bad experience with the wrinkle-erasing drug.
"I tried Botox once and it was really not good for me," she tells Elle magazine. "I felt like I had a weight on my head."
She added: "I think it makes women look older. Harder. The warmth in their face goes away.
"You see women and you know they’re not young, but you can’t tell how old they are. That’s what stopped me.
I'm a believer in never saying never but until now I'll keep on betting on the excellent genes I was given by my mother and father and attempt to (cliche coming up) age gracefully.. Coz.. what's the point anyways?!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Gmaash
Another new venture I'm so excited about is Gmaash. A fashion label designed by my very good friend Moza Al Mazrou who graduated from the very famous Esmond Fashion School and was selected one of four Emerging talents at Dubai Fashion Week 2010. The brand could be describes as a mix of modern silhouettes and traditional Emaraty embroidery.
Her fashion show was spectacular, classy and elegant..
I don't have words to describe how proud I am of her..
Follow her on twitter: http://twitter.com/Gmaash
or
her blog: http://gmaash.blogspot.com/
Friday, April 30, 2010
Small Business Talks
I was asked to go to the Shelter on Wednesday to join Lenovo Small Business Talks in order to discuss my soon to be launched business (Sepia Vintage). It was supposed to be an informal round table discussion with other entrepreneurs and people from Mohd Bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders. What I was surprised to find out minutes before the event started was that I was the 2nd speaker after Mohd Al Awadhi from the very successful Wild Peeta brothers then followed by Khadija from SME!! I didn't even have time to panic or more importantly prepare!!
Mohd Al Awadhi gave an excellent speech as expected followed by a very intensive and informative Q&A session. After that I got up to face the 20 something crowd without having any idea what the next sentence coming out of my mouth would be, but I did it anyway and boy was I pleased with the feedback I got from everyone.
What most got me excited was the fact that this was the very first time I publicly spoke about Sepia.. I did not know what to expect but was extremely happy to hear all the positive feedback & useful advice from everyone.
Thank you Amouni for inviting me to this event and most importantly thank you Lena & Dana for being part of the birth of Sepia.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
I completely forgot!!
Well .. Believe it or not.. I've actually forgotten entirely about this blog!! I've been wrapped up with allot of things lately that I completely forgot it even existed until I received a comment on one of the previous posts that I remembered about it.. Yes thats how much I've forgotten..
The past few months finally witnessed my decision to start an online vintage and vintage-inspired boutique that I've been wanting to do since forever with my 2 sisters. We named it Sepia (www.sepiavitage.com) I'm so excited about this project & I can't wait until it's gets launched in the next few weeks. Wish me luck
I've also been going through a business ideas phase. My mind is constantly bursting with business ideas about all sorts of businesses.. I want to do them all then I think to myself calm down and finish the one you've already started and then think of other business ventures.
So for now I'll focus alllllllll my energy on Sepia Vintage and lets see what happens..
Oh and if there is anyone out there reading this lame excuse of a blog please follow @sepiavintage on twitter www.twitter.com/SepiaVintage
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